Cardiology Commons^™

Beyond The Task: Developing A Tool To Measure Workplace Characteristics That Affect Cognitive Load And Learning, Sarah Blissett, Sebastian Rodriguez, Atif Qasim, Patricia O'Sullivan

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: Educators lack tools to measure the workplace characteristics that learners perceive to affect learning. Without a tool that encompasses the social, organizational, and physical components of workplace learning environments (WLEs), it is challenging to identify and improve problematic workplace characteristics. Using echocardiography WLE, this study developed a tool to measure workplace characteristics that cardiology fellows perceive to affect learning.

METHOD: The Workplace-Cognitive Load Tool (W-CLT) was developed, which encompasses 17 items to measure workplace characteristics that could affect perceived cognitive load and learning. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the most parsimonious structure. A total of 646 cardiology …

Clinical Characteristics And Outcomes In Patients With Coronary Artery Aneurysms (Caa) Presenting With Acute Coronary Syndrome (Acs) Or Cardiomyopathy, Advaitha Misra, Mathangi Keshavan, Ersida Zerdelija, Zain Abidi, Alexandra Corrado, James Benke, Hassan Dalloul, Anton Salwan

Posters

Coronary artery aneurysms and ectasia are rare conditions with an incidence estimated at < 1% [1]. It is defined as either a focal or diffuse dilation of a coronary segment of at least one and a half times the adjacent normal segment [2,3].The most common etiology is atherosclerosis, although a variety of other culprits are implicated in its pathogenesis, such as vasculitidies and connective tissue disorders [3,4,5]. Its management is largely driven by the etiology of the coronary artery segment dilation and the presentation of disease at the time of diagnosis. Management strategies employ a judicious combination of medical therapy, percutaneous and surgical interventions. The presence of coronary artery aneurysm or ectasia has been associated with poor long-term outcomes [6,7,8]. Complications from coronary artery aneurysm influence management, largely guided by clinician judgment and limited published data. Given the paucity of evidence in the management of these conditions, we present a case series of three patients with coronary artery aneurysm or ectasia with varying presentations and their corresponding management. We aim to contribute to the growing body of evidence for the management of this elusive cardiac condition.

Port Catheter Fracture: A Silent Intrusion Into The Right Ventricle, Sanya Chandna, Saumya Nanda, Ankit Agrawal, Kavin Raj, Umesh Bhagat, Keerthana Jyotheeswara Pillai, Suryansh Bajaj

Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives

Central venous port-a-catheters play a pivotal role in various medical procedures, yet they are associated with a spectrum of complications. Catheter fracture with cardiac migration is a rare complication, occurring in less than 1% of patients. Although not very common, it can cause severe issues, necessitating fragment removal. We present a case of spontaneous mediport fracture and migration in a patient with a history of Hodgkin's lymphoma and prior chemotherapy. He presented with nausea, vomiting, and tachycardia. Further evaluation revealed elevated total leukocyte count and labs consistent with diabetic ketoacidosis. He was diagnosed with new-onset diabetes mellitus. Imaging studies confirmed …

Heart Transplantation In A Patient With Rheumatic Heart Disease And Severe Left Atrial Calcification, Kyungsub Song, Seonhwa Lee, Yun Seok Kim

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

A 62-year-old woman who had undergone mitral valve replacement 24 years ago was admitted to the hospital with congestive heart failure. She needed heart transplantation for stage D heart failure. Preoperative cardiac computed tomographic scans showed a severely calcified left atrium and a large right atrium. Given that the left atrium's calcification was too severe to suture, the calcified left atrial wall was broadly resected, and the resected left atrial wall was reconstructed with a bovine pericardial patch for anastomosis with the donor's left atrial wall. The operation was completed without heavy bleeding, and the patient was discharged from the …

Temporal Trends, Outcomes, And Predictors Of Next-Day Discharge And Readmission Following Uncomplicated Evolut Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis., Wayne B Batchelor, Carlos E Sanchez, Paul Sorajja, James E Harvey, Benjamin Z Galper, Anapoorna Kini, Patricia Keegan, Kendra J Grubb, Ruth Eisenberg, Toby Rogers

