Chronic thromboembolic occlusion of main pulmonary artery or primary branches. Case report and review of the literature.

Chronic thromboembolic occlusion of the left pulmonary artery in a 36 year old woman is described, and similar cases reported in the past 15 years are discussed. On review, this disease remains a rare entity. In the majority of cases, the etiology is thrombophlebitis and acute pulmonary embolism. Associated cardiopulmonary disease is uncommon. The most common presenting symptom is unexplained dyspnea, and the majority of patients have past histories of hemoptysis. Acute cardiovascular collapse is distinctly rare. Most physical signs and laboratory tests are normal or nonspecific. The perfusion lung scan, although nonspecific, is the best screening test. Antemortem diagnosis, with rare exception, is established by pulmonary angiography. Eleven patients have been operated on: thromboembolectomy in nine, saphenous vein graft in one and pneumonectomy in one. Operative mortality was 36 per cent (four of 11), definite improvement was seen in 46 per cent (five of 11), and 18 per cent (two of 11) survived the operation with no improvement. The role of medical therapy in this disease is considered.

The cardiovascular effects of lithium in man. A review of the literature.

The medical literature since 1900 has been reviewed to determine the nature of lithium's cardiovascular effects. In therapeutic doses, lithium produces reversible T wave flattening and inversion in the electrocardiogram: rarely, it may cause sinus node dysfunction or ventricular arrhythmias. Patients with lithium toxicity almost always present with neurologic signs and symptoms. "Hypotension and cardiovascular collapse," alleged cardiotoxic manifestations of lithium, invariably follow days of coma. Given the possible cardiotoxic effect other psychopharmacologic agents and the hazards of withholding effective therapy in mania, it is concluded that lithium may be used safely in patients with cardiac disease if the dose is adjusted to the rate of lithium excretion and if serum levels of lithium are followed carefully. When used in patients with cardiac arrhythmias, frequent electrocardiographic monitoring is advised.

Sleep-induced apnea syndrome. Prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias and their reversal after tracheostomy.

Cardiac arrhythmias during wakefulness and sleep in 15 patients with sleep-induced obstructive apnea, and the effect of atropine and tracheostomy on these arrhythmias were studied by continuous overnight Holter electrocardiographic, respiratory and electroencephalographic recordings. Sleep was characterized by marked sinus arrhythmia in 14, extreme sinus bradycardia ( less than 30 beats/minute) in six, asystole of 2.5 to 6.3 seconds in five, second degree atrioventricular (A-V) block in two, and ventricular arrhythmias--complex premature ventricular beats in 10 and ventricular tachycardia in two. Arrhythmias during wakefulness were limited to premature ventricular beats in six. Atropine administration was partially and tracheostomy highly effective in preventing the majority of these arrhythmias during sleep. Marked sinus arrhythmia during sleep is characteristic of the syndrome of obstructive sleep apnea and is frequently accompanied by potentially life-threatening tachy- and bradyarrhythmias. Possible mechanism of production of these arrhythmias, the mode of action of tracheostomy and atropine, and the probable role of similar arrhythmias in the sudden infant death syndrome are discussed.

Effect of lithium on cardiovascular performance: report on extended ambulatory monitoring and exercise testing before and during lithium therapy.

To assess the effect of long-term lithium therapy on cardiac arrhythmias and cardiovascular performance, extended ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring was performed in 12 patients, and rest and exercise electrocardiograms in 10 of 12, before and during lithium therapy. Lithium increased the frequency of premature ventricular contractions in three patients, decreased it in one, and produced no change in eight. Three of four patients with atrial arrhythmias showed improvement during lithium therapy. Exercise performance was unchanged. Although 7 of the 12 patients manifested T wave flattening in the resting electrocardiogram, none had S-T segment displacement at rest or on treadmill exercise. Before lithium therapy, arrhythmias on exercise included premature atrial contractions in four patients, ventricular arrhythmias in four (premature ventricular contractions in four, with couplets in two and with ventricular tachycardia in one). During lithium therapy, exercise did not provoke premature atrial contractions or ventricular tachycardia in any of the patients, but three patients had premature ventricular contractions (with couplets in one case). We conclude that lithium at therapeutic levels may precipitate or aggravate ventricular arrhythmias. When administered to patients with heart disease, factors that interfere with renal clearance of lithium (heart failure, salt restriction, long-term diuretic therapy) must be recognized and doses must be adjusted accordingly. Careful follow-up and electrocardiographic monitoring are advisable if lithium is to be used in the presence of ventricular arrhythmias. Cardiovascular performance as assessed by treadmill exercise testing was not affected by long-term lithium therapy.

Effect of coronary arterial bypass surgery on exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias. Long-term follow-up of a prospective randomized study.

The effect of coronary arterial bypass surgery on exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias and their relation to sudden death was examined in 102 patients with stable angina pectoris randomly assigned to medical and surgical therapy (54 and 48 patients, respectively). Symptom-limited treadmill tests were performed at entry and at 1 and 5 years. The surgical group demonstrated significant improvement in exercise performance at 1 year compared with the medical group, and at 5 years exercise-induced ischemia as evidenced by S-T depression and exertional angina remained substantially decreased in the surgical group with little change in the medical group. However, the frequency and severity of exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias in each group remained unchanged at 1 and 5 years from those at entry. Similar results were obtained from an evaluation of ventricular arrhythmias in the electrocardiogram at rest. With the exception of exercise-induced ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation, no relation was found between ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death. Coronary bypass grafting does not decrease the frequency or severity of exercise-induced or resting ventricular arrhythmias. In patients with stable angina pectoris, with the exception of ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation, exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias are poor predictors of sudden death. The data suggest that exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias may not be related to ischemia but to other effects of exercise such as cardiac stimulation by catecholamines or other factors.

