Early surgical repair of an acute post-infarction left ventricular pseudoaneurysm complicated by second pseudoaneurysm formation.

We present a case of an acute myocardial infarction complicated by an acute left ventricular pseudoaneurysm (LVPA). Surgical correction in the subacute phase was complicated by development of a second larger LVPA due to tearing of the sutures of the first surgical repair. Our case demonstrates the difficult decision-making regarding the timing of surgical intervention, which remains a debatable issue.

Carcinoid crisis with fatal coronary spasm in a small localized peripheral bronchial carcinoid.

Presumptive coronary artery spasm, with characteristic ST-segment elevation followed by ventricular arrhythmia and cardiac arrest, is a very uncommon manifestation of the carcinoid crisis and has been shown on angiography only once in a patient with co-existing extensive atheromatous disease. We present the history of a 70-year-old man with angiographically documented fatal diffuse coronary spasm in the absence of significant atheromatosis, related to an unprovoked carcinoid crisis caused by a small peripheral atypical carcinoid tumour in the absence of metastasis.

Pulmonary oedema after percutaneous ASD-closure.

Although surgery is the gold standard, percutaneous closure of an atrial septal defect (ASD) is gaining popularity. Nonoperative device closure is applicable only to secundum defects with appropriate anatomic characteristics. A 27-year-old man was referred for closure of a symptomatic secundum type ASD and suffered from a dramatic change in his clinical status due to pulmonary oedema immediately after ASD-closure.

Cardiac manifestation in Takayasu arteritis.

We present two case reports of young women with Takayasu arteritis and cardiovascular complications. The first case is a female patient suffering from significant aortic valve regurgitation, the second case is a woman who presents with amaurosis fugax and develops acute chest pain with heart failure. In this report we review cardiac involvement in Takayasu arteritis.