Cardiology Commons^™

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Career Choice Of Medicine: A Cross-Sectional Study Amongst Pre-Medical Students In Pakistan, Raisa Saleh, Russell Seth Martins, Muhammad Saad, Asad Saulat Fatimi, Manzar Abbas, Inaara Akbar, Hamzah Jehanzeb, Shamila Ladak, Shamama Kaleem, Sarah Nadeem

Medical College Documents

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the lives of healthcare workers due to the frontline nature of their work. Their hard work and sacrifice have forged new perceptions of healthcare workers. These changes may potentially influence students' interest in medicine. This study explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected premedical students' decisions to pursue medicine as a career.
Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self-designed online questionnaire was carried out amongst pre-medical students across Pakistan.
Results: A total of 1695 students from 93 public and private schools filled in the survey. After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly …

Association Of Respiratory Symptoms And Lung Function With Occupation In The Multinational Burden Of Obstructive Lung Disease (Bold) Study, Jate Ratanachina, Andre F S Amara, Sara De Matteis, Herve Lawin, Kevin Mortimer, Daniel O. Obaseki, Imed Harrabi, Meriam Denguezli, Emiel F M Wouters, Asaad Ahmed Nafees

Community Health Sciences

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposures in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. We analysed cross-sectional data from 28,823 adults (≥40 years) in 34 countries. Eleven occupations were considered and grouped by likelihood of exposure to organic dusts, inorganic dusts and fumes. The association of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, wheeze, dyspnoea, FEV1/FVC and FVC with occupation was assessed, per study site, using multivariable regression. These estimates were then meta-analysed. Sensitivity analyses explored differences between sexes and gross national income …

Leveraging Clinical Digitized Data To Understand Temporal Characteristics And Outcomes Of Acute Myocardial Infarctions At A Tertiary Care Medical Centre In Pakistan From 1988-2018 - Methods And Results, Zainab Samad, Ali Aahil Noorali, Awais Farhad, Safia Awan, Nada Qaiser Qureshi, Mushyada Ali, Laiba Masood, Ghurfan Adnan, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Javed Tai

Section of Cardiology

Background and objective: Few data exist on trends in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patterns spanning recent epidemiological shifts in low middle-income countries (LMICs). To understand temporal disease patterns of AMI characteristics and outcomes between 1988-2018, we used digitized legacy clinical data at a large tertiary care centre in Pakistan.
Methods: We reviewed digital health information capture systems maintained across the Aga Khan University Hospital and obtained structured elements to create a master dataset. We included index admissions of patients >18 years that were discharged between January 1, 1988, and December 31, 2018, with a primary discharge diagnosis of AMI (using …

Identifying Differences: A Key Step In Precision Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Mahmoud Al Rifai, Salim S. Virani, Vijay Nambi

Office of the Provost

No abstract provided.

Association Between Social Vulnerability Index And Cardiovascular Disease: A Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Study, Vardhmaan Jain, Mahmoud Al Rifai, Safi U. Khan, Safi U. Khan, Ankur Kalra, Fatima Rodriguez, Zainab Samad, Yashashwi Pokharel, Arunima Misra, Laurence S. Sperling

Section of Cardiology

Background Social and environmental factors play an important role in the rising health care burden of cardiovascular disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) from US census data as a tool for public health officials to identify communities in need of support in the setting of a hazardous event. SVI (ranging from a least vulnerable score of 0 to a most vulnerable score of 1) ranks communities on 15 social factors including unemployment, minoritized groups status, and disability, and groups them under 4 broad themes: socioeconomic status, housing and transportation, minoritized groups, and …

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Features And Outcomes Of Patients With Non-Compaction Cardiomyopathy - A Retrospective Follow-Up From Pakistan, Pirbhat Shams, Fateh Ali Tipoo Sultan

