Andre Linka

Surgical treatment of acquired left ventricular pseudoaneurysms

BACKGROUND We present a review of our experience with acquired pseudoaneurysms of the left ventricle in order to establish the risk of surgical repair. METHODS Ten patients operated upon for a left ventricular pseudoaneurysm in our clinic between 1984 and 1999 were reviewed. The pseudoaneurysm, a complication of myocardial infarction (four acute and three chronic) or previous cardiac surgery (three chronic), was resected in all patients and the ventricular wall defect closed with direct sutures (five cases) or a patch (five cases). Coronary artery bypass graft was performed in 6 patients. RESULTS Three patients died (postoperative mortality 30%) after repair of an acute postinfarction (2 patients) or a chronic postsurgical (1 patient) pseudoaneurysm. Three patients died during follow-up (median 4 years) of a carcinological (2 patients) or cardiac (1 patient) cause. Two years after repair, 5 patients were in New York Heart Association class I or II, and 1 patient was in class III. CONCLUSIONS Repair of left ventricular pseudoaneurysms can be performed with acceptable results, although mortality is significant in acute myocardial infarction and redo operations. Propensity for fatal rupture, however, is higher than the surgical risk in acute pseudoaneurysms or in large or expanding chronic ones and warrants surgical repair. The best approach to small asymptomatic chronic pseudoaneurysm is unsettled.

Diffusion-Weighted Imaging in Stroke Attributable to Patent Foramen Ovale Significance of Concomitant Atrial Septum Aneurysm

Background and Purpose— Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is an established cause of stroke in young patients without other determined etiologies (ie, cryptogenic stroke). The additional presence of atrial septum aneurysm (ASA) possibly increases stroke risk, but it remains undetermined which factors best predict thromboembolism in patients with PFO. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) may help to distinguish the characteristics of cerebral embolism associated with different features of the interatrial septum in PFO stroke. Methods— In a stroke databank–based cohort study, DWI and transthoracic/transesophageal echocardiography findings were assessed in 48 consecutive patients with cryptogenic ischemic stroke associated with PFO. The number, size, and distribution of acute ischemic lesions on DWI were correlated with PFO size, degree of interatrial right-to-left shunt (RLS), and the presence of ASA. Results— Patients with PFO plus ASA combined more often had multiple acute DWI lesions (16 of 30, 53%) than those with PFO alone (3 of 18, 17%; P=0.01). This association remained significant after correction for PFO size, degree of RLS, and vascular risk factors in a logistic-regression analysis (P=0.04). No significant associations between DWI lesion characteristics and PFO size or degree of RLS were found. Conclusions— The presence of concomitant ASA is independently associated with multiple cerebral ischemic lesions in PFO stroke, which may indicate an increased embolic risk.

Mechanical Complications after Myocardial Infarction Reliably Predicted Using C-Reactive Protein Levels and Lymphocytopenia

We assessed the accuracy of C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and lymphocyte counts to predict a mechanical complication (MC) after myocardial infarction (MI). Within 10 years, we identified 36 patients with 39 echocardiographically confirmed MC within 30 days of MI: ventricular septal defect (17 cases), papillary muscle rupture (10 cases), and left ventricular free wall rupture (12 cases). They were compared to 41 controls with an uncomplicated hospital course after MI. Peak CRP levels and minimum relative lymphocyte counts obtained within 96 h of the acute MI (AMI) and before diagnosis of the complication were compared with clinical parameters. Prior to the MC, peak CRP levels were significantly higher (p < 0.001) and relative lymphocyte counts lower (p < 0.001) than in controls while creatine kinase levels did not differ (p = nonsignificant). Using multivariate logistic regression, the following score was identified to have excellent prognostic significance for MC: CRP (mg/l) – 10 × Lyc (%). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was 0.90 ± 0.05 (p < 0.001). Combined use of CRP levels and relative lymphocyte counts may be helpful in accurately predicting an MC after AMI and should therefore be routinely assessed.

