Intravenous iron therapy for patients with iron deficiency and heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) presents a significant health challenge, with intravenous (IV) iron therapy considered a potential treatment avenue.

Method: We assessed IV iron therapy's efficacy in HF patients with concurrent iron deficiency versus standard of care. Primary outcomes included the composite of HF hospitalizations or cardiovascular-related mortality, HF hospitalizations, and all-cause, HF, and cardiovascular mortality rates.

Hypothermia as an Adjunctive Therapy to Percutaneous Intervention in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Control Trials.

Introduction: In the setting of acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), several randomized control trials (RCTs) suggested a potential benefit with the use of therapeutic hypothermia (TH). However, results from previous studies are contradictory.

Method: We performed a comprehensive literature search for studies that evaluated the efficacy and safety of adjunctive TH compared to the standard percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in awake patients with STEMI.

Heavy lone coronary artery thrombosis treated by stent retriever, in the setting of COVID-19 infection.

We present a case of heavy lone coronary thrombosis in the setting of COVID-19 infection. We highlight the special angiographic, ultrasonographic, and histological features of this thrombus, and we describe the application of carotid stent retriever for its removal.

Ventricular Septal Defect in a 66-Year-Old Man.

A 66-year-old man presented with a moderate-sized ventricular septal defect and severe pulmonary hypertension that was responsive to vasodilator therapy. His electrocardiogram demonstrated biatrial enlargement and biventricular hypertrophy. Presentation at this age is unusual for this type of shunt.

Combined Radial and Femoral Access Strategy and Radial-Femoral Rendezvous in Patients With Long and Complex Iliac Occlusions.

We present cases of complex, calcified iliac occlusive disease revascularized via a combined radial-femoral access strategy. Through a 6-French, 125-cm transradial guiding catheter, antegrade guidewires and catheters are advanced into the iliac occlusion, while retrograde devices are advanced transfemorally. The transradial and transfemoral channels communicate, allowing the devices to cross the occlusion into the true lumen (radial-femoral antegrade-retrograde rendezvous).

Combined Radial-Tibial Access Strategy With Radial-Tibial Reverse CART, Radial-Tibial Kiss, and Tibial-Tibial Kiss.

A 45-year-old male smoker presented with extensive non-healing ulcerations and an occluded right common femoral artery. His left forearm had contractures from a prior stroke. We describe a combined radial-tibial access revascularization strategy.

Malignant Early Repolarization.

A 27-year-old man presents with successfully resuscitated ventricular fibrillation. Structural and electrical causes of ventricular fibrillation in the young are presented along with a diagnostic strategy. Electrocardiographic features of malignant early repolarization are discussed.

Dynamic ST-Segment Abnormality.

A 37-year-old man came to the emergency department because of several days of intermittent chest pain. An electrocardiogram (ECG) showed sinus rhythm, left atrial and left ventricular enlargement, and an early repolarization pattern. A second ECG recorded 10 minutes later was strikingly different, with ST-segment elevation and large upright T waves in the anterior precordial leads, interpreted as evidence of an ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, and the cardiac catheterization team was activated.

Endovascular Therapy of the Superficial Femoral Artery Via a Stand-Alone Transradial Access: A Single-Center Experience.

Objective: We describe our experience in transradial recanalization of the superficial femoral artery (SFA), and we provide a stepwise approach accounting for the patient's height and optimizing the yield of currently available devices.

Methods And Results: Fifteen patients with simple SFA disease, including 4 patients with total SFA occlusions <15 cm, were selected for stand-alone transradial recanalization. A 6F, 125-cm multipurpose guiding catheter was used to cannulate the limb of interest and support device delivery.

Wide-QRS Complex Tachycardia.

In a man with a wide-QRS complex tachycardia, a history of an inferior left ventricular scar, atrioventricular dissociation during the tachycardia, and a QRS morphology inconsistent with right or left bundle branch block exclude a diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardia with aberrant ventricular conduction due to bundle branch block or ventricular preexcitation and establish a diagnosis of ventricular tachycardia.

Combined radial-tibial access strategy and radial-tibial reverse CART in a patient with aortobifemoral graft and complex superficial femoral artery occlusion.

We present the case of a patient with a history of aortobifemoral grafting who presented with left lower extremity ischemic rest pain. Aortofemoral angiography was performed through a left radial access and showed a long, calcified total occlusion of the left superficial femoral artery (SFA) and a subtotal popliteal occlusion. The popliteal artery and SFA were crossed retrogradely through a 4-Fr anterior tibial access; the retrograde devices went subintimally and did not reenter at the common femoral level.

Atrioventricular Accessory Pathways: Mechanisms, Electrocardiograms, and Associated Arrhythmias.

An atrioventricular accessory pathway (AP) may be manifest or concealed. When manifest, it leads to preexcitation on the baseline electrocardiogram, which is called the Wolff-Parkinson-White pattern. The degree of preexcitation varies according to the relative conduction speed of the atrioventricular node versus the AP, the AP location, and the AP refractory period.

The de Winter Electrocardiographic Pattern of Proximal Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery Occlusion.

An example of the electrocardiographic pattern of acute anterior myocardial infarction described by deWinter et al is presented, and its implications is discussed.

Combined Radial-Pedal Access Strategy and Radial-Pedal Rendezvous in the Revascularization of Complex Total Occlusions of the Superficial Femoral Artery (the "No Femoral Access" Strategy).

Purpose: To describe the combined use of radial-pedal access for recanalization of complex superficial femoral artery (SFA) occlusions unsuitable for transfemoral recanalization.

Technique: Patients are selected for this strategy if they have a long (≥ 10 cm) SFA occlusion with unfavorable aortoiliac anatomy, an absent ostial stump, or severely diseased and calcified distal reconstitution. Left radial artery and distal anterior or posterior tibial artery are accessed with 6-F and 4-F sheaths, respectively.

ST-segment elevation: Differential diagnosis, caveats.

The differential diagnosis of ST-segment elevation includes four major processes: ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI); early repolarization; pericarditis; and ST elevation secondary to an abnormality of the QRS complex (left bundle branch block, left ventricular hypertrophy, or preexcitation). Other processes that may be associated with ST elevation include hyperkalemia, pulmonary embolism, and Brugada syndrome. The clinical setting and specific electrocardiographic criteria often allow identification of the cause.

New or presumably new left bundle branch block in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome: Clinical, echocardiographic, and electrocardiographic features from a single-center registry.

Background: In patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome, a new or presumably new left bundle branch block (LBBB) does not always imply ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We aimed to show the low frequency of STEMI-equivalent in this population and determine the diagnostic value of electrocardiographic and echocardiographic features.

Methods: From the 387 patients captured by the Louisiana State University code STEMI registry between 2009 and 2012, we examined data on 26 patients with LBBB.