Section of Cardiology

Background: The exact prevalence of left ventricle non-compaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC) in south Asians is not known and phenotypic CMR characteristics, clinical features, and outcomes of LVNC remain unknown for the SA population.
Objective: To evaluate clinical characteristics, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging features, and outcomes of patients with left ventricle non-compaction.
Methods: This was a retrospective study of 294 patients undergoing cardiac MRI (CMR) for evaluation of cardiomyopathy from 2011 to 2020. Patients were stratified based on the presence or absence of left ventricle non-compaction (LVNC). Clinical characteristics, CMR features, and outcomes were evaluated.
Results: Out of 294 patients, 18 patients …

Statins: Masked Anti-Epileptic Warriors, Govinda Khatri, Priya Kotak, Ayush Kumar, Mohammad Mehedi Hasan

Medical College Documents

No abstract provided.

Endovascular Management Of A Congenital Hepatic Arterioportal Malformation In A Low Resource Setting, Poonamjeet Loyal, Ravjit Sagoo

Imaging & Diagnostic Radiology, East Africa

Background: Arterioportal malformations, a rare type of vascular malformation, have significant associated morbid- ity and mortality. Management requires a carefully thought out approach by a multidisciplinary team. Low resource settings have an added challenge of limited treatment options and consumables.

Case presentation: We report a case of a 14-month-old male with failure to thrive due to a congenital hepatic arte- rioportal fistula. He was successfully treated via an endovascular approach with metallic coil embolization.

Conclusion: Hepatoportal fistula, a rare hepatic vascular malformation, has limited treatment options which can further be restricted by overall patient wellness. Minimally invasive …

Acquired Hemophilia A: A Possibly Fatal Complication Of Sars-Cov-2 Infection, Hasan Fareed Siddiqui, Taymmia Ejaz, Aisha Fareed Siddiqui, Fahd Niaz Shaikh

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Association Of U.S. Birth, Duration Of Residence In The U.S., And Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among Asian Adults, Mahmoud Al Rifai, Sina Kianoush, Vardhmaan Jain, Parag H. Joshi, Miguel Cainzos-Achirica, Khurram Nasir, Anwar T. Merchant, Sunita Dodani, Zainab Samad, Salim S. Virani

Section of Cardiology

Introduction: Prior studies have shown a direct association between U.S. birth and duration of residence with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) though, few have specifically focused on Asian Americans.
Methods: We utilized cross-sectional data from the 2006 to 2015 National Health Interview Survey. We compared prevalent cardiovascular risk factors and ASCVD among Asian American individuals by U.S. birth and duration of time spent in the U.S.
Results: The study sample consisted of 18,150 Asian individuals of whom 20.5 % were Asian Indian, 20.5 % were Chinese, 23.4 % were Filipino, and 35.6 % were of other Asian ethnic groups. The mean …

Case Report On Peri-Operative Surgical And Anaesthetic Management Of Ruptured Humongous Lung Abscess, Khalid Maudood Siddiqui, Akbar Azizullah, Muhammad Saad Yousuf

Department of Anaesthesia

Introduction: Early thoracic empyema is usually treated through video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) decortication. Patient selection is important for decortication if an effective surgical outcome is required. Lung isolation techniques are required to provide anesthesia for these patients to facilitate the surgeon while operating on the affected lung. The ultimate target is to protect the non-diseased contra-lateral lung from contamination.
Presentation of case: We are presenting a unique case of 20-year-old female, resident of Karachi, who was brought to the emergency room (ER) with signs of sepsis, hypotension, and multi-organ failure. She was brought to the operating room to undergo video-assisted thoracoscopy …

Global Think Tank On The Clinical Considerations And Management Of Lipoprotein(A): The Top Questions And Answers Regarding What Clinicians Need To Know, Salim S. Virani, Marlys L. Koschinsky, Lisa Maher, Anurag Mehta, Carl E. Orringer, Raul D. Santos, Michael D. Shapiro, Joseph J. Saseen

