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K C Fischer

Publications and source records attributed to K C Fischer.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

The CT appearance of the giant left atrium.

The Giant Left Atrium (GLA) is a well-known, albeit rare, complication of mitral valve disease. Although traditionally diagnosed by chest X-ray or echocardiography (1, 2), when the left atrium achieves massive proportions, these modalities may be difficult to interpret or even misleading. We report, not only the first description of this entity using computer tomography (CT), but also one of the largest left atria described in the literature. We feel that CT may be reliable when making this diagnosis as well as useful in evaluation of those patients in whom the symptoms suggest some of the complications of this disease.

Cardiomegaly↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Can infections be imaged in implanted devices?

Approximately 30,000 to 60,000 patients per year in the United States are candidates for heart transplants, mechanical assist devices, or both. These procedures, devices, and the associated short- and long-term care required are expensive and command significant utilization of health care resources. Because device related infection and thrombosis are potentially devastating complications of implanted device utilization, early diagnosis of infection, thrombosis, or both, would be helpful for initiation of early therapy to prevent untoward clinical events. Therefore, the development of a robust imaging technology for identification of infection could be cost effective if early assessment, diagnosis, and therapy of infected devices led to improvements in morbidity and mortality.

Defibrillators, Implantable↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychological factors in silent myocardial ischemia.

To determine whether psychological factors differentiate patients with silent versus symptomatic myocardial ischemia, a battery of psychometric tests was administered to 68 patients with positive thallium stress tests. Compared with patients who became symptomatic (n = 25), patients with silent ischemia on the treadmill (n = 24) were less often aware of cardiac and other bodily sensations (p less than 0.005) and were less avoidant of harm or pain in general (p less than 0.05). They did not differ on variables associated with symptom reporting biases. To clarify the relationship between ischemia and symptom reporting, symptomatic patients were subgrouped on the basis of anginal pain latency. Psychologically, the patients with silent ischemia were most similar to patients with the longest pain latencies and most different from those who reported angina before the onset of ST depression. The psychological profile of patients with silent ischemia during exercise testing is consistent with a reduced sensitivity to pain and other bodily sensations.

Angina Pectoris↗