Randomized, Double-Blind Crossover Study to Investigate the Effects of Amlodipine and Isosorbide Mononitrate on the Time Course and Severity of Exercise-Induced Myocardial Stunning

BACKGROUND Myocardial stunning may cause prolonged left ventricular dysfunction after exercise-induced ischemia that can be attenuated by calcium antagonists in animal models. To assess their effects in humans, we performed a randomized, double-blind crossover study comparing the calcium antagonist amlodipine (10 mg once daily) versus isosorbide mononitrate (ISMN, 50 mg once daily) on postexercise stunning. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-four men with chronic stable angina and normal left ventricular function underwent serial quantitative exercise stress echocardiography after 3 weeks on each treatment to assess the degree of postexercise stunning with simultaneous sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography perfusion scans at peak stress to quantify the ischemic burden. Exercise time (P=1), maximum ST depression (P=0.48), and sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography scores (P=0.17) were unchanged between treatments. Stunning occurred more often with ISMN than amlodipine (82% versus 48%). The global and segmental stress echocardiography parameters of stunning were attenuated in patients while taking amlodipine compared with ISMN. Shortening fractions and ejection fractions were less impaired 30 minutes after exercise in patients receiving amlodipine (3.5+/-1.4% versus 2.5+/-1.4%, P=0.014, and 59.7+/-5.4% versus 54.5+/-8%, P<0.001); similarly, the isovolumic relaxation period was less prolonged with amlodipine (93+/-15.5 versus 106.3+/-14.9 ms, P=0.018). CONCLUSIONS Despite comparable levels of ischemia, amlodipine attenuated stunning when compared with ISMN. This beneficial effect may relate to a prevention of the calcium overload implicated in the pathogenesis of stunning.

Migration of Intrahepatic Portosystemic Stent into Right Ventricle An Unusual Cause of Tricuspid Regurgitation

A 65-year-old woman with terminal liver disease and portal hypertension secondary to alcohol-induced cirrhosis underwent an elective transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt procedure. A self-expanding, 100×80-mm Nitinol (Jomed AG) stent was implanted and extended cranially using an additional 40×12-mm Wallstent (Boston Scientific). During the same admission, she was evaluated and accepted for liver transplantation, which was performed 4 days later when an organ was available. In the explanted liver, one patent intraparenchymal stent was described by the pathologist. Three weeks after surgery, she was referred to …

Retrograde ascending aortic dissection: a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge.

Aortic dissection with an entrance tear in the transverse aorta is generally considered to have the highest acute fatality rate of any type of dissection and the direction of its extension is the most difficult to predict. In a prospective study, we evaluated 61 consecutive patients (mean age 56.7 years, ranging from 21 to 75 years), presenting with ascending aortic dissection during a 36-month-period and tried to clarify the incidence of retrograde ascending aortic dissection. In 49 patients (80.3%), the intimal tear was located in the ascending aorta, whereas the dissection originated in the transverse aorta in 12 patients (19.7%); in this latter group, extension was strictly retrograde in 5 patients and in both directions in 7 patients. Three patients died before operation; 58 patients underwent aortic replacement/repair under moderate hypothermia; if the primary tear extended into the transverse aorta or was not found in the ascending aorta, the aortic arch was explored during a brief period of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. The overall operative mortality was 12.1% (7/58); it was 10.4% (5/48) in ascending aortic dissection and 20% (2/10) in dissection of the transverse aorta. Age (P < 0.005), concomitant coronary artery disease (P < 0.01) and the site of intimal tear (P < 0.01) were significant predictive factors of operative risk. A tear in the transverse aorta is almost always associated with retrograde dissection and may simulate dissection with the entrance tear in the ascending aorta. Localization of the entrance tear remains a diagnostic challenge in aortic dissection but Doppler-echocardiography had a high sensitivity in this series (96.7%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In vitro validation of volumetric blood flow measurement using Doppler flow wire

