Interrupted inferior vena cava and partial anomalous pulmonary venous return with atrial septal defect in a 38-year-old adult: a case report.

We present a woman having congenital anomalies of the inferior vena cava and partial anomalous pulmonary venous return from the right lung with atrial septal defect in a 38-year-old. Congenital anomalies of inferior vena cava are rare. They are seen more often in young males. If there are not other anomalies, they are latent for a long time. Peripheral venous thrombosis, chronic venous insufficiency, dyspnea and fatigue are often the first symptoms of these anomalies. Surgical repair of atrial septal defect with partial anomalous pulmonary venous return include provision of durably unobstructed systemic and pulmonary venous pathways, closure of the atrial septal defect, and avoidance of arrhythmias. The diagnosis has been determined by compression ultrasonography with color doppler assessment, multidetector computed tomography angiography and echocardiography.

Destructive effect of monopolar electrocautery knife usage on femoral artery endothelium during spine surgery: experimental study.

OBJECTIVE: Circulatory disorders are observed in the lower extremities of some patients after spinal surgery when a monopolar electrocautery knife (MEK) is used. Despite known the knowledge that electric currents can be hazardous to living tissues, MEK has been widely used in spine surgery. In this study, we investigated if MEK can cause endothelial injury in femoral arteries (FA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen rabbits were included in this study, two of which were used as the reference group. The remaining animals were subjected to paravertebral soft tissue dissection along levels L1-L4. Half of the animals were dissected with MEK, and the other half were dissected with scissors and bipolar cautery. One month after the surgery, endothelial changes of the FAs were examined stereologically. RESULTS: Endothelial desquamation, cytoplasmic and nuclear condensations, cellular shrinkage and cellular loss were developed in the FAs of the MEK group. The endothelial cell density was 270 cells/mm2 in normal animals, 240 cells/mm2 in the non- MEK group and 190 cells/mm2 in the MEK group. The difference between the non-MEK and normal groups was not meaningful (P>0.05). The difference between the MEK and non-MEK groups was statistically significant (P<0.05); differences between the MEK and normal animals were even more significant (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Sharp dissection with MEK can have a detrimental effect on the endothelial cells of the FAs and cause postoperative circulatory disorders in the lower extremities. Therefore, long-term high-voltage electrocauterization should be avoided during spinal surgery unless absolutely necessary.

Mitral valvular cyst mimicking a solid mass: misdiagnosis with imaging modalities.

This report describes a mitral valvular cyst mimicking a solid mass in an 80-year-old patient. The diagnosis was based on histopathological evaluation of the resected material. This report emphasizes the possibility of misdiagnosis by echocardiographic and other imaging modalities of a mitral valvular mass in a patient without any clinical signs and symptoms.

Left atrial myxoma and concomitant atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.

Here we describe the case of a 71-year-old female patient who was admitted to our department with acute coronary syndrome. Trans-thoracic echocardiography evaluation to assess left ventricular functions incidentally detected a left atrial mass attached to the inter-atrial septum together with a left ventricular segmental wall motion abnormality due to acute anterior myocardial infarction. Coronary angiography revealed diffuse coronary artery disease. Because early surgery was not advised due to the high mortality risk, successful coronary angioplasty and stenting was performed in this emergecy situation. It may be informative to study the images from the echocardiography prior to angiography in this study as well as to determine the anticipated signs that may affect the treatment options for similar patients.

Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy combined with bilateral renal artery stenosis in Leriche syndrome: a rare coexistence.

We describe the case of a 60-year-old male hypertensive patient who was admitted to our department with intermittent claudication. An echocardiography evaluation detected apical hypertrophy without an intracavity pressure gradient. Transthoracic echocardiography has been the first-line imaging method for patients with suspected hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), but the method's shortcomings in evaluating the apex are well known. Thus, images from the patient's magnetic resonance imaging and angiography examinations confirmed the classic features of apical HCM. In addition, a 3-dimensional computed tomography evaluation disclosed Leriche syndrome concurrent with severe bilateral stenosis of the renal arteries. Apical HCM combined with severe renal artery stenosis is very rare and has not previously been reported with Leriche syndrome.