Surgical management of airway obstructions during sleep.

Anatomical or physiological airway obstructions during sleep, of which the patient is unaware, cause daytime sleepiness at first, then signs of decreasing mental function, and eventually in some individuals, pulmonary and systemic hypertension. A few of these patients had been recognized before, the Pickwickian syndrome and in children with cardiac problems and large tonsils. The majority, however, present as sleep disorders. This paper describes our surgical experience with improving the airways of 19 children and adults with daytime somnolence.

Coronary artery spasm and myocardial infarction in a patient with normal coronary arteries: temporal relationship to pseudoephedrine ingestion.

A 28 yr-old male presented with chest pain and acute ST elevation following ingestion of pseudoephedrine. The pain and electrocardiographic changes disappeared after the administration of sublingual Nitroglycerin. Myocardial enzymes did show some evidence for myocardial necrosis. A subsequent coronary arteriogram showed no occlusive lesions. Pseudoephedrine, a sympathomimetic agent, may be implicated in the initiation of coronary spasm and myocardial infarction in some patients.

[Sleep and respiration in the syndrome "apnea during sleep" in the child]. / Sommeil et respiration dans le syndrome "apnée au cours du sommeil" chez l'enfant

A sleep apnea syndrome has been diagnosed in eight children (age range 5-14). Before undertaking therapeutic trials, sleep and respiration were extensively studied. Sleep and respiration were again analyzed 3 months after tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (6 cases) or tracheostomy with insertion of valve (2 cases). Sleep induced apneic apisodes in these children who had normal respiration during wakefulness. Three types of apnea (central, upper airway, and mixed) were recorded in each case. The minimum number of apneas recorded during a single night was 75; the maximum was 816. Polygraphic monitoring demonstrated greatly disturbed sleep. Sleep changes were quantitative as well as qualitative. REM sleep percent was decreased, but stages 3 and 4 NREM sleep were also impaired. A relationship between stages 3-4 NREM sleep and respiration was noted: stages 3-4 sleep disappeared when apneic episodes were numerous; no apnea was recorded during stage 4 sleep. Follow-up nocturnal recordings of two tracheostomized children with valve open, then closed, confirmed this "stage 4/no apnea" relationship. Apneas were also noted to induce marked sinus arrhythmia during sleep.

The effect of coronary bypass surgery on exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias.

Ninety-one patients with angiographically proved coronary artery disease and stable angina were randomly assigned into surgical and medical therapy. Graded exercise tests were performed on entry into the study and repeated in 1 year. Ventricular arrhythmias during exercise and 8 minutes of recovery were studied. Arrhythmias were graded on a scale of 0 to 7 by their presumed severity. On entry, both groups were similar in the severity of coronary disease, exercise capacity, and frequency and severity of exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias. At 1 year, the frequency and severity of arrhythmias remained unchanged in both groups, whereas the surgically treated patients showed a marked improvement in their exercise capacity (p less than 0.005). The medically treated patients had a slight deterioration in their work capacity which, however, did not achieve statistical significance (p = 0.08). Twelve patients died suddenly. In seven medically treated patients who died suddenly, the frequency and severity of ventricular arrythmias on exercise were not different from those of the rest of the medical patients. In the five surgically treated patients who died suddenly, one had multiform premature ventricular beats, a second developed ventricular fibrillation (2 years before dying suddenly), and a third had no arrhythmias during exercise. Two died before the 1 year evaluation. Successful coronary surgery improves exercise capacity without decreasing associated ventricular arrhythmias. Exercise-induced ventricular arrhythmias, with the exception of ventricular fibrillation, may not be closely associated with the risk of sudden death.

Hemodynamics in sleep-induced apnea. Studies during wakefulness and sleep.

Twelve patients with predominantly obstructive type sleep apnea underwent cardiac catheterization, hemodynamic monitoring, and arterial blood gas analysis during wakefulness and sleep. Abnormalities during wakefulness included systemic hypertension in four of 12, exercise-induced mild pulmonary hypertension in five of 12, and alveolar hypoventilation in one. During sleep nine patients had cyclic elevations of arterial pressure with each apneic episode, exceeding 200 mm Hg systolic in three of 12. Pulmonary artery pressures increased in 10 of 12, exceeding 60 mm Hg systolic in five. Marked degrees of hypoxemia (arterial P02, less than 50 mm Hg in eight of 12) and moderate hypercapnia with respiratory acidosis were associated with these hemodynamic changes. Cyclic upper airway obstruction during sleep may result in hypercapnia, acidosis, and pronounced hypoxemia, which can lead to hemodynamic abnormalities during sleep. Sustained pulmonary hypertension and possibly systemic hypertension may follow. Tracheostomy is an effective therapy and is recommended to symptomatic patients who have predominantly obstructive apnea but no relievable anatomic cause of upper airway obstruction.