Study of the Prevalence of Congenital Coronary Anomalies of Origin from the Opposite or Non-coronary Sinus in patients undergoing Invasive Coronary Angiography.

OBJECTIVES: 1. To study the incidence and clinical features of patients with Congenital Coronary Anomalies of Origin from Oppossite or Non-coronary Sinus; 2. To study the course of these Anomalous Coronary Artery Origins with CT Coronary Angiography. METHODS: A Cross Sectional Observation study was conducted at Department of Cardiology, in a tertiary Hospital for a period of 3 years. Patients undergoing Coronary Angiography (CAG) were screened and patients having Anomalous Coronary Origin from the Opposite or Non-Coronary Sinus of Valsalva were selected. CT Cronary Angiography was done in all such patients and the course of the anomalous artery was studied. RESULTS: During the 3 years period of study, total of 5241 CAGs were conducted of which 42 (0.8%) patients were found to have Anomalous Coronary Artery Origin as per the inclusion criteria. Out of the 42 cases, Anomalous origin of RCA from Left Corornary Cusp was the commonest with 23(0.43%) cases, followed by Anomalous Origin of LCX from Right Coronary or RCC with 17 (0.32%) cases. Other anomalies of origin were quite rare (n=2) which included Anomalous origin of Left Main from RCA (n=1) and Dual origin of LAD (n=1). CT Coronary Angiography showed that of the 23 patients with Anomalous Origin of RCA from Left side,27.4% had Inter-Arterial course and 56.1% had Retro-Aortic course. Of the 17 patients with Anomalous Origin of LCX from Right sinus, 88.23% had Retro-Aortic course. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that anomalous origin of Coronary Artery from the opposite sinus is quite rare with RCA from Left Sinus and LCX from Right sinus comprised the vast majority of cases. Most of these anomalous Coronaries have on benign course as defined on CT Coronary Angiography. However, it is important to recognize to delineate the origin and course as it can have significant clinical, therapeutic and prognostic implications.

Predominant RV endomyocardial fibrosis masking rheumatic mitral stenosis.

We report a 30 year female with rheumatic mitral stenosis, presenting with progressive right heart failure without overt leftheart symptoms. Rapid progression to severe right heart failure with moderate pericardial effusion prompted the diagnosis of associated restrictive cardiomyopathy. A MRI scan of the heart revealed diffuse subendocardial scarring of LV and RV explaining patient's rapid downhill course.

Familial hypercholesterolaemia IIA with bicuspid aortic valve.

A young male presented with multiple xanthomas and xanthelesmas, progressive breathlessness and angina on exertion. Investigations confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia, bicuspid aortic valve with severe aortic stenosis and significant obstructive coronary artery disease.

Ventricular tachycardia in structurally normal hearts: recognition and management.

Idiopathic ventricular tachycardia is a defined set of tachycardias when structural or pathological cause has been ruled out for the same. This paper tries to define and classify these arrhythmias to organize a logical therapeutic approach to deal with them. 60-80% of the idiopathic tachycardias originate from the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) and in 10% from the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). Outflow tract tachycardias have either LBBB or RBBB morphology with early R wave transition in chest leads. Adenosine, beta blockers and calcium channel blockers is the common medical treatment. Radiofrequency ablation is however the treatment of choice. Verapamil sensitive left ventricular tachycardia (ILVT) and propranolol sensitive left ventricular tachycardia (IPVT) are the other two forms recognized. RF ablation seems ideal for long-term management of ILVT and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) for IPVT. Inherited channelopathies include catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), Brugada syndrome and long QT syndrome where there is an inherited disorder in the ion-exchange channels of the cell-membrane leading to tachycardia. Prognosis in these is variable; CPVT, in particular, has a malignant course when untreated. RF ablation and placement of an ICD are important in the overall management of specific arrhythmia.

Pre-excitation with syncope: a false lead?

An 18-year-old girl with pre-excitation presented with a history of recurrent syncope preceded by palpitation. The accessory pathway, which had a relatively long antegrade effective refractory period of 340 ms, was mapped and successfully ablated in the left lateral region. However, after ablation, she had reproducible sustained polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, which was found to be the cause of her syncope. Thus, alternate mechanisms of tachycardia need to be considered in patients with pre-excitation when the presentation is atypical.

Radiological manifestations of madura foot in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

A total of 29 patients with mycologically and histopathologically proven mycetomas were examined for radiological manifestations from April 1984 to March 1996. Twenty cases were actinomycotic mycetomas, while nine were maduromycotic mycetomas. Plain x-rays of the regions of interest were taken in all the cases and CT scan was performed on five selected cases to compare the findings. Soft tissue changes were observed in all the examined cases, while bony changes were observed in 16 (55.7%). CT scan is useful for showing soft tissue changes, erosion and destruction of bone in cases with an early infection only, which cannot be demonstrated in plain radiographs.

Tetanus in patient with lepromatous leprosy (I).

Tetanus in lepromatous leprosy is rare and reported occasionally as case reports only. We present a case of lepromatous leprosy who succumbed to death due to rapidly progressing tetanus. The mechanism of protection from tetanus in leprosy is discussed.