Office of the Provost

Evidence from Mendelian randomization studies suggest that lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) has a causal role in the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk. However, guidelines and consensus statement recommendations vary regarding how clinicians should incorporate Lp(a) into patient care. To provide practical answers to key questions pertaining to Lp(a) that clinicians will find useful when assessing and treating patients, a global think tank was convened. Representatives from seven national and international stakeholder organizations answered questions that were focused on: Lp(a) measurement; ethnic, gender, and age considerations; factoring Lp(a) into risk assessment; and current and emerging treatment options for elevated Lp(a). This manuscript …

A Qualitative Inquiry On Smokers’ Perceptions Of Smoking Cessation During Covid-19, Sajid Iqbal, Rubina Barolia, Kiran Iftikhar, Pammla Petrucka, Jeniefer Anastasi, Faris Farooq Saeed Khan, Naheed Feroz Ali

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: This qualitative exploratory study explores smokers’ perspectives regarding smoking cessation processes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Purposive sampling was employed to conduct semi-structured interviews with cigarette smokers visiting cardiac and pulmonary clinics at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Thematic analysis was performed to identify themes from the participants’ responses.
Results: Three themes emerged from the thematic analysis. These were smoking cessation facilitators, smoking cessation barriers, and COVID-19 impacts on smoking cessation. Awareness and education, threat of acquiring health problems, religious beliefs and family or support system behave as smoking cessation facilitators. While, role modeling, associating smoking to …

Does Individualized Guided Selection Of Antiplatelet Therapy Improve Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention? A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Naser Yamani, Samuel Unzek, Muhammad Hasnain Mankani, Talal Almas, Adeena Musheer, Humera Qamar, Shausha Farooq, Waqas Shahnawaz, Kaneez Fatima, Vincent Figueredo

Department of Medicine

Background: The potential benefits of individualized guided selection of antiplatelet therapy over standard antiplatelet therapy in improving outcomes in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have not been established. Therefore, we pooled evidence from available clinical trials to assess the effectiveness by comparing the two regimens in patients undergoing PCI.
Methods: We queried two electronic databases, MEDLINE and Cochrane CENTRAL, from their inception to April 20, 2021 for published randomized controlled trials in any language that compared guided antiplatelet therapy, using either genetic testing or platelet function testing, versus standard antiplatelet therapy in patients undergoing PCI. The results from trials …

Potential Impact Of 2017 American College Of Cardiology/American Heart Association Hypertension Guideline On Contemporary Practice: A Cross-Sectional Analysis From Ncdr Pinnacle Registry, Aliza Hussain, Salim S. Virani, Luke Zheng, Ty J. Gluckman, William B. Borden, Frederick A. Masoudi, Thomas M. Maddox

Office of the Provost

Background Clinical implications of change in the 2017 American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) guideline on the diagnosis and management of hypertension, compared with recommendations by 2014 expert panel and Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC7), are not known. Methods and Results Using data from the NCDR (National Cardiovascular Data Registry) PINNACLE (Practice Innovation and Clinical Excellence) Registry (January 2013-Decemver 2016), we compared the proportion and clinical characteristics of patients seen in cardiology practices diagnosed with hypertension, recommended antihypertensive treatment, and achieving blood pressure (BP) goals …

Rural-Urban Trends In Congenital Heart Disease-Related Mortality In The United States, 1999 To 2019, Abdul Mannan Khan Minhas, Rachel A. Wyand, Robert W. Ariss, Salik Nazir, Vardhmaan Jain, Sadeer G. Al-Kindi, Michael D. Shapiro, William Campbell, Laurence Sperling, Salim S. Virani

Office of the Provost

No abstract provided.

Cardiovascular Risk Factors And Markers Of Myocardial Injury And Inflammation In People Living With Hiv In Nairobi, Kenya: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study, Hassan Adan Ahmed, Jeilan Mohamed, Isaiah G. Akuku, Kuan Ken Lee, Shirjel R. Alam, Pablo Perel, Jasmit Shah, Mohammed K. Ali, Sherry Eskander, Michael H. Chung

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and explore associations with high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hscTnI) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Kenya.

