Uncovering the Risks and Benefits of Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) Closure in Cryptogenic Stroke: A Case Study.

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) exists in 20-25% of the adult population, and about 40% of adults who present with cryptogenic stroke (CS) have a PFO. The benefit of intervention has been debated with regard to stroke prevention given the high risk of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF). In light of this, clinical decision-making is guided by PFO-Associated Stroke Causal Likelihood (PASCAL) classification and Risk of Paradoxical Embolism (RoPE) score analysis.

Patient With Missed Right Ventricular Rupture From Blunt Trauma Remains Hemodynamically Stable for 3 Days.

Cardiac chamber rupture from blunt trauma is rare but can be fatal. Surprisingly, in some subsets of patients, it can be subtle and rather easily missed. Rapid recognition and management are essential.

Bidirectional Ventricular Tachycardia in Acute Multivessel Myocardial Infarction.

Bidirectional ventricular tachycardia (BVT) is a rare and unusual ventricular dysrhythmia that is characterized by a beat-to-beat alternation of the QRS axis. This can sometimes manifest as alternating left and right bundle branch blocks. To the best of our knowledge, there are two previous cases of BVT in the setting of type I myocardial infarction.

Anomalous Origin of the Right Coronary Artery From the First Septal Perforator.

A 68-year-old white male presented to the clinic for chest pain and shortness of breath with exertion. Through coronary angiography, the patient was found to have an anomalous origin of the right coronary artery off the first septal perforator branch of the left anterior descending artery. The patient was treated with conservative medical therapy as symptoms had resolved, and the patient did not wish to undergo further procedures.

A Rare Case of Intracavitary Cardiac Metastasis of Endometrial Carcinosarcoma.

A 59-year-old female, with past medical history including endometrial carcinosarcoma with a port-a-cath device, presented due to shortness of breath. Transesophageal echocardiogram demonstrated a mass extending from the right atrium, involving the tricuspid valve, and extending into the right ventricle. Our differential diagnosis included thrombus as well as endocarditis and malignancy; a thrombus was considered to be the most likely etiology due to the port-a-cath device.

Massive Mural Thrombus Masquerading as Myxoma.

A 75-year-old Caucasian female with a past medical history including insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, presented to the emergency room for having palpitations for three weeks. Echocardiography revealed a very large left atrial mass mimicking myxoma. Mass was excised and examined by pathology, revealing a mural thrombus.

A Unique Case of a Right Atrial Myxoma Infected With Escherichia coli.

A 70-year-old white male, with past medical history of coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease status-post bilateral femoral artery stents, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, arthritis, tobacco use, and alcohol use, presented with shortness of breath and an abnormal finding on a recent transesophageal echo. This had revealed a large, fixed mass in the right atrium. Our differential diagnosis had included thrombus, endocarditis, myxoma, papillary fibroelastoma, sarcoma, and metastatic tumor.

Rapidly enlarging mycotic coronary artery aneurysm caused by bacterial seeding involving methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Coronary artery aneurysms are uncommon. A rare subcategory caused by infectious etiologies are called mycotic coronary artery aneurysms (MCAA), which have an exceedingly high mortality rate. In this report, we present a rare case of a rapidly expanding MCAA involving Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae affecting the left circumflex artery.

AngioVac Removal of an Isolated Infected Pulmonary Valve Papillary Fibroelastoma.

The AngioVac (Angiodynamics) system is indicated for the removal of right-sided venous soft thrombi and emboli. This is the first report that demonstrates the AngioVac system can be extended to the extraction of right-sided cardiac tumors, in the current case, a pulmonary valve papillary fibroelastoma infected with and species. ().

Vasospastic Angina and Role of Cardiac Catheterization.

Prinzmetal angina, also known as vasospastic or variant angina, is defined as an intermittent focal coronary artery spasm often associated with an atherosclerotic lesion near the site of spasm. It is caused by a focal or diffuse spasm of the smooth layer of the arterial wall of an epicardial coronary artery. Acute infarctions or malignant arrhythmias may develop during spasm-induced ischemia.

Intermittent outpatient nesiritide infusion reduces hospital admissions in patients with advanced heart failure.

Recombinant B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a therapeutic modality in patients with decompensated congestive heart failure. Retrospectively tested are the effects of intermittent outpatient nesiritide infusion on symptoms, hospital readmission rates, endogenous BNP, and renal function in patients with advanced heart failure. Twenty-four patients in heart failure in New York Heart Association (NYHA) classes III-IV received a 6- to 8-hour intermittent nesiritide outpatient infusion (0.

Ultrasound at 27 kHz increases tissue expression and activity of nitric oxide synthases in acute limb ischemia in rabbits.

Transcutaneous low-frequency ultrasound (US) preserves myocardial and skeletal muscle viability by increasing tissue perfusion through an undefined nitric oxide (NO)-dependent mechanism. We have examined whether US increases tissue expression and activity of the three nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms: endothelial (eNOS), neuronal (nNOS) and inducible (iNOS). The two femoral arteries of four New Zealand rabbits were ligated for a total of 120 min.

Unusual evolution of ST elevation acute myocardial infarction.

We report a case of acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction with an unusual evolution of ST-segment elevation. Several possible explanations of this progression are discussed with supportive evidence for each explaination. The clinical, electrocardiographic, and angiographic features of this case are also illustrated.

Congenital bicuspid aortic valve enodocarditis with multiple subvalvular complications and an acquired membranous ventricular septal defect.

We report a case with echocardiographic demonstration of native congenital bicuspid aortic valve endocarditis with multiple subaortic complications. Transesophageal echocardiography in this case revealed large vegetations with multiloculated aortic paravalvular abscess around the cusps; a high-acquired restrictive membranous ventricular septal defect with vegetations extending to the tricuspid leaflets and paravalvular aortic regurgitation caused by aortic leaflet perforation.