Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infections Associated With Left Ventricular Assist Devices in 3 Patients.

Durable left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) provide circulatory support in patients with end-stage heart failure; however, complications include infection of the driveline exit site. Nontuberculous mycobacterial infections are rare in patients with LVADs, but they should be considered in those who have undergone device exchanges and have bacterial infections with driveline exit-site discharge but no fever or leukocytosis. We reviewed the charts of patients who had an LVAD implanted at our institution from January 2009 through December 2019, to identify those with a device-related nontuberculous mycobacterial infection.

From Hip to Heart: A Comprehensive Evaluation of an Infiltrative Cardiomyopathy.

Infiltrative cardiomyopathies are an increasingly recognized cause of heart failure warranting systematic evaluation. Given overlap of clinical and imaging findings among etiologies of infiltrative cardiomyopathies, comprehensive evaluation, including a history and physical examination, advanced cardiac imaging, and sometimes endomyocardial biopsy, is required for diagnosis. We report a case of infiltrative cardiomyopathy in which endomyocardial biopsy confirmed diagnosis of cobalt-induced cardiomyopathy.

Isolated Left Ventricular Metastasis from Renal Cell Carcinoma: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Dilemma.

Background: The treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has been radically changed by the advent of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). However, few reports have described their role in cardiac metastases. We present a case of a left ventricular metastasis from RCC that was managed with pazopanib therapy.

The Untapped Potential of Tunneled Pleural Catheters.

Background: Tunneled pleural catheters (TPCs) are routinely used for outpatient drainage of malignant pleural effusions, although use in recurrent pleural effusions resulting from nonmalignant conditions requires further evaluation. We hypothesized that TPCs could decrease inpatient admission rates for exacerbations of nonmalignant pleural effusions.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was done of patients with TPCs inserted for recurrent nonmalignant pleural effusions.

High-risk percutaneous coronary intervention in a patient with a single coronary artery presenting as STEMI and cardiogenic shock.

Cardiogenic shock due to ST elevation myocardial infarction in a patient with a single coronary artery involving the sole vessel is a rare presentation. This can be clinically and angiographically challenging. Proper recognition of the topography of diseased vessels and a systematic guarded approach can lead to procedural success.

Cardiac troponin release following hybrid coronary revascularization versus off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery.

Objectives: Cardiac ischaemic marker release is associated with adverse clinical outcomes after cardiac surgery. We sought to compare the release of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) after hybrid coronary revascularization (HCR) with off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB).

Methods: Using data from a prospective single-centre registry, we compared cTnI measured at postoperative day 1 following one-stage HCR and OPCAB among patients with normal baseline cTnI.

Modeling the interactions of herbal drugs to beta-ketoacyl ACP synthase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv.

The present paper reports a bio-computational study carried out with the aim of understanding the binding mode of anti-TB herbal ligands onto the homology modeled structure of fatty acid synthase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) H37Rv. Sequence alignment of beta-ketoacyl ACP synthase (KAS) domain of the protein with other related KAS sequences of PDB database revealed high degree of sequence variation.