Texas Heart Institute journal
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Primary pulmonary artery sarcoma is a rare tumor that is highly fatal. It can be misdiagnosed as acute or chronic pulmonary thromboembolic disease. Herein, we report the case of a 22-year-old woman with a preoperative diagnosis of pulmonary embolism and superior vena caval thrombosis. ⋯ Surgical resection of the tumor and reconstruction of the central pulmonary arteries, followed by adjuvant chemotherapy, relieved the clinical symptoms. The patient remained free of cancer at 14 months postoperatively. We believe that this is the 1st report of a primary pulmonary artery sarcoma that extended retrograde into the superior vena cava.
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In neonates, the major obstacle to transfusion-free complex cardiac surgery is the severe hemodilution that can result from the mismatch between the priming volume of the circuit and the patients' blood volume. Herein, we report the case of a 13-day-old, 2.96-kg preterm neonate who had a hypoplastic aortic arch and atrial and ventricular septal defects. ⋯ A specially designed cardiopulmonary bypass circuit with a priming volume of only 95 mL was the key component of an interdisciplinary effort to avoid transfusion while maintaining the patient's safety. To our knowledge, this is the 1st report of the use of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest in blood-transfusion-free surgery to correct congenital heart defects in a small Jehovah's Witness neonate.
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A 58-year-old man presented with chest pain and tightness and was diagnosed with a Q-wave anterior myocardial infarction. He then developed pulseless ventricular arrhythmias, which were treated with repeated direct-current shocks and intravenous amiodarone. He underwent emergency cardiac catheterization: stents were deployed in the left anterior descending coronary artery and right coronary artery, and an intra-aortic balloon pump was inserted. ⋯ Multiple doses of intravenous amiodarone and lidocaine and multiple external direct-current shocks were all tried, but these measures failed to terminate the life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. We performed a pharmacologic block of the left stellate ganglion, and this resulted in a return to sinus rhythm after 1 direct-current shock. To our knowledge, this is the 1st patient with refractory ventricular arrhythmias to have been treated with TandemHeart support and left stellate ganglion block.
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Case Reports
Takayasu arteritis with coronary aneurysms causing acute myocardial infarction in a young man.
Takayasu arteritis is an inflammatory condition that involves the large cardiac vessels, predominantly the aorta and its main branches. It typically affects young women (age, ≤40 yr), most often Asians and Latin Americans. Herein, we describe a rare manifestation of Takayasu arteritis in a 19-year-old black Tunisian man who presented with acute inferior myocardial infarction and complete atrioventricular block after occlusion from a giant aneurysm in the right coronary artery. ⋯ During 12 months of close postprocedural monitoring, he experienced lower blood pressure, no chest pain, and no cardiovascular complications. This association of conditions has not been previously reported. Besides presenting this very rare combination of findings, we discuss the differential diagnosis of Takayasu arteritis in our patient.
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Case Reports
Double-valve Libman-Sacks endocarditis causing ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest.
Libman-Sacks endocarditis is a well-known and rather common cardiac manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus. Transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography are the definitive imaging methods used to evaluate cardiac valvular involvement in this disease. Valvular masses (vegetations) and valvular thickening are 2 common morphologic echocardiographic patterns. ⋯ This compromised coronary blood flow and resulted in ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest. The vegetations were surgically excised, and the patient's cardiac function recovered. We discuss the treatment of the patient and that of Libman-Sacks endocarditis.