Predicting coronary artery disease using different artificial neural network models.

OBJECTIVE: Eight different learning algorithms used for creating artificial neural network (ANN) models and the different ANN models in the prediction of coronary artery disease (CAD) are introduced. METHODS: This work was carried out as a retrospective case-control study. Overall, 124 consecutive patients who had been diagnosed with CAD by coronary angiography (at least 1 coronary stenosis > 50% in major epicardial arteries) were enrolled in the work. Angiographically, the 113 people (group 2) with normal coronary arteries were taken as control subjects. Multi-layered perceptrons ANN architecture were applied. The ANN models trained with different learning algorithms were performed in 237 records, divided into training (n=171) and testing (n=66) data sets. The performance of prediction was evaluated by sensitivity, specificity and accuracy values based on standard definitions. RESULTS: The results have demonstrated that ANN models trained with eight different learning algorithms are promising because of high (greater than 71%) sensitivity, specificity and accuracy values in the prediction of CAD. Accuracy, sensitivity and specificity values varied between 83.63%-100%, 86.46%-100% and 74.67%-100% for training, respectively. For testing, the values were more than 71% for sensitivity, 76% for specificity and 81% for accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: It may be proposed that the use of different learning algorithms other than backpropagation and larger sample sizes can improve the performance of prediction. The proposed ANN models trained with these learning algorithms could be used a promising approach for predicting CAD without the need for invasive diagnostic methods and could help in the prognostic clinical decision.

The role of adrenomedullin and brain natriuretic peptide levels in acute rheumatic fever in adults.

OBJECTIVE: Rheumatic fever, a multisystem disease following infection with group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus, is common among young (5-15 years) but can occur in adults as well. Recently, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) has been validated as a marker of cardiac function and prognosis. Plasma adrenomedullin (ADM) levels are elevated in various pathological states including cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. We aim to assess the relationship between ADM and BNP levels in adult patients with acute and convalescent rheumatic fever (ARF). METHODS: This case -controlled prospective study included 45 patients with ARF (mean age 21.04+/-1.91 years) and 30 age/gender-matched control subjects. Brain natriuretic peptide and adrenomedullin levels were studied in the acute and convalescent phase of ARF. Adrenomedullin was detected by enzyme immunoassay kit of peptides, while brain natriuretic peptide was measured by a commercially available instrument. The study was carried out between May 2006 and October 2006 in Atatürk University Medical Faculty Hospital. Statistical analysis was performed using Shapiro-Wilk, Mann Whitney U, Wilcoxon signed rank, Chi-square tests and Pearson correlation analysis. RESULTS: Plasma ADM and plasma BNP levels were significantly higher (p<0.05) in adults with ARF, regardless of whether they were in acute or convalescent phase of disease. Plasma ADM levels were 74.43+/-3.4 pmol/mL in acute phases, 59.35+/-1.45 pmol/mL in the convalescent phase, and 44.79+/-13.12 pmol/mL in control group. Plasma BNP levels were 197.51+/-47.41 pg/mL in the acute phase, 145.25+/-51.25 pg/mL in the convalescent phase, and 33.45+/-10.42 pg/mL in control group. The differences were statistically significant for all (p<0.05). Plasma ADM and BNP levels in the acute phase of disease showed significant negative correlation with the left ventricular ejection fraction (r=-0.56, p<0.05 and r=-0.61, p<0.05, respectively). CONCLUSION: In patients with acute and convalescent rheumatic fever, BNP and ADM levels were high compared to those of healthy subjects and this could be used as a complementary tool in the treatment and prognosis of ARF.

Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome associated with multiple intracardiac thrombi.

A 17-year-old man was referred for dyspnea, fatigue, and fever. Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome was diagnosed. Transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated multiple intracardiac thrombi in the left ventricular apex. Dissolution of thrombi was not seen despite intensive medical therapy. The patient died because of cerebral embolus.