Metastatic right atrial mass in the presence of atrial septal defect: A rare clinical coincidence.

Key Clinical Message: The key takeaway from this clinical scenario is to choose the most appropriate and reasonable treatment plan when dealing with a patient who has atrial septal defect (ASD) and concurrent atrial and mediastinal masses. In such cases, a heart-oncology team should make the therapeutic decision. Abstract: Right atrial masses are not pretty rare and might be a diagnostic challenge. Thrombosis, tumors, and vegetations are primary differential diagnoses. Workup for these masses usually includes multimodality imaging and biopsy in selected cases. We report a case of a 37-year-old lady who presented with cough, dyspnea, and head and neck swelling after a cesarean section. Echocardiography revealed a right atrial mass accompanied by a secundum type atrial septal defect (ASD). Pulmonary CT Angiography was performed, in which a lobulated mass in the anterior mediastinum was detected, and a heart-oncology team made the therapeutic decision. The patient was scheduled for surgical ASD closure and concomitant tissue biopsy. The pathology results were in favor of poorly differentiated germ cell tumors, and chemotherapy was started following the surgery. After two sessions of chemotherapy, the tumor did not respond to the primary regimen. Thus, an updated regimen was initiated. Compliance with the updated regimen was acceptable, and the patient is currently under treatment and follow-up.

Retrosternal hematoma causing torsade de pointes after coronary artery bypass graft surgery; a case report.

Myocardial infarction is among the top causes of mortality worldwide. Survivors may also experience several complications. Infarct-related torsade de pointes (TdP) is an uncommon complication. In the context of myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is the prevalent therapeutic modality associated with several early and late complications. Ventricular tachyarrhythmias, including TdP, because of electrical inhomogeneity, would potentially be a lethal complication of CABG. Here, we report the occurrence of medically intractable TdP in the presence of an uncommon case of a post-CABG retrosternal hematoma. Arrhythmia was properly resolved after hematoma removal surgically. It showed the possibility of a "cause and effect" relationship between these two complications. This unique case emphasizes the post-CABG medically-resistant TdP, considering the mechanical pressure effect of retrosternal hematoma that stimulates this potentially malignant arrhythmia, especially in the absence of electrolyte disturbances and evident symptoms of ongoing ischemia.

Sarcomatoid variant of urothelial carcinoma in the renal pelvis with brain metastasis: a case report.

Sarcomatoid urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the renal pelvis is rare. It is a high-grade malignant tumor that contains both epithelial and mesenchymal elements. Brain metastases from renal pelvis UC are infrequent and represented in few cases. We report a 68-year-old female with a right renal mass diagnosed as a UC with a sarcomatoid variant. The patient underwent a right radical nephroureterectomy and received chemotherapy. She developed brain metastasis in the left temporal area two months later. Therefore, metastasectomy and palliative brain radiotherapy were performed for her. Sadly, her general condition worsened, and she passed away after one month. Brain metastasis in patients with UC is rare and poorly understood. Therefore, we describe the clinico pathological characteristics, including the clinical follow-up of our case with a focus on the treatment and outcome.

The Impact of Diabetes Mellitus on Clinical Outcomes after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Different Stent Sizes.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the possible relationship between different stent sizes and clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with diabetes treated with drug-eluting stents (DESs) and dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). Methods: Patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing elective PCI with the DES were entered into a retrospective cohort between 2003 and 2019. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE), defined as the combined endpoint of revascularization, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular death, were recorded. The participants were categorized according to the stent size: 27 mm for length and 3 mm for diameter. DAPT (aspirin and clopidogrel) was used for at least 2 years for diabetics and 1 year for nondiabetics. The median duration of follow-up was 74.7 months. Results: Out of 1630 participants, 29.0% had diabetes. The diabetics constituted 37.8% of those with MACE. The mean diameter of the stents in the diabetics and nondiabetics was 2.81±0.29 mm and 2.90±0.35 mm, respectively (P>0.05). The mean stent length was 19.48±7.58 mm and 18.92±6.64 mm in the diabetics and nondiabetics, respectively (P>0.05). After adjustments for confounding variables, MACE was not significantly different between the patients with and without diabetes. Although MACE incidence was not affected by stent dimensions in the patients with diabetes, the nondiabetic patients implanted with a stent length exceeding 27 mm experienced MACE less frequently. Conclusion: Diabetes did not influence MACE in our population. Additionally, stents of different sizes were not associated with MACE in patients with diabetes. We propose that using the DES supplemented by long-term DAPT and tight control of glycemic status after PCI could decrease the adverse consequences of diabetes.

