Incomplete ST-segment resolution (STR) after successful primary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is associated with a poor prognosis. We used intracoronary Doppler velocimetry to ...investigate whether incomplete STR after primary angioplasty is a marker of severe microcirculatory dysfunction.
Fifty patients with < or =12-hour AMI underwent successful primary angioplasty and systematic stenting with a Doppler guidewire. Patients with incomplete (<50%) STR 60 minutes after TIMI 3 flow was restored had flow velocity features suggestive of severe microcirculatory dysfunction, including a higher incidence of early systolic retrograde flow (41% versus 9%, P=0.007) and lower coronary flow velocity reserve (CVR, 1.3 versus 1.6, P<0.001). CVR improved immediately after stenting in patients with > or =50% STR but not in patients with <50% STR. There was a significant correlation between STR and poststent CVR. At 3 months, CVR was similar in patients with <50% and > or =50% STR. However, left ventriculography indicated lower global (42% versus 55%, P=0.001) and regional (16% versus 20%, P=0.03) left ventricular ejection fractions and 201Tl rest-redistribution scintigraphy indicated a larger infarct size (34% versus 16% 201Tl defect, P=0.007) in patients with <50% STR.
After successful primary angioplasty with systematic stenting, <50% STR is a marker of severe albeit transient microcirculatory dysfunction in patients with AMI and is associated with more extensive myocardial damage.
Familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) is a rare and severe hereditary form of amyloidosis, due to nervous deposits of a genetic variant transthyretin produced by the liver and characterized by both ...sensorimotor and autonomic neuropathy. Left ventricular systolic dysfunction is rare, but conduction disturbances and sudden deaths can occur. The neurological status of the heart has not been elucidated, and an alteration of the sympathetic nerves may be involved. We studied 17 patients (42+/-12 years) before liver transplantation by iodine-123 metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy, heart rate variability analysis, coronary angiography, radionuclide ventriculography, rest thallium single-photon emission tomography (SPET) and echocardiography. Coronary arteries, left ventricular systolic function and rest thallium SPET were normal in all patients. Only mild evidence of amyloid infiltration was found at echocardiographic examination. Cardiac MIBG uptake was dramatically decreased in patients compared with age-matched control subjects (heart-to-mediastinum activity ratio at 4 h: 1.36+/-0.26 versus 1.98+/-0.35, P<0.001), while there was no difference in MIBG washout rate. Heart rate variability analysis showed a considerable scatter of values, with high values in four patients despite cardiac sympathetic denervation as assessed by MIBG imaging. The clinical severity of the polyneuropathy correlated with MIBG uptake at 4 h but not with the heart rate variability indices. Cardiac MIBG uptake and the heart rate variability indices did not differ according to the presence or absence of conduction disturbances. Patients with FAP have sympathetic cardiac denervation as assessed by MIBG imaging despite a preserved left ventricular systolic function and cardiac perfusion, without correlation with conduction disturbances. Results of the heart rate variability analysis were more variable and this technique does not seem to be the best way to evaluate the extent of cardiac sympathetic denervation in FAP patients.
Patients with familial amyloid polyneuropathy, a rare hereditary form of amyloidosis, have progressive autonomic neuropathy. The disease usually does not induce heart failure but is associated with ...sudden death, conduction disturbances, and an increased risk of complications during anesthesia. Although cardiac sympathetic denervation has been clearly demonstrated, the postsynaptic status of the cardiac autonomic nervous system remains unelucidated.
Twenty-one patients were studied (age, 39+/-11 years; normal coronary arteries; left ventricular ejection fraction 68+/-9%). To evaluate the density and affinity constants of myocardial muscarinic receptors, PET with (11)C-MQNB (methylquinuclidinyl benzilate), a specific hydrophilic antagonist, was used. Cardiac beta-receptor functional efficiency was studied by the heart rate (HR) response to intravenous infusion of isoproterenol (5 minutes after 2 mg of atropine, 5, 10, and 15 ng/kg per minute during 5 minutes per step). The mean muscarinic receptor density was higher in patients than in control subjects (B'(max), 35.5+/-8.9 versus 26.1+/-6.7 pmol/mL, P=0.003), without change in receptor affinity. The increase in HR after injection of atropine as well as of MQNB was lower in patients compared with control subjects despite a similar basal HR (DeltaHR after atropine, 11+/-21% versus 62+/-17%; P<0.001), consistent with parasympathetic denervation. Incremental infusion of isoproterenol induced a similar increase in HR in patients and control subjects.
Cardiac autonomic denervation in familial amyloid polyneuropathy results in an upregulation of myocardial muscarinic receptors but without change in cardiac beta-receptor responsiveness to catecholamines.
Objectives. Robotic surgery enables to perform coronary surgery totally endoscopically. This report describes our experience using the da Vinci system for coronary artery bypass surgery. Methods. ...Patients requiring single-or-double vessel revascularization were eligible. The procedure was performed without cardiopulmonary bypass on a beating heart. Results. From April 2004 to May 2008, fifty-six patients were enrolled in the study. Twenty-four patients underwent robotic harvesting of the mammary conduit followed by minimal invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB), and twenty-three patients had a totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass (TECAB) grafting. Nine patients (16%) were converted to open techniques. The mean total operating time for TECAB was 372±104 minutes and for MIDCAB was 220±69 minutes. Followup was complete for all patients up to one year. There was one hospital death following MIDCAB and two deaths at follow up. Forty-eight patients had an angiogram or CT scan revealing occlusion or anastomotic stenoses (>50%) in 6 patients. Overall permeability was 92%. Conclusions. Robotic surgery can be performed with promising results.
