Harold S. Marcus

Catheterization of the Heart in Man with Use of a Flow-Directed Balloon-Tipped Catheter

Abstract Pressures in the right side of the heart and pulmonary capillary wedge can be obtained by cardiac catheterization without the aid of fluoroscopy. A No. 5 Fr double-lumen catheter with a balloon just proximal to the tip is inserted into the right atrium under pressure monitoring. The balloon is then inflated with 0.8 ml of air. The balloon is carried by blood flow through the right side of the heart into the smaller radicles of the pulmonary artery. In this position when the balloon is inflated wedge pressure is obtained. The average time for passage of the catheter from the right atrium to the pulmonary artery was 35 seconds in the first 100 passages. The frequency of premature beats was minimal, and no other arrhythmias occurred.

Intracoronary thrombolysis in evolving myocardial infarction.

Abstract After experimental studies in dogs confirmed the feasibility and safety of rapid intracoronary thrombolysis by local infusion of Thrombolysin (streptokinase and plasmin), intracoronary thrombolysis was attempted in 20 patients with evolving myocardial infarction who were hospitalized within 3 hours from the onset of symptoms during the day and within 2 hours at night. Thrombolysin was infused in the immediate vicinity of the site of coronary occlusion using a 0.85 mm outer diameter catheter advanced through the lumen of the Judkins catheter. Reperfusion was achieved in four patients after an average of 43 minutes of Thrombolysin infusion at a rate of 2000 IU/min and in 15 patients after an average of 21 minutes of Thrombolysin infusion at a rate of 4000 IU/min. The failure to open the artery in one patient may have been caused by our inability to advance the infusion catheter close to the site of occlusion. Rethrombosis occurred in one patient 8 days after reperfusion and 2 days after discontinuation of anticoagulants because of a history of chronic alcoholism. Wall motion and perfusion studies showed improvement following reperfjsion. Patency of the artery was achieved an average of 4 hours after the onset of symptoms. The need for earlier reperfusion is emphasized.

Myocardial salvage by intracoronary thrombolysis in evolving acute myocardial infarction: Evaluation using intracoronary injection of thallium-201

Abstract Immediate objective assessment of viabillty of reperfused myocardium following intracoronary (IC) thrombolysis by evaluation of ventricular function may be limited due to delay in restoration of function. Thus we assessed myocardial uptake of thallium-201 (TI-201) following IC injection postreperfusion as an index of myocardial salvage in 12 experimental dogs and in five patients with evolving acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In seven dogs with mean of 313 minutes of experimental coronary occlusion, immediate postreperfusion IC TI-201 images revealed absence of myocardial uptake in prevlously occluded zones. These TI-201 defects correlated with presence of necrosis as demonstrated by histochemical staining with triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride (TTC). In contrast, in five dogs with mean of 37 minutes of coronary occlusion, reperfused myocardium showed normal TI-201 uptake following its IC injection; this normal TI-201 uptake pattern correlated with absence of necrosis by TTC technique in all five dogs. In five patients with evolving AMI, control TI-201 images obtained following IV injection prior to IC thrombolysis showed myocardial perfusion defects corresponding to distribution of the occluded vessel. Following reperfusion, 30 to 50 mCi of TI-201 was injected into the reopened coronary artery. In two patients with mean symptom onset of reperfusion time of 2 1 2 hours , immediate postreperfusion IC TI-201 images demonstrated normal or improved TI-201 uptake in reperfused myocardium. By radionuclide ventriculography, segmental wall motion remained abnormal in the reperfused regions 6 hours postreperfusion and showed improvement by the time of 10-day study. In the remaining three patients with symptom onset to reperfusion time of 5 hours, immediate postreperfusion IC TI-201 images did not show improvement, correlating with persistent wall motion abnormalities 10 days postreperfusion. In all five patients, repeat 10-day IV TI-201 images were unchanged from the immediate postreperfusion IC TI-201 images. We conclude that (1) prereperfusion TI-201 imaging with repeat TI-201 injection into the reopened coronary artery appears to delineate the extent of myocardial salvage in both experimental and clinical studies and (2) this method of IC TI-201 imaging allows immediate assessment of myocardial viabillty which may facilltate decisions regarding the need for additional myocardial revascularization modalities.

