Unmasking a Silent Threat: Office-Based Diagnosis of an Ascending Aortic Dissection With Transthoracic Echocardiography.

Type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is a potentially life-threatening diagnosis that can present with elusive symptomatology. A high degree of clinical suspicion is necessary for prompt diagnosis and management. We describe a case of a transthoracic echo (TTE) in a non-suspicious clinic patient diagnosed with TAAD. A 66-year-old Caucasian male presented for a routine clinic visit with one episode of acute severe chest pain. An echocardiogram was ordered for further workup of hypertension and chest discomfort. The echocardiogram demonstrated an ejection fraction of 60% without significant valvular abnormalities. There was suspicion of aortic pathology, which required multiple attending to review the images. The final interpretation was TAAD with a thrombus present in the false lumen. The patient then presented to the Emergency Department. A computed tomographic angiography was performed, which subsequently confirmed the TAAD. The patient was admitted to the cardiovascular ICU and ultimately underwent a successful repair of the dissection. The patient had an unremarkable post-operative course and was ultimately discharged home. Our case demonstrated a diagnosis of TAAD by office-based TTE as the original imaging modality. While this was unconventional, a TAAD should remain on the differential diagnosis when being ordered for the patient's with uncontrolled hypertension with chest pain as a presenting symptom.

Balloon-Assisted Thrombin Injection of a Profunda Femoral Pseudoaneurysm Using Radial Access.

The profunda femoral artery is an uncommon location for a pseudoaneurysm and is technically challenging to resolve with traditional techniques, such as ultrasound-guided compression or thrombin injection, owing to its deep anatomical location. Balloon-assisted thrombin injection (BATI) is a technique that has been shown to be effective using contralateral access for technically difficult pseudoaneurysms in high-risk surgical patients. We report a case of BATI using radial access in a patient with a profunda femoral artery pseudoaneurysm.

Chemoradiotherapy for patients with locally advanced or unresectable extra-hepatic biliary cancer.

BACKGROUND: Although surgical resection is the preferred curative-intent treatment option for patients with non-metastatic, extra-hepatic biliary cancer (EBC), radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT) may be utilized in select cases when surgical resection is not feasible. The purpose of this study is to report the efficacy and adverse events (AEs) associated with CRT for patients with locally advanced and unresectable EBC. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with EBC, including extra-hepatic cholangiocarcinoma or gallbladder cancer, deemed inoperable who received RT between 1998 and 2018. The median RT dose was 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions and 94% received concurrent 5-fluorouracil. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) from the start of RT. The cumulative incidence of local progression (LP), locoregional progression (LRP), and distant metastasis (DM) were reported with death as a competing risk. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess for correlation between patient and treatment characteristics and outcomes. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients were included for analysis. The median OS was 12.0 months [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.3-73.2 months]. The 2-, 3-, and 5-year OS were 33% (95% CI: 22-50%), 20% (95% CI: 11-36%), and 7% (95% CI: 2-20%), respectively. The 2-year PFS, LP, LRP, and DM were 21% (95% CI: 12-36%), 27% (95% CI: 17-44%), 31% (95% CI: 20-48%), and 33% (95% CI: 22-50%), respectively. On univariate analysis, biologically effective dose (BED) >59.5 Gy10 was associated with improved OS [hazard ratio (HR): 0.40, 95% CI: 0.18-0.92, P=0.03] and PFS (HR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.16-0.84, P=0.02) and primary tumor size (per 1 cm increase) was associated with worsened PFS (HR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.02-1.63, P=0.04). BED >59.5 Gy10 remained associated with PFS on multivariate analysis (HR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.15-0.78, P=0.01). Treatment-related grade 3+ acute and late gastrointestinal AEs occurred in 13% and 17% of patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: RT is associated with 3- and 5-year survival in a subset of patients with unresectable EBC. Further exploration of the role of RT as part of a multi-modality curative treatment strategy is warranted.

Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation With Concomitant Impella Versus Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Cardiogenic Shock.

There are contrasting data on concomitant Impella device in cardiogenic shock patients treated with venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) (ECPELLA). This study sought to compare early mortality in patients with cardiogenic shock treated with ECPELLA in comparison to VA ECMO alone. We reviewed the published literature from 2000 to 2018 for randomized, cohort, case-control, and case series studies evaluating adult patients requiring VA ECMO for cardiogenic shock. Five retrospective observational studies, representing 425 patients, were included. Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with concomitant Impella strategy was used in 27% of the patients. Median age across studies varied between 51 and 63 years with 59-88% patients being male. Use of ECPELLA was associated with higher weaning from VA ECMO and bridging to permanent ventricular assist device or cardiac transplant in three and four studies, respectively. The studies showed moderate heterogeneity with possible publication bias. The two studies that accounted for differences in baseline characteristics between treatment groups reported lower 30 day mortality with ECPELLA versus VA ECMO. The remaining three studies did not adjust for potential confounding and were at high risk for selection bias. In conclusion, ECPELLA is being increasingly used as a strategy in patients with cardiogenic shock. Additional large, high-quality studies are needed to evaluate clinical outcomes with ECPELLA.

Concomitant Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump Use in Cardiogenic Shock Requiring Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

BACKGROUND: There are contrasting reports on the effectiveness of a concomitant intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) in cardiogenic shock patients treated with veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). This study sought to compare short-term mortality in patients with cardiogenic shock treated with VA-ECMO with and without IABP. METHODS AND RESULTS: We reviewed the published literature from 2000 to 2018 for studies evaluating adult patients requiring VA-ECMO for cardiogenic shock with concomitant IABP. Studies reporting short-term mortality were included. Meta-analysis of the association of IABP with mortality was performed using Mantel-Haenszel models. Subgroup analyses were performed in patients with cardiogenic shock complicating acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock. Twenty-two observational studies with 4653 patients were included. These studies showed high heterogeneity for the total and postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock cohorts and low heterogeneity for the AMI cohort. Short-term mortality was not significantly different in patients with and without IABP 42.1% versus 57.8%; risk ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.52-1.22; P=0.30. However, concomitant IABP with VA-ECMO was associated with lower mortality in patients with AMI (50.8% versus 62.4%; risk ratio, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.46-0.67; P<0.001). There was no difference in mortality in postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock and mixed causes for cardiogenic shock. CONCLUSIONS: In cardiogenic shock patients requiring VA-ECMO support, the use of IABP did not influence mortality in the total cohort. In patients with AMI, use of IABP with VA-ECMO was associated with 18.5% lower mortality in comparison to patients on VA-ECMO alone. Further randomized studies are warranted to corroborate these observational data.