Advancements and Challenges in Cardiac Amyloidosis Imaging: A Comprehensive Review of Novel Techniques and Clinical Applications.

Cardiac amyloidosis, characterized by amyloid fibril deposition in the myocardium, leads to restrictive cardiomyopathy and heart failure. This review explores recent advancements in imaging techniques for diagnosing and managing cardiac amyloidosis, highlighting their clinical applications, strengths, and limitations. Echocardiography remains a primary, non-invasive imaging modality but lacks specificity. Cardiac MRI (CMR), with Late Gadolinium Enhancement (LGE) and T1 mapping, offers superior tissue characterization, though at higher costs and limited availability. Scintigraphy with Tc-99m-PYP reliably diagnoses transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis but is less effective for light chain (AL) amyloidosis, necessitating complementary diagnostics. Amyloid-specific PET tracers, such as florbetapir and flutemetamol, provide precise imaging and quantitative assessment for both TTR and AL amyloidosis. Challenges include differentiating between TTR and AL amyloidosis, early disease detection, and standardizing imaging protocols. Future research should focus on developing novel tracers, integrating multimodality imaging, and leveraging AI to enhance diagnostic accuracy and personalized treatment. Advancements in imaging have improved cardiac amyloidosis management. A multimodal approach, incorporating echocardiography, CMR, scintigraphy, and PET tracers, offers comprehensive assessment. Continued innovation in tracers and AI applications promises further enhancements in diagnosis, early detection, and patient outcomes.

Radial artery perforation after coronary intervention: is there a role for covered coronary stent?

We report a case of right radial artery perforation observed after successful stenting of left anterior descending artery through right radial access. This was noticed immediately after completion of the procedure, when the patient described right forearm pain and we noticed swelling of the right forearm. She was treated by a prolonged guiding catheter positioning proximal to the perforated segment, external compression by sphygmomanometer cuff followed by prolonged balloon inflation across the perforation. All these measures failed to stop the bleeding. Complete reconstruction of the perforation was achieved by PTFE covered coronary stent. To our knowledge, this is the first case to be managed utilizing this approach.

Management of radial artery perforation complicating coronary intervention: a stepwise approach.

The radial approach is an elegant alternative to femoral access for diagnostic and interventional coronary procedures; this access site is infrequently associated with vascular complications, although less than the femoral approach. We present our experience in management of iatrogenic radial artery perforation in 3 cases; one case managed conservatively through prolonged guiding catheter positioning proximal to the perforated segment and external compression by sphygmomanometer cuff. The second case required prolonged balloon inflation after failure of conservative management mentioned above. In the third case, the above-mentioned conservative measures and prolonged balloon inflation failed to seal the perforation; complete reconstruction of the perforation was achieved by a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coronary covered stent. To our knowledge, this is the first case to be managed utilizing this approach.

Impact of Ivabradine on Health-Related Quality of Life of Patients with Ischaemic Chronic Heart Failure.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic heart failure (CHF) remains a major health problem, with high levels of morbidity and mortality and a low health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We assessed the impact on HRQoL of adding the If channel blocker, ivabradine, to a standard treatment regimen of patients with ischaemic CHF (I-CHF) and heart rate (HR) ≥70 beats/min (bpm). METHODS: A randomized prospective study of 100 consecutive patients presenting with stable I-CHF, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <40% and a sinus HR ≥70 bpm. New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, overall summary score (OSS) and clinical summary score (CSS) of the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) were used to assess HRQoL. The patients were randomized into 2 groups: carvedilol only (group I (n=50)) and carvedilol + ivabradine (group II (n=50)). The patients were followed up for 12 weeks and their HRQoL scores were monitored and compared. RESULTS: The overall mean age of the cohort was 63±10 years with 70% (n=70) males. HRQoL scores had significantly improved in group II after 12 weeks of follow-up. The net proportion of patients with a 5-point improvement in CSS was 30% higher in group II (p=0.002), whereas that for the OSS, it was 24% (p=0.001), when compared with group I. These improvements were accompanied by a significant HR reduction (69 vs 78 bpm; p=0.002). CONCLUSION: Adding ivabradine to the standard drug regimen, currently advocated by guidelines for CHF with a heart rate ≥70 bpm, resulted in a significant improvement in HRQoL.

