Challenging Case of Marantic Tricuspid Endocarditis Treated With Percutaneous Vegetation Debulking.

Marantic endocarditis is a rare entity often diagnosed in the setting of advanced malignant disease. We present the case of a 66-year-old man with stage IVb non-small cell lung cancer, with large tricuspid and small aortic valve vegetations. A multidisciplinary team determined the patient to be a poor surgical candidate, but given the likelihood of pulmonary and systemic embolization, an intervention was required.

Wide unroofed coronary sinus and cryptogenic stroke: a case report.

Background: Unroofed coronary sinus (UCS) is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly in which there is complete or partial absence of the roof of the coronary sinus (CS) resulting in a communication between the right and left atria. There are four types of UCS described in the literature. While usually asymptomatic and discovered incidentally on imaging, UCS can be the source of a brain abscess or paradoxical embolism.

Peripheral Administration of Nitroglycerin in Pulseless Ventricular Tachycardia due to Cocaine-Induced Coronary Vasospasm.

Cocaine use accounts for 40% of the annual drug use related emergency department visits in the United States. Cocaine use is hence recognized as a major health problem. Cocaine blocks the presynaptic reuptake of norepinephrine and dopamine.

Aortic stenosis calcium scoring in a racially mixed sample.

Aortic stenosis (AS) is common and increasing in prevalence as the population ages. Using computed tomography (CT) to quantify aortic valve calcification (AVC) it has been reported that men have greater degrees of calcification than women among subjects with severe AS. These data, however, were derived in largely Caucasian populations and have not been verified in non-Caucasian subjects.

Gaisböck syndrome (polycythemia and hypertension) revisited: results from the national inpatient sample database.

Background: Polycythemia is characterized by increased blood viscosity and a chronic inflammatory state possibly giving rise to excessive thromboembolic events and hypertensive cardiovascular disease. We aimed to study the relationship between polycythemia and cardiac risk factors using a large national registry.

Methods: Patients more than 18 years with a diagnosis of polycythemia were identified from the National Inpatient Sample 2009-2010 database using International Classification of Diseases; Ninth Edition (ICD-9) code 238.

Cardiovascular Events in Alcoholic Syndrome With Alcohol Withdrawal History: Results From the National Inpatient Sample.

Background: Epidemiologic studies suggest reduced cardiovascular disease (CVD) events with moderate alcohol consumption. However, heavy and binge drinking may be associated with higher CVD risk. Utilizing the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, we studied the association between a troublesome alcohol history (TAH), defined as those with diagnoses of both chronic alcohol syndrome and acute withdrawal history and CVD events.

Alcohol and cardiovascular disease in the geriatric population.

There has been little focus on the effects of alcohol on the elderly. Although the cardiovascular benefits of moderate alcohol consumption could be of the greatest benefit in this group, so might be the detrimental effects of abuse. In this article, we review available data on the effects of alcohol consumption on cardiovascular disease, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, hypertension, and vascular function in older adults.

Incremental value of live/real time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography over the two-dimensional technique in the assessment of aortic atherosclerotic thrombi and ulcers.

We present two cases in whom live/real time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3DTEE) provided incremental value in the assessment of atherosclerotic disease in the aorta. In one patient, it identified additional atherosclerotic ulcers as well as thrombi within them which were missed by two-dimensional (2D) TEE. In both cases, the size of the large mobile atherosclerotic plaque was underestimated by 2DTEE as compared with 3DTEE.