Successful treatment of long spontaneous coronary dissection with medical management: Not to intervene

AbstractSpontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an uncommon cause of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and optimal therapy has not been well-defined. We present a case of long SCAD with complete healing due to medical management. A 47-year-old woman presented to emergency department because of sudden onset of typical chest pain. Electrocardiogram (ECG) showed minimal ST-segment elevation in leads V1–V4. Coronary angiography showed a long spiral dissection extending from the middle segment to the distal segment of the left anterior descending artery and TIMI flow grade three. We decided to follow-up with medical management and have control angiography unless hemodynamic instability and chest pain emerged. Control angiography displayed complete healing of dissect segment after six months. SCAD should be considered, especially in women who present with an ACS without a history of cardiovascular disease and risk factor. This report offers the idea that medical management can be a choice even if in the long segment SCAD setting

Late perforation of anterior mitral leaflet after surgical resection of the subaortic membrane

AbstractA 54-year-old woman who underwent surgical resection of the subaortic membrane 10 years earlier presented with new onset dyspnea. Cardiovascular examination revealed 3–4/6 pansystolic murmur at the apex. She was found to have severe mitral regurgitation (MR) with transthoracic echocardiography; 2D and real-time-3D transesophageal echocardiography demonstrated severe MR through anterior mitral leaflet perforation with precise localization. The patient was treated with surgery in which the perforated segment was closed by direct suture technique and discharged on postoperative 5th day.<Learning objective: Late anterior mitral leaflet perforation after surgical or interventional procedures has rarely been reported. We present this case to emphasize the role of traumatic injury to weak endothelial surfaces such as a valve leaflet in the development of late leaflet perforation after surgical or interventional procedures.

Lithium intoxication causing ST segment elevation and wandering atrial rhythms in an elderly patient

Lithium overdoses causing cardiotoxicity are uncommon and electrocardiographic changes suggesting myocardial ischemia are rare. However, some authors have specifically reported the occurrence of ischemic electrocardiography changes due to a lithium overdose. This paper describes a case where electrocardiography changes mimic inferior myocardial infarction during the course of chronic lithium treatment in an elderly patient. The patient&#8217;s electrocardiography changes were partially resolved after hemodialysis. (Cardiol J 2009; 17, 4: 404-407

Demographics of patients with heart failure who were over 80 years old and were admitted to the cardiology clinics in Turkey

Objective: Heart failure (HF) has a high prevalence and mortality rate in elderly patients; however, there are few studies that have focused on patients older than 80 years. The aim of this study is to describe and compare the age-specific demographics and clinical features of Turkish elderly patients with HF who were admitted to cardiology clinics. Methods: The Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease in Elderly Turkish population (ELDER-TURK) study was conducted in 73 centers in Turkey, and it recruited a total of 5694 patients aged 65 years or older. In this study, the clinical profile of the patients who were aged 80 years or older and those between 65 and 79 years with HF were described and compared based on the ejection fraction (EF)-related classification: HFrEF and HFpEF (is considered as EF: >= 50%). Results: A total of 1098 patients (male, 47.5%; mean age, 83.5 +/- 3.1 years) aged 80 years and 4596 patients (male, 50.2 %; mean age, 71.1 +/- 4.31 years) aged 65-79 years were enrolled in this study. The prevalence of HF was 39.8% for patients who were >= 80 years and 27.1% for patients 65-79 years old. For patients aged >= 80 years with HF, the prevalence rate was 67% for hypertension (HT), 25.6% for diabetes mellitus (DM), 54.3% for coronary artery disease (CAD), and 42.3% for atrial fibrilation. Female proportion was lower in the HFrEF group (p=0.019). The prevalence of HT and DM was higher in the HFpEF group (p= 80 years with HFrEF (p<0.01). Conclusion: HF is common in elderly Turkish population, and its frequency increases significantly with age. Females, diabetics, and hypertensives are more likely to have HFpEF, whereas CAD patients are more likely to have HFrEF.Turkish Society of CardiologyThis study was supported by Turkish Society of Cardiology

The evaluation of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity: Comparison of Doppler and tissue Doppler-derived myocardial performance index

Background: Doxorubicin is a chemotherapeutic agent used in a wide spectrum of cancers. However, cardiotoxic effects have limited its clinical use. The early detection of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity is crucial. The purpose of our study was to assess values of Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI)-derived myocardial performance index (MPI) in adult cancer patients receiving doxorubicin treatment. Methods: A total of 45 patients underwent echocardiographic examinations before any doxorubicin had been administered and then after doxorubicin. Doppler and TDI-derived MPI of left ventricular (LV) were determined in the evaluation of cardiotoxicity. Additionally, TDI-derived MPI of right ventricular (RV) was determined. Results: All patients underwent control echocardiographic examination after mean 5 &#177; 1.7 months. The LV MPI obtained by both Doppler and TDI were increased after doxorubicin treatment (0.56 &#177; 0.11, 0.61 &#177; 0.10, p = 0,005 vs 0.51 &#177; 0.09, 0.59 &#177; 0.09, p = 0.001, respectively). There was no correlation between Doppler-derived MPI and cumulative doxorubicin dose (coefficient of correlation 0.11, p = 0.6). TDI-derived MPI was correlated with cumulative doxorubicin dose (coefficient of correlation 0.35, p = 0.015), but this correlation is weak (r = 0.38). The study population was divided into two groups according to doxorubicin dose (below and above 300 mg level). There was a moderate correlation between TDI-derived MPI and less than 300 mg of doxorubicin dose (coefficient of correlation 0.51, p = 0.028). However, Doppler-derived MPI was not correlated with less than 300 mg of doxorubicin dose (coefficient of correlation 0.38, p = 0.123). Also, there was no significant change in the TDI-derived RV-MPI (0.49 &#177; 0.14, 0.50 &#177; 0.12, p = 0.56). Conclusions: TDI-derived MPI is a useful parameter and an early indicator compared with Doppler-derived MPI in the detection of cardiotoxicity during the early stages. Also, doxorubicin administration does not affect RV function

