Seasonal Periodicity of Ischemic Heart Disease and Heart Failure.

Seasonal variation for ischemic heart disease and heart failure is known. The interplay of environmental, biological, and physiologic changes is fascinating. This article highlights the seasonal periodicity of ischemic heart disease and heart failure and examines some of the potential reasons for these unique observations.

Coronary artery bypass graft pseudoaneurysm from saphenous vein graft stent fracture.

Saphenous venous graft (SVG) pseudoaneurysms are a rare complication of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). An 85-year-old man with CABG and a distal SVG stent presented with dyspnea. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed a large partially thrombosed pseudoaneurysm at the distal SVG with stent fracture.

High-risk Trans-Catheter Aortic Valve Replacement in a Failed Freestyle Valve with Low Coronary Height: A Case Report.

A 55-year-old male with a history of two prior cardiac surgeries presented with decompensated heart failure due to severe bioprosthetic aortic valve insufficiency. A third operation was viewed prohibitively high risk and valve-in-valve trans-catheter aortic valve replacement was considered. There were however several high-risk features and technically challenging aspects including low coronary ostia height, poor visualization of the aortic sinuses, and difficulty in identification of the coplanar view due to severe aortic insufficiency, and a highly mobile aortic valve mass.

A rare case of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma in the setting of a newly diagnosed left atrial myxoma.

We report a rare case of left atrial myxoma with concomitant classical Hodgkin's lymphoma in a 36-year-old woman with a non-significant medical history and 4 months of progressively worsening palpitations, dyspnoea on exertion, chest discomfort and fatigue. Outpatient echocardiography revealed functional mitral valve stenosis as a result of a large left atrial cardiac mass. Preoperative thoracic imaging revealed an anterior mediastinal mass with associated lymphadenopathy.

In-hospital complications associated with catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation in the United States between 2000 and 2010: analysis of 93 801 procedures.

Background: Atrial fibrillation ablation has made tremendous progress with respect to innovation, efficacy, and safety. However, limited data exist regarding the burden and trends in adverse outcomes arising from this procedure. The aim of our study was to examine the frequency of adverse events attributable to atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation and the influence of operator and hospital volume on outcomes.

The masquerading act of ST elevation.

Acute myocardial infarction resulting from an occlusive thrombus is recognized on an electrocardiogram by ST-segment elevation. The earlier the reperfusion, the greater the benefit, and the time to treatment is now considered to indicate the quality of care. In the current era when percutaneous interventions are carried out so readily, it is important to remember that acute infarction is not the only cause of ST-segment elevation.