[Spontaneous echocardiographic contrast in the left ventricle: apropos of 2 cases]. / Contraste ecocardiográfico espontáneo en el ventrículo izquierdo: a propósito de dos casos.

Two cases of spontaneous echocardiographic contrast in the left ventricle, using transthoracic echocardiography, are presented. One is due to a low-flow state in a patient with a dilated myocardiopathy. In the other we observed the echogenicity of a turbulent intracardiac blood flow across a mitral prosthesis. We considered the different theories that tried to explain the multiple origin of this "smoke".

[Primary cardiac tumors: a review of 29 cases]. / Tumores cardíacos primários: revisión de 29 casos.

A series of 29 cardiac tumors were operated in Asturias Central Hospital between 1974 and 1994. There were 23 benign and 6 malignant tumors. Among the benign neoplasms, 22 were myxomas and 1 lipoma; there were 6 remalignant tumors, one pulmonary artery sarcoma, two rhabdomyosarcoma, one mesothelioma and two lymphomas. We review the clinical findings of these patients. Long-term results were excellent in patients with benign lesions, and only one recurrence was found. In patients with malignant tumors, surgical procedures were only palliative and aimed at prolonging life; hence, prognosis remained unchanged.

[Study of associated risk factors and prevalence of heart diseases in patients with arterial hypertension]. / Estudio de los factores de riesgo asociados y la prevalencia de cardiopatía en pacientes con hipertensión arterial.

We studied the frequency of heart disease and association with other coronary risk factors in 243 consecutive patients (124 male and 119 female) suffering from arterial hypertension (Group HT). The mean age was 67.5 +/- 9.6 years. This group was compared to a group of 357 subjects (217 male and 140 female) without arterial hypertension (Group noHT) and mean age of 63.5 +/- 13 years. In our group the patients with arterial hypertension presented smoking habits in 35%, hypercholesterolemia in 22%, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in 18%, alcoholic habits in 15%, hypertriglyceridemia in 12%, diabetes in 9% and hyperuricemia in 7%. 15% of the patients suffering from arterial hypertension turned out with coronary heart disease (62% angina and 38% myocardial infarction), 19% with atrial fibrillation and 13% with heart failure. Compared to the patients without hypertension we found significant statistical correlation with the age (67.5 +/- 9.6 HT and 63.5 +/- 13 no HT, p < 0.001), the LVH (18% HT and 4% no HT, p < 0.001) and number of coronary risk factors (2 +/- 1 HT and 1.1 +/- 0.9, p < 0.001). The percentage of people without cardiac disease is lower among the group with arterial hypertension (53% HT and 71% noHT, p < 0.001), showing as well a higher incidence of atrial fibrillation (19% HT and 11% noHT, p < 0.05) and heart failure (13% HT and 7% noHT, p < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[A suicide attempt with oral verapamil: a case report]. / Intento de autólisis con verapamilo oral: presentación de un caso.

We report a case of a 29-years-old patient who tried to commit suicide by taking a high dose of verapamil (22 pills containing 240 mg, each, equivalent to 5.28 g). Ten hours after the ingestion he presented a complete atrioventricular heart block which was resolved with medical treatment presenting a normal ECG 36 hours later. To our knowledge this is the only published case of intoxication caused by such a high dose of verapamil.

[The pulmonary toxicity of amiodarone in our hospital: apropos 8 cases]. / Toxicidad pulmonar por amiodarona en nuestro medio: a propósito de ocho casos.

We present the most relevant data of a series of 8 cases of PTA coming from our environment. We highlight the onset of PTA with low doses of amiodarone (equal or lower than 400 mg/day), the affectation of only aged patients (range 63-77 years) and always, except in one case, during the first five years of treatment with amiodarone. Dyspnea was the most frequent symptom. The definition of PTA is mainly clinical-radiological and it has no biochemical, radiological or functional unique characteristics, determining the need for a careful differential diagnosis. The prognosis was excellent when the administration of amiodarone was stopped and, in some cases, steroids were added.