Design: Pilot cross-sectional study.

Setting: Data were collected from community HIV clinics across two sites in Nairobi, Kenya, from July 2019 to May 2020.

Participants: Convenience sample of 200 PLHIV (≥30 years with no prior history of CVD).

Outcome measures: Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and its association with hsTnI and hsCRP levels.

Results: Across 200 PLHIV (median age 46 years, IQR 38–53; 61% women), the …

Integrated Multilayer Omics Reveals The Genomic, Proteomic, And Metabolic Influences Of Histidyl Dipeptides On The Heart, Keqiang Yan, Zhanlong Mei, Jingjing Zhao, Md Aminul Islam Prodhan, Detlef Obal, Kartik Katragadda, Benjamin Doelling, David Hoetker, Dheeraj Kumar Posa

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Background: Histidyl dipeptides such as carnosine are present in a micromolar to millimolar range in mammalian hearts. These dipeptides facilitate glycolysis by proton buffering. They form conjugates with reactive aldehydes, such as acrolein, and attenuate myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. Although these dipeptides exhibit multifunctional properties, a composite understanding of their role in the myocardium is lacking.

Methods and Results: To identify histidyl dipeptide-mediated responses in the heart, we used an integrated triomics approach, which involved genome-wide RNA sequencing, global proteomics, and unbiased metabolomics to identify the effects of cardiospecific transgenic overexpression of the carnosine synthesizing enzyme, carnosine synthase (Carns), in …

Sex Differences In The Association Between Cardiovascular Diseases And Dementia Subtypes: A Prospective Analysis Of 464,616 Uk Biobank Participants, Caiyun Dong, Chunmiao Zhou, Chunying Fu, Wenting Hao, Akihiko Ozaki, Nipun Shrestha, Salim S. Virani, Shiva Raj Mishra, Dongshan Zhu

Office of the Provost

Background: Whether the association of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) with dementia differs by sex remains unclear, and the role of socioeconomic, lifestyle, genetic, and medical factors in their association is unknown.
Methods: We used data from the UK Biobank, a population-based cohort study of 502,649 individuals. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate sex-specific hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), and women-to-men ratio of HRs (RHR) for the association between CVD (coronary heart diseases (CHD), stroke, and heart failure) and incident dementia (all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's Disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VD)). The moderator roles of socioeconomic (education, income), …

Advancements In Left Ventricular Assist Devices To Prevent Pump Thrombosis And Blood Coagulopathy, Grainne Malone, Gerges Abdelsayed, Fianait Bligh, Fatma Al Qattan, Saifullah Syed, Prateepan Varatharajullu, Augustin Msellati, Daniela Mwipatayi, Maimoona Azhar, Saulat Hasnain Fatimi

Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices, such as left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are very useful in improving outcomes in patients with advanced-stage heart failure. Despite recent advances in LVAD development, pump thrombosis is one of the most severe adverse events caused by LVADs. The contact of blood with artificial materials of LVAD pumps and cannulas triggers the coagulation cascade. Heat spots, for example, produced by mechanical bearings are often subjected to thrombus build-up when low-flow situations impair washout and thus the necessary cooling does not happen. The formation of thrombus in an LVAD may compromise its function, causing a drop …

Protocol For A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial Of Secondary Distribution Of Hepatitis C Self-Testing Within The Context Of A House-To-House Hepatitis C Micro-Elimination Programme In Karachi, Pakistan, Sonjelle Shilton, Dania Ali, Alyia Hasnain, Adeel Abid, Jessica Markby, Muhammad S. Jamil, Niklas Luhmann, Pamela Nabeta, Stefano Ongarello, Saeed Hamid

