Texas Heart Institute journal
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Little is known about the frequency and clinical implications of postoperative atrial fibrillation in military veterans who undergo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We examined long-term survival data, clinical outcomes, and associated risk factors in this population. We retrospectively reviewed baseline, intraoperative, and postoperative data from 1,248 consecutive patients with similar baseline risk profiles who underwent primary isolated CABG at a Veterans Affairs hospital from October 2006 through March 2013. ⋯ Seven-year survival rates did not differ significantly. Older and obese patients are particularly at risk of postoperative atrial fibrillation after CABG. Patients who develop the sequela have longer hospital stays than, but similar long-term survival rates to, patients who do not.
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Comparative Study
Detecting Acute Myocardial Infarction by Diffusion-Weighted versus T2-Weighted Imaging and Myocardial Necrosis Markers.
We used a porcine model of acute myocardial infarction to study the signal evolution of ischemic myocardium on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images (DWI). Eight Chinese miniature pigs underwent percutaneous left anterior descending or left circumflex coronary artery occlusion for 90 minutes followed by reperfusion, which induced acute myocardial infarction. We used DWI preprocedurally and hourly for 4 hours postprocedurally. ⋯ Quantitative image analysis yielded a significant difference in contrast-to-noise ratio and relative signal index between infarcted and normal myocardium on DWI. However, within 4 hours after infarction, the serologic myocardial injury markers were not significantly positive. We conclude that DWI can be used to detect myocardial signal abnormalities early after acute myocardial infarction-identifying the infarction earlier than TIRM T2WI and widely used clinical serologic biomarkers.