Free-floating left atrial thrombus formed in a few weeks in a patient with a normal mitral prosthesis.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C Ginghina.
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The end-point of this retrospective study was to evaluate the standard of care in terms of in-hospital morbidity and mortality for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treated by thrombolysis within the first 12 hours from the start of the symptoms in five cardiology centers from Bucarest for a period of 5 years (2000-2004). This retrospective registry on a central database included 1814 patients (73.63% men, mean age 59.9 +/- 11.8 years), presented in an average time of 211.63 minutes from pain start. The most frequently used fibrinolitic was streptokinase (66.21%), administered most often in 30 minutes and for a subgroup in 20 minutes--accelerated regimen, with a good efficiency for the reperfusion of the culprit vessel evaluated non-invasively (clinical, electrical and biological methods). The global in-hospital mortality was 11.1%. The only predictors of in-hospital mortality were female gender and advanced age (>75 years) [p < 0.05]. The rate of haemorrhagic complications was not different from the one described by other clinical studies. The treatment by anticoagulants, antiaplatelets agents like aspirin, ACE inhibitors and statins were significant determinants of in-hospital survival. In the subgroup followed-up for 1 year (315 patients), the most frequent complication was the heart failure. In conclusion, in Bucarest, where availability of primary angioplasty in AMI was limited, thrombolysis with streptokinase was still very much used, with acceptable low in-hospital mortality and relatively high rate of artery reperfusion appreciated by non-invasive methods.
The formation of platelet aggregates has been suggested to be the initial step in coronary occlusion and the subsequent myocardial infarction (AMI). By scanning electron microscopy we followed: the platelet morphology and aggregation, the macrophage (M) morphology and the lymphocyte (T, B) count and structure in 11 patients with AMI and in 18 patients with unstable angina (UA). Generally, in the patients with AMI, most of the platelets presented relatively frequent (42.5%) or very frequent pseudopodia (35.27%) and the network of surface extensions was associated with several huge platelet aggregates in 6 patients. The mean lymphocyte count was: T = 40.36 +/- 23.95%; B = 28.09 +/- 7.38%; M = 31.54 +/- 21.25%. In the patients with unstable angina the proportion of platelets with pseudopodia was more reduced, namely, that of platelets with relatively frequent pseudopodia was 33.8% and with very frequent pseudopodia was 27.8%. The mean lymphocyte count was: T = 40.30 +/- 20.24%; B = 34.6 +/- 14.39%; M = 25 +/- 10.50%. These data indicate that platelet changes and the formation of aggregates can be an important factor in the occurrence of AMI. The change of immunocompetent cell count in both groups of coronary patients suggests the association of an immunologic process in coronary atherosclerosis.