Femoral micropuncture or routine introducer study (FEMORIS).

Objectives: The Micropuncture® 21-gauge needle may reduce complications related to vessel trauma from inadvertent venous or posterior arterial wall puncture.

Methods: This was a single-center, multiple-user trial. Four hundred and two patients undergoing possible or definite percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were randomized 1:1 to an 18-gauge versus a 21-gauge needle.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection after intense weightlifting UCSF Fresno Department of Cardiology.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of chest pain and cardiomyopathy. This phenomenon usually occurs during the peripartum period. SCAD associated with exercise and heavy weight lifting is even rarer and has been reported in less than 10 cases in the literature.

Calcific constrictive pericarditis demonstrated on 99mTc-MDP bone scintigraphy.

The authors present a case of calcific constrictive pericarditis, imaged with bone scintigraphy. The patient presented with three months of shortness of breath, chest pain, and chest tightness during exercise, among other nonspecific symptoms. Although the diagnosis was made based on chest radiography and cardiac MRI, bone scintigraphy was used to corroborate the diagnosis of calcific constrictive pericarditis.