[SICI-GISE Position paper: Enhancing radiation safety in the catheterization laboratory]. / Position paper SICI-GISE: Miglioramento della radioprotezione nel laboratorio di Emodinamica.

The radiation dose received by interventional cardiologists during their activity in the catheterization laboratory is a matter of concern in terms of possible deterministic and stochastic risk. At the same time, very often, the knowledge of the effect and consequences of radiation exposure in the interventional cardiology community is limited. This document endorsed by the Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology (SICI-GISE) provides recommendations for cardiologists' radiation protection. Radiation safety considerations dedicated to women and other staff personnel working in the catheterization laboratory are also discussed.

Effort angina in a patient with advanced coronary artery disease. Role played by coronary angiography, Ivus and cardiac CT: case report.

Coronary angiography is considered to be the gold standard technique for assessing the severity of obstructive luminal narrowing; however, in a few circumstances it may be misleading. In these cases, cardiac computed tomography (CT) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) may help to give a correct interpretation.In this report, we describe the case of a 62-year-old man whose effort angina was first evaluated with coronary angiography, but whose severe stenosis of the right coronary artery was only observed on cardiac CT and IVUS. This additional diagnosis promptly resulted in a therapeutic approach with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).

Transcatheter closure of postinfarction ventricular septal defect using the Amplatzer atrial septal defect occluder.

Rupture of the interventricular septum is a rare and life-threatening complication of acute myocardial infarction. Postmyocardial infarction, ventricular septal defect is associated with very high morbidity and mortality. The therapy of this complication is the surgical closure. The Amplatzer occluder is currently used to close percutaneously atrial septal defect, patent foramen ovale, and selected congenital ventricular septal defect. Few cases are described regarding transcatheter closure of a postinfarction ventricular septal defect. Here we report a case of a large postinfarction ventricular septal defect successfully closed with Amplatzer multifenestrated atrial septal defect occluder device because of its peculiar anatomical characteristics.

Percutaneous left ventricular assist device, TandemHeart, for high-risk percutaneous coronary revascularization. A single centre experience.

Patients with severe depression of left ventricular ejection fraction and high-risk coronary lesions are at risk of developing complications during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) is a support that helps the interventionalist in such hemodynamic complications during high-risk PCI, but it does not offer complete circulatory support. Instead, TandemHeart (Cardiac Assist, Pittsburg, PA, USA) is a percutaneous left ventricular assist device (pLVAD) that gives total left circulatory support and can be used for patients in cardiogenic shock or for elective PCI at high-risk. TandemHeart is a percutaneous transseptal ventricular assist device that allows a rapid percutaneous left ventricular support without the need for surgical implantation. Between November 2003 and April 2005, 6 patients admitted to our coronary care unit (CCU) underwent either emergency (n = 3) or elective (n = 3) placement of the TandemHeart device before a high-risk procedure. From our initial experience we conclude that the percutaneous transseptal ventricular assist device, TandemHeart, can be easily and rapidly deployed either in emergency or in elective high-risk PCI to achieve complete cardiac assistance.

AngioJet thrombectomy for the treatment of coronary artery aneurysm after failed thrombolysis in acute myocardial infarction.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is caused by thrombus formation over a disrupted plaque occluding an epicardial coronary artery. Mechanical thrombectomy is effective in removing thrombus burden from native vessels and saphenous vein grafts. Here we report a case of an aneurysmatic dilatation of an infarct-related artery (IRA) referred to our Institute for rescue PCI, after failed fibrinolysis, successfully treated with only rheolytic thrombectomy (AngioJet, Possis Medical, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) without the need for adjunctive balloon or stent implantation.

Platypnea-orthodeoxia induced by fenestrated atrial septal aneurysm.

Platypnea-orthodeoxia is a peculiar syndrome characterized by a right-to-left shunt, which occurs in the upright position. The diagnosis is made by contrast transesophageal echocardiography, paying attention to include contrast visualization in the orthostatic decubitus. The association of this syndrome with a fenestrated atrial septal aneurysm is rare and probably underlies a peculiar and also rare mechanism of shunting in presence of normal pulmonary pressure. We report of a case of a 58-year-old man with a fenestrated atrial septal aneurysm and platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome treated by surgical closure of the atrial defect.

Radiation-induced ostial stenosis of the coronary artery as a cause of acute coronary syndromes: a novel mechanism of thrombus formation?

Mediastinal irradiation can induce coronary artery disease characterized by fibrous lesions developing in the absence of lipid/foam cell accumulation. We document several consecutive cases of acute coronary artery occlusion developing over radiation-induced lesions in patients who were relatively young, without evidence of classical risk factors for atherosclerosis, and in whom the coronary vasculature was otherwise apparently free of disease. The finding of acute coronary artery occlusion at the site of a fibrous lesion lends further support to the hypothesis that acute coronary syndromes may not necessarily be identifiable with ulceration/disruption of the atherosclerotic plaque as the underlying mechanism of acute thrombus formation.