Coagulase-negative staphylococcus endocarditis restricted to the normal pulmonic valve in a patient with end-stage renal disease: case report and review.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K M Hussain.
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The authors report a very unusual and unique case of pancardiac tuberculosis in a 25-year-old man who presented initially with atrial flutter with 1:1 conduction. Echocardiographic findings, computerized tomography images, and pathology specimens are presented. After initiation of antituberculous therapy, the patient converted to normal sinus rhythm.
Women with coronary artery disease are less likely to undergo coronary artery bypass surgery, and this may represent a potential referral bias in favor of men. A higher in-hospital mortality rate in women compared with men has been reported earlier. Accumulating evidence currently suggests, however, that variables other than gender, such as advanced age, late referral, angina classification, diabetes mellitus, concurrent medical conditions, the number of diseased vessels, the caliber of coronary arteries, and the decreased body surface area in women may have accounted for this difference. In fact, when these variables are taken into account, female gender is no longer a statistically significant predictor of operative mortality. Women appear to have comparable immediate and late survival rates. Recurrent angina, perioperative myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, incomplete revascularization, and early and late graft reocclusion following surgery are, however, more prevalent in women. Men and women show differences in recovery experiences after discharge following bypass surgery. When coronary bypass surgery is offered to women, the decision should be individualized, based on the patients' perioperative baseline clinical risk factors and coronary anatomy. Coronary artery bypass surgery should not be withheld in women who are considered to be appropriate candidates for fear of a reduced success rate.
We report a rare case of acute aortic dissection in a young, corticosteroid-treated hypertensive patient with a long-standing history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A brief review of literature on aortic dissection in lupus erythematosus is presented. A low threshold for performing transesophageal echocardiography in the management of chest pain syndrome in SLE is emphasized.
This report concerns an apparently healthy woman who presented simultaneously with acute massive bilateral pulmonary embolism and mitral regurgitation, subsequently, a month later, resulting in pulmonary edema secondary to chordae rupture of the mitral valve. The authors believe that massive pulmonary embolism predisposed to chordal rupture in this case. It is suggested that increased awareness of ruptured chordae tendineae as a cause of mitral regurgitation and the prompt use of transesophageal echocardiography will facilitate the early recognition of this potentially fatal, but treatable, cause of mitral regurgitation in patients with pulmonary embolism.
Women with coronary artery disease are less likely to undergo percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) because of the potential referral bias in favor of men with coronary artery disease in the use of invasive diagnostic procedures and interventions. This difference may represent a sex bias in the delivery of medical care. The apparent sex difference in short-term success of PTCA seen in the early 1980s has not persisted in subsequent studies. The higher in-hospital mortality rate, if any, in women compared with men after PTCA is related more to the severity of their underlying disease rather than sex alone. In addition, women have a better long-term PTCA success rate. PTCA should not be withheld in women who are considered appropriate anatomic candidates for fear of reduced success or increased major complications.
Seventy-one patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) were randomized into two groups of different treatment modalities. The diagnosis of PAOD was established by history of intermittent claudication, clinical examination, and by Doppler pressure assessment or lower extremity arteriography. After a three-month washout period, 35 patients (Group 1) started treatment with indobufen (400 mg per day) and 36 patients (Group 2) with pentoxifylline (600 mg per day). Twenty-nine patients from each group completed six months of treatment. Both of the drugs significantly improved maximal and pain-free walking distances, but the effect of indobufen was more pronounced than that of pentoxifylline. Patients with PAOD exhibited signs of hypercoagulation. Fibrinogen, D-dimer, and b-thromboglobulin concentrations did not change significantly following treatment in both of the groups. The authors observed a decrease of platelet aggregation after treatment with indobufen and a decrease of F1 + 2 fragment and PAI-1 antigen after treatment with pentoxifylline.
The authors report a unique case that presented with hemodynamic abnormalities and severe bradycardia, necessitating the insertion of a temporary pacemaker, as well as metabolic disturbances, hematologic changes, and hepatic and renal dysfunction in an elderly individual owing to lithium intoxication. This case also demonstrates that these various serious side effects of lithium resolved with prompt recognition and discontinuation of lithium. Lithium should be used with extreme caution and frequent monitoring especially in the elderly.
