"Burning tongue" sensation during routine coronary angiography--a phenomenon related to a rare coronary anomaly.

We present the case of rare coronary circulation anomaly discovered during the routine coronary angiography that was associated with unusual "burning" sensation reported by the patient.

Bilateral coronary fistulae to pulmonic valve in presence of severe three-vessel coronary artery disease.

A 62-year-old man was admitted to the coronary care unit due to anginal pain and palpitations--coronary angiography revealed three-vessel coronary artery disease. The unexpected finding was the presence of coronary to pulmonary artery fistulae bilaterally, from both the proximal RCA and the proximal LAD. Right heart catheterization revealed normal right ventricular and pulmonary artery pressure and absence of hemodynamically significant left to right shunt.

Uneventful 25-year course of an intracardiac intravenous catheter fragment in the right heart.

We describe a patient with an intracardiac intravenous catheter fragment in the right heart that was found during fluoroscopy. The catheter fragment had broken off from an intravenous catheter inserted 25 years previously when the patient was admitted after a road accident. There were no complications during these years.

An awl inflicted chest wound causing acute myocardial infarction.

Penetrating chest wounds are frequent. When involving the heart, they usually cause tamponade. In our case, caused by an awl, laceration of the LAD occured without intrapericardial bleeding.

Effect of low altitude (Dead Sea location) on exercise performance and wall motion in patients with coronary artery disease.

To evaluate the effects of low altitude on exercise performance and myocardial ischemia, 12 patients with coronary artery disease and 6 normal controls underwent ergometric and exercise echocardiography in Haifa, 130 m above sea level, and at the Dead Sea, 402 m below sea level. At the Dead Sea, exercise duration increased by 15% (p <0.05) in the patient and control groups and wall motion score index was improved in patients at rest and after exercise, indicating that descent to the Dead Sea in patients with coronary disease is safe, improves exercise performance, and decreases ischemia.