Pulmonary hypertension in thyroid diseases.

The influence of thyroid hormones on cardiovascular system is well established. Thyroid diseases can effectively enhance the alteration on cardiovascular system by influencing chronotropic and inotropic actions of the heart; altering the strength and the speed of contraction, the speed of relaxation, the duration of the potential of action, and the duration of the refractory period and atrio-ventricular conduction time; modulating circulation and peripheral vascular beds. One of the more intriguing insights in the connection between thyroid diseases and cardiovascular alterations is related to the evaluation of the influence of thyroid hormones on pulmonary vascular beds.

Fulminant Peripartum myocarditis associated with sudden cardiac death: a case report.

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of myocardium, associated with nonischemic necrosis and degeneration of myocytes. Although the clinical course is rapid, myocarditis can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy with chambers dilatation and ventricular dysfunction. The pathophysiology of myocarditis in humans is not completely understood.

Primary coronary embolism as an unusual manifestation of nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis in a patient with gastric cancer.

Nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) is a rare clinical condition characterized by the presence of sterile vegetations on valvular leaflets Gross and Friedberg (1936). The most frequent cause of NBTE is antiphospholipid syndrome Hughson and et al. (1993); malignancy, through an intrinsic condition of hypercoagulability, is the second most common cause Thomas (2001).

Endovascular treatment of traumatic descending aortic lesions: nine years of experience.

Aortic injury from sudden deceleration is the most common traumatic condition of the thoracic aorta encountered clinically. Open surgical repair is still associated today with a high-risk setting. Recently, stent-graft treatment is emerging as an alternative to conventional surgery due to its less traumatic nature in patients affected by traumatic aortic lesions, especially in concomitance with multiple associated lesions.

Diffuse supravalvular aortic stenosis: surgical repair in adulthood.

We present the case of a 54-year-old woman in which a diffuse congenital supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS) was associated with a severe aortic valve incompetence and heavy calcification of the aortic annulus. Repair consisted in resection of the ascending aorta, patch augmentation of the hypoplastic aortic root and annulus, placement of a 20 mm Dacron tubular graft (Vascutek, Renfrewshire, UK) and aortic valve replacement with a mechanical prosthesis (Sorin, Turin, Italy). Follow-up echocardiography demonstrated normal prosthetic valve function and a postoperative three-dimensional computed tomographic scan showed a normal shape of the reconstructed ascending aorta.

D-dimers are not always elevated in patients with acute aortic dissection.

In patients with acute aortic dissection, an early diagnosis is essential to anticipate aortic rupture, cardiac tamponade, organ ischemia and improve surgical results. A specific blood laboratory marker able to rule out the presence of aortic dissection has not been identified yet. Recently, several studies suggested using D-dimers as a negative predicting test to rule out diagnosis of acute aortic dissection in patients presenting with chest pain.