Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Angelo Ramondo.
Ths study reports different mechanisms (i.e., microvascular spasm and discrete microinfarction) that may underlie different pattern of slow-reflow after elective coronary stenting on the basis of the different tissue level of perfusion achieved, assessed by blush grade and MRI.
BACKGROUND: There is very little known about the relationship between pre-intervention arterial pressure response to vasopressor therapy (PRV) and death rate, after primary angioplasty for immediate cardiogenic shock (CS) complicating acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: We examined data from 32 consecutive cases, admitted to our department within 12 h after the onset of MI and in CS, treated with direct PTCA, from May 1995 to March 2001. Intravenous administration of dobutamine and vasopressor agents was required in all patients before intervention. RESULTS: Ten patients, after vasopressor therapy, showed a significant improvement in systolic arterial pressure, invasively measured, (>90 mmHg, responders) before undergoing PTCA. Responders were younger and with less impaired pre-procedural LVEF (39.6%+/-10.7 vs. 30.9%+/-8.4, P=0.02). After direct PTCA responders showed an improved final TIMI flow (2.8+/-0.6 vs. 2.2+/-0.7, P=0.04) and blush grade (1.9+/-0.9 vs. 1+/-1, P=0.03). The mortality rate was lower in responders compared with non-responders both in hospital (20% vs. 68%, P=0.02) and at 3.5 years of follow-up (30% vs. 73%, P=0.049). After adjustment by multivariate analysis older age and lower blush grade correlated with in hospital death, while age remained the only predictor of late death. CONCLUSIONS: PRV was not an independent predictor of death after direct PTCA for CS. The association of no PRV with older age and lower post procedural blush grade may explain the difference in mortality rates between responders and non-responders.
We studied 361 patients, to evaluate risk factors for cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) onset and severity/diffusion in heart transplantation (HT). Rejection scores (RS) on endomyocardial biopsy were calculated (first year and whole follow-up). CAV onset was defined as any lesion seen at yearly angiography. A CAV severity/diffusion index was calculated for each patient summing up the scores of all lesions. Cox multivariate analysis included: donor age, sex, and weight; recipient sex, age, pre-HT diagnosis, hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia post-HT; number of treated rejections and RS; and immunosuppressive dosage at 3, 6, and 12 months. CAV frequency was 2% at 1 year, 22% at 5 and 39% at 10 years. Risk factors for CAV onset were older donor age [p < 0.0001, relative risk (RR) = 9.9], male donor (p < 0.001, RR = 3.2), high RS for severe (> or = 3A) grades (p < 0.02, RR = 2.01), high cyclosporine at 3 months (p < 0.02, RR = 1.9). Risk factors for CAV severity/diffusion were higher donor weight (p < 0.01, RR = 7.5), high prednisone dosage at 1 year (p < 0.0001, RR = 21.1), and coronary disease pre-HT (p < 0.002, RR = 9.7). High RS was an independent predictor for CAV onset, not severity/diffusion. This suggests an immune basis for CAV onset and nonimmune modulation for progression. High RS for severe grades may provide a predictor for patients at risk.
BACKGROUND: The time-to-treatment is a critical determinant of outcome after acute myocardial infarction. We investigated the relationship between the primary angioplasty (PCI)-related time delay and the benefit of PCI over thrombolytic therapy (TT), considering the time elapsing from symptom onset in 21 randomized trials comparing PCI to TT. METHODS: PCI-related time delay was calculated as the median of the "door-to-balloon" time minus the median of the "door-to-needle" time. The survival benefit was defined as the difference between 30-day mortality after TT and after PCI. The relationships between time delay and benefit were assessed by linear regression. RESULTS: PCI-related time delay ranged from 7 to 104 min. Linear regression showed that at a PCI-related delay of 75 min, PCI and TT yielded equivalent reductions in mortality (p = 0.03). When the trials with the longest and shortest delays were excluded, the benefit of PCI over TT was nullified after a delay of 62 min, and every additional 10-min delay produced a 1.1% increase in mortality (p = 0.01). When trials with a symptom duration < 6 hours (median 130 min) were considered, PCI-related delay still correlated with an absolute risk reduction in 30-day mortality with a time to equipoise of 57 min (p = 0.03). Lack of correlation (p = 0.85) was observed in trials enrolling patients within 12 hours of symptom onset (median 185 min). CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests that PCI-related delay substantially modifies the benefit of PCI over TT, particularly in case of patients presenting early following symptom onset.
