William W. Ashley

Treadmill exercise testing in the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

Abstract Graded treadmill exercise testing was performed in 54 patients with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and preexcitation (persistent in 36, intermittent in 9 and concealed in 9). Forty-eight patients had previous paroxysmal supraventricular arrhythmia (spontaneous or induced or both). At initiation of treadmill testing, the nine patients with intermittent and the nine with concealed preexcitation had normal conduction. None manifested preexcitation during exercise. Thirty-six patients had preexcitation at initiation of exercise; exercise produced no change in preexcitation in 2, partial normalization of the QRS complex in 16 (due to enhanced atrioventricular [A-V] nodal conduction), and total normalization of the QRS complex in 18 (due to enhanced A-V nodal conduction in 14 and to rate-dependent anomalous pathway block in 4). Exercise-provoked block of the anomalous pathway reflected prolonged anomalous pathway refractoriness, as measured with atrial stimulation. All 18 patients with either total or partial preexcitation at peak exercise manifested more than 1 mm flat or downsloping S-T segment depression. None had evidence of ischemic heart disease. None of the 54 patients manifested either paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia or atrial fibrillation during or after treadmill exercise. Treadmill exercise testing in patients with preexcitation frequently produces partial or total normalization of the QRS complex due to enhanced A-V nodal conduction and, less commonly, total normalization due to rate-dependent block of the anomalous pathway. False positive S-T segment changes (suggesting ischemia) are always present in patients manifesting preexcitation during treadmill testing. Treadmill exercise testing in patients with preexcitation does not provoke paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia or atrial fibrillation and is not useful as a provocative test for arrhythmia.

Tachyarrhythmias in young athletes.

Nineteen young athletes with documented symptomatic tachyarrhythmia were systematically evaluated. There were 15 men and 4 women, aged 14 to 32 years (mean 22 +/- 6). Documented tachyarrhythmias were paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in five patients, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia in five, paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia in eight (sustained in five, nonsustained in three) and ventricular fibrillation in one patient. Abnormal substrates were demonstrated in 15 (79%) of the 19 athletes: 5 had an anomalous atrioventricular (AV) pathway and 10 had heart disease (mitral valve prolapse in 9 patients and dilated cardiomyopathy in 1 patient). In 13 (68%) of the 19 athletes, all spontaneous attacks of tachyarrhythmia had started during strenuous exercise. Tachyarrhythmia that closely resembled clinical arrhythmia was induced by programmed cardiac stimulation in 13 athletes (68%) and was reproducibly provoked by treadmill exercise in 8 athletes (42%). In four of seven athletes with ventricular tachycardia, tachycardia closely resembling clinical arrhythmia was provoked by infusion of isoproterenol. In summary: young athletes can have any of several tachyarrhythmias; abnormal substrates can be demonstrated in many athletes with symptomatic tachyarrhythmia; and tachyarrhythmias in young athletes frequently occur during exercise.

The superficial temporal artery trunk as a donor vessel in cerebral revascularization: benefits and pitfalls

OBJECT The superficial temporal artery (STA) is the mainstay of donor vessels for extracranial-intracranial bypass in cerebral revascularization. However, the typically used STA anterior or posterior branch is not always adequate in its flow-carrying capacity. In this report the authors describe the use of the STA trunk at the level of the zygoma as an alternative donor and highlight the benefits and pitfalls of this revascularization option. METHODS The authors reviewed the cases of 4 patients in whom the STA trunk was used as a donor site for anastomosis of a short interposition vein graft. The graft was implanted into the middle cerebral artery to trap a cartoid aneurysm in 2 patients, and the posterior cerebral artery for vertebrobasilar insufficiency in the other 2. Discrepancies in size between the interposition vein and STA trunk were compensated for by a beveled end-to-end anastomosis or by implanting the STA trunk into the vein graft in an end-to-side fashion. RESULTS Intraoperative flow measurements confirmed the significantly higher flow-carrying capacity of the STA trunk (54-100 ml/minute) compared with its branches (10-28 ml/minute). The STA trunk interposition graft has several advantages compared with an interposition graft to the cervical carotid, including a shorter graft and no need for a neck incision. However, in the setting of ruptured aneurysm trapping, with the risk of subsequent vasospasm, it is a poor conduit for endovascular therapies. CONCLUSIONS The STA trunk is a valuable donor option for cerebral revascularization, but should be avoided in the setting of subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Flow-assisted surgical cerebral revascularization

Extracranial-intracranial bypass surgery has advanced from a mere technical feat to a procedure requiring careful patient selection and a justifiable decision-making paradigm. Currently available technologies for flow measurement in the perioperative and intraoperative setting allow a more structured and analytical approach to decision making. The purpose of this report is to review the use of flow measurement in cerebral revascularization, presenting algorithms for flow-assisted surgical planning, technique, and surveillance.

Surgical Management of Acute Intracranial Hemorrhage, Surgical Aneurysmal and Arteriovenous Malformation Ablation, and Other Surgical Principles

In light of the potentially devastating effects of hemorrhagic stroke, it is critical that an effective treatment paradigm be defined. This report briefly reviews the various subtypes of hemorrhagic stroke, considers the indications for surgery, and discusses specific surgical treatment options.

Pulmonary arterial oxygen saturation during treadmill exercise. A discriminative index of functional class.

Six patients in functional class II and 11 in functional class III underwent graded treadmill exercise, with severe fatigue as their limiting symptom. During exercise, none of the patients developed chest pain, or significant arrhythmia. Our data suggest that at a treadmill workload of 2 mph and 7 per cent slope, with an oxygen consumption four times that at rest, measurement of the pulmonary arterial oxygen saturation permits clear separation of functional class II from functional class III. Although there was a significant difference in the heart rate response, mean pulmonary arterial pressure, and percentage change in pulmonary arterial end-diastolic pressure, considerable overlap occurred. The use of pulmonary arterial oxygen saturation may prove to be of value in instances in which the functional cardiac status is not reasonably clear from the clinical interview or routine exercise testing. It requires less than maximal effort on the part of the patient, and provides an objective end point to distinguish between two important groups of patients.