Left Ventricular Assist Device in Older Adults.

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are an effective therapy for a growing and aging population in the background of limited donor supply. Selecting the proper patient involves assessment of indications, risk factors, scores for overall outcomes, assessment for right ventricular failure, and optimal timing of implantation. LVAD complications have a 5% to 10% perioperative mortality and complications of bleeding, thrombosis, stroke, infection, right ventricular failure, and device failure.

Refractory coronary vasospasm following drug-eluting stent placement treated with cyproheptadine.

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) has been recently shown to be an important mediator of coronary vasospasm. Its divergent effect on normal and atherosclerosed arteries has been demonstrated in both animal and human studies. We present a case of coronary vasospasm in a 55-year-old man with repeated episodes of chest pain following coronary percutaneous intervention.

Elevated troponins and the Churg-Strauss syndrome: a case report.

In a patient with persistently elevated troponin levels but normal ischemic work-up, a diagnostic dilemma can ensue. This is the case of a 65-year-old woman whose only cardiac risk factor was age. She presented repeatedly with chest pain, elevated troponins, and consistently elevated eosinophil levels until the fourth admission when she presented with multi-organ abnormalities including asthma and vasculitis that led to the diagnosis of Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS).

Case report: aortic dissection and cystic medial degeneration in a 24-year-old without Marfan syndrome.

The effective management of aortic dissection relies heavily on a high index of suspicion followed by timely definitive diagnosis. Young adults without a history of blunt trauma who are not at risk for atherosclerotic disease may lower this suspicion. We present a 24-year-old patient with complaints of chest pain who presented in multiple urgent care clinics and emergency departments.