Two-dimensional echocardiographic recognition of an aortic intimal flap prolapsing into the left ventricular outflow tract.

A 59 year old man presented with dyspnea and a new murmur of aortic regurgitation. Two-dimensional echocardiography demonstrated a to and fro motion of the intimal flap as it prolapsed into the left ventricle and was thrust into the aorta during diastole and systole, respectively. At surgery, the echocardiographic and angiographic findings were confirmed and a proximal aortic dissection was identified. Prolapse of an intimal flap from the aorta into the left ventricular outflow tract represents a new two-dimensional echocardiographic sign of aortic dissection.

Survival following spontaneous ventricular flutter-fibrillation associated with QT syndrome. Documentation during ambulatory monitoring.

A 56-year-old woman complaining of recurrent syncope was admitted to the coronary care unit after a fainting episode. Three days of continuous monitoring indicated prolongation of the QT interval and occasional premature ventricular beats. After transfer to another hospital wing, the patient was given ambulatory status. On the fifth day, while wearing a Holter monitor recorder, the patient lost consciousness. Review of the ambulatory ECG demonstrated multiple premature ventricular beats and an episode of paroxysmal ventricular flutter-fibrillation. The ventricular arrhythmias were correlated with telephone calls. It is concluded that (1) prolonged monitoring be performed in such subjects, and (2) the absence of ventricular tachyarrhythmias on repeated ECG recording should not preclude pharmacologic intervention in patients with the prolonged QT interval syndrome, ventricular ectopy, and a history of recurrent syncope.

Maternal meconium granulomatous peritonitis.

A 32-year-old woman underwent cesarean section because of fetal distress. Meconium spilled into the incision during delivery. The patient subsequently had a fever, right-sided pleuritic chest pain, a right lower lobe infiltrate, and a pleural effusion. Exploratory laparotomy disclosed intra-abdominal fibrosis with inflammatory mass formation. A biopsy specimen showed a granulomatous reaction around the bile-staining material similar to meconium. The patient was treated with prednisone, and her symptoms abated. During the next four years, episodes of fever, abdominal discomfort, and pleuritis recurred, which eventually responded to indomethacin therapy.

Atrial flutter associated with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. A case report.

An obese 57-year-old man with the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome had partial tracheostomy occlusion and palpitations. Continuous ECG monitoring demonstrated atrial flutter, occasional premature ventricular beats, and a high degree of atrioventricular block during apneic episodes. A 7-s period of ventricular asystole was demonstrated during one such episode. Revision of the tracheostomy produced an improvement in the patient's condition.

Relief of angina pectoris in patients with occluded coronary bypass grafts.

Thirty-two patients from a larger series of subjects undergoing routine postoperative evaluation of the aortocoronary saphenous bypass graft procedure were found to have one (20 patients) or all (12 patients) of the implanted grafts totally occluded. Such occlusion occurred in association with persistent postoperative subjective improvement manifested by a significant diminution or complete disappearance of angina pectoris. Postoperative myocardial infarction was documented in only seven cases, and the possibility of successful partial revascularization could be logically applied to only 20 of these 32 patients. Other suggested mechanisms for relief of angina pectoris in this setting are mentioned, although none is scientifically proved. It is concluded that (1) the marked subjective improvement documented in this population does not universally correlate with anatomic success and that (2) a diminution in the degree of angina pectoris cannot be clinically applied as a reliable indicator of postoperative graft patency.

Coxsackie B5 heart disease. Demonstration of inferolateral wall myocardial necrosis.

A case of Coxsackie B5 viral myopericarditis is presented in which the diagnosis of inferolateral wall myocardial necrosis was made on the basis of specific cardiac enzyme changes and radionuclide myocardial imaging. This localized damage may have resulted from coronary arteritis with resulting infarction or necrosis secondary to preferential viral involvement of the inferolateral wall of the myocardium. Hepatitis and cerebral embolism complicated the case, with the latter suggesting endocardial disease.

Phasic aortocoronary bypass graft blood velocity during ventricular arrhythmias in man.