The Impact of Smoking on Clinical Outcomes after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Women Compared to Men.

BACKGROUND: For decades, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been known as men's disease. However, recent research studies showed that they have become more common in women. Smoking is a strong risk factor for CVD especially that of coronary artery disease (CAD). Several studies reported that women are more susceptible to drastic sequels of smoking than men. There is limited data regarding the impact of smoking on post-revascularization clinical events stratified by gender. This study aimed to investigate if gender significantly changes the incidence of adverse clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) among those with history of smoking. METHODS: Participants were selected from two hospitals from 2003 to 2019. Among patients who had PCI (index PCI), those with stable CAD who underwent elective PCI were included. Exclusion criteria were defined as primary PCI and those with multiple prior revascularizations. Participants were followed up seeking for major adverse cardiac events (MACE) including revascularization (PCI or coronary artery bypass grafting), myocardial infarction, and coronary death in three time intervals according to the time of index PCI (short term: up to 24 hours, mid-term: 24 hours to less than 6 months, and long term: more than 6 months). RESULTS: Of the 1799 patients, 61% were men and 47.08% had history of smoking (75% of the smokers were men). At the time of index PCI, smokers were significantly younger than nonsmokers. Also, MACE were significantly higher in smokers than nonsmokers, which was particularly pronounced at the long-term interval. In the nonsmokers group, there was no difference in MACE occurrence between men and women. However, of the smokers, women showed significantly higher MACE rate compared with men peers. CONCLUSION: Smoking makes women more prone to MACE in comparison to men among patients with stable CAD after PCI with drug-eluting stent.

The impact of diabetes mellitus and hypertension on clinical outcomes in a population of Iranian patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention: A retrospective cohort study.

There are heterogeneous data regarding the impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HTN) on clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study explored the effect of history of DM (hDM) and HTN (hHTN), separately and in combination with each other, on major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in short-, mid-, and long-term intervals after PCI. Between 2000 and 2017, 1799 patients who had PCI were registered. They were categorized in four different groups: hDM, hHTN, hDM + hHTN, and no hDMQuery no hHTN. Incidence of myocardial infarction, revascularization, and coronary death totally considered as MACE was sought in short- (<24 hours), mid- (24 hours up to 6 months), and long-term (more than 6 months) intervals after PCI. Among the subjects, 176 had hDM, 648 had hHTN, 370 had hDM + hHTN, and 605 were in no hDM no hHTN group. The median follow-up time was 66.5 months. Time-to-event (time to the first MACE) was not significantly different between four groups. hHTN group was older and hDM group was younger at the time of enrollment PCI. Female gender was dominant only in hDM + hHTN group. Of the total, 130 patients (7.22%) experienced MACE. There was no MACE in short term, 23.07% of the MACEs were in mid-term, and the remaining happened in long term. However, according to the rate ratio, incidence rate of MACE in mid-tem was significantly higher than the long term. Also, MACE occurrence was significantly higher in hDM + hHTN and hHTN groups than the no hDM no hHTN group. Our study showed that the history of HTN significantly increases post-PCI MACE rather than the history of DM. Having history of both DM and HTN synergistically raised MACE incidence. Incidence of MACE per month was higher in mid-term than the long-term interval.