Heart and Vascular Articles

BACKGROUND: Next-day discharge (NDD) outcomes following uncomplicated self-expanding transcatheter aortic valve replacement have not been studied. Here, we compare readmission rates and clinical outcomes in NDD versus non-NDD transcatheter aortic valve replacement with Evolut.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Society of Thoracic Surgeons/American College of Cardiology TVT (Transcatheter Valve Therapy) Registry patients (n=29 597) undergoing elective transcatheter aortic valve replacement with self-expanding supra-annular valves (Evolut R, PRO, and PRO+) from July 2019 to June 2021 were stratified by postprocedure length of stay: ≤1 day (NDD) versus >1 day (non-NDD). Propensity score matching was used to compare risk adjusted 30-day readmission rates and …

Off-Pump Coronary Surgery Combined With Aortic Valve Replacement Under Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest Within An Unexpected Porcelain Aorta, Abdelkader Boukhmis, Khaled Khacha, Djouaher Yacine

Journal of the Saudi Heart Association

Unexpected porcelain aorta is a real challenge to safely completing aortic valve replacement combined with coronary artery surgery. This condition often leads to an aborted sternotomy in the hope of performing transcatheter procedures, the feasibility of which may be hampered by anatomical considerations. We report the case of a 71- year old man with history of hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease, which was referred for severe aortic valve stenosis and severe coronary artery disease. He benefited from an anaortic off-pump coronary surgery and clampless aortic valve replacement under hypothermic circulatory arrest to overcome an unexpected porcelain …

Patient-Centered Preimplant Education Session And Bi-Weekly Text Message Adherence Reminders In Patients With A Newly Implanted Cardiomems® Device: A Quality Improvement Study, Elizabeth M. Miller, Alicia Abboud, Audrey Cooper

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects: College of Nursing

Rationale

Heart failure is a deadly disease, affecting over 6.2 million individuals and costing the United States an estimated 30.7 billion dollars (Virani et al., 2020). By 2023, heart failure costs in the United States are estimated to grow to 70 billion dollars with 75-80% of these costs attributed to inpatient hospitalizations (Heidereich et al., 2022). The CardioMEMs® is a small device placed in the patient’s pulmonary artery via a minimally invasive procedure by an interventional cardiologist. The use of remote patient data from the CardioMEMs® device has been shown to reduce hospital re-admissions, facilitate tailored medication management, detect increased …

Incidental Coronary Artery Calcification: A Low-Hanging Fruit With Life-Prolonging Potential, Ryan Gardner, Md, Youssef Elfatatry, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

Problem Statement:

Incidental coronary artery calcium (CAC) seen on ungated computerized tomography (CT) scans obtained for various clinical reasons can serve as an excellent opportunity for screening of patients with previously undiagnosed coronary artery disease (CAD). Despite this, studies have shown that these findings are rarely reported in final impressions of radiology reports.

Project AIM:

To propose the use of a natural language processing (NLP) algorithm to identify incidental CAC noted in radiology reports and an electronic alert to notify primary care clinicians of such findings.

Cardiology Referrals For African-American Basketball Players Falls Below Expectation, Vacha Shah, Blaise O'Malley, Douglas Corsi, Avinash Saraiya, Margaret Doyle, I. Masood, Brian Osler, A. Hajduczok, David Shipon

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

Problem Statement:

• Rates of sudden cardiac death due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are higher in male African American basketball players compared with White players (Maron, 2003)
• Male African American NCAA Division I basketball players have the highest incidence of sudden cardiac arrest and death between the ages of 11 and 29 (Peterson, 2020)
• Retrospective analysis of the HeartBytes Registry collected by Simon’s Heart Organization identified multiple risk factors, such as asthma and sickle cell anemia, higher in this population than in the general population
• Increased murmurs and EKG abnormalities such as ST-segment depressions and other nonspecific changes are present in …

Racial Disparities In Transcatheter And Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement, Maggie Doyle, Svenja Schneider, Md, Kashka Mallari, Md, Nicholas Ruggiero, Md, Rebecca Marcantuono, Crnp, Alec Vishnevsky, Md, Yevgeniy Brailovsky, Do

