Brain Emboli After Left Ventricular Endocardial Ablation.

BACKGROUND: Catheter ablation for ventricular tachycardia and premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) is common. Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation is associated with a risk of cerebral emboli attributed to cardioversions and numerous ablation lesions in the low-flow left atrium, but cerebral embolic risk in ventricular ablation has not been evaluated. METHODS: We enrolled 18 consecutive patients meeting study criteria scheduled for ventricular tachycardia or PVC ablation over a 9-month period. Patients undergoing left ventricular (LV) ablation were compared with a control group of those undergoing right ventricular ablation only. Patients were excluded if they had implantable cardioverter defibrillators or permanent pacemakers. Radiofrequency energy was used for ablation in all cases and heparin was administered with goal-activated clotting times of 300 to 400 seconds for all LV procedures. Pre- and postprocedural brain MRI was performed on each patient within a week of the ablation procedure. Embolic infarcts were defined as new foci of reduced diffusion and high signal intensity on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery brain MRI within a vascular distribution. RESULTS: The mean age was 58 years, half of the patients were men, half had a history of hypertension, and the majority had no known vascular disease or heart failure. LV ablation was performed in 12 patients (ventricular tachycardia, n=2; PVC, n=10) and right ventricular ablation was performed exclusively in 6 patients (ventricular tachycardia, n=1; PVC, n=5). Seven patients (58%) undergoing LV ablation experienced a total of 16 cerebral emboli, in comparison with zero patients undergoing right ventricular ablation (P=0.04). Seven of 11 patients (63%) undergoing a retrograde approach to the LV developed at least 1 new brain lesion. CONCLUSIONS: More than half of patients undergoing routine LV ablation procedures (predominately PVC ablations) experienced new brain emboli after the procedure. Future research is critical to understanding the long-term consequences of these lesions and to determining optimal strategies to avoid them.

Acute Care of Ischemic Stroke Patients in the Hospital.

Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Recent advances in acute treatment provide hope that the impact of this disease will be reduced. Rapid assessment for large vessel occlusion is now a key element in acute stroke care given advances in endovascular therapy. Because access to acute therapies is limited, development of systems of care to triage appropriate patients to specialized centers is essential. Acute hospitalization management requires multiple strategies including initiation of secondary prevention measures. In addition to preventing further stroke, physicians can also improve long-term survival by preventing the complications of stroke in the hospital and ensuring longitudinal poststroke care and rehabilitation following discharge.

Serial angiographic appearance of segmental arterial mediolysis manifesting as vertebral, internal mammary and intra-abdominal visceral artery aneurysms in a patient presenting with subarachnoid hemorrhage and review of the literature.

Segmental arterial mediolysis (SAM) is a rare, non-inflammatory, non-atherosclerotic vasculopathy typically affecting the abdominal arteries although it may also affect the great vessels and cerebral vasculature. Diseased vessels manifest with aneurysms and/or dissections, often presenting clinically with catastrophic thromboembolic injury and less frequently with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The etiology of SAM remains indeterminate although there is evidence it may be an endogenous pathological response to vasospasm. The SAM literature is reviewed and a case of SAH related to a ruptured dissecting-type vertebral artery aneurysm is described. In addition to furthering awareness of SAM, this unique case offers insight into the acute phase of the disease and the potential role of vasospastic induction.