[Angiographic evaluation of high-risk treadmill scores in patients with unstable angina according to sex, age, or use of drugs with a negative chronotropic effect]. / Comparación angiográfica de los criterios e índices de alto riesgo para ergometría convencional en pacientes diagnosticados de angina inestable en función del sexo, la edad o el uso de fármacos bradicardizantes.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is to determine whether age, sex, or the use of drugs with a negative chronotropic effect modifies the sensitivity, specificity, positive or negative predictive value, or positive or negative likelihood ratio of the high-risk criteria used in exercise testing as defined by the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC) and the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA), the Duke treadmill score, the Veterans Affairs and West Virginia prognostic score, or the ST/Heart Rate Index at the time when left main coronary artery disease, three-vessel disease or two-vessel disease involving the proximal left anterior descending artery is detected by coronary angiography. METHODS: The study included a cohort of 469 consecutive patients aged 75 years who were admitted to hospital for unstable angina. All patients underwent exercise stress testing and coronary angiography. RESULTS: In all situations, the ACC/AHA high-risk criteria had the highest sensitivity, negative predictive value, and negative likelihood ratio, and the Duke Treadmill Score had the highest specificity and positive predictive value. The diagnostic accuracy of the other treadmill scores was affected by sex, age or the use of drugs with a negative chronotropic effect. CONCLUSIONS: The ACC/AHA high-risk criteria and Duke Treadmill Score provided useful additional information during the assessment of ST-segment depression. These measures could help improve the diagnostic accuracy of conventional ECG exercise testing in women, older individuals, and patients taking beta-blockers or non-dihydropyridine calcium antagonists.

Comparación angiográfica de los criterios e índices de alto riesgo para ergometría convencional en pacientes diagnosticados de angina inestable en función del sexo, la edad o el uso de fármacos bradicardizantes / Angiographic evaluation of high-risk treadmill scores in patients with unstable angina according to sex, age, or use of drugs with a negative chronotropic effect

Introducción y objetivos. El objetivo del estudio es evaluar si la edad, el sexo o la toma de fármacos bradicardizantes modifican la sensibilidad, la especificidad, el valor predictivo positivo y negativo y la razón de verosimilitud positiva y negativa del descenso del segmento ST, de los criterios de alto riesgo para ergometría convencional de la Sociedad Española de Cardiología (SEC) y del American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA), del índice de Duke, del índice pronóstico del Veterans Affairs y de West Virginia y del índice segmento ST/frecuencia cardiaca a la hora de detectar en la coronariografía: enfermedad del tronco común izquierdo, de 3 vasos o de 2 vasos con afección de la arteria descendente anterior proximal. Métodos. Se estudió a 469 pacientes con una edad ≤ 75 años, que ingresaron consecutivamente con el diagnóstico de angina inestable primaria, a los que se les practicó ergometría convencional pronóstica y cateterismo cardiaco. Resultados. Los criterios del ACC/AHA ofrecieron la mayor sensibilidad, valor predictivo negativo y razón de verosimilitud negativa en todos los casos. El índice de Duke presentó una mejor especificidad y valor predictivo positivo en todas las situaciones. El resto de escalas de riesgo vio afectado su rendimiento diagnóstico por el sexo, la edad o la toma de fármacos bradicardizantes. Conclusiones. Los criterios del ACC/AHA y el índice de Duke añadieron información relevante a la valoración aislada del descenso del segmento ST. Estas escalas podrían ser una herramienta útil a la hora de mejorar la rentabilidad diagnóstica de la prueba de esfuerzo convencional en mujeres, personas de más edad y pacientes con tratamiento con bloqueadores beta o antagonistas del cacio tipo no dihidropiridina (AU)

Introduction and objectives. The aim of the study is to determine whether age, sex, or the use of drugs with a negative chronotropic effect modifies the sensitivity, specificity, positive or negative predictive value, or positive or negative likelihood ratio of the high-risk criteria used in exercise testing as defined by the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC) and the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA), the Duke treadmill score, the Veterans Affairs and West Virginia prognostic score, or the ST/Heart Rate Index at the time when left main coronary artery disease, three-vessel disease or two-vessel disease involving the proximal left anterior descending artery is detected by coronary angiography. Methods. The study included a cohort of 469 consecutive patients aged › 75 years who were admitted to hospital for unstable angina. All patients underwent exercise stress testing and coronary angiography. Results. In all situations, the ACC/AHA high-risk criteria had the highest sensitivity, negative predictive value, and negative likelihood ratio, and the Duke Treadmill Score had the highest specificity and positive predictive value. The diagnostic accuracy of the other treadmill scores was affected by sex, age or the use of drugs with a negative chronotropic effect. Conclusions. The ACC/AHA high-risk criteria and Duke Treadmill Score provided useful additional information during the assessment of ST-segment depression. These measures could help improve the diagnostic accuracy of conventional ECG exercise testing in women, older individuals, and patients taking beta-blockers or non-dihydropyridine calcium antagonists (AU)

Electrical storm as initial presentation of arrhytmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy in an elderly woman.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD) is an unusual cause of electrical storm in the elderly. We report the case of a 76-year-old woman with no previous known disease who developed recurrent ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation. Postmortem examination revealed histological features of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia.

Floating thrombi on the Eustachian valve as a complication of venous thromboembolic disease.

Floating right heart thrombi can occur in 4-18% of patients with pulmonary embolism. Usually, the diagnosis is done by echocardiography and carries an important prognostic significance as thrombi can embolize at any moment and severe pulmonary embolism is the most frequent way of floating right heart thrombi presentation (mortality rate >40%). We present a case report of floating right thrombi in a patient with proven deep venous thrombosis complicated with nonmassive pulmonary embolism that was successfully treated with thrombolysis.