With use of the Doppler ultrasonic flowmeter catheter, phasic aortocoronary bypass graft blood velocity was measured in 16 conscious subjects during ventricular arrhythmias. Ventricular extrasystoles reduced peak systolic and diastolic graft blood velocities by 20 to 80 percent, generally in relation to their respective coupling intervals. When extrasystoles appeared in closely coupled salvos diastolic bypass blood velocity virtually ceased. Nineteen episodes of ventricular tachycardia produced an average 50 percent decrease in peak graft blood velocity (control mean +/- 1 standard deviation blood velocity 28 +/- 11 cm/sec; value during ventricular tachycardia 14 +/- 8 cm/sec, P less than 0.001). An "overshoot" of peak blood velocity was observed after ventricular extrasystoles and tachycardia. All such changes in aortocoronary bypass blood velocity related to tachyarrhythmia were more prominent during the systolic fraction of flow. It is concluded that (1) ventricular arrhythmias adversely influence aortocoronary bypass graft function, and (2) this finding supports an aggressive approach to the treatment of these arrhythmias in subjects with bypass grafts.

Advances in clinical vectorcardiography.

With use of the Frank lead system, still loop and timed vectorcardiograms were recorded in more than 5,000 patients sujected to complete right and left hear catheterization and selective coronary cine angiography. Data so obtianed demonstrated clincila superiority of the vectorcardiogram over the standard 12 lead scalar electrocardiogram. Specific advantages of the vectorcardiogram include (1) recognititin of undetected atrial and ventrcular hypertropy, (2) greater sensitivity in identification of myocardial infaraction, and (3) superior capability for diagnosis of multiple infaractions in the presnece of fascicular and burnany number of simultaneously recoreded electrocardiographic leadsfor the analysis of complex arrhythmias and beat to beat changes in intraventricula conduction. SINCE THE VALIDITY AND USEFULNESS OF THIS TECHNIQUE HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED, IT SHOULD BECOME PART OF THE ROUTINE NONINVASIVE EVALUATION OF PATIENTS WITH CARDIOVASCULAR DISORDERS.

Phasic left ventricular blood velocity alternans in man.

With the use of the Doppler ultrasonic flowmeter catheter, phasic instantaneous left ventricular blood flow velocity was measured by radiotelemetry in 28 subjects during pacemaker-evoked pulsus alternans. Blood velocity alternation was more manifest at faster pacing rates. Four patients demonstrated diastolic blood velocity alternans at the mitral valve. Discordant right heart pressure and left ventricular blood velocity alternation was recorded in three subjects. In one such patient, rate-related shifts of concordant and discordant left ventricular blood velocity alternans occurred. Intermediate or variant forms of alternation, comprising weak and strong beats in a ratio of 2:1, were noted in two subjects. This study provides the first comprehensive description of left ventricular blood velocity alternans in man. The observed phenomena may be related to an altered inotropic state or to beat to beat variations in end-diastolic fiber length.

Right ventricular volume in congenital heart disease.

With use of the Frank lead system, still loop and timed vectorcardiograms were recorded in more than 5,000 patients subjected to complete right and left heart catheterization and selective coronary cineangiography. Data so obtained demonstrated clinical superiority of the vectorcardiogram over the standard 12 lead scalar electrocardiogram. Specific advantages of the vectorcardiogram include (1) recognition of undetected atrial and ventricular hypertrophy, (2) greater sensitivity in identification of myocardial infarction, and (3) superior capability for diagnosis of multiple infarctions in the presence of fascicular and bundle branch blocks. The timed biplane vectorcardiogram is as useful as any number of simultaneously recorded electrocardiographic leads for the analysis of complex arrhythmias and beat to beat changes in intraventricular conduction. Since the validity and usefulness of this technique have been established, it should become part of the routine noninvasive evaluation of patients with cardiovascular disorders.

Relation between apexcardiographic a wave and posterior aortic wall motion.

Left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, an apexcardiogram and an aortic root echocardiogram were recorded in 24 patients. Eleven patients (46%) had a ratio of atrial to total amplitude (a/OE ratio) greater than 14% in the apexcardiogram, and all patients had a left atrial systolic posterior aortic wall motion after the conduit period that was greater than 50% of the total posterior aortic wall excursion as measured from the O to V points (A/OV ratio) on the echocardiogram. Only 2 of 24 patients (8%) had an echographic A/OV ratio greater than 0.5 with an apexcardiographic a/OE ratio of less than 14%. There was a significantly (P less than 0.001) high degree of positive correlation between the apexcardiographic a/OE ratio and the echographic A/OV ratio (r = 0.81), the a/OE ratio and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (r = 0.82), and the A/OV ratio and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (r = 0.75). It is concluded that the amplitude of posterior aortic root motion during atrial systole in relation to total posterior aortic wall motion may provide a useful index for the noninvasive assessment of left ventricular compliance and end-diastolic pressure.

Phonocardiographic findings in patients with normally functioning Ionescu-Shiley prostheses.

