Heyde's Syndrome - An Enigma.

Heyde's syndrome (HS) is described as the association between recurrent bleeding from angiodysplasia of the gastrointestinal tract and aortic stenosis. Aortic valve replacement has been reported to stop the bleeding. In unfit patients, the options available are interventional or conservative management. We hereby report an elderly obese patient with severe comorbidity with complicated HS involving a narrow aortic root. She underwent left ventricular outlet myomectomy and aortic root replacement to promote better forward flow and prevent restenosis and recurrence of symptoms. She was discharged home symptom-free despite being on coumadin anticoagulants.

Absent pericardium and lung hypoplasia in a child with severe mitral regurgitation.

An 8-year-old girl with severe mitral regurgitation presented with symptoms of heart failure. Clinical investigations did not raise suspicion of an absent left pericardium. Congenital defects of the pericardium are rare and frequently associated with other cardiac lesions. We describe a case of severe mitral regurgitation in a child in whom an absent left-sided pericardium with hypoplasia of left lung was found incidentally during surgery to repair the mitral valve. We believe such associations with other heart diseases is usually circumstantial but can influence the perioperative morbidity, length of hospital stay, and even alter the surgical management.

Cardiac Arrest with Multi-vessel Coronary Artery Disease and Successful Treatment After Long Conventional Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: How Long Is Too Long?

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common killer disease, responsible for about one-third of all deaths at ages above 35. The majority of all survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests present to the emergency department (ED) with an initial shockable rhythm (ventricular fibrillation or pulse-less ventricular tachycardia), which is a predictor of survival. Odds for survival are less for non-shockable rhythm and favorable neurologic outcomes decrease as the length of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) increases. The median time-to-return of spontaneous circulation among those with favorable neurological outcomes is less than 10 minutes. On the other hand, a large review of more than 64,000 patients with in-hospital cardiac arrests showed that patients with longer median resuscitation times had a greater chance of the return of spontaneous circulation and survival to discharge. We described a case of prolonged resuscitation lasting almost three hours of CPR followed by successful percutaneous intervention with a favorable neurologic outcome.

Factor VII deficiency: do all need replacement for cardiac surgery?

In cardiac surgery, supplementation with recombinant factor VIIa is the treatment of choice for patients with factor VII deficiency, but overzealous administration can be associated with thromboembolic side-effects. A 53-year-old man with factor VII activity 15.2%, international normalized ratio 2.9, and acute thrombotic critical coronary anatomy, underwent coronary artery bypass surgery and a thoracotomy with decortication 5 months later. He was managed successfully without recombinant factor VIIa supplementation. This case demonstrates that current bedside and laboratory tests such as thromboelastography, prothrombin time or international normalized ratio, and factor VII activity may not predict replacement therapy in these patients.

Management issues during postinfarction ventricular septal defect and role of perioperative optimization: A case series.

The development of a myocardial infarction ventricular septal rupture is a rare fatal complication, and the surgical repair is the treatment of choice. In most of the scenarios, the operation will be done as an emergency procedure that carries high mortality. Prognosis of these patients depends on prompt echocardiographic diagnosis and the proactive medical and surgical therapy. More recently, various options have been put forward including the timing for surgery, percutaneous closure devices, and the improved outcome with initial stabilization with medical treatment including mechanical support. In this retrospective case series, we are presenting the management of these patients who presented us in different clinical scenarios and trying to identify the risks for the poor outcome and to formulate a strategy to improve the outcome.