Repair of Post-Infarction Ventricular Free Wall Rupture With TachoSil(®).

Introduction: Left ventricular free wall rupture (LVFWR) is a frequent cause of death after acute myocardial infarction, and its repair remains a surgical challenge.

Case Presentation: TachoSil(®) is a ready-to-use equine collagen patch which has been successfully used for hemostasis in cardiovascular surgery. However, a limited number of studies have reported its application for LVFWR repair.

Coronary slow flow: Benign or ominous?

Objective: Coronary slow flow phenomenon has been arbitrarily defined as delayed coronary blood flow in the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease. The present study sought to investigate the clinical features, natural history, and outcomes of affected patients.

Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, 217 consecutive patients who had undergone coronary angiography and showed features of coronary slow flow phenomenon were evaluated for demographic and coronary risk factor profile, as well as clinical outcomes, at baseline and following treatment.

Elective percutaneous coronary intervention: the relationship between preprocedural blood glucose levels and periprocedural myocardial injury.

Regardless of the diabetic status of patients with coronary artery disease, hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia are adversely associated with cardiovascular events. The relationship between glucose levels and increased mortality risk in acute myocardial infarction has been shown through various glucose metrics; however, there is a dearth of multivariate analysis of the relationship between elective coronary angioplasty and preprocedural blood glucose levels. We evaluated the relationship between preprocedural blood glucose levels and myocardial injury in 1,012 consecutive patients who underwent elective percutaneous coronary angioplasty.

Natural History of Aortic Regurgitation following Percutaneous Mitral Valvuloplasty.

Background: Little is known about the natural history of aortic regurgitation (AR) in patients undergoing mitral valve procedures for mitral stenosis.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty (PMV) on coexisting AR.

Materials And Methods: A total of 327 patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis (282 females and 45 males; mean age at the time of intervention = 47 ± 11 years) were followed up for between 48 hours and 13 years after PMV.

Efficacy of pentoxifylline in prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy in angioplasty patients.

Background: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is an adverse consequence of contrast media use that results in significant morbidity and mortality and adds significant costs to diagnostic and interventional cardiology procedures. Various pathophysiological mechanisms have been proposed for CIN and various agents have been tested for its prevention. There is currently a general agreement that adequate pre-procedure hydration constitutes the cornerstone of prevention, yet there are reports of the use of some other agents with various efficacies.