The American journal of cardiology
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Multicenter Study
Impact of Point-of-Care Ultrasound Examination on Triage of Patients With Suspected Cardiac Disease.
Complementing the physical examination with a point-of-care ultrasound study (POCUS) can improve patient triage. We aimed to study the impact of POCUS on the diagnosis and management of outpatients and hospitalized patients with suspected cardiac disease. In this multicenter study, a pocket-sized device was used to perform POCUS when the diagnosis or patient management was unclear based on anamnesis, physical examination, and basic diagnostic testing. ⋯ Hospitalization or discharge was determined after POCUS in 11% of the patients. In conclusion, during patient triage, extension of the physical examination by POCUS can cause physicians to alter their initial diagnosis, resulting in an immediate change of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Based on POCUS results, physicians altered the diagnostic plan either by avoiding or referring patients to other diagnostic procedures in almost half of the studied population.
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Although acute myocardial infarction is the most clinically significant cause of ST-segment elevation, other serious clinical conditions have been reported with this electrocardiographic abnormality. We report a patient with pneumomediastinum who presented with dyspnea and electrocardiographic changes mimicking ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Coronary angiography demonstrated no evidence of myocardial injury and the electrocardiographic abnormality promptly resolved with the resolution of the pneumomediastinum.
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Several recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) demonstrated better outcomes with multivessel complete revascularization (CR) than with infarct-related artery-only revascularization (IRA-OR) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. It is unclear whether CR should be performed during the index procedure (IP) at the time of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or as a staged procedure (SP). Therefore, we performed a pairwise meta-analysis using a random-effects model and network meta-analysis using mixed-treatment comparison models to compare the efficacies of 3 revascularization strategies (IRA-OR, CR-IP, and CR-SP). ⋯ There were no differences in all-cause mortality between the 3 revascularization strategies. In conclusion, this meta-analysis shows that in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and multivessel coronary artery disease, CR either during primary PCI or as an SP results in lower occurrences of MACE, revascularization, and CV mortality than IRA-OR. CR performed during primary PCI also results in lower rates of recurrent MI and seems the most efficacious revascularization strategy of the 3.
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Observational Study
Relation Among Clot Burden, Right-Sided Heart Strain, and Adverse Events After Acute Pulmonary Embolism.
Computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) provides a volumetric assessment of clot burden in acute pulmonary embolism (PE). However, it is unclear if clot burden is associated with right-sided heart strain (RHS) or adverse clinical events (ACE). We prospectively enrolled Emergency Department patients with PE (in CTPA) from 2008 to 2011. ⋯ In multivariate analysis, after adjusting for RHS, age, and gender, central PE (odds ratio [OR] 2.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10 to 7.81) and CT-PASS >20 mm (OR 3.54, 95% CI 1.39 to 8.97) were significantly associated with ACE. However, this association of central PE with ACE was not statistically significant after excluding patients with shock index >1 (OR 2.56, 95% CI 0.62 to 10.64). In conclusion, highest quartile CT-PASS was associated with RHS and central PE and ACE, but this association was not statistically significant in hemodynamically stable PE [corrected].
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Atrial volumes indexed to body surface area (AVI) are robust predictors of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after direct current cardioversion (DCCV). The incremental value of atrial emptying fraction (EmF) compared with atrial volumes as a predictor for recurrent AF after DCCV has not been evaluated. We sought to compare the predictive ability of baseline left atrial (LA) EmF, right atrial (RA) EmF, LAVI, and RAVI for post-DCCV AF recurrence at 6 months. ⋯ The overall performance for prediction of AF recurrence was greatest for RA EmF, area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC): RA EmF 0.92, LA EmF 0.89, RAVI 0.76, and LAVI 0.63. RA and LA EmF AUCs were significantly higher than for LAVI or RAVI (max p = 0.02). In conclusion, although RAVI and LAVI are strong predictors of AF recurrence after DCCV, RA and LA EmF outperformed in this cohort.