A 61-year-old man was referred to us for palpitations and ventricular tachycardia. After being treated by chemotherapy for a mediastinum lymphoplasmocytic lymphoma, a ventricular tachycardia (VT) ...occurred. It was well tolerated. Several imaging techniques showed that this VT was related to a tumoural infiltration of the anterior part of the right ventricle by the lymphoma. Ventricular arrhythmias were controlled under antiarrhythmic drugs and chemotherapy was continued, with close cardiac follow-up. Complete remission was reached with restoration of a normal right ventricular function and resolution of the ventricular arrhythmias.
It is unknown whether coronary revascularization, when added to optimal medical therapy, improves prognosis in patients with stable ischemic heart disease (SIHD) at increased risk of cardiovascular ...events owing to moderate or severe ischemia.
To describe baseline characteristics of participants enrolled and randomized in the International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches (ISCHEMIA) trial and to evaluate whether qualification by stress imaging or nonimaging exercise tolerance test (ETT) influenced risk profiles.
The ISCHEMIA trial recruited patients with SIHD with moderate or severe ischemia on stress testing. Blinded coronary computed tomography angiography was performed in most participants and reviewed by a core laboratory to exclude left main stenosis of at least 50% or no obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) (<50% for imaging stress test and <70% for ETT). The study included 341 enrolling sites (320 randomizing) in 38 countries and patients with SIHD and moderate or severe ischemia on stress testing. Data presented were extracted on December 17, 2018.
Enrolled, excluded, and randomized participants' baseline characteristics. No clinical outcomes are reported.
A total of 8518 patients were enrolled, and 5179 were randomized. Common reasons for exclusion were core laboratory determination of insufficient ischemia, unprotected left main stenosis of at least 50%, or no stenosis that met study obstructive CAD criteria on study coronary computed tomography angiography. Randomized participants had a median age of 64 years, with 1168 women (22.6%), 1726 nonwhite participants (33.7%), 748 Hispanic participants (15.5%), 2122 with diabetes (41.0%), and 4643 with a history of angina (89.7%). Among the 3909 participants randomized after stress imaging, core laboratory assessment of ischemia severity (in 3901 participants) was severe in 1748 (44.8%), moderate in 1600 (41.0%), mild in 317 (8.1%) and none or uninterpretable in 236 (6.0%), Among the 1270 participants who were randomized after nonimaging ETT, core laboratory determination of ischemia severity (in 1266 participants) was severe (an eligibility criterion) in 1051 (83.0%), moderate in 101 (8.0%), mild in 34 (2.7%) and none or uninterpretable in 80 (6.3%). Among the 3912 of 5179 randomized participants who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography, 79.0% had multivessel CAD (n = 2679 of 3390) and 86.8% had left anterior descending (LAD) stenosis (n = 3190 of 3677) (proximal in 46.8% n = 1749 of 3739). Participants undergoing ETT had greater frequency of 3-vessel CAD, LAD, and proximal LAD stenosis than participants undergoing stress imaging.
The ISCHEMIA trial randomized an SIHD population with moderate or severe ischemia on stress testing, of whom most had multivessel CAD.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01471522.
Right ventricular (RV) premature contractions, although generally benign, may represent the first manifestation of arrhythmogenic RV cardiomyopathy. The diagnostic and prognostic value of RV ...functional abnormalities evidenced by equilibrium radionuclide angiocardiography (ERNA) with multiharmonic Fourier analysis has been validated in patients with severe RV arrhythmias suspected of being affected by arrhythmogenic RV cardiomyopathy. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of the same RV functional abnormalities in patients with frequent left bundle branch block pattern premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), without known heart disease, using ERNA as a screening tool.
The study included 377 consecutive patients (mean age: 40+/-15 years, males: 58%) presenting with complex PVCs. Cine mode and multiharmonic analysis were used to define global enlargement and areas of dyskinesia of both ventricles. Studies were classified as: normal, right and/or left ventricular abnormalities either localized or diffuse.
ERNA was normal in 302 patients (80%) and evidenced RV functional abnormalities in 75 patients (20%). Patients with RV outflow tract PVCs (n=276) were affected to the same extent as patients with right or left axis PVCs.
In a specific population with complex left bundle branch block pattern PVCs, RV functional abnormalities were detected by ERNA in 20% of patients. Consequently, ERNA may serve as a screening tool by selecting patients who may require a specific management.
The prognosis of patients with right ventricular (RV) arrhythmias remains uncertain. This study prospectively evaluated the prognostic value of RV and left ventricular (LV) involvement assessed by ...radionuclide angiography (RNA) as predictors for sudden death.
Patients (n=188) with severe arrhythmias originating from the RV were followed up for a mean of 45+/-34 months. Data on clinical presentation, resting and stress ECG, signal-averaged ECG, 24-hour Holter monitoring, and programmed stimulation were collected along with RNA. Patients were classified as group I (n=82) with normal RNA or group II (n=106) with an abnormal RV suggestive of arrhythmogenic RV cardiomyopathy, classified as diffuse or localized disease, with or without associated LV abnormalities. During follow-up, 14 patients died suddenly, all in group II. None of the clinical and electrical data were predictive of death. An abnormal RNA study was a highly predictive factor for death (P<0.005), as well as the presence of LV abnormalities (P<0.01).
The present study confirms that arrhythmogenic RV cardiomyopathy is a severe disease with a high risk for cardiac death. Evidence of RV abnormalities in patients presenting with RV arrhythmias is highly predictive for sudden death, as is its association with LV involvement.
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