Medical College Documents

Background: Globally, just 21% of the estimated 58 million people living with hepatitis C virus (HCV) know their status. Thus, there is considerable need to scale-up HCV testing if the World Health Organization (WHO) 2030 hepatitis elimination goals are to be achieved. HCV self-testing may assist with this; however, there are currently no data on the real-world impact of HCV self-testing. With an estimated 5% of the general population living with HCV, Pakistan has the second highest HCV burden in the world. This study aims to evaluate the acceptability and impact of home delivery of HCV self-testing for secondary distribution …

Identifying The 'Vulnerable Plaque' In Asymptomatic Carotid Artery Disease Patients, Zia Ur Rehman

Department of Surgery Docs

No abstract provided.

Etiology, Clinical Characteristics, And Outcome Of Infective Endocarditis: 10-Year Experience From A Tertiary Care Center In Pakistan, Sara Salim Ali, Imran Ahmed Qureshi, Ahmed Ayaz, Ainan Arshad, Awais Farhad, Bushra Jamil, Muhammad Rizwan Sohail

Medical College Documents

This study was conducted to assess the clinical characteristics, causative agents, complications, and outcomes of infective endocarditis (IE) among patients presenting to our tertiary care center over the last decade. This retrospective cohort study included all adult patients admitted to the Aga Khan University Hospital with the diagnosis of IE over a ten-year period from 2010 to 2020. Outcomes variables included complications during hospitalization, surgical intervention, mortality, and length of stay. We identified a total of 305 cases out of which 176 (58%) were males and 129 (42%) were females. The mean age of the patients was 46.9±18.8 years. 95 …

Efficacy And Safety Of Direct Oral Anticoagulants With And Without Aspirin: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Talal Almas, Adeena Musheer, Arooba Ejaz, Fahd Niaz Shaikh, Anousheh Awais Paracha, Fizza Raza, Maryam Sarwar Khan, Fahad Masood, Faiza Siddiqui, Muhammad Hasnain Mankani

Medical College Documents

Background: Various anticoagulant therapies are prescribed to patients under physicians' discretion and recently Direct Oral Anticoagulants(DOAC) have been under trials to evaluate their safety and efficacy. In addition to this, the regimen of DOACs and Aspirin is of keen interest as researchers continue to find an optimal regimen to treat blood clots in patients. This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and observational studies that asses the safety and efficacy of DOAC with and without Aspirin.
Methods: We queried MEDLINE and Cochrane CENTRAL from their inception to April 2021, for published and randomized controlled …

Epidemiology, Clinical Ramifications, And Cellular Pathogenesis Of Covid-19 Mrna-Vaccination-Induced Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes: A State-Of-The-Heart Review, Talal Almas, Sarah Rehman, Eyad Mansour, Tarek Khedro, Ali Alansari, Jahanzeb Malik, Norah Alshareef, Vikneswaran Raj Nagarajan, Abdulla Hussain Al-Awaid, Reema Alsufyani

Medical College Documents

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has overwhelming healthcare systems globally. To date, a myriad of therapeutic regimens has been employed in an attempt to curb the ramifications of a severe COVID-19 infection. Amidst the ongoing pandemic, the advent and efficacious uptake of COVID-19 vaccination has significantly reduced disease-related hospitalizations and mortality. Nevertheless, many side-effects are being reported after COVID-19 vaccinations and myocarditis is the most commonly reported sequelae post vaccination. Majority of these diseases are associated with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Various studies have established a temporal relationship between these complications, yet the causality and the underlying pathogenesis remain hypothetical. In …

Leveraging Structured And Unstructured Electronic Health Record Data To Detect Reasons For Suboptimal Statin Therapy Use In Patients With Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease, Glenn T. Gobbel, Michael E. Matheny, Ruth R. Reeves, Julia M. Akeroyd, Alexander Turchin, Christie M. Ballantyne, Laura A. Petersen, Salim S. Virani

