Obtaining a follow-up appointment before discharge protects against readmission for patients with acute coronary syndrome and heart failure: A quality improvement project.

Background: Cardiac patients have a high risk of readmission following hospital discharge. The aim of our project was to examine the factors associated with increased readmission rate, with a view to eventually decrease the rate of readmission for patients admitted to the hospital due to acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or heart failure.

Methods: Patients admitted to the cardiac step-down unit at a single private hospital from 2015 to 2016 were included in our study.

Age is not a bar to PCI: Insights from the long-term outcomes from off-site PCI in a real-world setting.

Objectives: We sought to analyze the percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) outcomes of very elderly patients (V. Eld. group, age >80 years) and compare their outcomes to a less elderly cohort (Eld.

An unusual shadow above the aortic valve.

Clinical Introduction: A 55-year-old West African man was referred for routine echocardiography. He was completely asymptomatic, a non-smoker, working out at the gym several times weekly. He was taking hydrochlorothiazide for hypertension.

Asystole in alternating hemiplegia with de novo ATP1A3 mutation.

Alternating hemiplegia is a rare condition presenting with episodes of hemiplegia, epileptic seizures and, at times, dysautonomic attacks. De novo ATP1A3 (Na(+)/K(+) ATPase subunit) mutations were recently found to be the most common cause. We report a patient with alternating hemiplegia with de novo ATP1A3 mutation who experienced new-onset episodes of collapse in early adulthood unrelated to seizures.

Dietzia species pacemaker pocket infection: an unusual organism in human infections.

An 87-year-old man presented 10 months following permanent pacemaker insertion with cellulitis-like inflammation around the impulse generator. Symptoms improved with oral flucloxacillin, but only days after stopping, the infection recurred, and he was admitted from clinic for intravenous antibiotics. Suspecting the source was likely Staphylococcal, intravenous flucloxacillin was started, and the patient's inflammatory markers responded adequately.

'Biting the hand that feeds': fever and altered sensorium following a dog bite.

Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection is the most severe and rapidly progressive bacterial infection transmitted by dog bite and fortunately is very rare. The authors describe a 68-year-old gentleman who presented in an acute confusional state 2 days after having been bitten on the left hand by a dog. Despite immediate broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics, he developed significant sequelae including disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, microvascular emboli leading to peripheral necrosis, widespread local tissue destruction and septic arthritis.

Economic analysis of the use of coronary calcium scoring as an alternative to stress ECG in the non-invasive diagnosis of coronary artery disease.

Objective: To conduct an economic analysis (EA) of coronary calcium scoring (CCS) using a 0 score, as alternative to stress electrocardiography (sECG) in diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD).

Method: A decision tree was constructed to compare four strategies for investigation of suspected CAD previously assessed in the formulation of clinical guidelines for the United Kingdom (UK) to two new strategies incorporating CCS. Sensitivity (96%; 95% CI 95.

Transient loss of consciousness in a patient with a Brugada like ECG.

Syncope in a patient with a Brugada syndrome channelopathy carries significant prognostic implications and warrants consideration of implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation. We report a case of a 62-year-old gentleman who presented with a transient loss of consciousness and an electrocardiogram (ECG) suggestive of type 1 Brugada syndrome. Further investigation revealed evidence of a silent myocardial infarction and negative ventricular tachycardia stimulation and Ajmaline testing.

'Biting the hand that feeds': fever and altered sensorium following a dog bite.

Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection is the most severe and rapidly progressive bacterial infection transmitted by dog bite and fortunately is very rare. The authors describe a 68-year-old gentleman who presented in an acute confusional state 2 days after having been bitten on the left hand by a dog. Despite immediate broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics, he developed significant sequelae including disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, microvascular emboli leading to peripheral necrosis, widespread local tissue destruction and septic arthritis.

Right atrial mass in patient undergoing chemotherapy.

A 58-year-old lady, with a Hickman line in situ for chemotherapy for invasive ductal breast carcinoma, presented with fever. Blood cultures grew coagulase negative staphylococci. Transoesophageal echocardiography revealed a mass in the right atrium in the region of the Eustachian apparatus.

Chest pain, dyspnoea and elevated D-dimer in a recent air traveller.

A previously asymptomatic 69-year-old lady, who recently travelled on a 4 h flight, presented with acute left-sided pleuritic pain, dyspnoea and calf pain. Blood gases revealed hypoxaemia and D-dimer was significantly elevated. She also had low-grade fever, leukocytosis and a small left-sided pleural effusion on chest x-ray.

Primary systemic amyloidosis presenting as idiopathic inflammatory colitis.

A 75-year old-female was referred with chest pain. She was fully investigated and it was felt that her symptoms were non-cardiac. Four months later, she was seen in gastroenterology outpatients with bloody diarrhoea and abdominal pain.

Aortic root abscess: multimodality imaging with computed tomography and gallium-67 citrate single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography hybrid imaging.

Culture negative endocarditis and aortic root abscess can prove difficult diagnostic challenges. Computed tomography can be extremely useful in this setting. We report a case of an aortic root abscess 3 months after elective aortic valve replacement in which cardiac CT and hybrid imaging with Gallium-67 SPECT complemented workup with transesophageal echocardiography in establishing the diagnosis of an abscess.

Native valve infective endocarditis due to Achromobacter xylosoxidans in an apparently immunocompetent individual.

A 79-year-old woman presented with fever, lethargy and weight loss. Clinically, the patient was confused, frail and had a systolic murmur. Her temperature was 38 °C and she remained persistently febrile.

Myocardial infarction induced by spontaneous pneumothorax.

Chest pain is a very common condition. Patients may have a benign condition or present with a potentially lethal condition such as acute myocardial infarction, aortic dissection or tension pneumothorax. It is important to remember that patients may present with more than one serious pathology and that other serious conditions may potentially precipitate an acute coronary syndrome in a susceptible individual.

Perforation of right ventricular free wall by pacemaker lead detected by multidetector computed tomography.

Pacemaker lead perforation is a recognized complication of lead implantation, particularly with active fixation leads. Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) is emerging as the imaging modality of choice in diagnosing lead perforation, identifying associated sequelae such as pericardial effusion and planning extraction. We present a case illustrating the use of MDCT in a case of right ventricular (RV) lead perforation manifesting 5 days after cardiac resynchronization therapy pacing.

Right atrial mass in the context of recurrent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: atrial myxoma presenting with atrial flutter.

A case is described of a 57-year-old man with a background of low-grade bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma presenting with dyspnoea and palpitations. Diagnostic work-up revealed paroxysmal atrial flutter and the presence of a mass in the right lower lobe at bronchoscopy, with histology confirming recurrent BALTOMA. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) revealed a mass in the right atrium.