Dissection of the ascending thoracic aorta as a complication of percutaneous coronary intervention

Acute aortic dissection is a medical emergency with high morbidity and mortality requiring emergent diagnosis and therapy. A 79-year-old woman with acute aortic dissection due to percutaneous coronary intervention was presented. Aortic dissection is an uncommon but potentially lethal illness that can present in an occult manner making the initial diagnosis difficult. Aggressive medical management is mandatory, as well as urgent diagnostic testing and cardiothoracic consultation

Immediate and six months clinical and angiographic results of intracoronary paclitaxel-coated stent implantation – the Meo:DrugStar-1 study

The study was conducted to evaluate the clinical and angiographic results of the implantation of the paclitaxel-eluting stent Meo:DrugStar ST in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease. The Meo:DrugStar ST stent has a stainless steel stent platform with a homogenous non-biodegradable coating of paclitaxel mixed with a polyether-based biostable, monophase, and hemocompatible coating. Sixty patients with native coronary artery disease were included in the study. The Meo:DrugStar ST stents were implanted in 60 de novo lesions detected in these patients. Immediate and long-term clinical and angiographic follow-up results were evaluated. There was a high proportion of patients with hypertension (55%) according to JNC-VII. Mean stenosis ratio was 78 ± 13 %, mean implanted stent diameter was 3.0 ± 0.4 mm and mean length was 22 ± 5 mm. Restenosis was detected in 4 (10%) of those patients and 11 (27.5%) of 40 patients had insignificant amount of restenosis. The results of this study indicate a potential benefit of the Meo:DrugStar ST stent for the prevention of stent thrombosis and restenosis in these relatively high-risk patients

Heart rate variability and heart rate turbulence in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background: In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, functional and structural changes of the respiratory system greatly influence cardiovascular autonomic functions. Determining autonomic balance may be important in understanding the pathophysiology of COPD and useful clinically in the treatment of COPD patients. Heart rate variability (HRV) and heart rate turbulence (HRT) are useful tools in assessing the autonomic neurovegetative function. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the HRV and HRT variables in COPD patients. Twenty five moderate to severe COPD patients and 25 healthy subjects were included in this study. Methods: Pulmonary function tests and echocardiographic examination, arterial blood gases analysis were performed, HRV and HRT analysis were assessed from a 24-hour Holter recording. Results: When HRV and HRT parameters were compared, COPD patients had significantly decreased sNN50 total, pNN50, SDANN, SDNN, SDNNI, rMSDD in time domain HRV parameters, and the values of the HRT onset was significantly less negative in COPD patients. Although the values of the HRT slope were lower in COPD patients, there was no significant difference between the two groups. We also found a correlation between HRT and HRV parameters. Conclusions: In addition to HRV parameters, HRT onset was significantly different in COPD patients. In our opinion, the combination of HRV variables and HRT onset may be simple and elegant ways of evaluating cardiac autonomic functions. New investigations of HRT and HRV in COPD patients have a potential importance for improving risk stratification and therapeutic approaches, and understanding the autonomic outcomes of the disease process

Tick bite cases among hazelnut farm workers in Giresun

Ticks are arthropod vectors of many diseases. The prevalence of Lyme disease transmitted by Ixodes is not known in Turkey. The disease is caused by Borrelia species and can also be seen in domestic animals. The aim of this study is to identify the ticks, which are collected from the agricultural workers who admitted to hospitals during the hazelnut harvest season between August and September 2015, at species and genus level and investigate whether these ticks vector of Borrelia spp. Method: In this study, 152 ticks collected from 134 patients were investigated. Of all samples including larvae and nymphs, 95.24% were collected in September. All patients who admitted with complaints of tick bites were agricultural workers collecting nuts in the gardens at sea level. The ticks were identified at species and genus level with stereomicroskop, hemolymph fluid examined directly by dark-field microscope and cultured in the Borellia BarbourStoenner-Kelly (BSK-H) medium. Results: Of all the ticks, 126 (82.9%) were adults, 13 (8.55%) were nymphs and 13 (8.55%) were larvae. Stereoscopic examination of the ticks revealed that 125 (82.2%) of the adults were Ixodes ricinus and 1 (0.65%) was Rhipicephalus sanguineus. All of the 13 nymphs (8.55%) and 13 larvae (8.55%) were identified as Ixodes spp.. All forms of development cycle were detected in the samples and the forms were inconsistent with the expected development cycle. Borrelia spp., the agent of Lyme disease, was investigated in the 146 ticks defined as I. ricinus and Ixodes spp. Borrelia spp were detected by dark field microscope in 3 (2.05%) of the 146 Ixodes and Borrelia spp. were identified in 5 (3.4%) of the cultures. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that Lyme disease can be seen in our region and the most probable vector is Ixodes ricinus

Sensitization of Children to Storage Mites in Kutahya, Turkey

Specific IgE against Acarus siro, Glycphagus domesticus, Tyrophagus putrescentiae, and Lepidoglyphus destructor have been investigated by ELISA in sera of 92 children. Of them, 41 were found to be specific IgE positive (≥ 0.35 IU/ml) against at least one of house dust mite species, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae, by an immunoblot. In 65.9% of the dust mite-sensitized children, specific IgE against at least one of these mite species was found. Sensitization levels, including co-sensitization cases were found to be 35.7% against A. siro, 24.4% against T. putrescentiae, 31.7% against L. destructor, and 26.8% against G. domesticus. In non-sensitized children, dust mite sensitization level was found to be 25.5%. Breakdown of sensitization by individual species in this group was; against A. siro and T. putrescentiae at 7.8%, against L. destructor at 13.7%, and against G. domesticus at 9.8%. When all children were reckoned, 43.5% was found to be sensitized against at least one storage mite species, with sensitizations against A. siro at 18.5%, T. putrescentiae at 26.1%, L. destructor at 21.7%, and G. domesticus at 17.4%. In dust samples collected from the dwellings of children, distribution of species was found to be A. siro (17%), G. domesticus (23%), T. putrescentiae (29%), L. destructor (25%), and unidentified (6%). In Fisher's chi-square test on SPSS program, there was a relationship between dust mite sensitization and storage mite sensitization (P < 0.05), but no meaningful relationship was found on the basis of individual mite species

Complete atrioventricular block in Becker Muscular Dystrophy: A case report

Cardiac involvement in Becker Muscular Dystrophy, including dilated cardiomyopathy, mild to moderate degree mitral regurgitation, cardiac conduction system abnormalities and various arrhythymias, is one of the leading problems during the progression of the disease (1,2). But, complete atrioventricular block associated with Becker Muscular Dystrophy which necessitates permanent pacemaker implantation is a rare condition. We reported a patient with Becker Muscular Dystrophy which complicated complete atrioventricular block and dilated cardiomyopathy

Embolised stent into the circumflex coronary artery during percutaneous coronary intervention

WOS: 000235783800013PubMed: 16479047Dislodgement and embolisation of the new generation of coronary stents before deployment are rare. If it is impossible to withdraw the embolised stent from the coronary artery, the stent may be crushed into the side wall of the coronary artery with a balloon over a wire passed alongside the embolised stent