Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J C Paré.
We report the case of a 19-year-old male who developed an acute myocarditis, with restrictive hemodynamic pattern and cardiogenic shock, and who died 48 hours after hospital admission. We discuss the characteristics of this uncommon form of presentation of acute myocarditis, and the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.
A case of left atrial hemangioma with papillary endothelial hyperplasia in a 42-year-old man is reported. With the aid of cardiopulmonary bypass, the tumor was resected, and the patient is well 22 months after operation. The clinical symptoms at initial examination, operative procedure, and pathological findings are reported, and the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to cardiac tumors are described briefly. A review of surgically treated hemangiomas is also given.
The clinical, microbiological and echocardiographical features as well as the response to therapy of 19 cases of infective endocarditis (IE) caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) are reported. Six patients had native valve IE, 11 had prosthetic valve endocarditis and 2 were associated with catheters in right cardiac chambers. In the group of native valve IE, 11 patients were heroin abusers and 4 had previous valvular disease. IE was left sided in 3 cases, mixed in 2 and right sided in 1. All CNS were methicillin-sensitive. The echocardiogram detected vegetations in 5 of the 6 cases. One patient required surgery and another died. In the group of prosthetic valve IE, 5 patients had early endocarditis and 6 had late endocarditis. A bioprosthesis was involved in 5 cases, a mechanical prosthesis in another 5, and an annuloplasty annulus in one. The involved prosthesis was aortic in 5 cases and mitral in 6. The echocardiogram detected vegetations in 3 cases (27%) and prosthetic dysfunction in 4. One patient had a relapse, 8 (73%) required valve replacement and 3 died. Although the greatest incidence of IE caused by CNS is found among patients with prosthetic valves, it can also be seen in patients with underlying valvular heart disease, drug abusers and patients with indwelling catheters in right cardiac chambers.
A primary fibrosarcoma was removed from the left atrium in a 58-year-old woman. We comment on the rareness of this cardiac neoplasm, the usefulness of two-dimensional echocardiogram in the clinical diagnosis of all cardiac tumors, and also the necessity for surgical treatment.
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The prevalence and prognosis of severe left ventricular dysfunction after infarction was prospectively analyzed in a series of 259 male patients aged 60 years or less surviving an acute myocardial infarction. All patients underwent coronary angiography 30 days after the acute event and were followed up for a mean period of 34 months (range, 15 to 55 months). Forty-five patients (17 percent) were found to have severe left ventricular dysfunction (ejection fraction less than or equal to 30 percent). Comparison of patients with and without severe impairment of left ventricular function showed the former to have a lower cardiac index (p less than 0.001), higher left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (p less than 0.001), and a higher prevalence of three-vessel disease (p less than 0.025) and of total or subtotal occlusion of at least one coronary artery (p less than 0.025). While the occurrence of congestive heart failure was higher in patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction (p less than 0.001), the probability of developing angina was similar in both groups. Cox's regression analysis showed ejection fraction to be the only independent predictor of survival in patients with severe impairment of left ventricular function. An ejection fraction of 20 percent or less identified a subset of patients with the highest mortality (62 percent at four years), significantly different from that of patients whose ejection fraction was between 21 and 30 percent (28 percent) (p less than 0.001).
To identify predictors of late mortality, 259 consecutive men (less than or equal to 60 years old) who survived acute myocardial infarctions were catheterized one month after admission and were then followed for a mean of 34 months. Nineteen patients (7 per cent) died during the observation period. Of 79 base-line descriptors, 17 proved to be univariate predictors of survival. Cox regression analysis demonstrated that the ejection fraction (P less than 0.001), the number of diseased vessels (P less than 0.005), and the occurrence of congestive heart failure in the coronary unit (P less than 0.01) were the only independent predictors of survival. Risk stratification showed that the probability of survival at four years was highest in patients with normal ejection fractions (96 to 100 per cent, depending on the number of diseased vessels) and lowest in those with ejection fractions below 20 per cent (3o to 75 per cent). The prognosis in patients with ejection fractions between 21 and 49 per cent was significantly worse (78 per cent) than in those with normal ejection fractions only in the group with three-vessel involvement (P less than 0.01). Since most survivors of myocardial infarction who are likely to have their lives prolonged by coronary-artery bypass surgery are in this group, it is reasonable to limit routine coronary angiography to the 56 per cent of survivors who have ejection fractions between 21 and 49 per cent.
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A 38 year old female patient without coronary risk factors suffered an acute myocardial infarction. Echocardiographic and cardiac catheterization was undertaken and a left atrial mass with normal coronary arteries was assessed. The tumor mass was successfully resected and pathological examination of the specimen disclosed a myxoma. Three months after the operation the patient is symptom-free and an echocardiogram taken at this time showed no evidence of tumor. A bibliographic review of the association cardiac myxoma and coronary artery occlusion or myocardial infarction is done.
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