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

• Transcatheter and surgical aortic valve replacement (TAVR, SAVR) is disproportionately distributed across racial and ethnicity groups.^{1, 2}
• Nationally, 87-91% of individuals undergoing AVR are White, despite making up approximately 60% of the US population.^1-4
• Jefferson’s AVR demographic data is consistent with national trends.
• Further studies have found that zip codes associated with lower socioeconomic status (SES) have lower rates of TAVR.⁵
• Although this disparity is widely recognized, there lacks understanding of contributing factors and potential interventions.

Project Aim:

• Investigate additional demographic data of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) patients undergoing TAVR to isolate targets for future …

Importance Of The Assessment Of Left Ventricular Function Following A Diagnosis Of Left Bundle Branch Block, Samuel Dyer, Bs, Benjamin Mass, Bs, Alyson Owen, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

• Left bundle branch block (LBBB) is a diagnosis often encountered in clinical practice.
• It can be seen as a harbinger of decreased left ventricular function in the future. LBBB has been associated with new onset congestive heart failure (CHF) and death from cardiovascular diseases.¹

Problem Statement

• LBBB in and of itself is given inadequate follow-up and attention by clinicians. Project AIM: bring to light the delay in follow-up after diagnosis of LBBB.

Ventilation Method During Intensive Care Unit Transport After Cardiac Surgeries; When Should We Use A Ventilator?, Francis Anderson, Do, Kent Berg, Md, Marc Torjman, Phd, Yoshihisa Morita, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Background

Problem Statement: Manual ventilation with AMBU bag is utilized mostly for transporting post cardiac surgery patients to the intensive care unit, but some patients need mechanical ventilation due to concern for oxygenation, ventilation, and cardiac function.

Also, transport can be a critical moment because of limited hemodynamic information and suboptimal environment for therapeutic intervention.

Thus, risk stratification for appropriate ventilation is necessary for safe transport. •

Project AIM: We assessed biventricular function (with a hand-held echocardiography), arterial blood gas, and hemodynamics pre and post transport in manual and mechanical ventilation groups.

Instent Thrombosis 20 Years After Stent Placement, Hussein Gaith, Najeebullah Bangash

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Stent thrombosis is not very common but it is a serious complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Here in, we present a case of 55 years old who presented with acute chest pain, was found to have non ST elevation myocardial infarction due to a thrombotic occlusion of prior drug eluting stent placed 20 years ago. A 55 years old male presented to the emergency department with one day history of mid-chest retrosternal pain that started while playing hockey, associated with nausea and diaphoresis. On initial evaluation, vital signs were stable, and patient was afebrile. Cardiac examination was normal with …

Rare Case Of Hemorrhagic Pericardial Effusion Due To Coxsackie B Pericarditis, Nolan Shoukri, Hazem Alakhras, Kateryna Strubchevska, Steven Timmis

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Introduction Acute pericarditis is caused by inflammation of the pericardial sac. Amongst the vast number of potential causes, viruses tend to trigger pericarditis most frequently. Some of the more common viral causes are coxsackie A/B, echovirus, adenovirus, CMV, HSV, and HIV.1-3 Pericarditis often presents with signs and symptoms such as a friction rub, pain relieved with sitting up and leaning forward. ST segment elevations and PR segment depressions are seen on EKG. Laboratory tests showed increased inflammatory markers and WBC count. Pericardial effusion is a common complication and can be visualized on echocardiogram. In some cases, the pericardial effusion can …

Myxedema Coma-Induced Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: Unraveling The Complex Interplay, Mohammad Ali Mozaffari, Batool Shukr, Hafsa Hassan, Khurram Arshad, Antoine Egbe Bessong Tabot, Mariam Jamil, Rajiv John, Adam Hafeez