Determination of any volumetric blood flow requires assessment of mean blood flow velocity and vessel cross-sectional area. For evaluation of coronary blood flow and flow reserve, however, assessment of average peak velocity alone is widely used, but changes in velocity profile and vessel area are not taken into account. We studied the feasibility of a new method for calculation of volumetric blood flow by Doppler power using a Doppler flow wire. An in vitro model with serially connected silicone tubes of known lumen diameters (1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 mm) and pulsatile blood flow ranging from 10 to 200 mL/min was used. A Doppler flow wire was connected to a commercially available Doppler system (FloMap(R), Cardiometrics) for online calculation of the zeroth (M(0)) and the first (M(1)) Doppler moment, as well as mean flow velocity (V(m)). Two different groups of sample volumes (at different gate depths) were used: 1. two proximal sample volumes lying completely within the vessel were required to evaluate the effect of scattering and attenuation on Doppler power, and 2. distal sample volumes intersecting completely the vessel lumen to assess the vessel cross-sectional area. Area (using M(0)) and V(m) (using M(1)/M(0)) obtained from the distal gates were corrected for scattering and attenuation by the data obtained from the proximal gates, allowing calculation of absolute volumetric flow. These results were compared to the respective time collected flow. Correlation between time collected and Doppler-derived flow measurements was 0.98 (p < 0.0001), with a regression line close to the line of equality indicating an excellent agreement of the two measurements in each individual tube. The mean paired flow difference between the two techniques was 1.5 +/- 9.0 mL/min (ns). Direct volumetric blood flow measurement from received Doppler power using a Doppler flow wire system is feasible. This technique may potentially be of great clinical value because it allows an accurate assessment of coronary flow and flow reserve with a commercially available flow wire system.

Tricuspid valve obstruction caused by plasmacytoma metastasis

A patient undergoing resection of a solid, right-sided intracardiac plasmacytoma metastasis causing severe dyspnea and tricuspid valve obstruction is reported. A review of the literature verified the rarity of this clinical finding.

Right Ventricle Best Predicts the Race Performance in Amateur Ironman Athletes.

PURPOSE The ironman (IM) triathlon is a popular ultraendurance competition, consisting of 3.8 km of swimming, 180.2 km of cycling, and 42.2 km of running. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictors of IM race time, comparing echocardiographic findings, anthropometric measures, and training characteristics. METHODS Amateur IM athletes (ATHL) participating in the Zurich IM race in 2010 were included. Participants were examined the day before the race by a comprehensive echocardiographic examination. Moreover, anthropometric measurements were obtained the same day. During the 3 months before the race, each IM-ATHL maintained a detailed training diary. Recorded data were related to total IM race time. RESULTS Thirty-eight IM finishers (mean ± SD age = 38 ± 9 yr, 32 men [84%]) were evaluated. Total race time was 684 ± 89 min (mean ± SD). For right ventricular fractional area change (45% ± 7%, Spearman ρ = -0.33, P = 0.05), a weak correlation with race time was observed. Race performance exhibited stronger associations with percent body fat (15.2 ± 5.6%, ρ = 0.56, P = 0.001), speed in running training (11.7 ± 1.2 km · h(-1), ρ = -0.52, P = 0.002), and left ventricular myocardial mass index (98 ± 24 g · m(-2), ρ = -0.42, P = 0.009). The strongest association was found between race time and right ventricular end-diastolic area (22 ± 4 cm2, ρ = -0.64, P < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, right ventricular end-diastolic area (β = -16.7, 95% confidence interval = -27.3 to -6.1, P = 0.003) and percent body fat (β = 6.8, 95% confidence interval = 1.1-12.6, P = 0.02) were independently predictive of IM race time. CONCLUSIONS In amateur IM-ATHL, RV end-diastolic area and percent body fat were independently related to race performance. RV end-diastolic area was the strongest predictor of race time. The role of the RV in endurance exercise may thus be more important than previously thought and needs to be further studied.

Left ventricular non-compaction: is it really isolated?

Isolated ventricular non-compaction (IVNC) is a genetically determined cardiac disease mainly involving the left ventricle. Since the first description and recognition of IVNC as a distinct cardiomyopathy, many cases have been described. However, the associated right-sided cardiac anomalies are unusual. Two cases of IVNC showing associated right-sided pathology on transthoracic echocardiography are presented.