Procedural and clinical utility of transulnar approach for coronary procedures following failure of radial route: Single centre experience.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the feasibility and safety of transulnar approach whenever transradial access fails. BACKGROUND: Radial access for coronary procedures has gained sound recognition. However, the method is not always successful. METHODS: Between January 2010 and June 2013, diagnostic with or without percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was attempted in 2804 patients via the radial approach. Transradial approach was unsuccessful in 173 patients (6.2%) requiring crossover to either femoral (128 patients, 4.6%) or ulnar approach (45 patients, 1.6%). Patients who had undergone ulnar approach constituted our study population. Selective forearm angiography was performed after ulnar sheath placement. We documented procedural characteristics and major adverse cardio-cerebrovascular events. RESULTS: Radial artery spasm was the most common cause of crossover to the ulnar approach (64.4%) followed by failure to puncture the radial artery (33.4%). Out of 45 patients (82.2%), 37 underwent successful ulnar approach. The eight failed cases (17.8%) were mainly due to absent or weak ulnar pulse (75%). PCI was performed in 17 cases (37.8%), of which 8 patients underwent emergency interventions. Complications included transient numbness, non-significant hematoma, ulnar artery perforation, and minor stroke in 15.5%, 13.3%, 2.2% and 2.2%, respectively. No major cardiac-cerebrovascular events or hand ischemia were noted. CONCLUSION: Ulnar approach for coronary diagnostic or intervention procedures is a feasible alternative whenever radial route fails. It circumvents crossover to the femoral approach. Our study confirms satisfactory success rate of ulnar access in the presence of adequate ulnar pulse intensity and within acceptable rates of complications.

2014 Oman Heart Association protocol for the management of acute atrial fibrillation.

Although atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, there is variation in practice with regard to the management of acute AF among the hospitals and even within the same hospital in Oman. This variation likely reflects a lack of high-quality evidence. Standard guidelines and textbooks do not offer clear evidence-based direction for physicians to guide the management of acute AF. Particularly controversial is the issue of using rhythm control or rate control. This stimulated Oman Heart Association (OHA) to issue a simplified protocol for the management of acute AF to be applied by the entire cardiac caregivers all over the country. The priorities for acute management of AF include stabilizing the patient's hemodynamic status, symptom control, treatment of the underlying and precipitating cause, and more importantly protecting the brain.

Clinical Pathways for Non-ST Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome in Oman: An Oman Heart Association Protocol for Hospital Quality Improvement Initiative.

In 2012, Oman Heart Association (OHA) published its own guidelines for the management of patients with unstable angina/non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction, the aim was not to be comprehensive but rather simplified and practical in order to reduce the gap between the long comprehensive guidelines and our actual practice. However, we still feel that the busy registrars and residents need simpler and direct clinical pathways or protocol to be used in the emergency departments, coronary care units and in the wards. Clinical pathways are now one of the main tools used to manage the quality in healthcare concerning the standardization of care processes. It has been shown that their implementation reduces the variability in clinical practice and improves outcomes in acute care.

2012 Oman Heart Association simplified guidelines for the management of patients with unstable angina/non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Although current practice guidelines provide an evidence-based approach to the management of acute coronary syndromes, application of the evidence by individual physicians has been suboptimal. This gap between comprehensive guidelines and actual practice stimulated Oman Heart Association to issue a simplified series for the management of the common cardiac abnormalities to be applied by the entire cardiac caregivers all over the country. This simplified approach for the management of non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome provides a practical and systematic means to implement evidence-based medicine into clinical practice.

Asymptomatic Permanent Left Bundle Branch Block (LBBB) complicating Diagnostic Left Heart Catheterisation.

This case report describes a routine diagnostic left heart catheterisation (coronary angiography, aortography and left ventriculography) procedure at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman, which was complicated by the development of new asymptomatic, but permanent, left bundle branch block that was observed incidentally towards the end of the procedure. The patient was completely asymptomatic and haemodynamically stable throughout the procedure and afterwards. Urgent investigations, immediately after the procedure, including routine blood, serial cardiac troponin I, serial electrocardiograms, chest X-ray, and urgent echocardiography were normal and failed to show any possible causation of the LBBB. The results of left heart catheterisation showed two vessel coronary artery disease and severe mitral valve regurgitation. After eight days, the patient went on to have coronary artery bypass surgery and mitral valve replacement surgery both of which were successful. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report to describe the occurrence of permanent LBBB after left heart catheterisation. This report describes the case and reviews the literature for the incidence and implications of such a complication.

Comparative study of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and clinic blood pressure measurement in the risk assessment and management of hypertension.

