Myopericarditis versus viral or idiopathic acute pericarditis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relative incidence, clinical presentation and prognosis of myopericarditis among patients with idiopathic or viral acute pericarditis. DESIGN: Prospective observational clinical cohort study. SETTING: Two general hospitals from an urban area of 220 000 inhabitants. PATIENTS: 274 consecutive cases of idiopathic or viral acute pericarditis between January 2001 and June 2005. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Relative prevalence of myopericarditis. Clinical features at presentation including echocardiographic data (ejection fraction (EF), wall motion score index (WMSI)) and follow-up data at 12 months including complications, results of echocardiography, electrocardiography and treadmill testing. RESULTS: Myopericarditis was recorded in 40/274 (14.6%) consecutive patients. At presentation, the following clinical features were independently associated with myopericarditis: arrhythmias (odds ratio (OR) = 17.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.7 to 54.1; p<0.001), male gender (OR = 6.4, 95% CI 2.3 to 18.4; p = 0.01), age <40 years (OR = 6.1, 95% CI 2.2 to 16.9; p = 0.01), ST elevation (OR = 5.4, 95% CI 1.4 to 20.5; p = 0.013) and a recent febrile syndrome (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.1 to 7.7; p = 0.044). After 12 months' follow-up an increase of EF (basal EF 49.6 (5.1)% vs 12-month EF 59.1 (4.6)%; p<0.001) and decrease of WMSI (basal WMSI 1.19 (0.27) vs 12-month WMSI 1.02 (0.09); p<0.001) were recorded in patients with myopericarditis, with a normalisation of echocardiography, electrocardiography and treadmill testing in 98% of cases. Use of heparin or other anticoagulants (OR = 1.1, 95% CI 0.3 to 3.5; p = 0.918) and myopericarditis (OR = 2.3, 95% CI 0.7 to 7.6; p = 0.187) was not associated with an increased risk of cardiac tamponade or recurrences. CONCLUSIONS: Myopericarditis is relatively common and shows a benign evolution also in spontaneous cases not related to vaccination.

Ischaemic stroke, factor V Leiden heterozygosity and left atrial thrombosis in sinus rhythm: a case report.

We describe a 63-year-old man in sinus rhythm (SR) with an ischaemic stroke involving basal ganglia region on the right side. The patient was known to be heterozygous for factor V Leiden (FVL) mutation. On diagnostic work-up, no arterial sources of embolism were found. Transoesophageal echocardiography evidenced a left atrial (LA) thrombosis without relevant cardiopathies. LA thrombosis is generally associated to atrial fibrillation, atrial enlargement, mitral valve stenosis and left ventricular dysfunction, whereas mitral regurgitation is considered protective. To our knowledge, this is the first report of cardioembolic stroke related to a LA thrombosis in a patient in SR without risk factors for thrombus formation except for FVL heterozygosity.

New diagnostic criteria for infective endocarditis. A study of sensitivity and specificity.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of new criteria proposed by Duke University for case definition of infective endocarditis as compared to the previously accepted Von Reyn criteria. PATIENTS: A total of 143 consecutive suspected cases of infective endocarditis in 137 febrile patients were included. Of these, 69 had infective endocarditis, pathologically proven in 28, but with only a clinical diagnosis in 41. In the remaining 74 cases, the diagnosis of infective endocarditis was rejected after a follow-up of at least 3 months. RESULTS: The sensitivity of Duke's criteria was significantly higher, both when patients with possible infective endocarditis were considered as true-positive (definition 1; 100% vs 69%, P < 0.001) and when possible cases were considered as rejected (definition 2; 76% vs 51%, P < 0.01). Specificity was very high with both criteria: 92% Von Reyn vs 88% Duke (ns) with definition 1 and 99% Von Reyn vs 97% Duke (ns) with definition 2. The overall accuracy of the Duke criteria in the entire population was significantly higher with both definitions (0.94 vs 0.81 definition 1, P < 0.001; 0.87 vs 0.75, P = 0.015 definition 2). CONCLUSION: Duke's criteria for defining infective endocarditis has been shown to be more sensitive than previously adopted criteria, while maintaining a high degree of specificity. Therefore, they must be accepted as a substitute for previous criteria.

[Cardiac complications in HIV infections]. / Complicazioni cardiache nella infezione HIV.

