Cardiovascular Complaints Among Military Members During Operation Enduring Freedom.

During Operation Enduring Freedom, the US military began deploying a dedicated theater cardiology consultant to Afghanistan in an effort to increase rates of return to duty in service members with cardiovascular complaints. This study was designed to categorize these complaints and determine the effect on both aeromedical evacuation and return to duty rates during a 2.5 year observation period. A total of 1,495 service members were evaluated, with 43% presenting due to chest pain followed by arrhythmias/palpitations (24.5%) and syncope (13.5%). Eighty-five percent of individuals returned to duty, most commonly with complaints of noncardiac chest pain, palpitations, or abnormal electrocardiograms. Fifteen percent were evacuated out of theater, most often with acute coronary syndrome, pulmonary embolus, or ventricular tachycardia. The forward-deployed theater cardiology consultant is vital in the disposition of military members by effectively parsing out life threatening cardiovascular conditions versus low risk diagnoses that can safely return to duty.

Anomalous left anterior descending artery to coronary sinus fistula with associated localized ischemia: A clinical dilemma.

PATIENT: Female, 57 FINAL DIAGNOSIS: Coronary sinus - venous fistula Symptoms: Dispnoea Medication: - Clinical Procedure: - Specialty: Cardiology. OBJECTIVE: Rare disease. BACKGROUND: Coronary arterial fistula, or arteriovenous malformation (AVM), is a connection between the coronary tree and a cardiac chamber or great vessel, having bypassed the myocardial capillary bed. Known complications from coronary artery fistulas may include "steal" from the adjacent myocardium, resulting in myocardial ischemia. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a 57-year-old Hispanic woman with abnormal preoperative electrocardiogram (ECG) and symptoms of dyspnea on exertion, who underwent a stress echocardiography demonstrating inferior distribution hypokinesis at peak exercise. Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) demonstrated a venous fistula connecting the coronary sinus (CS) with the distal portion of the left anterior descending artery (LAD), occupying the territory of a left posterior descending artery (L-PDA) and corresponding in distribution with the patient's stress-induced wall motion abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Anomalous left anterior descending artery to coronary sinus fistula with associated ischemia is a rare clinical dilemma with limited experience of success with either surgical or medical options.