OBJECTIVES: Blood pressure (BP) measurements taken in a physician's clinic do not represent readings throughout the day. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) overcomes this problem by providing multiple readings with minimal interference with the patient's daily activities. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the value of ABPM in risk assessment and management of hypertension compared to office measurements. METHODS: A total of 104 consecutive hypertensive patients were retrospectively studied from January 2007 to December 2009. The following data were gathered: 1) clinic BP measurements; 2) routine blood test results; 3) electrocardiography, echocardiography, and 4) 24-hour ABPM. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 41.1 ± 8.6 years and 51.9% of them male. Indications for ABPM were: suspected "white coat" hypertension (10.6%), de novo hypertension (18.2%), resistant hypertension (27.9%) and others (43.3%). Mean daytime and nighttime BP were 134/82 and 124/73 mmHg respectively. A non-dipping pattern was reported in 64.4%. Echocardiographic evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) was encountered in 22.1% and 29.8% respectively. ABPM parameters were significantly correlated with LVDD (P = 0.043). Patients with proved "white coat" hypertension did not receive antihypertensive therapy. CONCLUSION: Twenty-four hour ABPM is an important yet underused tool for proper risk stratification of treated hypertensive patients. The non-dipping profile is associated with a higher incidence of diastolic dysfunction. Our collective results revealed the superiority of ABPM over office BP measurement.

Treatment of vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) endocarditis with linezolid.

We report a case of infective endocarditis due to vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA). This was treated with a combination of intravenous linezolid and fusidic acid. Cure was achieved without surgical intervention.

Diagnostic Value of Electrocardiographic T Wave Inversion in Lead aVL in Diagnosing Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with Chronic Stable Angina.

OBJECTIVES: The clinical value of T wave inversion in lead aVL in diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD) remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the correlation between aVL T wave inversion and CAD in patients with chronic stable angina. METHODS: Electrocardiograms (ECGs) of 257 consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography were analyzed. All patients had chronic stable angina. All patients with secondary T wave inversion had been excluded (66 patients). The remaining 191 patients constituted the study population. Detailed ECG interpretation and coronary angiographic findings were conducted by experienced cardiologists. RESULTS: T wave inversion in aVL was identified in 89 ECGs (46.8%) with definite ischemic Q-ST-T changes in different leads in 97 ECGs (50.8%). Stand alone aVL T wave inversion was found in 27 ECGs (14.1%) while ischemic changes in other leads with normal aVL were identified in 36 ECGs (18.8%). The incidence of CAD was 86.3%. Single, two- and multi-vessel CAD were found in 38.8%, 28.5% and 32.7% of cases respectively. The prevalence of left main, left anterior descending, left circumflex and right coronary arteries were 4.7%, 61.2%, 29.3% and 44.5%, respectively. T wave inversion in aVL was found to be the only ECG variable significantly predicting mid segment left anterior descending artery (LAD) lesions (Odds Ratio 2.93, 95% Confidence Interval 1.59-5.37, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: This study provides new information relating to T wave inversion in lead aVL to mid segment LAD lesions. Implication of this simple finding may help in bedside diagnosis of CAD typically mid LAD lesions. However, further studies are needed to corroborate this finding.

Retrieval of Dislodged Central Venous Pressure Catheters: Early experience with three case presentations.

Central venous catheters (CVP) are frequently used in clinical practice. Occasionally, catheters may become dislodged. If percutaneous retrieval fails, then cardiothoracic surgery is necessary to retrieve the fractured catheter and avoid potential complications. This report describes early experiences of three different modes of broken catheter retrieval: the first by use of a snare catheter; the second by surgery and the third during bypass surgery. We conclude that broken fragments of catheters that lodge in the right side of the heart or pulmonary circulation can be retrieved most of the time percutaneously by snare catheters.

Comparative study of the radial and femoral artery approaches for diagnostic coronary angiography.

OBJECTIVES: Femoral artery access is the standard approach for coronary procedures; however, the radial approach has gained sound recognition as an alternative to femoral access. We present our early experience with the transradial approach. METHODS: A prospective, non-randomised study of 221 candidates for diagnostic coronary angiography was carried out at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman between December 2008 and April 2009. The patients had their procedure performed from radial or femoral access according to operator discretion and the results were compared. Femoral and radial groups included 116 and 105 patients respectively. RESULTS: Radial access was associated with a significantly higher rate of procedural failure (17.1%) versus 0% in femoral group (p = 0.001). There were no local vascular complications in the radial group as opposed to 12.1% in the femoral group (p < 0.01). Hospital length of stay was significantly reduced in the radial group (4.06 versus 23.5 hours, p < 0.01). Total procedure time was longer in the radial group (23.7 ± 13.7 min versus 20.1 ± 7.4 min, p < 0.001), but radiation exposure was similar in both groups. There was a trend for a higher risk of major adverse cardiac events noticed in the femoral group; however, it did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The transradial approach for coronary angiography is associated with significantly reduced local vascular complications and shorter hospital stays. The femoral approach is the standard access site for coronary angiography; however, interventional cardiologists should acquire experience in the radial approach as an alternative in specific situations.