Pancreatitis and myocarditis coexistence due to infection by Coxsackie B1 and B4 viruses.

Myocarditis can be a rare late manifestation of acute pancreatitis caused by Coxsackie virus infection. Clinicians should be aware of potentially life-threatening myocarditis because immediate recognition and management are the cornerstones in achieving a better outcome.

Heart failure with complete recovery in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus.

We report the case of a 43-year-old female patient who was admitted to the Cardiology Department from the Rheumatology Clinic where she was being treated for multi-organ serositis, fatigue and mild dyspnoea on exertion. The patient had a known medical history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Following extensive evaluation with blood tests for immunological and viral culprits, cardiac ultrasound, chest and abdominal computed tomography (CT) and heart magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the diagnosis of effusive constrictive pericarditis secondary to her SLE was made.

A patient with ventricular tachycardia due to a novel mutation of the lamin A/C gene: case presentation and mini review.

Lamin A/C is a major constituent of the nuclear lamina, the proteinaceous meshwork underlying the inner nuclear membrane. Laminopathies are a group of diseases with heterogeneous clinical presentation. Lamin A/C mutations are a well-established cause of dilated cardiomyopathy.

Apical ballooning syndrome: a case report.

Background: Apical ballooning syndrome mimics acute coronary syndromes and it is characterized by reversible left ventricular apical ballooning in the absence of angiographically significant coronary artery stenosis.

Case Presentation: This is a case of a 40-year-old Caucasian male without any health related problems that was submitted to an urgent coronary angiography because of acute chest pain and marked precordial T-wave inversions suggestive of acute myocardial ischemia. Coronary angiography showed no significant stenosis of the coronary arteries.

Lipomatous hypertrophy of interatrial septum.

Lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum is being increasingly recognised and should be considered as part of the differential diagnosis for any cardiac tumour. We present the case of a 65-year-old male patient who presented at the emergency department complaining of palpitations. Transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography detected a lipomatous membrane separating the dilated left atrium from the right atrium.

Early bare-metal stent thrombosis presenting with cardiogenic shock: a case report.

Introduction: Although stents have improved the safety and efficacy of percutaneous coronary interventions, coronary stent thrombosis remains a serious complication.

Case Presentation: We present the case of a 64-year-old Caucasian man from Greece, with symptoms and electrocardiographic findings suggestive of acute inferior myocardial infarction, who complained of chest pain and rapidly developed cardiogenic shock 48 hours after primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Conclusion: The most common cause of early bare-metal stent thrombosis is stent malapposition.

Diagnostic approach in symptomatic or asymptomatic aneurismal disease of the coronary arteries: a case report and five-year angiographic follow up.

Coronary artery aneurysms are rare anomalies that are usually incidental findings in coronary angiography. We present the case of a 64-year-old male patient with a recent episode of epigastric pain, nausea and vomiting, accompanied by electrocardiographic alterations and positive troponin I. As the symptoms persisted, the patient was referred for coronary angiography, during which a significant degree of aneurysmal dilatation was found in all three coronary vessels along their length.

Contrast echocardiography: contribution to diagnosis of left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy.

Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) is a cardiomyopathy considered to be caused by arrest of normal embryogenesis of the endocardium and myocardium. Echocardiography has been the preferred diagnostic procedure; however, the correct diagnosis is often missed or delayed due to the lack of knowledge about this uncommon disease and its similarities to other diseases of the myocardium and endocardium. Here we present two cases: an asymptomatic 39-year-old man who was considered to be suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) for four years; and an asymptomatic 19-year-old man who was considered to be suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Evaluation of N-terminal prohormone B-type natriuretic Peptide in patients with acute coronary syndromes and percutaneous coronary intervention.

The aim of this research was to describe N-terminal part of the prohormone B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels over time in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) before and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). NT-proBNP, troponin I (Tn-I), creatine kinase (CK), CK MB isoenzyme (CKMB), fibrinogen, D-dimers, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in 300 consecutive patients with ACS before undergoing successful reperfusion with PCI in the first 48 hours, 2 days after, and at the end of the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 12th, 18th, and 24th month. The concentration of NT-proBNP was cross-correlated with the levels of NT-proBNP in 300 patients without ACS and was significantly increased before and after PCI and at the end of the 3rd month, contrasting with the fast conversion to normal levels of Tn-I, CK, CKMB, fibrinogen, D-dimers, and CRP.