Phonocardiographic findings are reported in 19 patients with normally functioning Ionescu-Shiley prostheses in the mitral or aortic position. Opening clicks were recorded in all 8 patients with mitral prostheses at a mean second heart sound (A2) to opening click interval of 94 ms. In 9 subjects, apical systolic murmurs were found. All 11 patients with the prosthesis in the aortic position had systolic ejection murmurs. Opening clicks were observed in 8 patients with a mean Q wave to opening click interval of 125 ms; closing clicks were found in 9 of 11. No diastolic murmurs occurred in this group. These acoustic characteristics serve as a reference source for the noninvasive evaluation of the bovine pericardial prosthesis.

Slow filling period/rapid filling period ratio in the apexcardiogram: relation to the diagnosis of coronary artery disease.

Apexcardiograms were performed in 68 consecutive patients who had either normal findings or coronary artery disease on cardiac catheterization. The height of the a wave in relation to the total apexcardiographic deflection (a/H) and the duration of both the rapid (RFW) and the slow (SFW) filling periods were determined in each case. The patients were classified into three gorups: I, no evidence of heart disease on catheterization; II, significant coronary artery disease with elevated left ventricular end-diastolic pressure; and III, coronary artery disease with normal filling pressure. There was a significant difference (P less than 0.001) between the SFW/RFW values (mean +/- 1 standard deviation) in control subject (group I, 2.3 +/- 0.5) and in subjects with coronary artery disease (group II, 4.7 +/- 1.6 and group III, 4 +/- 1.7). Setting the upper limit of normal for SFW/RFW at 2.8 (mean + 1 standard deviation) identified 94 percent of patients, in group II, 71 percent of patients in group III and 86 percent of all patients with coronary disease (group II plus group III). This sensitivity appeared greater than that of the a/H ratio. Only 2 of 17 patients (12 percent) without coronary atherosclerosis had an SFW/RFW ratio greater than 2.8. It is concluded that (1) the slow/rapid filling period ratio is a useful noninvasive measurement for identifying subjects with ischemic heart disease; (2) the increased values for slow/rapid filling period ratio associated with obstructive coronary lesions may be caused by impairment of early left ventricular distensibility; and (3) this ratio should be determined in patients with other forms of heart disease to determine its specificity.

R on T or R on P phenomenon? Relation to the genesis of ventricular tachycardia.

Continuous electrocardiographic monitoring of 225 patients with acute myocardial infarction was performed during the initial 48 hours after admission. Two hundred twelve episodes of ventricular tachycardia occurred in 49 subjects, and 8 patients had primary ventricular fibrillation. Most cases of ventricular tachycardia were associated with late coupling of premature ventricular complexes. Of the 212 instances of ventricular tachycardia, 42 (20 percent) were initiated by a premature complex on the T wave (R on T) (R-R'/Q-T less than 1), and 93 (44 percent) had initiating premature complexes that occurred directly after onset of the sinus P wave (R on P). Of eight episodes of ventricular fibrillation, seven were initiated by a premature ventricular complex and in four of these there was associated R on T phenomenon. The influence of atrial contraction and myocardial stretch on reentry or ectopy is proposed as a possible explanation for the relatively high incidence rate of ventricular tachycardia observed after the onset of the sinus P wave.

M-Mode and 2-dimensional echocardiographic characteristics of the Ionescu-Shiley valve in the mitral and aortic positions.

Using M-mode and 2-dimensional (2-D) echocardiography, ultrasonic features of the Ionescu-Shiley valve were characterized. A number 23 prosthesis was placed in a saline-filled chamber and subjected to pulsatile flow. Production of a linear tear at the base of a cusp resulted in coarse fluttering in the open position, and there was a reduction in the anterior cusp slope. Partial detachment of a cusp from its stent produced high-amplitude low-frequency fluttering during ejection. Alteration of transducer position eliminated the abnormal echoes. Fourteen patients with aortic and 11 with mitral prostheses were studied. There was a close approximation of echographically determined values for the bare stent internal diameter, cusp excursion, and valve orifice diameter compared with the manufacturer's specifications. Random punctiform echoes were noted when the cusps opened. Cusp echoes were superimposed on stent echoes in 21% of patients, and a third cusp was detected in 29%. Two-dimensional echocardiograms of good quality were recorded in the vast majority of subjects. Cusp echoes were smooth and had a consistent motion in both the short and longitudinal axis. Multiple transducer positions were required to delineate prosthetic components with optimal clarity. It is concluded that (1) M-mode and 2-D echocardiography is useful in assessing Ionescu-Shiley valve function, (2) in vitro valve tears or detachment produces characteristic cusp fluttering, (3) careful attention to transducer positions is necessary to record high-quality valve images, and (4) these findings represent a data base for the longitudinal follow-up study of patients with the Ionescu-Shiley valve.

