Patent Hemostasis Impact in Clinical Routine: Large Monocentric Echo-Doppler Study of Radial Artery Patency After Coronary Catheterization.

BACKGROUND: Radial access is currently the first line of access in interventional cardiology. Nevertheless, this technique carries a 1%-10% risk of radial artery occlusion (RAO) based on series. METHODS: We conducted a large-scale echo-Doppler evaluation of radial patency including prospectively all patients who underwent coronary angiography and/or angioplasty with radial catheterization at our center in 2018. RESULTS: A total of 1106 patients were enrolled in the cohort. Average patient age was 70 years, 24.5% were females and 75.5% were males, and 28.3% were diabetics. Five Fr and 6 Fr devices were used in 527 procedures and 565 procedures, respectively. Our study highlighted a very low RAO rate (0.99%). These results are mainly due to the high attention given to patent hemostasis, which was achieved in 1091 patients (98.6%). According to the literature, female gender is a multivariate predictive factor of RAO (P<.01). Furthermore, we confirm the protective nature of heparin (P=.04) with an average heparin dose of 69.73 IU/kg. CONCLUSIONS: Our study focused on a large population with 1106 patients who underwent radial catheterization shows that a very low rate of RAO (0.99%) can be achieved. These results are correlated with a high attention to patent hemostasis and a close collaboration between the medical and paramedical staff.

Myxoedematous tamponade as initial presentation of Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Cardiac tamponade as the initial presentation of hypothyroidism is extremely rare. We report the case of a 48-year-old man admitted for acute respiratory distress, with cardiac ultrasound showing compressive pericardial effusion. Percutaneous pericardiocentesis was performed leading to a rapid clinical improvement. Laboratory tests confirmed severe hypothyroidism related to Hashimoto's disease. Despite hormone replacement therapy, pericardial effusion recurred after 3 weeks, requiring surgical drainage. Pericardial histology highlighted slight chronic fibrous pericarditis. The cardiac ultrasound scan performed 4 months later showed a well-tolerated chronic pericardial effusion. In conclusion, hypothyroidism should be suspected in case of cardiac tamponade especially in the absence of tachycardia, or in winter when myxoedema is prone to decompensation. Prognosis is generally good under hormone replacement therapy but ultrasound monitoring should be carried out at least until euthyroidism is achieved.

Transcoronary Rapid Pacing Solving a Complex Retrograde Chronic Total Occlusion Procedure.

We report a case of revascularization of the right coronary artery via the epicardial collateral, for which we used transcoronary rapid pacing to obtain cardiac standstill while puncturing the distal chronic total occlusion (CTO) cap. To our knowledge, this is the first case in which this technique has been used in CTO. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).

Argatroban for an alternative anticoagulant in HIT during ECMO.

BACKGROUND: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) have become more frequently used in daily ICU practice, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a rare but life-threatening complication while on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). HIT confirmation directly impacts on anticoagulant strategy requiring no delay unfractionated heparin discontinuation to be replaced by alternative systemic anticoagulant treatment. CASE PRESENTATION: We report two clinical cases of HIT occurring during ECMO in various settings with subsequent recovery with argatroban and provide literature review to help physicians treat HIT during ECMO in clinical daily practice. CONCLUSIONS: HIT during ECMO is uncommon, and despite the absence of recommendation, argatroban seems to be an appropriate and safe therapeutic option. Finally, there are not enough arguments favouring routine circuit change in the event of HIT during ECMO.

Long-term impact after fulminant Guillain-Barré syndrome, case report and literature review.

A 47-year-old man was admitted to the intensive care unit a few hours after presenting to emergency department with acute diplopia and dysphonia. Swallowing disorders and respiratory muscular weakness quickly required invasive ventilation. On day 3, the patient was in a "brain-death"-like state with deep coma and absent brainstem reflexes. Electroencephalogram ruled out brain death diagnosis as a paradoxical sleep trace was recorded. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis, electrophysiologic studies, and a recent history of diarrhea led to the diagnosis of Campylobacter jejuni-related fulminant Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) mimicking brain death. The outcome was favorable after long Intensive Care Unit and inpatient rehabilitation stays, despite persistent disability at 9 years follow-up. This case and the associated literature review of 34 previously reported fulminant GBS patients emphasize the importance of electrophysiological investigations during clinical brain-death states with no definite cause. Fulminant GBS has a worse outcome than "standard" GBS with higher rates of severe disability (about 50%). Long-term physiotherapy and specific rehabilitation programs appear essential to improve recovery.

Guillain-Barré syndrome and cytomegalovirus infection during pregnancy.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an immune-mediated disorder which can be triggered by cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. GBS following CMV primary infection is a rare event during pregnancy, which raises the question of maternal and fetal management. We describe an unusual case of GBS after CMV primary infection in a pregnant woman. The mother was successfully treated with standard immunoglobulins but in utero fetal death caused by CMV congenital infection unfortunately occurred. Similar cases have rarely been reported in the literature.

Mid-term results of 150 TAVI comparing apical versus femoral approaches.

BACKGROUND: Transcatheter aortic-valve implantation (TAVI) is a new therapeutic choice for treating aortic stenosis in patients considered high risk for surgery. This blooming therapeutic technique still requires evaluation of medium and long term outcome. METHOD: We hereby report our results of the first 150 consecutive patients to receive TAVI implants in our population recruited from July 2009 to March 2013 in a retrospective and monocentric study. We analyzed long term morbidity and mortality criteria. We compared the apical and femoral approach results and researched predictors of cardiac mortality. RESULTS: The mean monitoring period was 387.62 days, mean Euroscore was 21.8, and mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) risk score was 9.2. The success rate for the procedure was 94.6 %. A total of 39 patients died. The mortality rates at the immediate perioperative point, 30 days, 1 year, and 2 years, were 4 %, 11.3 %, 22.7 %, and 26 %, respectively. As regards complications, there were 10 hemodynamic complications (6.6 %) and 20 vascular (13.3 %), 11 cardiac tamponades (7.4 %), eight mechanical (5.3 %), ten major hemorrhagic (6.7 %), 14 pulmonary (9.3 %), and 18 infectious complications (12 %). When comparing the rates of reported complications in terms of different approaches, we observed significantly more hemodynamic complications in the apical group (p = 0.049). Pulmonary complications were also significantly more common in cases of apical approach (p = 0.029). The majority of the patients reported clear functional improvement throughout their follow-up. CONCLUSION: The results of the first 150 patients to receive the implant at the Nancy University Teaching Hospital (CHU Nancy) were consistent with findings in the literature. TAVI proved a credible and effective alternative to surgical valve replacement for patients at high risk during surgery.