Probable Hydrochlorothiazide-Induced Myopericarditis: First Case Reported

Hydrochlorothiazide has never been reported as a reason for myopericarditis. An African American female, with past history of hypertension, coronary artery disease, and sulfa allergy, presented with indolent onset and retrosternal chest pain which was positional, pleuritic, and unresponsive to sublingual nitroglycerin. Her medications included hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) which was started three months ago for uncontrolled hypertension. Significant laboratory parameters included erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) of 47 mm/hr and peak troponin of 0.26 ng/mL. Transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) revealed preserved ejection fraction with no segmental wall motion abnormalities; however, it showed moderate pericardial effusion without tamponade physiology. We hypothesize that this myopericarditis could be due to HCTZ allergic reaction after all other common etiologies have been ruled out. There is a scarcity of the literature regarding HCTZ as an etiology for pericardial disease, with only one case reported as presumed hydrochlorothiazide-induced pericardial effusion. Management involves discontinuation of HCTZ and starting anti-inflammatory therapy

Fatal Case of Probable Invasive Aspergillosis after Five Years of Heart Transplant: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Invasive fungal infections are very common in solid organ transplants and occur most frequently in the first three months after transplant. A 49-year-old female with a history of two remote heart transplants with the most recent one occurring 5 years ago was admitted for increasing shortness of breath, cough, and fever. Computerized tomography (CT) scan of the chest showed left lower lung ground-glass and tree-in-bud opacities. She was started on broad spectrum antibiotics along with ganciclovir and micafungin. Ganciclovir was added due to the patient’s past history of CMV infection and empiric fungal coverage with micafungin. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed as her respiratory status worsened and voriconazole was added for possible aspergillosis in combination therapy with micafungin. BAL galactomannan returned positive which was suggestive of aspergillosis. Patient worsened clinically and subsequently succumbed to cardiorespiratory arrest despite our best efforts. It is important to have a high degree of clinical suspicion for invasive aspergillosis in transplant patients even many years after transplant and initiate aggressive therapy due to poor outcomes

Influence of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy on In-Hospital Outcomes in Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

<p>Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is associated with worse outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); however, its role in an acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) has not been reported. This was a retrospective cohort study during 2008–2012 at an academic medical center. AECOPD patients >18 years with available echocardiographic data were included. LVH was defined as LV mass index (LVMI) >95 g/m² (women) and >115g/m² (men). Relative wall thickness was used to classify LVH as concentric (>0.42) or eccentric (<0.42). Outcomes included need for and duration of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) and mechanical ventilation (MV), NIV failure, intensive care unit (ICU) and total length of stay (LOS), and in-hospital mortality. Two-tailed p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Of 802 patients with AECOPD, 615 patients with 264 (42.9%) having LVH were included. The LVH cohort had higher LVMI (141.1 ± 39.4 g/m² vs. 79.7 ± 19.1 g/m²; p < 0.001) and lower LV ejection fraction (44.5±21.9% vs. 50.0±21.6%; p ≤ 0.001). The LVH cohort had statistically non-significant longer ICU LOS, and higher NIV and MV use and duration. Of the 264 LVH patients, concentric LVH (198; 75.0%) was predictive of greater NIV use [82 (41.4%) vs. 16 (24.2%), p = 0.01] and duration (1.0 ± 1.9 vs. 0.6 ± 1.4 days, p = 0.01) compared to eccentric LVH. Concentric LVH remained independently associated with NIV use and duration. In-hospital outcomes in patients with AECOPD were comparable in patients with and without LVH. Patients with concentric LVH had higher NIV need and duration in comparison to eccentric LVH.</p