Correlation of electrocardiogram and vectorcardiogram with coronary occlusion and myocardial contraction abnormality.

Electrocardiograms and Frank vectorcardiograms were recorded in 156 consecutive patients with total occlusion of at least one coronary artery (on arteriography) and associated left ventricular contraction abnormality (on ventriculography). The angiograms and cardiograms were independently reviewed. In the presence of single vessel occlusion, appropriate vectorcardiographic diagnosis of myocardial infarction was determined in 118 of 156 cases (76 percent) compared with a lower electrocardiographic detection rate in 77 of 156 cases (49 percent). Findings diagnostic of two coexisting infarctions were observed in 71 percent of vectorcardiograms and 37 percent of electrocardiograms in 51 patients with double vessel occlusion and two areas of left ventricular dyskinesia. The vectorcardiographic detection rate was similarly superior to the electrocardiographic rate in the presence of subtotal coronary occlusion and myocardial asynergy in single (73 percent versus 53 percent) and double (53 percent versus 28 percent) vessel disease. The incidence rate of false positive diagnoses was 3 percent for electrocardiography and 4 percent for vectorcardiography. It is concluded that the vectorcardiogram is superior to the electrocardiogram in the diagnosis of obstructive coronary artery disease and left ventricular contraction abnormality.

Effect of pacemaker-induced arrhythmias on coronary blood velocity in conscious man.

With the use of the Doppler ultrasonic catheter telemetry system, phasic left coronary blood velocity was measured in 34 conscious subjects during transvenous pacemaker insertion and right ventricular endocardial pacing. Ventricular premature depolarizations and ventricular tachycardia, occurring as consequences of pacing catheter manipulation and competitive rhythms, reduced peak coronary blood velocity by approximately one halft. These findings provide insight into the genesis of sudden death associated with pacemaker insertion, competitive or repetitive arrhythmias, and pacemaker "runaway."

Blood velocity at mitral valve during atrial arrhythmias in man.

By means of the Doppler ultrasonic flowmeter catheter, phasic instantaneous left ventricular blood velocity was measured at the mitral valves of 184 conscious human subjects during atrial arrhythmias. Atrial extrasystoles and pacemaker-induced atrial tachycardias reduced peak mitral valve blood velocities in direct relation to shortened diastolic cycle length. Atrial fibrillation with irregular ventricular responses produced beat-to-beat alternations of peak mitral velocity, with smaller peak mitral blood velocities usually associated with shortened R-R intervals on the electrocardiogram. This report represents the first comprehensive description of instantaneous and continous phasic blood velocity at the mitral valve during atrial arrhythmias in man. It is concluded that atrial tachyarrhythmias exert an adverse influence on left ventricular filling velocities.

Effects of coronary artery bypass surgery on hemodynamic parameters and derived indices of myocardial function.

Pre- and postoperative hemodynamic indices were compared in 116 patients subjected to aorto-coronary bypass after an average interval of 128 days. The patients were separated into three different groups according to graft status: Group 1 (n = 77), all grafts patent; Group 2 (n = 27), one occluded graft out of two or three implanted; Group 3 (n = 12), all grafts occluded. There were no significant major changes of values so obtained in the three groups. Those subjects with initially depressed cardiac indices or elevated left ventricular end-diastolic pressures manifested a significant trend toward improvement when at least one bypass graft was patent. A reduction of cardiac index was noted in patients with occluded left anterior descending coronary grafts only in association with closure of other grafts. Deterioration of cardiac index or left ventricular end-diastolic pressure into the abnormal range was unusual in the study group, even when all grafts were occluded. It is concluded that data relating to the influence of aorto-coronary bypass on standard indices of left ventricular function can be properly interpreted only when certain subsets of patients are studied.

Retinal vascular lesions in two patients with prolapsed mitral valve leaflets.

Two patients with retinal vascular lesions had mid-late systolic clicks on cardiac auscultation, suggesting the diagnosis of prolapsed mitral valve. The first patient demonstrated an inferonasal arteriolar branch occlusion secondary to embolization; the second patient had a central vein occlusion with multiple hemorrhages, glial proliferative tissue, and retinal neovascularization. This report describes the association between the prolapsed mitral valve syndrome and retinal vascular lesions.