UNLABELLED: Cardiological involvement in HIV infection is relatively rare but it presents important clinical aspects that are still open questions. We report our experience with HIV patients who underwent cardiological evaluation, Doppler echocardiography and follow-up. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We selected 127 patients (9%) on the basis of clinical suspicion of heart disease, taking them from the 1398 admitted for HIV infection between 1992 and 1995. Ninety-six patients had AIDS (group A) and 31 were in pre-AIDS phase (group B). The age was 21-52 years: 83 were males, 44 were females and 91% of the patients had been drug addicts. Echocardiography was executed with Hp Sonos 1000 and Sonos 2500 devices. Follow-up was 6-36 months. RESULTS: Ninety-two patients (6.5% on total admitted patients) had heart disease. Thirty-five patients were normal on echocardiography. Other diseases were: pericardial effusion in 38 cases (30%), with CD4+ number significantly lower (p < 0.005); dilated cardiomyopathy in 20 patients (16%), with a low CD4+ number (p < 0.005); reversible segmental or diffuse hypokinesia compatible with clinical myocarditis was seen in 11 patients (9%), especially in group A (p < 0.005); infective endocarditis in 17 patients (13%), especially group B (p < 0.005); right ventricular dilatation in 7; discrete right ventricular mass in 3 patients. Sixty-five patients (51%) died during follow-up (group A only). There were 19 cardiac deaths (15%), which represents 1.3% of the total number of patients. Nine of these (47%) were in patients with cardiomyopathy. Total mortality was 85% in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, 73% in myocarditis cases, 71% in pericarditis cases (especially extracardiac), 66% in right ventricular dilatation cases, 18% in endocarditis cases, 34% in normal cases. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac complications assume clinical importance, especially in the AIDS phase of HIV infection, but early diagnosis in the pre-AIDS phase is important for treatment. Clinical evaluation and echocardiography are corner-stones of the diagnosis. Prognosis depends especially on the clinical stage of HIV infection and myocardial involvement.

Diagnostic value of echocardiography in infective endocarditis: a probabilistic approach.

The high sensitivity and specificity of echocardiography in the diagnosis of infective endocarditis have been well established for a number of years. However, little is known yet about the incremental value of this technique over the clinical and serological findings already available in subsets of patients presenting different initial probabilities in infective endocarditis. In this report, sensitivity and specificity of echocardiography were calculated in 173 consecutive patients with suspected infective endocarditis who underwent echocardiography within 5 days following admission. The echocardiogram was considered positive when Duke major criteria were fulfilled. Infective endocarditis was diagnosed in 88 patients, while other illnesses in the remaining 85. The diagnoses were confirmed retrospectively with a follow-up done after at least 3 months, at surgery or during autopsy. Sensitivity and specificity of the echocardiography in this population were 85 and 97% respectively. The initial probabilities of infective endocarditis in patients with different clinical presentations were taken from a thorough review of the literature available in English and from personal research. The positive predictive value of echocardiography is already high or very high even at low or very low levels of initial probability, and this has a strong impact on clinical decisions. In these situations and with intermediate probabilities, a negative echocardiogram would theoretically rule out the disease. However, this result, if considered alone, calls for a careful reassessment of the entire clinical context. As with any other test, when the initial probabilities of infective endocarditis are highest, the incremental value of echocardiography is poor.

[Preclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in insulin-dependent diabetes]. / Disfunzione diastolica ventricolare sinistra preclinica nel diabete insulino-dipendente.

BACKGROUND: Isolated alterations of the left ventricular diastolic function have been described in diabetic insulin-dependent patients (IDDM), even in the absence of old age, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, left ventricular hypertrophy. Such alterations have been associated with microangiopathy but it is not known whether it is reversible or if there is a relation with the way the therapy is given. METHODS: Fifty-five subjects have been studied, of which 15 were healthy, 30 recently diagnosed IDDM without microangiopathy and 10 IDDM with microangiopathy. All the patients were under 35 years old and did not present risk factors for coronary artery disease, hypertension or autonomic neuropathy. The maximal exercise stress test proved negative. The diastolic function was studied using the results of Doppler echocardiography of the mitral flow and of isovolumetric relaxation time, with continuous and discrete parameters. RESULTS: The velocity of wave A and E, the relationship between them and their integrals are significantly greater in diabetics with microangiopathy than in those without it and in healthy subjects. There are no significant differences between healthy and diabetic subjects without microangiopathy using continuous parameters. Using discrete parameters diastolic damage is absent in the healthy subjects and is present in 48% of diabetics without microangiopathy and in 90% of those with it. CONCLUSIONS: Slight preclinical diastolic dysfunction is present in young recently diagnosed IDDM without microangiopathy. More severe dysfunction is present when there is also microangiopathy.