Dinaldo Cavalcanti de Oliveira

Prevalence and risk factors for combined coronary artery disease and aortic aneurysm

OBJECTIVE To evaluate CAD prevalence in patients with aortic aneurysm, as well as differences related to aneurysm topographies. To describe the primary risk factors for CAD related to this association and their occasional differences according to AA topographies. METHODS This was an open, prospective, nonrandomized study that evaluated 95 patients (66 men and 33 women, mean age 63 +/- 11.8). All patients, asymptomatic for CAD, had undergone aortic CT and coronary angiography. According to the AA topography, they were classified into three groups: 1) patients with thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA); 2) thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA); and 3) abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). A database was created to store information from clinical data and complementary examinations. Statistical analysis was performed using the Students t test or analysis of variance (ANOVA) for continuous variables and chi-square test for categorical variables. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS CAD prevalence was 63.1%, and AAA was more prevalent than TAA and TAAA (76% vs. 70% vs. 30%, p = 0.001). The comparative analysis of CAD risk factors based on the aortic aneurysm topography revealed that smoking and dyslipidemia were more prevalent among AAA patients (74.5% vs. 42.3% vs. 60%, p = 0.01 and (54.2% vs. 19.9% vs. 60%, p = 0.007, respectively). As for coronary lesion severity in the population of AA patients, 12 (20%) had at least one lesion > or = 70% and 19 (31.6%), > or = 50%. Fifteen patients (25%) had single-vessel disease, 11 (18%) had two-vessel disease, and 34 (57%) had three-vessel disease. CONCLUSION Asymptomatic CAD is highly prevalent in AA patients, particularly among those with AAA. Study results suggest the need for diagnostic stratification for CAD in patients with AA, especially those with AAA.

Fatores de risco para acidente vascular encefálico após cirurgia de revascularização do miocárdio

BACKGROUND Stroke is a feared complication after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG), with an incidence between 1.3 and 4.3%. OBJECTIVE To identify predictive factors for stroke after CABG in the modern era of cardiac surgery. METHODS This is a case-control study of 65 pairs of patients, paired by sex, age (+ 3 years) and date of CABG (+ 3 months). The cases were patients submitted to elective CABG with extracorporeal circulation (ECC) that presented stroke (defined as clinical neurological deficit up to 24 hours post-operatively and confirmed by imaging assessment) and the controls were those individuals submitted to elective CABG with ECC, but without stroke. RESULTS The univariate analysis demonstrated that the number of revascularized vessels was associated with the occurrence of stroke after the CABG (3 +/- 0.8 vs. 2.76 +/- 0.8, p = 0.01). The multivariate analysis by conditional logistic regression showed that systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) [OR: 6.1 (1.5 - 24), p = 0.009] and diabetes mellitus (DM) [OR: 3.1 (1.09 - 11), p= 0.03] were the determinants of the highest chance of stroke after CABG, whereas acute myocardial infarction (AMI) > 1 month, was the determinant of the lowest chance of stroke [OR: 0.1 (0.03 - 0.36), p = 0.003]. CONCLUSION Hypertension and diabetes mellitus were identified as independent predictors of stroke within the first 24 postoperative hours after CABG. In patients with such risk factors, it is possible that the knowledge of the causal mechanisms of brain injury represents a strategy capable of decreasing the incidence of stroke after CABG.

Tratamento do tromboembolismo pulmonar maciço por fragmentação percutânea do trombo

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of percutaneous thrombus fragmentation (PTF) for massive pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with contraindications to the administration of thrombolytics. METHODS: Between July 1999 and August 2005, 10 patients (7 males, 3 females, age 57±18 years) with massive PE and contraindications to the administration of thrombolytics underwent PTF. A transthoracic doppler echocardiogram was used to evaluate arterial oxygen saturation (Sat O2), the Walsh index (WI), mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAP), mean systemic blood pressure (SBP) and right ventricular function (RVF) before and after the procedure. Statistical analysis was conducted using the paired Wilcoxon test, of which p was significant when < 0.05. RESULTS: After the PTF treatment there was an improvement in Sat. O2 [87.4 ± 1.3% vs 92.3 ± 3.1% (p < 0.001)], WI [6.4 ± 1.07 vs 4.4 ± 1.42 (p = 0.003)], PAP [31.8 ± 4.6 mmHg vs 25.5 ± 3.4 mmHg (p < 0.001)] and SBP [73.9 ± 8.7 vs 85 ± 8.3 (p = 0.001). The ten patients had severe RVF before the percutaneous treatment; however, within 10 days after PTF, 8 presented normal or discrete function and 1 presented mitigated function. There were no technical or vascular access site complications related to PTF. One patient died in the hospital (10%). The procedure was successful for the other nine patients. CONCLUSION: The lack of adverse complications related to the procedure, proves that PTF is safe. The improvement in Sat O2, WI, PAP, SBP and RVF in 90% of the cases demonstrates the efficacy of the procedure, indicating that it is an alternative treatment for massive PE in patients with contraindications for the administration of systemic thrombolytics.

