Clinical results of everolimus-eluting stents and sirolimus-eluting stents in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

Background: It has been pronounced that everolimus-eluting stent (EES) had lower charge of goal-lesion revascularization and stent thrombosis as compared with sirolimus-eluting stents (SES).The goal of this observation was to compare the efficacy and protection of EES with SES in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods: In this retrospective study, a total of 404 patients with coronary artery stenosis who underwent angioplasty of one or more coronary arteries were included in the study. Of these, 202 were treated with SES and the others with EES. The data were collected by a questionnaire through which the annual incidence of coronary stent complications including the occurrence of stent thrombosis (confirmed by re-angiography), the occurrence of acute coronary syndrome leading to hospitalization, the occurrence of vascular myocardial infarction related to the stenting vessel, the need for re-angiography and angioplasty and finally the incidence of cardiac mortality were evaluated. Results: This study showed that the odds ratio of EES thrombosis to SES stent in the unadjusted model is 1.01 (0.06-16.34) and in the adjusted model for confounding variables was equal to 0.80 (0.04-13.35) which in both models, these values were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicate that there is no statistically significant difference between the outcomes in the two groups treated with SES and EES release stents

Specific pattern of bone scan as a Result of Unintentional-Intraarterial Injection Into the Ulnar Artery

Background: Bone scintigraphy with 99mTc labeled radiopharmaceuticals is a valuable method in nuclear medicine for assessing the bony structure. In clinical setting, bone scintigraphy is accomplished after the injection of 99mTc labeled diphosphonate complexes into a peripheral vein. Inadvertent intra-arterial injection on the antecubital region may cause a special form of artifacts leading to problems inaccurately interpreting these studies as functional images. Case Presentation: We present a 44-year-old man with history of chest wall pain for bone scintigraphy as part of a work-up for determining the pain source. The patient received an injection of 740MBq 99mTc-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) into a blood vessel at the right forearm. Two hours later, an increased uptake of activity was observed on the right forearm and ulnar half of the wrist-hand in the whole body and spot images. The scan findings were consistent with the anatomical and physiological expectations of the ulnar arterial perfusion range. This case displays that an incidental injection with a 99mTc labeled diphosphonate into the ulnar artery results in a hot ulnar half of the palm and ulnar-sided three digits, because these areas are directly exposed to radiopharmaceutical, therefore more radiopharmaceutical is deposited. Conclusion: It is important for the physician, and especially for the nuclear medicine technician, to know the specific appearance created in the bone scan due to such an event so that they do not make a diagnostic mistake. &#160

Echocardiographic and electrocardiographic assessment in patients with psoriasis

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting many organs. Recent studies have demonstrated that psoriasis is associated with cardiovascular disorders. We investigated the echocardiographic and conduction system changes in psoriasis patients. Methods: In this case-control study, 36 psoriatic patients and 36 healthy controls were enrolled. Demographic and clinical data, echocardiographic and P wave dispersion (PWD) in 12-lead electrocardiogram were evaluated in both groups. We recruited patients with confirmed diagnosis via biopsy and have not been under recent systemic treatment. Patients with underlying cardiovascular disease were excluded from the study. Results: Mean age was 41.56±16.20 and 39.67±13.85 year in case and control groups, respectively. There was no significant difference in the baseline characteristics of the two groups. PWD was significantly higher in the case group (p<0.05). High pulmonary artery pressure was observed in 14 psoriatic patients and 1 individual in the control group (p<0.001). Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was significantly higher among individuals who were above 60 years of age (p<0.01) but not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: Psoriatic patients are more susceptible to future development of atrial fibrillation because of higher PWD. There is no significant difference between the diastolic function in these patients

The Effects of Percutaneous Mitral Balloon Valvuloplasty on the Left Atrial Appendage Function in Patients With Sinus Rhythm and Atrial Fibrillation

Introduction: Mitral stenosis (MS) causes structural and functional abnormalitiesof the left atrium (LA) and left atrial appendage (LAA), and studies show that LAA performance improves within a short time after percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC). This study aimed to investigate the effects of PTMC on leftatrial function by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).Methods: We enrolled 56 patients with severe mitral stenosis (valve area less than1.5 CM2). All participants underwent mitral valvuloplasty; they also underwenttransesophageal echocardiography before and at least one month after PTMC.Results: Underlying heart rhythm was sinus rhythm (SR) in 28 patients and atrialfibrillation (AF) in remainder 28 cases. There was no significant change in the leftventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end diastolic dimension (LVEDD),or the left ventricular end systolic dimension (LVESD) before and after PTMC in bothgroups. However, both groups showed a significant decrease in the left atrial volumeindex (LAVI) following PTMC (P=0.032 in SR and P=0.015 in AF group). LAA ejectionfraction (LAAEF) and the LAA emptying velocity (LAAEV) were improved significantlyafter PTMC in both groups with SR and AF (P<0.001 for both).Conclusion: Percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy improves left atrial appendage function in patients with mitral stenosis irrespective of the underlying heart rhythm

Impact of Negative Fluid Balance on Mortality and Outcome of Patients with Confirmed COVID-19

Purpose. Maintaining the proper fluid balance is a fundamental step in the management of hospitalized patients. The current study evaluated the impact of negative fluid balance on outcomes of patients with confirmed COVID-19. Methods. We considered the negative fluid balance as a higher output fluid compared to the input fluid. The fluid balance was categorized into four groups (group 4: −850 to −500 ml/day; group 3: −499 to −200 ml/day, group 2: −199 to 0 ml/day, and group 1 : 1 to 1000 ml/day) and included ordinally in the model. The outcomes were all-cause mortality, length of hospitalization, and improvement in oxygen saturation. Results. The fluid balance differed significantly among nonsurvivors and survivors (MD: −317.93, 95% CI: −410.21, −225.69, and p781 pg/mL and fluid balance >−430 mL might be the predictors for positive fluid balance and mortality, respectively

Correlation between coronary artery calcification and COVID-19

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is an underlying cardiac condition contributing to increased COVID-19 mortality and morbidity which can be assessed by several diagnosis methods including coronary artery calcification (CAC). The goal of this study was to find out if there were potential links between CAC, clinical findings, severity of COVID-19, and in-hospital outcomes. Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 551 suspected patients admitted to teaching hospitals of the Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran, from March to October 2021. Data included previous diseases, comorbidities, clinical examinations, routine laboratory tests, demographic characteristics, duration of hospitalization, and number of days under ventilation were recorded in a checklist. Results: Findings of current study provide evidence of a significant relationship between coronary artery calcification (CAC) and in-hospital mortality. Additionally, we observed significant correlations between CAC and several clinical parameters including age, duration of hospitalization, pulse rate, maximum blood pressure, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), neutrophil count, white blood cell (WBC) count, and oxygen saturation. However, we did not observe a significant association between CAC and the severity index of COVID-19. In addition, logistic regression tests did not find a significant value of CAC to predict in-hospital mortality. Conclusion: Our findings showed a significant relationship between CAC and in-hospital mortality