High-risk coronary angioplasty assisted by active hemoperfusion. A feasibility study.

We assessed the effectiveness of distal hemoperfusion support during gradual, prolonged balloon inflation during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in high-risk patients. The patients were identified as having a poor left ventricular ejection fraction ( < 35%), > 50% of viable myocardium at risk percutaneous coronary balloon angioplasty, or both. A total of 64 procedures were performed in 61 patients.

Early and late mortality of patients undergoing aortic valve replacement after previous coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Background: In a small number of patients who undergo coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), a hemodynamically significant aortic valve lesion requiring aortic valve replacement (AVR) develops as they grow older. In a limited number of studies in small patient groups, high mortality has been shown in patients undergoing AVR after CABG. We undertook this study to determine the mortality risk factors for patients who undergo AVR after CABG procedures.

Potential mechanisms of improvement after various treatments for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.

In sum, systolic dysfunction of the ventricle associated with left ventricular outlet obstruction and often with mitral valve regurgitation may be improved by myotomy, myomectomy, mitral valve replacement, and perhaps by the creation of left bundle branch block via DDD right ventricular pacing. Diastolic dysfunction of the ventricle may be improved by prolonging the diastolic filling period, shortening the isovolumic relaxation period with calcium channel blocking drugs, or perhaps by altering the atrioventricular activation time with a DDD pacemaker. The symptoms and complications of associated arrhythmias may be improved by medication, particularly with beta-blockers, which tend to stabilize the atrial rhythm and perhaps the ventricular rhythms.

Septal myotomy-myomectomy versus mitral valve replacement in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Ten-year follow-up in 185 patients.

Between 1963 and 1985, 185 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) were treated with septal myotomy-myomectomy (MM) or mitral valve replacement (MVR) at our institution; 127 of these underwent septal MM, and 58 underwent MVR alone. The 1-month mortality was 4.7% for the septal MM group and 6.

Mitral valve replacement and septal myomectomy in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Ten-year follow-up in 80 patients.

Between 1970 and 1980, 80 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were treated with mitral valve replacement (MVR) at our institution; 54 of these (Group 1) underwent MVR alone, and the remaining 26 (Group 2) underwent MVR plus septal myomectomy. The 1-month mortality was 7.4% for Group 1 and 7.

Ventriculoarterial discordance revisited: angiographic presentation and discussion of a typical case.

This article reexamines the subject of ventriculoarterial discordance in the light of a case report and the recent literature. The angiographic method of studying complex cardiac defects is illustrated by example, in order to stress the need for a systematic, step-by-step, segmental approach to diagnosis. We favor use of the term "ventriculoarterial" discordance to refer to a defect that involves incongruence of ventricular and arterial morphologies, as predicated on the loop rule.

Pentoxifylline therapy: a new adjunct in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension?

Patients with markedly elevated pulmonary vascular resistance, whether caused by primary pulmonary hypertension or by congenital heart disease, have a grave prognosis, regardless of the type of therapy they undergo. This brief report presents our experience in treating 6 patients (4 women and 2 men) having pulmonary vascular obstructive disease, by administrating pentoxifylline (Trental), a drug that has been used in patients with chronic occlusive systemic arterial disease. Our patients underwent treadmill testing before the study and again 1 to 3 months after initiation of the study.

Severe diffuse obstructive coronary artery disease in an infant.

Severe diffuse obstruction of the coronary arteries was diagnosed in an 18-month-old girl who presented with signs and symptoms of severe congestive cardiomyopathy. Most reported cases of myocardial infarction in neonates or infants have been secondary to obstruction of a single major coronary artery owing to thrombosis or embolism; diffuse multiple obstruction involving the entire coronary artery system, as in our case, has not previously been described. Although the exact cause of the obstruction remained unknown, the most likely mechanism was in situ thrombosis.

Total correction of tetralogy of fallot in adults: surgical results and long-term follow-up.

From 1962 to 1983, 117 patients between the ages of 16 and 72 years (mean, 25 years) underwent total correction of tetralogy of Fallot. All patients were operated on because of recent deterioration. Eighty (68%) had had previous surgical palliation.

