Evidence of reverse mismatch with positron emission tomography imaging in a patient with reversible myocardial dysfunction.

We describe the case of a patient who came to our attention because of a reversible depression of myocardial contractility, probably due to myocarditis. A positron emission tomography study showed, in correspondence to the malfunctioning segments, a decreased F18-2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (F18-FDG) uptake in the presence of a normal perfusion as assessed by means of N13-labeled ammonia uptake. This phenomenon, called "reverse mismatch", shows that viability is not always dependent on FDG uptake and that it could be associated with the recovery of myocardial contractility.

Evidence of walk-through phenomenon during echocardiographic dipyridamole stress test.

This case report deals with induced regional wall motion abnormalities that spontaneously disappeared during an echocardiographic stress test with dipyridamole. A patient underwent this test because of atypical chest discomfort and a positive result of exercise stress test. Transient septal, apical and anterior akinesia were observed after the first dose of dipyridamole, but they were short-lasting and did not return during the continuation of the test.

[Echocardiography or stress scintigraphy with dipyridamole for the stratification of risk after acute myocardial infarction?].

Unlabelled: Increased risk of subsequent cardiac events after an acute infarction can be identified through dipyridamole infusion. It remains to be determined whether echocardiographic or scintigraphic imaging modes are equivalent. The aim of our study was to compare the prognostic information obtained early after an acute uncomplicated myocardial infarction through high-dose dipyridamole coupled with echocardiography or scintigraphy via Tc 99m sestamibi SPECT imaging.

Exercise technetium 99m sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography late after coronary artery bypass surgery: long-term follow-up.

Background And Hypothesis: The prognostic value of exercise technetium 99m sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging in patients with previous bypass surgery is unknown. The aim of our study was to assess the prognostic information obtained with exercise scintigraphy performed for routine follow-up or reappearance of symptoms.

Methods: We studied 75 patients referred to our Center at a mean of 38 +/- 53 months from the revascularization procedure and prospectively followed them for 38 +/- 24 months.

[Combined use of bicycle ergometry test and echo-dipyridamole in stratification of risk after thrombolysed myocardial infarct].

Aim: Verify the value of the combined use of Dipyridamole Stress Echocardiography (DSE) and Exercise Testing (ET) for predicting cardiac events after Thrombolysed Myocardial Infarction (TMI).

Study Design: Prospective, with a medium follow-up of 221 days (range 30-446).

Clinical Settings: Coronary Care Unit with Cardiology Service.

Usefulness of 99mTc-MIBI stress myocardial SPECT bull's-eye quantification in coronary artery disease.

99mTc-methoxy-isobutyl isonitrile (MIBI) myocardial SPECT quantification performed using a Bull's-eye polar map, was evaluated and compared with visual analysis in 120 patients with proven or suspected CAD. The study series comprised 106 men and 14 women, age 37-75 years (mean 51 +/- 6), 68 of whom had had a prior myocardial infarction. Coronary angiography was taken as the gold standard: one-vessel disease was present in 24 patients, two-vessel disease in 39, and three-vessel disease in 44, whereas no significant stenosis was documented in 13 cases.

[High-frequency electrostimulation of the atrium in therapy of atrial flutter in patients pre-treated with amiodarone].

Twenty-four consecutive episodes of atrial flutter in 20 patients were treated with overdrive atrial pacing after a pre-treatment with oral Amiodarone. This technique was effective in interrupting the arrhythmia in 23 instances (95,8%). Normal sinus rhythm was restored in 22 cases: in 18 of then (75%) it appeared immediately at the end of stimulation and in 4 after a short intervening period of atrial fibrillation.

[Trans-placental passage of amiodarone: electrocardiographic evidence and pharmacological findings in a newborn infant].

Trans-placental passage of amiodarone has not yet been demonstrated, even if it has been suspected from the observation of some cases of congenital mixedema in babies born of amiodarone-treated women. A pregnant woman, suffering from recurrent episodes of resistant high frequency, 1:1 atrial tachycardia, with severe hypotension, was treated with oral amiodarone 200 mg daily during the last three months of pregnancy. The arrhythmia was satisfactorily controlled and pregnancy was carried on well.

[Acute myocardial infarct as the first manifestation of acute myeloid leukemia. Description of an anatomo-clinical case].

A case of a 46 year old man in whom acute myocardial infarction was the earliest outstanding clinical manifestation of an acute promyelocytic leukemia is reported. Reinfarction occurred a few days after, causing death of the patient. autopsy and histologic findings are reported and pathogenetic hypothesis are discussed.

[Electrophysiological demonstration of more structures in the atrioventricular node (author's transl)].

Three types of atrioventricular nodal conduction curves, relating A1A2 to H1H2, generated with atrial extrastimulus technique, are known. The first type is smooth, suggesting the homogeneous structure of A-V node. The second type, with abrupt increase in H1H2 response over a critical range of A1A2 coupling intervals, suggests the presence of fast and slow A-V nodal pathways.