Giant right ventricular fibroma co-existing atrial septal defect in a 15 year old girl.

The most common benign cardiac tumours are the myxomas, the rhabdomyomas, and the fibromas, with the latter 2 variants being the most common tumours encountered in children. The size and location of tumours within the heart create a variety of clinical findings, such as murmurs, chest pain, tachyarrythmias, and congestive cardiac failure. Nowadays, the tumours are usually diagnosed by echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging and cardiac catheterization.

Comparison of the systemic levels of inflammatory markers after percutaneous coronary intervention with bare metal versus sirolimus-eluting stents.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with bare metal stent (BMS) deployment causes plaque disruption and a rise in systemic levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1. Our aim is to study whether PCI with sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) use attenuates this response.

Methods: Patients with stable angina undergoing single-vessel PCI were enrolled in a randomized, open-label fashion into a BMS group or an SES group.

Right-sided infective endocarditis due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in an injecting drug user: outbreak or slow epidemic?

We present a case of right-sided infective endocarditis due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus that occurred in an injectable drug user. Traditionally, cities such as Detroit and San Francisco have been associated with certain bacterial infections. Upon further review, these relationships appear more tenuous and argue that identification to the level of "strain" will be required to support such claims.

Ventricular late potentials among thalassemia patients.

Background: Iron induced cardiac abnormalities remain the number one cause of death among thalassemia major (TM) patients. Signal averaged ECG (SAECG) was suggested to predict ventricular tachycardia as the underlying substrate for up to 5% incidence of sudden cardiac death among TM patients. The prevalence of ventricular late potentials (VLP) among different TM populations varied (3-31%); therefore to further clarify this we here describe the incidence of VLP among TM patients over a 7 year follow up period (1997 to 2004).