Mohamed Shokr

Antiplatelet Therapy and Spontaneous Retroperitoneal Hematoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

Patient: Male, 66 Final Diagnosis: Spontaneous retroperitoneal hematoma seconday dual antiplatelet therapy Symptoms: Anemia • knee joint pain Medication: — Clinical Procedure: None Specialty: Cardiology Objective: Rare disease Background: Dual antiplatelet therapy has proven efficacy in primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease with a relatively good safety profile. Review of the literature revealed 8 cases of spontaneous retroperitoneal hematoma secondary to antiplatelet treatment. Case Report: We report the case of a 66-year-old male with a flare of acute gout secondary to uncontrolled chronic myeloid leukemia. The patient was started on dual antiplatelet treatment following a drug-eluted stent placement for symptomatic coronary artery disease. He suffered from an unexplained acute drop of five grams of hemoglobin from 10.4 to 5.8 g/dL and symptomatic anemia. The initial labs excluded occult GI bleeding, hemolysis, and bone marrow suppression. However, an abdominal CT scan showed an approximately 7.2×4.7×6.7 cm spontaneous retroperitoneal hematoma involving the left iliacus muscle. The patient was successfully treated conservatively by discontinuing antiplatelet therapy and supportive measures. Conclusions: A spontaneous retroperitoneal hematoma often presents without localizing signs and symptoms and therefore should be considered in any case of unexplained blood loss in patients on antiplatelet therapy. CT without contrast is the modality of choice to diagnose retroperitoneal hematoma.

Reduced dose apixaban resolving dual cardiac chamber thrombi in a patient with ischaemic cardiomyopathy in sinus rhythm

Left atrial (LA) thrombus is a known sequela of atrial fibrillation (AF) but it is less frequently encountered in patients in sinus rhythm. Left ventricular (LV) dysfunction may predispose patients without evidence of atrial tachyarrhythmias to atrial thrombosis. Warfarin is the standard treatment for cardiac chamber thrombosis and prevention of the associated thromboembolic complications. Despite that apixaban was found to be superior to warfarin in prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with AF, evidence for its use in treatment of cardiac chamber thrombi is scarce and is limited to case reports. We report a case of simultaneously occurring LV and LA thrombi successfully treated with reduced dose apixaban in a patient with ischaemic cardiomyopathy and in sinus rhythm. Although apixaban maybe a potential effective treatment for intracardiac thrombi, further studies are needed to demonstrate efficacy and safety of this agent in larger patient populations.

Impella RP Support and Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis to Treat Right Ventricular Failure Caused by Pulmonary Embolism in 2 Patients

Right ventricular failure secondary to pulmonary embolism is associated with morbidity and death. The Impella RP System has often been used for percutaneous mechanical circulatory support in patients with right ventricular failure from other causes, including myocardial infarction, cardiac surgery, and left ventricular assist device implantation. We report 2 cases of massive pulmonary embolism in which combined Impella RP use and ultrasound-assisted catheter-directed thrombolysis effectively treated shock caused by right ventricular failure and contributed to successful outcomes. To our knowledge, only one other patient with this indication had been treated with the Impella RP device.

Correlation of Altmetric Attention Score With Article Citations in Cardiovascular Research

Social media outlets, particularly Twitter, have gained interest among the cardiovascular community as a modality for dissemination of cardiovascular research [(1)][1]. Online attention scores have emerged as a tool to assess the performance of scholarly articles on Web-based media and social

Clinical impact of advanced chronic kidney disease on outcomes and in-hospital complications of Takotsubo Syndrome (broken-heart-syndrome): Propensity-matched national study

Multiple studies evaluated the outcomes and complications rate of Takotsubo Syndrome (TTS) in patients with and without advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), revealed conflicting results. This study aims to assess the clinical outcomes and impact of advanced CKD on patients hospitalized with Takotsubo Syndrome. Patients who presented with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy between 2010 and 2014 were identified in the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database using the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM), and subsequently were divided into two groups, with advanced CKD and without advanced CKD. NIS is the largest all-payer inpatient stays database in the United States. The primary outcome was the effect of advanced CKD on inpatient mortality in comparison to the non-advanced CKD group. Secondary outcomes were the impact of CKD on TTS in-hospital complications. We also evaluated the length of hospital stay and the cost of hospitalization. Propensity score-matched analysis was performed to address potential confounding. The advanced CKD group had no significant increase in the risk of In-hospital mortality (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.75-1.31, P = 0.269). However, advanced CKD patients were more likely to develop acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring dialysis (OR: 5.12, 95% CI: 3.16-8.30, P = <0.0001), and were more likely to stay longer at the hospital (OR 1.12; 95% CI 1.03 to 1.22, P 0.010). In conclusion, advanced chronic kidney disease does not increase immediate in-hospital mortality, neither most of the TTS in-hospital complications, apart from AKI and hospital length of stay, in comparison to the patients with non-advanced CKD.

Racial/ethnic differences in the prognostic utility of left ventricular mass index for incident cardiovascular disease

Evidence exists for racial/ethnic differences in left ventricular mass index (LVMI). How this translates to future cardiovascular disease (CVD) events is unknown.

Impact of Atrial Fibrillation on patients hospitalized for Acute Myocarditis: Insights from a nationally-representative United States cohort

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with increased all‐cause mortality in the general population. However, the impact of AF on the in‐hospital outcomes of acute myocarditis (AM) patients is not well characterized.

Sick Sinus Syndrome and Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy

Background. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is associated with increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, and bradyarrhythmias. However, sinus node dysfunction is relatively infrequent in the setting of takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Case Report. We are reporting a case of a 73-year-old woman with a history of asymptomatic sinus bradycardia who developed sick sinus syndrome complicated by takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Conclusion. Acute symptomatic sick sinus syndrome in patients with preexisting silent sinus node dysfunction can trigger takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Understanding precipitating factors of takotsubo cardiomyopathy and identifying the patients at risk of life-threatening arrhythmia can help in refining risk stratification and therapy planning. Patients with sick sinus syndrome complicated by takotsubo cardiomyopathy may benefit from pacemaker implantation. However, evaluation on a case-by-case basis is mandatory.

Financial Implications and Impact of Pre-existing Atrial Fibrillation on In-Hospital Outcomes in Patients Who Underwent Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (from the National Inpatient Database)

The objective of this study was to evaluate the financial implications and the impact of pre-existing atrial fibrillation (AF) on in-hospital outcomes in patients who underwent transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database. We identified patients who underwent TAVI from 2011 to 2014. The primary end point was the effect of pre-existing AF on in-hospital mortality. Secondary end points included periprocedural cardiac complications, stroke, and hemorrhage requiring transfusion. We also assessed length of stay (LOS) and cost of hospitalization. A mixed-effect logistic model was used for clinical end points, and a linear mixed model was used for cost and LOS. In 6,778 patients who underwent TAVI (46.1% women and 81.4 ± 8.5 years old), the incidence of AF was 43.3%. After adjusting for patient- and hospital-level characteristics, pre-existing AF was not found to influence in-hospital mortality (odds ratio 1.05, 95% confidence interval 0.80 to 1.36). AF was associated with an increased risk of periprocedural cardiac complications (odds ratio 1.46, 95% confidence interval 1.22 to 1.75), longer LOS (p <0.001) and an increased cost of hospitalization (US

Failure to Rescue, Hospital Volume, and In-Hospital Mortality After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

51,852 vs US