Same-day dual radial artery puncture examination in patients requiring percutaneous coronary intervention and the incidence of radial artery occlusion.

Background: We sought to investigate the rate of radial artery occlusion (RAO) after same-day dual radial artery puncture. The trans-radial arterial approach (TRA) for diagnostic and interventional procedures has risen significantly in the United States. Although becoming more commonly performed, TRA is not without risk, and a potential complication is RAO.

Cardiac sarcoidosis presenting as constrictive pericarditis.

In patients with cardiac sarcoidosis, the sarcoid granulomas usually involve the myocardium or endocardium. The disease typically presents as heart failure with ventricular arrhythmias, conduction disturbances, or both. Constrictive pericarditis has rarely been described in patients with sarcoidosis: we found only 2 reports of this association.

A protocol for patients with cardiovascular implantable devices undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): should defibrillation threshold testing be performed post-(MRI).

Purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Devices (CIED) has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Recent data suggests MRI as a relative rather than absolute contraindication in CIED patients. Recently, the American Heart Association has recommended defibrillation threshold testing (DFTT) in implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) patients undergoing MRI.