Asymptomatic migration of an AMPLATZER™ Amulet™ left atrial appendage occluder through the mitral valve.

An 84-year-old woman with a history of hemorrhagic stroke was admitted for a new cerebral ischemic event. While in hospital, she was diagnosed with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Owing to her high thromboembolic risk (CHA2 DS2 -VASc score of 6) we performed left atrial appendage (LAA) closure using a 22-mm AMPLATZER™ Amulet™. The procedure was successful. Systematic follow-up with transthoracic echocardiography 8 hr later revealed that the LAA occluder had migrated and become entrapped in the mitral subvalvular apparatus. At this time, the patient was asymptomatic. The device was recovered percutaneously using a loop-snare catheter, with no further complications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Recovery of Ventriculo-Atrial Conduction after Adrenaline in Patients Implanted with Pacemakers.

BACKGROUND: Ventriculo-atrial (VA) conduction can have negative consequences for patients with implanted pacemakers and defibrillators. There is concern whether impaired VA conduction could recover during stressful situations. Although the influence of isoproterenol and atropine are well established, the effect of adrenaline has not been studied systematically. The objective of this study was to determine if adrenaline can facilitate recovery of VA conduction in patients implanted with pacemakers. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted on 61 consecutive patients during a 4-month period (April-July 2014). The presence of VA conduction was assessed during the pacemaker implantation procedure. In case of an impaired VA conduction, adrenaline infusio was used as a stress surrogate to test conduction recovery. RESULTS: The indications for pacemaker implantation were: sinus node dysfunction in 18 patients, atrioventricular (AV) block in 40 patients, binodal dysfunction (sinus node+ AV node) in two patients and other (carotid sinus syndrome) in one patient. In the basal state, 15/61 (24.6%) presented spontaneous VA conduction and 46/61 (75.4%) had no VA conduction. After administration of adrenaline, there was VA conduction recovery in 5/46 (10.9%) patients. CONCLUSIONS: Adrenaline infusion produced recovery of VA conduction in 10.9% of patients with absent VA conduction in a basal state. Recovery of VA conduction during physiological or pathological stresses could be responsible for the pacemaker syndrome, PMT episodes, or certain implantable cardiac defibrillator detection issues.

At least seven days delayed stenting using minimalist immediate mechanical intervention (MIMI) in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: the SUPER-MIMI study.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to ascertain whether a minimalist immediate mechanical intervention (MIMI) aiming to restore an optimal Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow in the culprit artery, followed ≥7 days later by a second percutaneous coronary intervention with intentional stenting, is safe in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and large thrombotic burden. METHODS AND RESULTS: SUPER-MIMI was a prospective, observational trial conducted between January 2014 and April 2015 in 14 French centres. A total of 155 patients were enrolled. The pharmacological therapy was left to the operator's discretion. Eighty-one patients (52.3%) had glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPI) initiated before the end of the first procedure. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) delay between the two procedures was eight (seven to 12) days. Infarct-related artery reocclusion between the two procedures (primary endpoint) occurred in two patients (1.3%), neither of whom received GPI treatment. TIMI flow was maintained or improved between the end of the first procedure and the beginning of the second procedure in all patients. Thrombotic burden and stenosis severity diminished significantly between the two procedures. Stents were ultimately implanted in 97 patients (62.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Deferred stenting (≥7 days) in patients with a high thrombus burden was safe on a background of GPI therapy.

Idiopathic ventricular premature contractions originating from the postero-lateral tricuspid annulus leading to left ventricular disfunction.

A 19-year-old patient with premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) more than 30% on 24 hours was addressed for catheter ablation. Echocardiography showed left ventricular (LV) dilation and systolic dysfunction with 37% of ejection fraction. The patient underwent investigations including cardiac magnetic resonance (MRI) with no other cause of cardiomyopathy being found. Successful ablation of the postero-lateral tricuspid annulus ectopic focus using conventional radiological guiding resulted in normalization of the LV size and contractility. No PVCs were found at follow-up. To our knowledge, this is the first report of PVCs originating in the postero-lateral tricuspid annulus resulting in LV dysfunction.