CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IN SIERRA LEONE.
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Hypertrophic subaortic stenosis is a potentially serious condition which may cause sudden death. The murmur is characteristically systolic ejection and is maximal at the left sternal border. When faint, it may be confused with a non-organic murmur and when loud it may be mistaken for a ventricular septal defect or mitral insufficiency. Evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy on an electrocardiogram should alert the clinician to the possibility of this disease.
Primary scleroderma myocardial disease may be due in part to myocardial ischemia caused by a disturbance of the coronary microcirculation. We evaluated the effect of the calcium channel blocker nicardipine on myocardial perfusion assessed by thallium-201 scanning in 16 patients with systemic sclerosis. Thallium-201 single photon emission computerized tomography was performed at baseline and 90 min after 40 mg of oral nicardipine. The mean (+/- SD) number of left ventricular segments with perfusion defects significantly decreased from 6.0 +/- 2.0 at baseline to 4.1 +/- 2.3 after nicardipine (p less than 0.01). The mean global perfusion score significantly increased from 10.2 +/- 1.9 at baseline to 11.9 +/- 2.6 after nicardipine (p less than 0.02). Our study demonstrates short-term improvement in thallium-201 myocardial perfusion with nicardipine in patients with systemic sclerosis.
Definition, arrangement into primary and secondary forms and classification of myocardial diseases are used irregularly in the literature. The great variety of clinical and hemodynamic parameters are shown with reference to our own patients and an attempt is made to arrange them in individual types. Followup examinations show that signs of congestive failure, heart size and other clinical and hemodynamic parameters may be considerably altered. For this reason it is proposed to describe myocardial diseases accoridng to clinical and hemodynamic parameters in order to obtain a closer insight into the pathomechanism of these diseases.
Fourteen patients (ten men and four women; mean age, 37 years) with lone atrial fibrillation (AF) (1 to 18 months' duration) were evaluated by thyroid function tests, two-dimensional echocardiography, hemodynamics, coronary angiography, and left ventricular endomyocardial biopsy, because of unresponsiveness to the usual antiarrhythmic therapy. The results of the T3, T4, TSH, and TRH tests were normal in all patients; cardiac valves and ventricular and atrial sizes (left atrium less than 40 mm) were within the normal limits; also normal were LVEDP (less than or equal to 10 mm Hg) and EF (greater than 0.50). Histologic findings were abnormal in all cases, with three patients showing cardiomyopathic changes, three other patients showing active myocarditis (lymphocytic in two and eosinophilic in one), and eight patients with nonspecific necrosis or fibrosis or both. Steroids (prednisone; 50 mg/m2 of body surface area daily) used in addition to antiarrhythmic therapy in patients with eosinophilic and lymphocytic active myocarditis were able to cause reversion to sinus rhythm, while the other patients continued to have AF. This study documents that occult myocardial diseases (myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, and nonspecific necrosis or fibrosis) can underlie "primary" AF. The addition of steroids to antiarrhythmic therapy in patients with refractory AF and histologic evidence of active myocarditis seems to be useful in controlling the arrhythmia.
Myocardial blood flow was estimated using the technique of selective xenon-133 solution injection into the coronary artery, in 20 patients with mitral stenosis, 8 patients with mitral insufficiency, 8 patients with primary cardiomyopathy, and in 7 healthy subjects. The mean value of myocardial blood flow in mitral stenosis (60.9 +/- 10.5 ml/min/100 g) and in mitral insufficiency (58.5 +/- 7.7) did not differ from the mean value obtained in the control group (66.0 +/- 9.1). On the other hand, myocardial blood flow in primary congestive cardiomyopathy was significantly diminished (54.1 +/- 8.6). Myocardial blood flow was also lowered in patients with class IV of heart failure (48.3 +/- 7.6), as compared to healthy subjects. A positive correlation was found between myocardial blood flow and the left ventricular work index (r = 0.48, p less than 0.05), as well as between myocardial blood flow and the right ventricular work index (r = 0.47, p less than 0.05). A weak correlation was noticed between myocardial blood flow and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (r = 0.38, p less than 0.05), as well as between myocardial blood flow and right ventricular end-diastolic pressure (r = 0.34, p less than 0.05).
