Intracardiac echocardiography to guide percutaneous closure of atrial baffle defects.

BACKGROUND: Patients with complex congenital heart disease may require surgical construction of interatrial baffles to shunt blood between atria. Long-term complications of these procedures may include stenosis or leak of the baffle, typically along the suture line. There are limited data on transcatheter management and intraprocedural imaging of these anatomically complex lesions. METHODS: We describe three cases of adults who each presented with baffle leaks more than 20 years after surgical construction of an atrial baffle. In each case, intracardiac echocardiography was essential for intraprocedural guidance, sizing of the defect, and successful percutaneous deployment of an Amplatzer septal occluder device to close the baffle leak. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: One patient had a baffle leak along the inferior surface of the baffle suture line; the second patient had a baffle leak along the superior border with the left atrium; the third patient had a leak along the sutures of surgical shunt for an anomalous pulmonary vein. Percutaneous closure was successful in all cases, with deployment of an Amplatzer occluder device in each case. Intracardiac echocardiography may be may be useful for procedural guidance during percutaneous closure of atrial baffle defects.

Clinical outcomes based on completeness of revascularisation in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: a meta-analysis of multivessel coronary artery disease studies.

AIMS: Most studies investigating completeness of revascularisation and outcomes for multivessel disease (MVD) patients are limited by small sample size. METHODS AND RESULTS: We searched PUBMED, Cochrane and EMBASE for studies comparing outcomes of MVD patients with complete revascularisation (CR) vs. incomplete revascularisation (IR) in the stent era. We identified nine studies that met our selection criteria. Compared to IR, patients undergoing CR had significantly lower risk of mortality (relative risk (RR): 0.82; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.68-0.99; p=0.05), non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) (RR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.53-0.84; p <0.01) and subsequent coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) (RR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.52-0.95; p=0.02) whereas no difference was noted in the incidence of repeat percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (RR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.69-1.11; p=0.28). Average weighted follow up was approximately 29 months for mortality, subsequent CABG and Repeat PCI whereas it was 19 months for non-fatal MI. The results were similar after excluding the only RCT or the one study restricted to diabetics or the study restricted to drug-eluting stent use. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with multivessel coronary disease, complete revascularisation with PCI may be associated with better outcomes than incomplete revascularisation.

Comparison of a chromogenic factor X assay with international normalized ratio for monitoring oral anticoagulation therapy.

The purpose of the present study was to compare the international normalized ratio with a chromogenic factor X (CFX) assay for monitoring patients on oral anticoagulant therapy using the DiaPharma CFX method on a STA-R Evolution coagulation analyzer. International normalized ratio values were correlated with the CFX for determining normal, subtherapeutic, therapeutic and supratherapeutic ranges for these patients. Specimens were analyzed and grouped as normal or patients on oral anticoagulant therapy with international normalized ratios of less than 2.0, 2.0-3.0, and more than 3.0. Three hundred and nine randomly selected oral anticoagulant therapy patients were tested. The range of international normalized ratio and CFX in oral anticoagulant therapy patients was 0.92-12.76 and 9-132%, respectively. CFX was inversely related to international normalized ratio; R = 0.964 (P < 0.0001) (CFX = 13.2 + (5.3/international normalized ratio) + (81.3/international normalized ratio). Results by group were as follows: normal (n = 30), CFX range 72-131%, mean CFX 96%; international normalized ratio less than 2.0 (n = 70), CFX range 32-132%, mean CFX 53%; international normalized ratio 2.0-3.0 (n = 135), CFX range 18-48%, mean CFX 28%; international normalized ratio more than 3.0 (n = 104), CFX range 9-46%, mean CFX 21%. Sensitivity and specificity crossed at a CFX of 35.5%, which yielded a sensitivity of 91.7% and a specificity of 91.9% for discriminating international normalized ratio of at least 2.0. Area under the curve on receiver-operator curve using international normalized ratio was 0.984 (P < 0.001). In this randomly selected group of oral anticoagulant therapy patients and normal individuals at varying levels of anticoagulation, CFX correlated well with international normalized ratio as determined by R = 0.964. The data suggests that the CFX can be a useful tool for monitoring oral anticoagulation in patient populations in which confounders to international normalized ratio may be present. Further investigation with the use of CFX for monitoring is warranted in large patient populations on oral anticoagulant therapy, including follow-up for clinical outcomes.

Abciximab-induced alveolar hemorrhage after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Abciximab, a platelet glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitor, has been shown to improve clinical outcomes in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. However, there is a well-documented increase in bleeding risk associated with the use of this agent. Spontaneous pulmonary hemorrhage is a particularly rare and easily misdiagnosed complication that requires early diagnosis to ensure patient survival. A 61-year-old man presented to the emergency department with chest pain and inferolateral ST elevation on electrocardiogram. A paclitaxel drug-eluting stent was then placed in the left circumflex artery, without complications. Abciximab (a bolus of 0.25 mg/kg followed by an infusion of 10 mg/min for 12 h) was given. Approximately 20 min later, the patient developed dyspnea and hemoptysis. A chest radiograph revealed new bilateral diffuse interstitial infiltrates, and the patient was started on empirical antibiotics for pneumonia. Because of increasing dyspnea and somnolence, the patient was intubated and bronchoscopy was performed, revealing serial hemorrhagic returns from the left lower lobe, diagnostic of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage and judged to be secondary to abciximab, given the time course. All antiplatelet and antithrombotic agents were stopped. The patient stabilized over the next several days, with some recurrent hemoptysis, and was successfully extubated seven days later. Prognosis remains poor in GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor-induced pulmonary hemorrhage, and early diagnosis is critical so that antithrombotic and antiplatelet agents may be discontinued in a timely manner. A high degree of suspicion is required when treating a patient who presents with dyspnea and new radiological infiltrates after receiving a GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor.

Relation of the use of lipid-lowering medications prior to percutaneous coronary intervention to the incidence of intraprocedural adverse angiographic events.

The use of lipid-lowering medications at the time of percutaneouscoronary intervention (PCI) has been shown to have a favorable effect on rates of cardiac enzyme elevation and major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), but the effect of these medications on angiographically identifiable intraprocedural coronary events during PCI has not previously been investigated. A retrospective review of 81 patients was performed and demonstrated that the use of lipid-lowering medications at the time of PCI was associated with a reduced incidence of angiographically identifiable intraprocedural events (odds ratio 0.13, 95% confidence interval 0.04 to 0.40). A multivariate analysis revealed that lipid-lowering medications and hyperlipidemia did not predict MACEs independent of the occurrence of these angiographic events.