Postoperative atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an arrhythmia frequently seen in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery. In this context, it is associated with the presence of comorbidities, longer length of hospital stay, and higher costs related to surgery. The mechanisms involved in the genesis of AF in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery (AFPO) are different from those causing paroxysmal AF. Knowledge of these mechanisms permits the use of efficient measures to reduce the incidence of this arrhythmia. According to recommendations of the literature, treatment is efficient and safe, because the rates of reversion to sinus rhythm are high and complications are reduced, and it is not associated with a high frequency of side effects.Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an arrhythmia frequently seen in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery. In this context, it is associated with the presence of comorbidities, longer length of hospital stay, and higher costs related to surgery. The mechanisms involved in the genesis of AF in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery (AFPO) are different from those causing paroxysmal AF. Knowledge of these mechanisms permits the use of efficient measures to reduce the incidence of this arrhythmia. According to recommendations of the literature, treatment is efficient and safe, because the rates of reversion to sinus rhythm are high and complications are reduced, and it is not associated with a high frequency of side effects.

Fibrilação atrial no pós-operatório de cirurgia de revascularização do miocárdio: características do perfil clínico associadas a óbitos hospitalares

OBJECTIVE To identify factors associated with a higher likelihood of in-hospital death in patients submitted to coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) who developed atrial fibrillation (AF) postoperatively. METHODS The authors analyzed data from 397 consecutive patients submitted to CABG that developed AF postoperatively between 2000 and 2003. The patients were divided into 2 groups: group 1 (G1) comprised patients who survived (n=369); and group 2 (G2) comprised patients who died during hospital stay (n=28). Statistical analysis was performed using Students t test and chi-square test, and p values < 0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS A comparative analysis between G1 and G2 showed that there was no difference between the groups as regards age (67.3 +/- 8.4 versus 69.3 +/- 9.6; p = 0.4), male gender (75.9% versus 64.3%; p = 0.1), systemic arterial hypertension (75.3% versus 85.7%; p = 0.2) and congestive heart failure (17% versus 17%; p = 1). Group 2 presented higher rates for previous acute myocardial infarction (14.6% versus 28.6%; p = 0.05), left ventricular ejection fraction < 40% (12.2% versus 32.1%; p = 0.003), previous cerebrovascular accident (0.8% versus 17.9%; p = 0.03), previous percutaneous coronary intervention (19.5% versus 39.3%; p = 0.01) and previous CABG (19.3% versus 35.7%; p = 0.03). CONCLUSION Clinical history of acute myocardial infarction, CABG, percutaneous coronary intervention, cerebrovascular accident and severe ventricular dysfunction were significantly more frequent in the group that died during hospital stay, which suggests a possible association of these factors with a higher likelihood of death following CABG.

Association between ankle-brachial index and carotid atherosclerotic disease

BACKGROUND The association between the ankle brachial index (ABI) and the measurement of intimal medial thickness (IMT) has not been fully studied. OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate whether the prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis was higher in patients with ABI < 0.9 than in those with ABI > 0.9. METHODS From January 2011 to December 2011, 118 patients (48 men and 70 women) were enrolled. ABI and IMT Measurements were performed in all patients. Patients were divided in Group 1 (ABI < 0.9) and Group 2 (ABI > 0.9) according to ABI values. Mann-Whitney, Chi-square and Fischer tests were used for comparison among the groups. Pearsons correlation was used to assess correlation between ABI and IMT. RESULTS The prevalence of ABI < 0.9 was 29.7%, whereas carotid atherosclerosis > 1.5 mm was 34.7 %. Clinical characteristics were similar between groups 1 and 2: mean age (64 ± 9 vs. 62 ± 7.2 years, p = 0.1), male gender (40% vs. 41%, p = 0.9), hypertension (74% vs. 59%, p = 0.1), diabetes mellitus (54% vs. 35%, p = 0.051), dyslipidemia (26% vs. 24%, p = 0.8), smoking (57% vs. 65%, p = 0.4). The prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis was higher in group 1 (48.6% vs. 28.9%, p = 0.04). Pearsons correlation between ABI and IMT was -0.235, with a p value = 0.01. CONCLUSION Patients with ABI < 0.9 showed a higher prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis. There was a negative correlation between ABI and IMT.