Synchronized coronary venous retroperfusion for support and salvage of ischemic myocardium during elective and failed angioplasty

To determine the safety and efficacy of synchronized coronary venous retroperfusion during brief periods of ischemia, 30 patients undergoing angioplasty of the left anterior descending coronary artery were studied. Each patient underwent a minimum of two angioplasty balloon inflations. Alternate dilations were supported with retroperfusion; the unsupported inflations served as the control inflations. Synchronized retroperfusion was performed by pumping autologous femoral artery blood by means of an electrocardiogram-triggered retroperfusion pump into the great cardiac vein through a triple lumen 8.5F balloon-tipped retroperfusion catheter inserted percutaneously from the right internal jugular vein. Clinical symptoms, hemodynamics and two-dimensional echocardiographic wall motion abnormalities were analyzed. Retroperfusion was associated with a lower angina severity score (0.8 +/- 1 vs. 1.2 +/- 1) and delay in onset of angina (53 +/- 31 vs. 37 +/- 14 s; p less than 0.05) compared with the control inflations. The magnitude of ST segment change was 0.11 +/- 0.14 mV with retroperfusion and 0.16 +/- 0.17 mV without treatment (p less than 0.05). The severity of left ventricular wall motion abnormality was also significantly (p less than 0.01) reduced with retroperfusion compared with control (0.7 +/- 1.4 [hypokinesia] vs. -0.3 +/- 1.6 [dyskinesia]). There were no significant changes in hemodynamics, except in mean coronary venous pressure, which increased from 8 +/- 3 mm Hg at baseline to 13 +/- 6 mm Hg with retroperfusion. Four patients required prolonged retroperfusion for treatment of angioplasty-induced complications. The mean retroperfusion duration in these patients was 4 +/- 2 h (range 2 to 7). In the three patients who underwent emergency bypass surgery, the coronary sinus was directly visualized during surgery and found to be without significant injury. There were no major complications. Minor adverse effects were transient atrial fibrillation (n = 2), jugular venous catheter insertion site hematomas (n = 4) and atrial wall staining (n = 1), all of which subsided spontaneously. Thus, retroperfusion significantly reduced and delayed the onset of coronary angioplasty-induced myocardial ischemia and provided effective supportive therapy for failed and complicated angioplasty.

The Effects of Transfemoral Catheterization on Blood Flow in the Extremities

The peripheral hemodynamics of 20 patients were studied 24 hours before and 24 hours following completion of Seldinger transfemoral cardiac catheterization. All patients were catheterized in the right femoral artery and vein, while in 13 an arterial needle was placed in the left femoral artery.In the catheterized leg, mean calf blood flow and venous capacitance fell while mean calf vascular resistance was increased. The placement of an indwelling arterial needle caused mean calf blood flow to fall with an increase in calf vascular resistance. Venous capacitance was unchanged. The above changes while present 24 hours after catheterization had returned to normal one week later. While no symptoms or signs of limb ischemia occurred, oscillometry showed deterioration in the lower limb pulsation amplitudes in 13 of the 20 patients. No significant changes in peripheral hemodynamics were seen in the limbs, the arteries of which had not been catheterized.Thus, although all patients were symptomless and free of signs suggestive of ischemia clinically, arterial and venous catheterization and/or the placement of an arterial needle causes significant changes which last at least 24 hours distal to the invasion of the vessels.

Assessment of the functional significance of coronary artery disease with atrial pacing and cardiokymography

Abstract Thirty-six patients were studied during the course of cardiac catheterization to assess the role of cardiokymography and atrial pacing in the functional evaluation of angiographic coronary arterial stenosis. Only 4 of 25 patients with greater than 50 percent diameter stenosis of at least one major vessel had 0.1 mv or greater S-T segment depression at a paced heart rate of 123 ± 25/min, and 2 of 11 normal patients revealed a similar response (P = not significant). In contrast, in 22 of 25 patients systolic outward motion developed as determined with cardiokymography during the same pacing period, whereas in only 1 of 11 normal patients a similar abnormality did develop (P These data are consistent with the view that regional wall motion abnormalities are highly sensitive and specific markers of ischemia and that such abnormalities may be detected noninvasively with cardiokymography. It is concluded that atrial pacing in conjunction with cardiokymography is applicable to the functional assessment of ischemic heart disease and may provide a means for objective evaluation of the significance of angiographically observed coronary stenosis.

Myocardial Revascularization for Acute and Chronic Coronary Heart Disease

Abstract Myocardial revascularization is ideally indicated for critical obstructive lesions in the proximal portions of the coronary vessel, particularly in the left coronary system, with minimally...

Observations on the relationship between digital heat loss and systemic hemodynamics in patients with heart disease

A concomitant study of finger heat discharge and systemic hemodynamics was undertaken in a series of 19 patients (mean age 54 years) suffering from various forms of heart disease. Finger heat discharge, as measured by calorimetry, was found to correlate significantly with mean circulation time (-0.760), cardiac index (+0.649), systemic vascular resistance (-0.615), stroke work index (+0.649), mean pulmonary artery pressure (-0.596), mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (-0.554), stroke index (+0.541), appearance time (-0.502) and mean right atrial pressure (-0.453). There was no significant correlation between finger heat discharge and mean arterial blood pressure, LV dp/dtmax, and heart rate. An effect of heart failure on finger heat discharge was found. When evidence of forward failure and also possibly backward failure was found, mean finger heat discharge was significantly diminished. When both forward and backward failure were present together, mean finger heat discharge fell still further.