Acute thrombotic occlusion of right coronary and left circumflex coronary arteries in a patient with antiphospholipid syndrome: successful stent implantation.

Antiphospholipid syndrome is a rare disorder. Acute myocardial infarction is uncommon among these patients. Here we report a case of a 44-year-old man with antiphospholipid syndrome admitted for acute inferior myocardial infarction. Performed coronary angiography revealed that both the right coronary and the left circumflex coronary arteries were occluded by thrombi. We successfully performed primary angioplasty and stent implantation for both of the occluded coronary arteries. In the literature, this is the first case with antiphospholipid syndrome in which primary coronary angioplasty with stent implantation was successfully performed for two coronary arteries with acute thrombotic occlusion.

C-reactive protein in unstable angina pectoris and its relation to coronary angiographic severity and diffusion scores of coronary lesions.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the relationship between C-reactive protein (CRP) and the severity and diffusion of coronary artery lesions in patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP) and the independent association of CRP with this clinical situation. METHODS: This cross-sectional, observational study included 50 patients. Classification by Braunwald was used for UAP. The severity and diffusion of angiographic coronary disease were graded according to Reardon's modified scoring system. Plasma CRP levels were quantified by immunoturbidimetry. Nonparametric tests were used for comparison of CRP and other risk factors, and logistic regression analysis for evaluation of independent association between CRP and unstable angina pectoris. RESULTS: The severity score was 46±18 points in class IIB1 UAP, 36±20 points in class IIB2 and 53±18 points in class IIIB2 (p=0.017, class IIIB2 vs IIB2). Respectively, CRP levels were 6.6 mg/L, 3.8 mg/L and 4.8 mg/L (p=0.371, class IIB1 vs IIB2 vs IIIB2). Lesions with diffusion score 4 revealed higher CRP values than lesions with diffusion score 1 (11.1 mg/L vs 3.1 mg/L, p=0.048). Adjusting age, sex and smoking, assessment of partial correlation analysis showed a positive, moderately powerful and significant association between CRP levels and the severity and diffusion scores of the coronary lesions (r=0.30; p=0.034 and r=0.31; p=0.030, respectively) in the whole study group. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed no appreciable independent association between CRP and UAP (OR: 1.63, 95%CI: 0.90-5.63, p=0.093). CONCLUSION: Although, CRP was correlated with the severity and diffusion of angiographic coronary disease in patients with UAP, there was no independent association between CRP and clinical severity of UAP.

Echocardiographic Predictors of Symptomatic Atrial Fibrillation In Patients with Rheumatic Mitral Stenosis and Normal Sinus Rhythm.

Introduction: Rheumatic mitral stenosis (RMS) increases the risk of both atrial fibrillation (AF) and thromboembolism. Methods: Patients with mitral stenosis and normal sinus rhythm were enrolled in the study prospectively.The present study was designed to study whether echocardiographic evaluation in patients with mitral stenosis and normal sinus rhythm could predict the occurrence of symptomatic AF . RESULTS: Sixty-two patients (51 females) with mitral stenosis and normal sinus rhythm were included in the study. Seven patients (11.3%) developed symptomatic AF and the remaining 55 were free of AF during a followed-up of 22±5 months. The following echocardiographic parameters were significantly increased and predicted the development of AF; left atrial (LA) mediolateral diameter (5.5 ± 0.5 cm vs 4.7 ± 0.7 cm), right atrial mediolateral diameter (4,7 ± 1.0 cm vs 3.6 ± 1.3 cm), LA area in the apical two chamber view ( 31 ± 3.2 cm2 vs 25 ± 5.8 cm2), right atrial volume (52 ± 22 cm3 vs 34 ± 19 cm3), and interatrial conduction time (IACT) (142 ± 22 msec vs 115 ± 16 msec). Conclusions: This study revealed that echocardiography can be used to predict symptomatic AF in patients with RMS and sinus rhythm.

