A rare cause of ischemic stroke: cardiac myxoma. Case report and review of literature.

A 46-year-old female diagnosed several years ago with arterial hypertension and an ischemic stroke with significant recovery was admitted for dyspnea on usual physical activity and fatigue. Physical examination revealed signs of heart failure with crackles on both lung bases, distented jugular veins, accentuated pulmonic valve closure (P2) and tricuspid regurgitation murmur. Echocardiography identified a large tumor in the left atrium, suggestive of atrial myxoma, which caused a severe functional mitral stenosis and produced severe pulmonary hypertension.

Perspectives on hypertension's prevalence, treatment and control in a high cardiovascular risk East European country: data from the SEPHAR III survey.

Objectives: To estimate the trend in arterial hypertension's prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control in Romania, starting from the latest national survey Study for the Evaluation of Prevalence of Hypertension and Cardiovascular Risk in Romania III that has a crucial importance for the development of prevention strategies at national level.

Methods: A representative sample of 1970 Romanian adults (mean age 48.38 years, age range 18-80 years, 52.

Post-myocardial infarction arrhythmia risk stratification using microvolt T-wave alternans.

Since its initial description, a number of studies have described the use of microvolt T-wave alternans (MTWA) as a predictor of the primary or secondary occurrence of ventricular arrhythmic events. These studies, however, have been limited by small sample sizes and disparate patient populations. Studies of MTWA in post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients are few in number, but hold predictive value for risk of ventricular arrhythmias.

Invasive thymoma.

Thymomas are rare tumors of the thymic epithelium with a broad spectrum of morphological and clinical features. Despite a benign histological appearance, it can invade nearby structures or metastasize. The majority of patients are asymptomatic, but some may present with paraneoplastic syndromes such as myasthenia gravis, red cell aplasia, or hypogammaglobulinemia.

Microvolt T wave alternans (MTWA)--a new non-invasive predictor of sudden cardiac death.

Over 10 million people are at high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). In order to stratify the risk of SCD due to ventricular tachyarrhythmia, additional methods are required. In the past years, the development of implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (ICD) has become an effective therapeutic option for patients at high risk for SCD, albeit ICD is both expensive and invasive.