Fibrilação atrial no pós-operatório de cirurgia cardíaca

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an arrhythmia frequently seen in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery. In this context, it is associated with the presence of comorbidities, longer length of hospital stay, and higher costs related to surgery. The mechanisms involved in the genesis of AF in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery (AFPO) are different from those causing paroxysmal AF. Knowledge of these mechanisms permits the use of efficient measures to reduce the incidence of this arrhythmia. According to recommendations of the literature, treatment is efficient and safe, because the rates of reversion to sinus rhythm are high and complications are reduced, and it is not associated with a high frequency of side effects.Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an arrhythmia frequently seen in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery. In this context, it is associated with the presence of comorbidities, longer length of hospital stay, and higher costs related to surgery. The mechanisms involved in the genesis of AF in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery (AFPO) are different from those causing paroxysmal AF. Knowledge of these mechanisms permits the use of efficient measures to reduce the incidence of this arrhythmia. According to recommendations of the literature, treatment is efficient and safe, because the rates of reversion to sinus rhythm are high and complications are reduced, and it is not associated with a high frequency of side effects.

Aspirin resistance: fact or fiction?

A meta-analysis of clinical studies of patients with cardiovascular disease demonstrated that the use of aspirin was associated with a 22% decrease in death rates and relevant ischemic vascular events. However, clinical studies demonstrated that patients that regularly took aspirin presented recurrence of cardiovascular events. Such observation led to the question whether, in some patients, the aspirin was not effective in blocking platelet aggregation and these patients were called unresponsive to aspirin or aspirin-resistant. The clinical aspirin resistance is characterized as the occurrence of cardiovascular events in patients during treatment with aspirin, whereas the laboratory resistance is defined as the persistence of platelet aggregation, documented by laboratory test, in patients regularly taking aspirin. Patients that are aspirin-resistant presented, according to laboratory tests, on average 3.8 times more cardiovascular events when compared to non-resistant ones.

Forma isolada do miocárdio não-compactado

Miocardio nao-compactado (MNC) e uma cardiopatia congenita com incidencia rara, sendo o seu primeiro relato feito ha 15 anos e com poucos casos publicados. O objetivo deste artigo e descrever um caso de MNC. E apresentada descricao dos achados clinicos e dos exames complementares de imagem de uma paciente com 37 anos, portadora de MNC de forma isolada. A paciente queixava-se de palpitacoes, apresentava extra-sistoles no exame clinico e, no eletrocardiograma de 12 derivacoes, bigeminismo ventricular. Realizou ecocardiograma Doppler tridimensional que revelou a presenca de numerosas e proeminentes trabeculas com recessos intertrabeculares profundos com fluxo de sangue que se comunicavam com a cavidade ventricular e que se acentuavam na regiao septo-apical. A ressonância nuclear magnetica de coracao corroborou os achados do ecocardiograma. A clinica e os resultados dos exames complementares dessa paciente confirmaram o diagnostico de MNC de forma isolada. O conhecimento de achados ecocardiograficos dessa doenca permite um diagnostico precoce e tratamento mais adequado.

Evolução clínica muito tardia de pacientes com infarto agudo do miocárdio submetidos a angioplastia primária

BACKGROUND Information on the clinical progression, in the long term, of patients submitted to mechanical reperfusion is scarce. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to describe the long-term clinical progression of patients submitted to primary stenting. METHODS Between January 1998 and December 2003 we studied a non-concurring cohort with a fixed population of 202 patients (mean age = 61.2 +/- 7.7 years; 74.7% males and 25.3% females) submitted to primary stenting. All the patients were followed up clinically and we assessed the occurrence of deaths, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), cerebral vascular accident (CVA) and surgical or percutaneous myocardial revascularization (MR). Kaplan-Meier survival curves were built for the following events: death, deaths/AMI, deaths/AMI/CVA and major cardiovascular events (MCE). RESULTS In 91.5% of the patients the procedure was successful. During hospital stay, mortality was 3.4%; reinfarction was 0.9%; CVA was 1.8%; and urgent MR was 1.4%. Clinical follow-up varied from 29 to 100 months (mean = 58.7 +/- 19.7 months). Death-free survival was estimated at 93.6%; death/AMI-free survival at 89.6%; death-AMI/CVA-free survival at 87.1%; and MCE-free survival at 71.3% CONCLUSION Primary stenting presented excellent results during hospital stay. Very late clinical follow-up demonstrated that these good initial results have held up.