The topic of restrictive cardiomyopathy remains controversial for many reasons. The term cardiomyopathy is unfortunately sometimes used interchangeably with diastolic heart failure. Furthermore, diastolic heart failure is sometimes linked with other causes of diastolic dysfunction such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and mitral valve disease. Restrictive cardiomyopathy is a clinical entity of primary or secondary myocardial disease presenting a picture that closely simulates that of constrictive pericarditis. In the majority of cases the correct diagnosis can be arrived at following a careful paradigm that begins with history and may end with endomyocardial biopsy. Many of the old teachings about how to distinguish restrictive cardiomyopathy from constrictive pericarditis have not held up with time and clinical experience: in particular equal diastolic pressures on both sides of the heart are compatible with either restrictive cardiomyopathy or constrictive pericarditis.
Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is currently performed in many patients seeking care because of severe manifestations of multivessel coronary artery disease. Previously, the majority of such patients would have undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). No definitive evidence is available as to which initial revascularization strategy has the best long-term clinical and economic outcomes. The Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI) is the largest of several recent clinical trials that were designed to test the hypothesis that an initial strategy of PTCA in selected patients with multivessel coronary artery disease does not compromise long-term clinical outcome compared with an initial strategy of CABG. This report describes how patients were screened, selected, and recruited in BARI and how this process may influence the results and the interpretation of the trial. During the enrollment period, 25,200 patients undergoing diagnostic coronary angiography at the participating institutions or with off-site angiograms referred to BARI investigators were screened for BARI eligibility. Excluded from screening were patients without coronary artery disease, those with single-vessel disease, prior revascularization, primary congenital, valvular, or myocardial disease, and age > 80 years. Slightly more than half of the patients screened (12,670) were not clinically eligible for BARI because of left main disease, insufficient symptoms, emergency revascularization, or other logistic reasons. Thus, 12,530 patients had severe angina and/or ischemia and were clinically eligible for BARI. Nearly 33% of them (4,110) had multivessel disease, which was suitable for both PTCA and CABG.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Recent studies have shown that the sensitivity of conventional thallium-201 scintigraphy can be increased by the quantitative assessment of myocardial radiotracer clearance rates in conjunction with the evaluation of radionuclide uptake. In this study, a similar analysis of tomographic scintigrams was performed to determine the feasibility and value of this approach, particularly in estimating the extent of disease and detecting three vessel coronary involvement. Seventy patients undergoing cardiac catheterization for chest pain were studied by exercise and 3 hour delayed thallium-201 scintigrams using the seven-pinhole tomographic technique. Each study was evaluated by visual inspection of the tomographic sections and quantitative analysis. The latter approach consisted of comparing circumferential profiles of the initial post-exercise radionuclide uptake and the 3 hour clearance rates generated from each of three left ventricular slices with similar profiles representing the lower 95% confidence limits derived from 15 middle-aged volunteers. An abnormality was considered present when a patient's profile fell below these limits for a 30 degrees arc, and was ascribed to disease in a particular artery when it involved that vessel's usual distribution. Among the 61 patients without apparent primary myocardial or valvular disease, the diagnostic sensitivity of thallium scintigraphy was increased from 86% (43 of 50) to 96% (48 of 50) without a change in specificity (both 9 of 11 or 82%). More importantly, the quantitative approach permitted detection of 85% (107 of 126) of significantly obstructed coronary vessels compared with 47% (59 of 126) by visual analysis (p less than 0.001), again without sacrificing specificity (85 versus 87%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Cardiomyopathies are a major cause of mortality and morbidity and this spectrum of disorders tops the list of diseases leading to cardiac transplantation. While significant gains have been made during the past decade clinically, knowledge of the molecular aspects of these disorders has taken longer to advance. During the past 5 years, however, molecular genetic information on a variety of primary cardiomyopathies, such as familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and X-linked dilated cardiomyopathy, has been obtained. Other primary and secondary myocardial diseases are now under study with advances occurring more regularly. The purpose of this review is to outline the major advances thus far described for some primary and secondary cardiomyopathies, as well as detailing the slower progress seen for others.
Patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) often have multiple co-morbidities that influence outcome. We sought to evaluate the impact of peripheral vascular disease (PVD) on the outcome of patients with AMI treated with primary angioplasty. We evaluated 3,716 patients with AMI who underwent emergency catheterization with planned primary angioplasty in the Primary Angioplasty in Myocardial Infarction trials. Patients with a history of PVD (claudication, stroke, or transient ischemic attack) were compared with patients without PVD. Of the 3,716 patients, 394 (10.6%) had PVD and were older, more often women, and more frequently had a history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking, congestive heart failure, angina, myocardial infarction, and coronary revascularization. They presented more often with a heart rate >100 beats/min, Killip class >1, lower ejection fraction, and multivessel disease. No difference was found in stent use, final percentage of stenosis, or Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction 3 flow. Patients with PVD had a twofold increased in-hospital mortality (5.3% vs 2.6%, p = 0.0021). The difference remained significant at 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year (12.6% vs 6%, p < 0.0001). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, a history of PVD was an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality and death at 1 year (odds ratio 1.64, 95% confidence interval 1.04 to 2.57, p = 0.032). In conclusion, patients with AMI with PVD have increased co-morbidities and higher mortality despite treatment with primary angioplasty. The presence of PVD is an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality and death at 1 year.
AIMS: Patients with arterial hypertension or hypercholesterolaemia may benefit from medical therapy for primary prevention of myocardial infarction. Preventive therapy may be particularly effective in individuals with a positive family history for myocardial infarction since such subjects are at high risk for coronary events. The objective of this population-based study was to analyse the risk profile as well as the current utilization of preventive strategies in asymptomatic siblings of patients with myocardial infarction. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied siblings of 325 patients with premature myocardial infarction from the Augsburg MONICA myocardial infarction registry by standardized questionnaire, blood pressure recordings, and biochemical measurements. Out of 580 siblings, 510 were free of coronary heart disease symptoms. With multiple risk factors being present in most asymptomatic siblings, 29.4% of asymptomatic individuals had an estimated individual 10-year risk for a major cardiovascular event of > or = 20%, or when projected to the age of 60. According to the guidelines of the European Societies of Cardiology, Atherosclerosis, and Hypertension (ESC/EAS/ESH) from 1994 (1998 guidelines in parenthesis) dietary and lifestyle interventions were indicated for arterial hypertension in 48.1% (43.0%) and/or for hypercholesterolaemia in 17.3% (78.8%). Drug treatment was indicated for arterial hypertension in 27.9% (30.6%) and for hypercholesterolaemia in 13.6% (19.1%) of asymptomatic siblings. Of those individuals with the respective indication, actual drug treatment was given for arterial hypertension in 91.5% (83.3%) and for hypercholesterolaemia in 46.4% (33.0%). However, treatment targets were reached in only 31.0% (28.2%) with arterial hypertension and in 7.2% (5.2%) with hypercholesterolaemia, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Most asymptomatic individuals with positive fraternal family history have more than one modifiable risk factor. Interestingly, a large number of these individuals appears to be under medical surveillance as many receive some sort of drug treatment. However, this therapy did not meet the treatment goals in the majority of those with arterial hypertension and/or hypercholesterolaemia. Thus, although individuals with a positive fraternal history for myocardial infarction can be easily identified, implementation of sufficient preventive strategies continues to be poor in a Western European country.
Currently, echocardiography is the technique of choice in the noninvasive assessment of left ventricular (LV) function. Unlike the assessment of LV systolic function, its role is limited in the quantification of LV diastolic function where only global LV filling can be assessed. Tissue Doppler echocardiography (TDE) is a recently introduced imaging technique which allows for direct assessment of LV myocardial contraction and relaxation. Therefore, parameters derived from TDE showed provide a more accurate assessment of LV systolic and diastolic function. Doppler myocardial velocity gradient (MVG) is a new parameter derived from TDE, which enables the measurement of the spatial distribution of transmyocardial velocities over the cardiac cycle. The most studied application of this technique relates to the earlier and more sensitive diagnosis of different forms of cardiomyopathy. Based on the Doppler MVG measurement, patients with ischaemic cardiomyopathy can be differentiated from those with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. In both diseases MVG is reduced in systole, but as opposed to dilated cardiomyopathy, MVG in patients with ischaemic cardiomyopathy is also markedly reduced in early diastole. MVG derived from TDE also provides new diagnostic insights into genetically determined heart muscle diseases. It has been shown that an early diastolic MVG < or = 7 s-1 is characteristic for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and differentiates this group of patients from 'athletes' heart, independently of the degree of LV hypertrophy. A recent study has also shown that in Friedreich ataxia related cardiomyopathy there is a close relation between the degree of genotype abnormalities and the degree of reduction in the MVG. Also, the assessment of Doppler MVG enables the differentiation of restrictive cardiomyopathy from constrictive pericarditis. Based on available literature it appears that TDE derived MVG enhances the information available from conventional echocardiography and helps to establish an earlier diagnosis in patients with primary and secondary myocardial diseases.