Office of the Provost

Objective: To determine whether natural language processing (NLP) of unstructured medical text can improve identification of ASCVD patients not using high-intensity statin therapy (HIST) due to statin-associated side effects (SASEs) and other reasons.
Methods: Reviewers annotated reasons for not prescribing HIST in notes of 1152 randomly selected patients from across the VA healthcare system treated for ASCVD but not receiving HIST. Developers used reviewer annotations to train the Canary NLP tool to detect and extract notes containing one or more of these reasons. Negative predictive value (NPV), sensitivity, specificity and Area Under the Curve (AUC) were used to assess accuracy …

Inflammatory Bowel Disease And Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease In U.S. Adults-A Population-Level Analysis In The National Health Interview Survey, Khurram Nasir, Isaac Acquah, Amit K. Dey, Tanushree Agrawal, Syed Zawahir Hassan, Kerri Glassner, Bincy Abraham, Eamonn M M. Quigley, Ron Blankstein, Salim S. Virani

Office of the Provost

Objectives: To evaluate the association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and whether this association is modified by age or sex.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data from the 2015-2016 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The exposure of interest was self-reported IBD. The outcome of interest was prevalent ASCVD, which included a history of angina, myocardial infarction or stroke. We used survey-specific descriptive statistics to obtain weighted national estimates for IBD and ASCVD prevalence. Logistic regression models were used to assess the association between IBD and ASCVD, progressively adjusting for demographics and traditional risk …

Intracardiac Thrombus In Coronavirus Disease-2019, Suganya Karikalan, Munish Sharma, Megha Chandna, Manju Sachdev, Ajay Gaalla, Farah Yasmin, Reena Shah, Iqbal Ratnani

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Intracardiac thrombus is often seen as a complication of ischemic heart disease (IHD) and non-ischemia cardiomyopathies (NICM). The advancements in imaging modalities and therapeutic options have helped reduce the complications arising from ventricular thrombi, such as systemic embolization. Here we present two cases of intracardiac thrombus associated with coronavirus disease (COVID) 19, one with an apical thrombus in the left ventricle and the other with a thrombus in the right ventricle adjacent to chordae tendinae. The effects of covid-19 on the cardiovascular system are yet to be thoroughly evaluated. Venous and arterial thrombosis is commonly associated with COVID-19 but in …

Determinant Of Repeat Revascularization Within 5 Years Of Percutaneous Coronary Lntervention At A Tertiary Care Hospital, Karachi: A Matched Case-Control Study, Komal Valliani, Azmina Artani, Iqbal Azam, Javed Tai, M. Masood Kadir

Community Health Sciences

Objective: To determine factors associated with repeat revascularization among adults aged 25 years and above within 5 years of first Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) at a tertiary care hospital.
Methods: A matched case-control study was conducted through a hospital records review. A total of 90 cases with repeat revascularization and 180 controls without repeat revascularization were included. Data was analyzed using Multiple Conditional Logistic Regression.
Results: The mean age was similar in cases and controls (60.05 ± 10.01 vs 62.20 ± 10.43 years) and sex (male: 77.8% vs. 76.1%). History of being an ever-smoker (40% vs. 25%), overweight (36.3% vs. …

Tirofiban And Rivaroxaban Use In The Management Of Right Coronary Artery Thrombus As A Primary Manifestation Of Essential Thrombocythemia, Muhummad Nasir Rahman, Maleeha Javed

Section of Cardiology

A 45 year old male with hypertension was presented to our centre with a recent inferior wall myocardial infarction (IWMI) and post infarction angina. Invasive coronary angiography revealed an occluded proximal right coronary artery (RCA) with high thrombus burden, in the absence of obstructive disease in the remaining coronary vasculature. Based on raised platelet counts of 923,000/microliter and positive Janus kinase (JAK 2- V617) mutations tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia (ET) was made. A therapeutic strategy of aspiration thrombectomy along with I/V Tirofiban was used for three days, followed by reassessed angiogram and percutaneous …