Infected pancreatic necrosis: outcomes and clinical predictors of mortality. A post hoc analysis of the MANCTRA-1 international study

: The identification of high-risk patients in the early stages of infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN) is critical, because it could help the clinicians to adopt more effective management strategies. We conducted a post hoc analysis of the MANCTRA-1 international study to assess the association between clinical risk factors and mortality among adult patients with IPN. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify prognostic factors of mortality. We identified 247 consecutive patients with IPN hospitalised between January 2019 and December 2020. History of uncontrolled arterial hypertension (p = 0.032; 95% CI 1.135-15.882; aOR 4.245), qSOFA (p = 0.005; 95% CI 1.359-5.879; aOR 2.828), renal failure (p = 0.022; 95% CI 1.138-5.442; aOR 2.489), and haemodynamic failure (p = 0.018; 95% CI 1.184-5.978; aOR 2.661), were identified as independent predictors of mortality in IPN patients. Cholangitis (p = 0.003; 95% CI 1.598-9.930; aOR 3.983), abdominal compartment syndrome (p = 0.032; 95% CI 1.090-6.967; aOR 2.735), and gastrointestinal/intra-abdominal bleeding (p = 0.009; 95% CI 1.286-5.712; aOR 2.710) were independently associated with the risk of mortality. Upfront open surgical necrosectomy was strongly associated with the risk of mortality (p &lt; 0.001; 95% CI 1.912-7.442; aOR 3.772), whereas endoscopic drainage of pancreatic necrosis (p = 0.018; 95% CI 0.138-0.834; aOR 0.339) and enteral nutrition (p = 0.003; 95% CI 0.143-0.716; aOR 0.320) were found as protective factors. Organ failure, acute cholangitis, and upfront open surgical necrosectomy were the most significant predictors of mortality. Our study confirmed that, even in a subgroup of particularly ill patients such as those with IPN, upfront open surgery should be avoided as much as possible. Study protocol registered in ClinicalTrials.Gov (I.D. Number NCT04747990)

Brugada Syndrome with atypical characteristics: Case report

The Brugada Syndrome (BrS) is a heterogeneous genetic disease characterized by persistent or transient ST-segment elevation in the right precordial electrocardiography (ECG) leads and a high incidence of sudden death and life-threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias in patients with structurally normal hearts. The syndrome generally manifests in men during adulthood. The ECG manifestations can be overt or concealed. We report a case of BrS whose type 1 ECG pattern during febrile state converted to type 2 ECG after alleviation of fever with atypical characteristics (78-year-old woman with monomorphic ventricular tachycardia on holter monitoring, a history of the sudden infant death of her child, and without inducible ventricular arrhythmia by programed ventricular stimulation [PVS])

The Association Among Lipoprotein-associated Phospholipase A2 Levels, Total Antioxidant Capacity and Arousal in Male Patients with OSA

<p><b>Background: </b>The mechanisms of the increased cardiac and vascular events in patients with OSA are not well understood. Arousal which is an important component of OSA was associated with increased sympathetic activation and electrocardiographic changes which prone to arrhythmias. We planned to examine the association among arousal, circulating Lp-PLA2 and total antioxidant capacity in male patients with OSA.</p><p><b>Methods:</b> Fifty male patients with newly diagnosed OSA were enrolled the study. A full-night polysomnography was performed and arousal index was obtained. Lp-PLA2 concentrations were measured in serum samples with the PLAC Test. Total antioxidant capacity in patients was determined with Antioxidant Assay Kit.</p><p><b>Results: </b>Arousal was positively correlated with LP-PLA2 levels (r=0.43, p=0.002) and was negatively correlated with total antioxidant capacity (r= -0.29, p=0.04). Elevated LP-PLA2 levels and decreased total antioxidant activities were found in the highest arousal quartile compared with the lowest and 2nd quartiles (p=0.02, p=0.05, respectively). LP-PLA2 was an independently predictor of arousal index in regression model (&#946;=0.357, p=0.002)</p><p><b>Conclusions: </b>This study demonstrated a moderate linear relationship between arousal and LP-PLA2 levels. Also, total antioxidant capacities were decreased in the higher arousal index. Based on the study result, the patients with higher arousal index may be prone to vascular events.</p