Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Bilgin Timuralp.
Reversible myoglobinuric renal failure following rhabdomyolysis that was related to repeated countershocks delivered for the treatment of refractory recurrent VT and VF attacks during acute myocardial infarction is presented in this case report, in which scan with technetium-99m pyrophosphate has been used for in the diagnosis of extensive skeletal muscle damage.
Noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium is a rare, unclassified cardiomyopathy due to an arrest of myocardial morphogenesis. The characteristic echocardiographic findings consist of multiple, prominent myocardial trabeculations and deep intertrabecular spaces communicating with the left ventricular (LV) cavity. The disease typically involves the LV myocardium, but right ventricular (RV) involvement is not uncommon. The clinical manifestations include heart failure (HF) signs, ventricular arrhythmias and cardioembolic events. Noncompacted myocardium may occur as an isolated cardiac lesion, as well as it can be in association with congenital anomalies. We describe two illustrative cases of noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium, a 19-year-old male with bicuspid aortic valve and progressive worsening of HF, and a 61-year-old male with marked RV involvement in addition to LV apical involvement, both with the typical clinical and echocardiographic features of the disease.
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BACKGROUND: Although internal cardioversion (IC) for atrial fibrillation (AF) is effective at restoring sinus rhythm, immediate recurrence (IR) of AF after IC is a major and largely unpredictable clinical problem. The purpose of the study was to determine the role of P wave duration and amplitude in prediction of IR of AF after IC. Forty-five consecutive patients undergoing IC for chronic AF were evaluated. MATERIAL AND METHODS: After successful IC, 1-minute ECG recording was obtained in all patients. P wave duration and amplitude in Lead II and V1 were measured using computer. Forty patients (88%) had successful IC. Thirteen patients experienced IR of AF within 1 minute of restoring sinus rhythm. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: As a result, the incidence of IR of AF after IC was higher in the patients with shorter P wave amplitude (for lead II P<0.01, for V1 P<0.01) and larger P wave duration (for lead II P<0.01, for V1 P<0.05).
The authors investigate incidence of ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) in relationship with combination of noninvasive arrhythmia risk markers as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), late potentials (LP), and QT variability index (QTVI) and compare the utility of their combination in association with sustained ventricular arrhythmias in patients after myocardial infarction (MI). Fifty-four patients with old MI, among them 27 with documented spontaneous sustained VT/VF entered the study. All of them underwent evaluation for arrhythmias and noninvasive risk stratification. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the highest association with ventricular tachyarrhythmia had combination of LP and increased QTVI (13.8, P<.0002), followed then by combination of LVEF and LP (12.2, P<.0005), LP alone (P<.001), QTVI (P<.002) and LVEF (P<.003) alone and age (P<.01). After stepwise regression analysis showed that the model including association of LP and QTVI, age and EF is the best one for delineating patients having the risk of ventricular tachyarrhythmia development. In conclusion, patients with combination of positive LP and increased QTVI after MI have high likelihood for development of serious sustained arrhythmia.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: It was previously shown that sertraline hydrochloride treatment improved hemodynamic parameters of patients with dialysis induced hypotension (DIH). The aim of this study was to examine the effect of sertraline on the autonomic functions of patients with DIH. METHODS: Ten patients with DIH, 10 hemodialysis patients without DIH and 10 healthy control subjects were included into the study. All of the patients were treated with sertraline 50 mg per day for 4 weeks. Pre-treatment and post-treatment heart rate variability (HRV) in supine and tilt position was evaluated. In order to evaluate the autonomic response to tilt position, gap values were calculated by subtracting the HRV in supine position from the HRV in tilt position. RESULTS: Analysis of the HRV response to tilt, demonstrated a paradoxical reduction in the indices of sympathetic modulation and sympathovagal balance in the patients with DIH while there was an increase in normalized powers of low frequency components (LFNU) and low frequency to high frequency components ratio (LFP/HFP) in the patients without DIH and control group. The number of therapeutic interventions for restoration of DIH decreased significantly in the sertraline period (p < 0.001). The gap values of the patients with DIH in LFNU (sympathetic modulation) (p < 0.05) and LFP/HFP (sympathovagal balance) increased in the sertraline period (p < 0.01). The decrease in gap value of normalized powers of high frequency components (parasympathetic modulation) was pronounced in the sertraline period in the patients with DIH (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The preventive effect of sertraline on DIH might be related to the improvement of regulation of autonomic response to hypovolemia.