The term torsade de pointes refers to a ventricular tachycardia characterized by QRS complexes of changing amplitude that appears to twist around the isoelectric line and occurs at rates of 200-250/minute. Most cases of torsade de pointes are iatrogenically induced by drugs or electrolyte abnormalities. The most important feature is QT interval prolongation. Torsade de pointes was first described in 1966 in France by Dessertenne. The authors report a case of a fifty-year-old woman with medical history of corrective surgery for tetralogy of Fallot who was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and atrial fibrillation and later developed recurrent episodes of polymorphic ventricular tachycardia with QT interval prolongation after i.v. administration of erythromycin. The episodes did not recur after discontinuation of erythromycin, and the QT interval returned to normal. The association of erythromycin with torsade de pointes has been reported in 18 cases to date. Erythromycin has been shown to produce electrophysiologic effects similar to those of class Ia and class III antiarrhythmic drugs on the cardiac muscle. This potentially fatal complication of a commonly used antibiotic is rare, but increased physician awareness is important, especially in patients with predisposing factors like electrolytes abnormalities, use of class Ia and Class III antiarrhythmic drugs, and presence of prolonged QT interval (congenital prolonged QT syndromes). This is the second case reported in a patient with previous cardiac surgery and erythromycin administration.
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Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains the greatest threat to health in our society and is the most common cause of death in the United States and in many other Western industrialized countries. Recent data demonstrate that mortality from MI is continuing to decline. In these days of more aggressive management of acute MI (AMI) there has been a resurgence of interest in advances in thrombolytic therapy. However, observational studies of patients with AMI have shown that women sustaining an AMI have a worse prognosis than men. AMI is the number-one killer of women in the United States; approximately 247,000 of more than 520,000 deaths due to AMI that occur each year are among women, and almost one-third of the women are younger than forty-five years old. While there have been great advances in thrombolytic therapy, these advances have benefited men to a more significant degree than they have benefited women. The purpose of this paper is to critically review the efficacy of thrombolytic therapy in women with AMI with consideration of some of the key components of its effectiveness: mortality, bleeding risk, infarct-artery patency, ventricular function, and cardiac arrhythmia.
Coronary artery lesions were compared in 71 patients with unstable angina, 15 patients with non-Q wave myocardial infarction (MI), and 40 patients with stable angina. In the unstable angina group, 29 patients had new-onset angina, 31 had crescendo angina, and 11 had rest angina. In a subgroup of patients with unstable angina, three-vessel disease was less frequently (P < 0.05) seen in patients with new-onset angina (10.3%) than in the patients with crescendo angina (51.6%) or rest angina (54.5%). An angina-producing artery could be identified in 59 patients with unstable angina, in 11 with non-Q wave MI, and in 30 with stable angina. Type II eccentric stenosis (asymmetric narrowing with narrow neck and overhanging irregular edges) was present in 31 patients (52.5%; P < 0.01) with unstable angina, in 7 (63.6%; P < 0.01) with non-Q wave MI, and in only 2 (6.7%) with stable angina. Abrupt occlusion of a vessel was observed in 7 patients (11.9%) with unstable angina and in 2 (18.2%) with non-Q wave MI. None of the patients with stable angina had this type of occlusion. In the group of unstable angina and non-Q wave MI, angiographic evidence of intracoronary thrombi was present in 16 (27.1%) and 3 patients (27.3%), respectively, but in stable angina in only 1 patient (3.3%; P < 0.05). Intracoronary thrombi were most frequently found in rest angina (88%; P < 0.001) and crescendo angina (33.3%; P < 0.01) compared with new-onset angina (3.7%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Unstable angina includes a variety of clinical presentations with a different level of risk for an unfavorable outcome. In this study the authors investigated the prognostic significance of crescendo angina and new-onset angina to discuss management strategies, paying attention to the relevance of baseline clinical characteristics, coronary artery lesions, and left ventricular function, as well as their alterations during atrial pacing. Accordingly coronary arteriographic anatomy and changes in left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction before and during atrial pacing were studied by means of digital subtraction ventriculography in 18 patients with crescendo angina and in 18 patients with new-onset angina. Triple-vessel disease was more frequently observed in crescendo angina (56%; P < 0.05) as compared with the patients with new-onset angina (11%). Complex coronary morphology was statistically more likely to be found in crescendo angina. The angiographic evidence of intracoronary thrombi was found in 33% (P < 0.05) patients with crescendo angina and in 4% patients with new-onset angina. Compared with the patients with new-onset angina, patients with crescendo angina had higher end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes and lower ejection fraction at rest. At peak pacing, ejection fraction was significantly (P < 0.05) lower in crescendo angina (0.48 +/- 0.06) than in new-onset angina (0.66 +/- 0.04). In crescendo angina, during pacing, the magnitude of velocity of circumferential fiber shortening was significantly decreased as compared with new-onset angina.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
