Alex S.B. Yip

Inoue Balloon Pericardiotomy for Patients with Recurrent Pericardial Effusion

The results and follow-up data for 11 patients with recurrent pericardial effusion due to various etiologies who underwent balloon pericardiotomy with the Inoue balloon catheter between May 1992 and July 1994 are described. Inoue balloon pericardiotomy was successful in 10 patients (91%), who remained free of pericardial effusion at a mean follow-up duration of 4.2 months. All patients tolerated the procedure well with minimal discomfort and with no complications. Despite good symptomatic relief, 9 patients (82%) eventually succumbed to disease dissemination, with a mean survival time of 1.4 months. It is concluded that Inoue balloon pericardiotomy is a safe and useful alternative to surgical pericardial windowing for the symptomatic treatment of recurrent pericardial effusion.

Pericardial effusion in adults undergoing surgical repair of atrial septal defect

The incidence of pericardial effusion and tamponade postatrial septal defect repair in adult patients are 16 and 1.5%, respectively. Small, medium, and large effusions progressed equally, and echocardiographic study on days 7, 14, and 28 best detects potentially significant effusion.

Large Unruptured Aneurysm in Sinus of Valsalva An Unusual Cause of Right Ventricular Inflow and Outflow Tract Obstruction

A 64-year-old man with a large cavitating squamous cell carcinoma (6×6 cm) in the right lower lobe of the lung was referred for prelobectomy cardiac assessment because of incidental finding of Q waves in leads II, III, and aVF on the ECG. Physical examination revealed an ejection systolic murmur at the left sternal edge. Cardiac size was normal on chest radiograph. A transthoracic echocardiogram revealed a large cavity at the aortic root, …

Venous Thrombosis After Long-Term Transvenous Pacing in the Chinese

To determine the incidence of venous thrombosis after long-term transvenous pacing in the Chinese, venograms were performed in 50 consecutive Chinese pa tients seen at the pacemaker clinic. There were 25 women and 25 men. The mean age was sixty-six years (range thirty-two to eighty-one). The indications for pac ing were complete heart block in 16 patients and sick sinus syndrome in the re mainder. All pacemakers were of the single-chamber ventricular pacing type and had been implanted for a mean period of four years (range two to seven). In 27 patients the route of entry for the pacing electrode was through the cephalic vein and in the other 23 patients the subclavian veins were used. Of the 50 veno grams, 1 showed partial and 1 showed total obstruction at the subclavian vein. Both patients (4%) were asymptomatic. All others (96%) were normal. The in cidence of venous thrombosis was not related to the routes of entry of the pac ing electrodes. All patients tolerated the procedure well and had no complications. It is concluded that the incidence of venous thrombosis after long-term trans venous pacing is extremely low in the Chinese (4%), and venograms are both safe and useful for identifying venous thrombosis related to transvenous pacing.

Dextrocardia with Single Coronary Artery Ostium in a Patient with Aortic Regurgitation and Supraventricular Tachycardia A Case History

A sixty-year-old man who presented with dyspnea and palpitations was investigated in this institution and was found to have dextrocardia, single aortic coronary ostium, severe aortic regurgitation, and atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. The association of single aortic coronary ostium and this combination of cardiac abnormalities has not been previously reported.

Nonsurgical Creation of a Pericardial Window: Identification by Echocardiography

A patient is described who has recurrent pericardial effusion and in whom a pericardial window created by balloon dilatation was directly identified by echocardiography. Echocardiography represents an additional useful means for confirming the immediate success of the procedure.

Percutaneous balloon mitral valvotomy in patients with history of embolism

Abstract In this article, we report the results and follow-up data of 16 patients with mitral stenosis and history of embolism who underwent percutaneous balloon mitral valvotomy (PBMV) between July 1990 and June 1992 at our cardiac center.