Is there an association between left bundle branch block and coronary slow flow in patients with normal coronary arteries?

Slow flow in angiographically normal coronary arteries is not a rarely seen problem. It is unknown whether it is related with conduction disorders. In this study we investigated the frequency of conduction disorders in patients with normal coronary artery and slow flow. The study included 36 (22 female; mean age 63 +/-11 years) patients who have normal coronary arteries and slow flow in coronary angiography. Patients' 12-lead electrocardiograms were analyzed for the presence of bundle branch block. Twenty-two of 36 patients (61%) demonstrated left bundle branch block. Twelve patients (33%) had normal intraventricular conduction. Only 2 of 36 patients (6%) had right bundle branch block. Microvascular disease has been implicated in coronary slow flow. However, according to the results of this study there is a close association between especially left bundle branch block and coronary slow flow. A causal relation should be sought between them with future studies.

Transient cortical blindness after cardiac catheterization with iobitridol.

The occurrence rate of transient cortical blindness after contrast media exposure has been reported to be as high as 1% to 4% after cerebral or vertebral angiography, but such blindness has been described in only a few cases of coronary angiography with modern, non-ionic, low-osmolality radio-contrast agents. In this study, we present a case of abrupt cortical blindness after exposure to contrast media during diagnostic coronary angiography; to our knowledge, this is the 1st report in the medical literature that describes transient cortical blindness after iobitridol use.

The time interval from the initiation of the P-wave to the start of left atrial appendage ejection flow: does it reflect interatrial conduction time?

UNLABELLED: Recurrence of atrial fibrillation is more common in patients with atrial conduction delay. In the present study, we evaluated whether findings obtained from transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), a semi-invasive method, correlate with those from an invasive method, electrophysiologic study (EPS), in measuring interatrial conduction time. METHODS AND RESULTS: We compared two methods of calculating interatrial conduction time in a group of 33 patients. The origin of the P-wave on the surface electrocardiogram (ECG) was taken as the onset of atrial activation. The time interval from this point to the commencement of the left atrial appendage ejection flow (P-LAA) was measured by TEE. Meanwhile, simultaneous recordings of the left atrial appendage were obtained with a catheter positioned in the LAA, and an invasive interatrial conduction time was measured from the origin of the surface's earliest P-wave (I-IACT). The mean I-IACT (46.27 +/- 13.25 ms) correlated strongly with the mean P-LAA (49.91 +/- 12.72 ms; r = 0.839, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The interatrial conduction time can be estimated with a relatively noninvasive method using P-LAA measurements. This technique can be applied widely in predicting AF recurrence, and appropriate therapy may be applied.

Brucella endocarditis: the importance of surgical timing after medical treatment (five cases).

INTRODUCTION: Brucella endocarditis is a disease that is hard to treat medically and has a high mortality. Immediate surgery after medical treatment is very important because delaying surgery may lead to that are difficult to repair. METHODS: Five patients who were admitted to our institution with a diagnosis of Brucella endocarditis were medically treated with doxycycline (200 mg/d), rifampin (600 mg/d), and ceftriaxone (2 g/d). Preoperative mean medical treatment time was 5.2 weeks (range, 4-6 weeks). The patients were taken for operation when their general status improved. We report in this study the results of these patients. RESULTS: Three patients had aortic valve replacement whereas 2 had both aortic and mitral valve replacements. No mortality or morbidity was encountered in the patients. Mean postoperative hospitalization time was 15 days (range, 12-19 days). The patients were discharged with doxycycline (200 mg/d) and rifampin (600 mg/d) but without antipyretic medication. Postoperative antibiotherapy was continued up to a mean of 3.6 months (range, 2-6 months). Mean postoperative follow-up time was 15.8 months. None of the patients needed hospitalization in their follow-up time. CONCLUSION: Adequate preoperative antibiotherapy, immediate surgery, and continuation of postoperative antibiotherapy according to clinical progress seem to be a convenient treatment strategy for Brucella endocarditis.