To assess the clinical, coronary arteriographic, and hemodynamic differences between the unstable angina patients manifesting ST segment depression and those showing ST segment elevation as well as those demonstrating chest pain only without ST segment deviation during pacing, low-dose digital subtraction ventriculography was performed in 33 patients before and after abrupt cessation of atrial pacing during selective coronary arteriography. Transient ST segment depression during pacing was observed in 17 patients (52%), whereas 6 patients (18%) showed ST segment elevation; however, 10 patients (30%) did not manifest any ST segment deviation in spite of typical chest pain. Hypertension and a history of myocardial infarction were observed in a significantly higher (P < 0.05) proportion of patients with ST segment depression than in those with ST elevation. Patients who manifested ST segment depression during pacing had a higher incidence of triple-vessel disease (65 vs 17%; P < .05) as compared with the patients with ST segment elevation. Indirect evidence of intracoronary thrombi (complicated lesion, abrupt occlusion, and intraluminal filling defect) was noticed in a higher frequency (P < 0.05) in the group of patients with ST elevation during pacing. In patients with ST segment depression, no significant changes of global left ventricular (LV) functional parameters were observed. However, the length of the LV severe hypokinetic region was increased significantly (6.2 +/- 3.1 vs 23.5 +/- 6.2%; P < 0.005) during pacing in this group of patients. The shortening of the affected segments of the left ventricle was decreased significantly (52.3 +/- 3.6 vs 38.3 +/- 4.9%; P < 0.05) in these patients during pacing. In the group of patients with ST segment elevation during pacing, decrease in ejection fraction was associated with significant (P < 0.01) increase in midwall equatorial diastolic stress as compared with the patients with pacing-induced ST segment depression as well as patients without ST segment deviation. In the group of patients without ST segment deviation during pacing there was no considerable aggravation of LV global or regional function. This distinction should be taken into consideration in evaluating patients with unstable angina for diagnostic and therapeutic intervention.
To compare left ventricular global and segmental function at rest and during right atrial pacing in patients with unstable angina, non-Q wave myocardial infarction, and stable angina (class III angina), low-dose digital subtraction ventriculography was performed at rest and after abrupt cessation of pacing in 42 patients with unstable angina, 8 patients with non-Q wave myocardial infarction and 15 patients with stable angina during selective coronary arteriography. Left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly lower at rest in patients with unstable angina (P < 0.01) and non-Q wave myocardial infarction (P < 0.05) and during pacing (P < 0.01). These two groups of patients had significantly higher values of left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes at rest and during pacing as compared with stable angina group. In comparing various clinical patterns of unstable angina, ejection fraction was significantly (P < 0.05) lower during pacing in patients with crescendo angina than in new-onset angina. However, ejection fraction was significantly (P < 0.01) lower in crescendo angina only at rest as compared with rest angina. The length of zone of severe hypokinesia was greater in unstable angina (P < 0.01) as well as in non-Q wave myocardial infarction (P < 0.05) both at rest and during pacing as compared with stable angina. Contractility of region of hypokinesia during pacing was higher (P < 0.01) in stable angina than in unstable angina and non-Q wave myocardial infarction. In analyzing segmental function in various subgroups of unstable angina, the authors found that the length of total hypokinesia was significantly higher (P < 0.05) during pacing in crescendo angina than in new-onset angina. Contractility of region of hypokinesia was lowest at rest and during pacing in patients with crescendo angina. This study demonstrates that patients with unstable angina as well as non-Q wave myocardial infarction were characterized by more pronounced global and segmental left ventricular dysfunction at rest and during pacing as compared with patients with stable angina, which may explain the poorer prognosis in the former two groups. This study also shows that patients with crescendo angina have more profound left ventricular global and regional dysfunction as compared with patients with new-onset as well as rest angina.
We present a very rare case of complete atrioventricular block caused by malignant lymphoma diagnosed before death by transesophageal echocardiography. We believe that early detection of metastatic cardiac involvement of tumor is important for proper diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.