Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Differential Impact Of Serial Measurement Of Nonplatelet Thromboxane Generation On Long-Term Outcome After Cardiac Surgery., Nikolaos Kakouros, Tyler J Gluckman, John V Conte, Thomas S Kickler, Katherine Laws, Bruce A Barton, Jeffrey J Rade

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

BACKGROUND: Systemic thromboxane generation, not suppressible by standard aspirin therapy and likely arising from nonplatelet sources, increases the risk of atherothrombosis and death in patients with cardiovascular disease. In the RIGOR (Reduction in Graft Occlusion Rates) study, greater nonplatelet thromboxane generation occurred early compared with late after coronary artery bypass graft surgery, although only the latter correlated with graft failure. We hypothesize that a similar differential association exists between nonplatelet thromboxane generation and long-term clinical outcome.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Five-year outcome data were analyzed for 290 RIGOR subjects taking aspirin with suppressed platelet thromboxane generation. Multivariable modeling was performed to …

Rapid Rest/Stress Regadenoson Ungated Perfusion Cmr For Detection Of Coronary Artery Disease In Patients With Atrial Fibrillation., Erik T Bieging, I Haider, G Adluru, L Chang, P Suksaranjit, D Likhite, A Shaaban, L Jensen, B D Wilson, C J Mcgann, E Dibella

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) perfusion has been established as a useful imaging modality for the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, there are several limitations when applying standard, ECG-gated stress/rest perfusion CMR to patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). In this study we investigate an approach with no ECG gating and a rapid rest/stress perfusion protocol to determine its accuracy for detection of CAD in patients with AF. 26 patients with AF underwent a rapid rest/regadenoson stress CMR perfusion imaging protocol, and all patients had X-ray coronary angiography. An ungated radial myocardial perfusion sequence was used. Imaging protocol included: rest …

Vitamin D, Heidi D Moretti, Vincent J Colucci, Bradley D Berry

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D status may influence heart failure (HF) patient outcomes by affecting b-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), parathyroid hormone (PTH), and enhancing cardiac contractility. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with morbidity and mortality in HF patients. The objective of this study was to determine if vitamin D3 at a comparatively high dose would replete 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) stores, improve BNP, PTH, cardiopulmonary function, reduce inflammatory markers, and improve quality of life (QOL) in HF patients.

METHODS: This was a 6 month, parallel group, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single clinic center, randomized trial of supplemental vitamin D3 using a dose of 10,000 IU …

New Migraine With Visual Disturbance After Cryoballoon Ablation Of Atrial Fibrillation., Annupreet Nadha, Eric S Williams

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

We report the case of a 58-year-old woman who developed a headache and visual disturbances after a cryoballoon ablation procedure for atrial fibrillation at our institution. She presented to the emergency department four days post ablation and was admitted the hospital for overnight observation. Serial neurological examinations and neuroimaging were unremarkable for stroke or transient ischemic attack. The patient had some brief transient visual changes which resolved completely after several days, with no further clinical sequelae. She followed up in the outpatient neuro-ophthalmology clinic and had a normal visual field examination. She was given a diagnosis of new onset migraine …

Natural History Of Gutter-Related Type Ia Endoleaks After Snorkel/Chimney Endovascular Aneurysm Repair., Brant W Ullery, Kenneth Tran, Nathan K Itoga, Ronald L Dalman, Jason T Lee

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

OBJECTIVE: Alternative endovascular strategies using parallel or snorkel/chimney (chimney endovascular aneurysm repair [ch-EVAR]) techniques have been developed to address the lack of widespread availability and manufacturing limitations with branched/fenestrated aortic devices for the treatment of complex abdominal aortic aneurysms. Despite high technical success and midterm patency of snorkel stent configurations, concerns remain regarding the perceived increased incidence of early gutter-related type Ia endoleaks. We aimed to evaluate the incidence and natural history of gutter-related type Ia endoleaks following ch-EVAR.

METHODS: Review of medical records and available imaging studies, including completion angiography and serial computed tomographic angiography, was performed for all …

Hydatid Cyst Of The Interventricular Septum., Endale Tefera, Joseph Knapp, Michael Teodori

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

While cardiac involvement is not a common presentation in human echinococcosis, it may lead to life-threatening complications including cyst rupture; anaphylactic shock; tamponade; pulmonary, cerebral or peripheral arterial embolism; acute coronary syndrome; dysrhythmias; infection; ventricular or valvular dysfunction, as well as sudden death. Here we report a 9-year old girl who was diagnosed to have hydatid cyst of the interventricular septum four years after diagnosis and medical treatment of pulmonary hydatidosis. Presentation, management and follow-up of the patient is discussed.

Incomplete Resolution Of Deep Vein Thromboses During Rivaroxaban Therapy., Jonathan M Yaghoubian, Jacob Adashek, Bahareh Yaghoubian-Yazi, Menachem Nagar, Nojan Toomari, Richard J Pietras, Uri M Ben-Zur

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

We present the case of a patient with a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) who failed rivaroxaban therapy. Our patient initially presented with left lower extremity edema, erythema, and pain. He was subsequently started on rivaroxaban therapy for a combined treatment period of 12 months, during and after which he persisted to have evidence of a DVT. The patient's prescribed drug regimen was changed from rivaroxaban to warfarin, which demonstrated a rapid resolution of the DVTs as determined by ultrasound assessment of our patient's lower extremity veins. Rivaroxaban, a factor Xa inhibitor, is a well-known oral anticoagulant that is used for …

Interpretation Of Positive Troponin Results Among Patients With And Without Myocardial Infarction., Kristen M Tecson, William Arnold, Tyler Barrett, Robert Birkhahn, Lori B Daniels, Christopher Defilippi, Gary Headden, W Frank Peacock, Michael Reed, Adam J Singer, Jeffrey M Schussler, Stephen Smith, Martin P Than, Peter A Mccullough

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Measuring cardiac troponins is integral to diagnosing acute myocardial infarction (AMI); however, troponins may be elevated without AMI, and the use of multiple different assays confounds comparisons. We considered characteristics and serial troponin values in emergency department chest pain patients with and without AMI to interpret troponin excursions. We compared serial troponin in 124 AMI and non-AMI patients from the observational Performance of Triage Cardiac Markers in the Clinical Setting (PEARL) study who presented with chest pain and had at least one troponin value exceeding the 99th percentile of normal. Because 8 assays were used during data collection, we employed …

Cigarette Smoking And Cardio-Renal Events In Patients With Atherosclerotic Renal Artery Stenosis., Christopher A Drummond, Pamela S Brewster, Wencan He, Kaili Ren, Yanmei Xie, Katherine Tuttle, Steven T Haller, Kenneth Jamerson, Lance D Dworkin, Donald E Cutlip, Timothy P Murphy, Ralph B D'Agostino, William L Henrich, Jiang Tian, Joseph I Shapiro, Christopher J Cooper

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Cigarette smoking causes cardiovascular disease and is associated with poor kidney function in individuals with diabetes mellitus and primary kidney diseases. However, the association of smoking on patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis has not been studied. The current study utilized data from the Cardiovascular Outcomes in Renal Atherosclerotic Lesions (CORAL, NCT00081731) clinical trial to evaluate the effects of smoking on the risk of cardio-renal events and kidney function in this population. Baseline data showed that smokers (n = 277 out of 931) were significantly younger at enrollment than non-smokers (63.3±9.1 years vs 72.4±7.8 years; p