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Introduction Myxedema coma is a rare condition with a high mortality rate. It poses the risk of cardiovascular complications, typically affects elderly females, and is often triggered by an underlying infection or systemic illness in the setting of preexisting severe hypothyroidism. Patients may exhibit multiorgan dysfunction with altered mentation ranging from disorientation and lethargy to obtundation and coma. Other physical exam findings may include dry scaly skin, non-pitting edema, delayed reflexes, bradycardia, and hypothermia. Prompt diagnosis and early treatment are crucial to reducing mortality rates associated with this severe condition. Case description A 74-year-old female with no known past medical …

An Unexpected Finding During A Breast Excisional Biopsy: A Case Report, Emily Forester, Anjeanette Brown

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background: Pacemaker leads within the breast are rare. Although it is infrequent, there are some reports of implanted cardiac devices or wires migrating into breast tissue or through the chest wall. To the best of our knowledge, there are no current reports of pacemaker leads within the breast tissue of a patient with concurrent breast cancer. This case aims to detail the surgical management of this rare phenomenon.

Case Presentation: A pacemaker-dependent, female patient presented to the operating room for a left breast excisional biopsy. Intraoperatively, two epicardial leads were unexpectedly found within the center of the patient’s breast tissue. …

Clinical Outcomes For Va-Ecmo Patients Associated With Hyperlipidemia: An Analysis Of The National Inpatient Sample, Dakota B. Pastore, Tony Elias, Rafail Beshai, Kyrillos Girgis, Maziyar Daneshvar, Keith Anacker

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Introduction: Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) is considered the most advanced temporary life support which provides complete hemodynamic support in addition to gas exchange. There is limited data available on the impact of hyperlipidemia (HLD) on VA-ECMO patients. We sought to examine the national inpatient sample (NIS) database to describe in-hospital outcomes among these patients.

Methods: The NIS was searched for hospitalizations of adult VA-ECMO patients with and without a concomitant diagnosis of HLD for the years 2019 and 2020. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality.

Results:This study included 3,885 VA-ECMO patients, of which 1,082 (27.8%) patients had HLD. …

Outcomes Of Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair (Tevar) Procedure In Octogenarians, Nonagenarians And Centenarians: A Population-Based Study, Dakota B. Pastore, Tony Elias, Rafail Beshai, Kyrillos Girgis, Maziyar Daneshvar, Keith Anacker

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Introduction: Limited data exists for patients undergoing a thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) procedure who are older than or equal to 80 years old (YO). This study sought to examine the national inpatient sample (NIS) database to describe in-hospital outcomes among these older patients.

Methods: The NIS was searched for hospitalizations of adults who underwent a TEVAR procedure in 2019 and 2020. The study compared those aged 80 YO and over to those younger than 80 YO. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality. Secondary outcomes included hospital length of stay (LOS), and total hospital charges (TOTHCG).

Results: This study included …

Sex Differences In Outcomes Among Patients Undergoing Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair (Tevar) Procedure: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Dakota B. Pastore, Tony Elias, Rafail Beshai, Kyrillos Girgis, Maziyar Daneshvar, Keith Anacker

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Introduction: There is limited data about sex differences in patients undergoing a thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) procedure. This study sought to examine the national inpatient sample (NIS) database to describe in-hospital outcomes by gender.

Methods: The NIS was searched for hospitalizations of adult patients who underwent TEVAR in 2019 and 2020. For this cohort, female patients were identified, and pregnant patients were excluded. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality. Secondary outcomes included hospital length of stay (LOS), and total hospital charges (TOTHCG).

Results: This study included 696 patients who underwent TEVAR. 255 (36.6%) females were identified, of which, 7 …

Effects Of Exercise On The Cardiovascular Health Of Adolescents And Young Adults With Down Syndrome, Samarth Gupta

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Introduction: It is known that the incidence of Down Syndrome has increased over time and that this condition is associated with congenital heart defects, lower cardiorespiratory capacity, and increased rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes. It has been shown that individuals who have congenital heart defects but not Down Syndrome have increased cardiorespiratory function after engaging in exercise. Unfortunately, the role of exercise in improving cardiovascular health outcomes among individuals with DS is not yet fully understood.

Results: Exercise has been found to improve several health outcomes among individuals with Down Syndrome. For example, moderate to vigorous treadmill exercises …