OBJECTIVE: The influence of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction on survival of patients with severe aortic stenosis is poorly characterized. Few data are available about preoperative predictors of cardiac mortality and LV function recovery after aortic valve replacement of such patients. The aim of our study was to examine the outcome and the preoperative predictors of postoperative cardiac death and of LV function recovery in these patients. METHODS: We evaluated 85 consecutive patients with severe aortic stenosis (aortic valve area <1 cm(2)) and severe depression of LV ejection fraction (EF) <35% at cardiac catheterization. Among them, 52 underwent aortic valve replacement and they were compared to patients who were not operated on. All patients had a mean clinical follow-up of 53 months and 94% of them had a mean echocardiographic follow-up of 14 months after aortic valve replacement. RESULTS: The mean baseline characteristics included: LVEF 28+/-6%, peak-to-peak transvalvular gradient 51+/-29 mmHg, aortic valve area 0.63+/-0.25 cm(2). Thirty-three patients did not undergo aortic valve replacement: 32 of them died within 3 years. Fifty-two patients underwent aortic valve replacement and 16 had a concomitant coronary bypass surgery. In-hospital mortality was 8%. Postoperative NYHA functional class changed from 2.84+/-0.67 to 1.43+/-0.44 (P<0.001) and LVEF from 29+/-6% to 43+/-10% (P<0.001). At follow-up 10 patients died of heart disease. By multivariate analysis, preoperative LV end-systolic volume index (ESVI) was the only covariate of cardiac death (LVESVI/10 ml/m(2), OR 1.3, CI 1.1-1.8, P<0.028). By using a receiver operating characteristic curve, LVESVI< or =90 ml/m(2) was the best cut-off value (sensitivity and specificity 78%) to fit with a better survival (93% vs. 63%, P<0.01) and with LVEF recovery after aortic valve replacement (EF improved by 15+/-10% vs. 8+/-5%, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Despite LV dysfunction, aortic valve replacement appears to change drastically the natural history of severe aortic stenosis. Preoperative LV levels predict different postoperative survival rate and LVEF recovery.
We report a case of successful stenting of the unprotected left main coronary artery as a salvage procedure in a patient with tight ostial left main coronary artery stenosis who had cardiac arrest following diagnostic coronary angiography.
BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: The hormonal response to percutaneous balloon mitral valvotomy (PBMV) has been described in patients in sinus rhythm (SR) and with atrial fibrillation (AF). The study aim was to evaluate the effect of hemodynamic parameters and PBMV on atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) secretion and plasma renin activity (PRA) in mitral stenosis in SR and AF. METHODS: Thirty-one patients (26 females, five males; mean age 50.5+/-14 years) with pure rheumatic mitral stenosis underwent PBMV. Fourteen patients had AF, and 17 were in SR. PRA and ANF were measured 24 h before, and at 30 and 60 min, 24 h and one month after PBMV, after resting in a supine position for > or =2 h. Digitalis and diuretics were withdrawn 48 h before sampling; neither had patients received ACE inhibitors or beta-blockers during the previous month. RESULTS: PBMV was successful in all cases, without complication. Mitral valve area was increased and wedge pressure decreased in both groups after PBMV. In AF patients, neither PRA nor ANF were significantly affected before and after PBMV; in SR patients, ANF was decreased and PRA increased significantly, notably 24 h after PBMV. The cardiac index was increased in both groups, but was distinctly lower in AF patients both before and after PBMV. CONCLUSION: Despite similar hemodynamic results, reversal of the hormonal pattern after PBMV occurred only in SR patients, most likely because in AF patients a low cardiac index elicits a hormonal response similar to heart failure. This abnormal hormonal pattern may limit functional recovery after PBMV; hence, PBMV is best attempted while patients are still in SR.
We describe a case of a 54-year-old woman with a history of palpitations due to recurrent atrial fibrillation. The diagnosis of a coronary artery fistula between the right coronary artery and right atrium was made after the detection of a continuous cardiac murmur. In view of the patient symptoms and owing to the aneurysmatic dilation of the fistula, she was submitted to percutaneous closure. The anatomic features of the fistula and the closure device used demonstrate the peculiarity of the intervention. An artery-venous loop crossing the coronary fistula was created via the femoral vein and artery; the Amplatzer duct occluder was then advanced through this loop up to the fistula neck and successfully delivered. At 1-month follow-up the patient was totally asymptomatic. Cardiac auscultation revealed that the murmur was no longer detectable. Current guidelines for the treatment of coronary fistulas and on their percutaneous closure are discussed.
A 73-year-old female patient with medical refractory angina, severe multivessel disease and a critically depressed left ventricular function (ejection fraction 30%) was admitted to our hospital. Considered a poor candidate for surgical revascularization, she underwent urgent high-risk revascularization supported by use of a novel percutaneous left ventricular assist system.
We report the case of a 71-year-old male, submitted to percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTA) plus stent implantation following the confirmation, at intravascular ultrasound, of severe unilateral renal artery stenosis in the setting of a single functional kidney and of evidence of renal insufficiency (serum creatinine value 300 mumol/l). At 6 months of follow-up the serum creatinine levels had returned to normal (98 mumol/l). This case shows the role of direct PTA on the overall renal function in a case of global renal ischemia.
Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is an uncommon anomaly of congenital and rarely iatrogenic etiology. Most of the patients are asymptomatic, and the anomaly is incidentally recognized during a coronary angiography performed for other reasons. Also, coronary artery aneurysms are rare. We report a case of CAF associated with a giant aneurysm evaluated using multidetector row computed tomography.