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This study investigates the importance of right atrial conduction features in predicting of immediate recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after internal cardioversion (IC). Patients with chronic AF who were resistant to external cardioversion were studied. Twenty-four patients (16 female, 8 male mean age 58 +/- 7 years) who were successfully converted to sinus rhythm (SR) by IC, and experienced recurrence of AF within 1 minute of restoration of SR were enrolled in group A. Thirty-four patients, who were converted to SR by IC and in whom SR was maintained at least 1 minute after IC, were enrolled in group B (24 female, 10 male mean age 56 +/- 6 years) as control. There was no difference in age, left atrial diameter, use of antiarrhythmic drug, etiology and duration of AF between the groups. After successful IC, His bundle electrocardiograms via placed electrode catheters, and surface electrocardiograms were recorded for 1 minute. P-A interval duration, as a marker of right atrial conduction, was measured from the onset of the earliest registered surface P wave to the onset of the atrial deflection on His-bundle catheter recording. The difference between the recorded maximum P-A duration and minimum P-A duration obtained in 1 minute after IC was described as P-A interval absolute difference. There were no differences in the maximum P-A duration and minimum P-A duration between two groups. But, the P-A absolute difference was more pronounced in group A compared to group B (16.9 +/- 7.7 ms versus 10.3 +/- 6.4 ms, P < .001) and was significantly correlated with P wave dispersion derived from the surface electrocardiogram (r = .72, P < .001) In conclusion, variations in right atrial conduction might play an important role in predicting immediate recurrence of AF in patients converted to SR by IC.
BACKGROUND: Serum levels of cardiac troponins after external cardioversion (ECV) for atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter are widely investigated, and no increases in cardiac troponin T (cTnT) levels have been reported. However, the effect of ECV on cardiac enzyme release may depend on the type of arrhythmias. Furthermore, ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF) could cause release of cardiac enzymes after ECV due to underlying myocardial ischemia, myocardial dysfunction, or more pronounced hemodynamic deterioration during arrhythmia. AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine whether direct current (DC) shock may increase cardiac enzyme levels in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing ECV for VT or VF, so that diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction, which initially presents with VT or VF, can be excluded. METHOD AND RESULTS: We obtained measurement of cTnT, total creatine kinase (CK), and CK MB isoenzyme (CK-MB) activity before and after ECV in 27 patients (mean +/- SD age, 62 +/- 13 years) with induced VT or VF (22 patients) who required ECV during provocative electrophysiologic testing and who underwent ECV due to VT (5 patients) in the cardiology department. Blood samples were drawn before, and 4 h, 8 h, and 24 h after ECV. The total energy used was 630 +/- 375 J (range, 200 to 1,280 J). CK levels rose to the upper limit of reference range in seven patients (26%), and CK-MB activity was higher than the normal reference range in five patients (19%) after ECV. In contrast, cTnT concentrations remained within the normal range (< 0.1 micro g/L) in all patients. Peak CK and CK-MB activity levels strongly correlated with the total energy delivered. CONCLUSION: Elevation of cTnT level after an urgent DC shock strongly indicates the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction presented with life-threatening arrhythmias, rather than myocardial damage caused by ECV.
Myocardial infarction is a rare complication that can occur immediately after a blunt chest trauma. We report a 36-year-old male who experienced a fatal anterolateral myocardial infarction after a nonpenetrating chest injury sustained in a car accident. Injuries of the coronary arteries associated with blunt chest trauma predominantly affect the left anterior descending artery. This is the first case of traumatic complete occlusion of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) demonstrated by coronary angiography.
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A 52-year-old woman was admitted with the complaint of dyspnea that was present at rest and lasted a few hours. On bedside echocardiography, multiple small thrombus formations were detected in the right atrium under the tricuspid valve. Similar thrombus formation was detected in the left atrium. The lung perfusion scintigraphy indicated pulmonary embolism. Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator was started via intravenous infusion; after a dose of 60 mg, speech disturbance was observed, so thrombolytic therapy was terminated. The patient's speech problem subsided spontaneously. The dyspnea improved dramatically. Repeated bedside echocardiographic examination revealed the thrombi in both atria had disappeared.