Progression of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy into a hypokinetic left ventricle: higher incidence in patients with midventricular obstruction.

The development of segmental or generalized left ventricular hypokinesia is an unusual occurrence in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. To determine the incidence and possible pathophysiologic mechanisms responsible for this process, the serial clinical and laboratory data of 62 patients with the diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were analyzed. During a mean follow-up period of 8 years (range 2 to 21), 5 patients (Group A) developed left ventricular hypokinesia, whereas the remaining 57 patients (Group B) continued to exhibit the clinical and laboratory findings of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Flow characteristics of coronary balloon catheters.

The popularity recently achieved by balloon angioplasty of coronary arteries is limited by the risk of reocclusion of the stenotic segment addressed. Sudden reocclusion leads frequently to an acute coronary syndrome (acute myocardial infarction, hypotension, arrhythmias) that requires emergency surgery and also leads to permanent myocardial damage of various degrees. Preliminary data has recently become available to suggest that prolonged balloon inflations could be an important tool in attaining optimal early and late results of angioplasty.

The echocardiographic spectrum of atrial myxoma: a ten-year experience.

We analyzed the echocardiograms of 28 patients with a left atrial myxoma and two with a right atrial myxoma. Our purpose was to evaluate the value of echocardiography for the diagnosis of these cardiac masses. Only 59% of the m-mode echocardiograms in patients with a left atrial myxoma showed the characteristic findings of multiple diastolic echoes within the mitral orifice as well as abnormal systolic echoes within the left atrium.

Atypical phasic coronary artery narrowing.

Four unusual cases of phasic (occurring only in systole or only in diastole) coronary artery narrowing are reported. In two cases, diastolic compression of the left anterior descending coronary artery was due to tight pericardial adhesions in patients with aortic insufficiency; in the third case, systolic compression of two right ventricular coronary branches was associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and a normotensive right ventricle; and in the fourth case, a large aneurysm of the inferior wall of the left ventricle caused systolic compression of the posterior descending coronary artery, which was epicardial. The diagnostic and pathophysiologic characteristics of each case are discussed.

The QS2/QT ratio as an index of appropriate left ventricular response to autonomic and inotropic stimuli.

Dissociation between duration of electrical and mechanical systole has been seen with increase of myocardial shortening velocity or adrenergic activity. We found a decrease of the QS2/QT ratio after exercise in 10 pts with semisitting bicycle maximal exercise test and a normal radionuclide angiogram. No change was seen in 9 patients with a normal study with beta blockade, and in pts with a abnormal radionuclide test, without beta blockade (11 pts).

Safety of outpatient cardiac catheterization.

In this study, we compared the procedure-related complications of inpatient and outpatient cardiac catheterization when performed at the same institution by the same group of cardiologists. The majority of the studies were done using a brachial arterial cutdown approach. The mean age, sex, cardiac diagnosis, mean left ventricular ejection fraction, and the distribution of coronary arterial lesions were similar in both groups.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and associated coronary artery disease.

Eighty-five consecutive patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy underwent hemodynamic evaluation and coronary arteriography to determine, in each case, the incidence and importance of coronary artery disease (CAD). Sixteen patients (19%) had >60% narrowing of the luminal diameter of one or more coronary arteries. Our findings revealed that patients with CAD were significantly older (mean, 64 years) than patients without CAD (mean, 42 years) and had a higher incidence of angina pectoris (81% versus 44%).

Correlations of systolic time intervals and radionuclide angiography at rest and during exercise.

Systolic time intervals (STI) were correlated with radionuclide angiography studies (RAS) in 57 patients at rest, during maximal semisitting bicycle exercise, and at 4 minutes following the cessation of exercise. Eleven were judged as being free of coronary artery disease (group 1), while 14 had coronary artery disease without (group 2A), and 27 (group 2B) with a previous transmural myocardial infarction. For RAS, resting radionuclide ejection fraction (REF), the changes in REF and end-systolic volume, and the development of a wall motion abnormality at peak exercise were each highly correlated with the presence of coronary disease (p less than 0.