Cardiovascular pathology : the official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology
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Cardiovasc. Pathol. · May 2014
ReviewStress cardiomyopathy: yet another type of neurocardiogenic injury: 'stress cardiomyopathy'.
Tako-tsubo syndrome pertains to rare acquired cardiomyopathies, characterized by left ventricular dyskinesia and symptomatology typical for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Despite its low incidence and relatively benign course, stress cardiomyopathy should be thoroughly differentiated from AMI. The importance of tako-tsubo consists of the fact that its manifestation initially resembles AMI. ⋯ Stress cardiomyopathy reflects merely a single aspect of a much wider range of neurocardiogenic injury, which encompasses cardiac dysfunction associated with subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracranial hypertension and cerebral ischemia. Both psychological and physical insult to central nervous system may trigger a disastrous response of sympathetic nervous system, eventually leading to end-organ catecholamine-mediated damage. This review sought to delineate the phenomenon of tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy and deliver evidence for common pathophysiology of the broad spectrum of neurocardiogenic injury.
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Cardiovasc. Pathol. · May 2014
Review Case ReportsMyocardial hydrophilic polymer emboli following cardiac catheterization: a case report and literature review.
Intravascular polymer emboli have been reported in the skin, lungs, and brain following vascular procedures utilizing hydrophilic polymer coated devices. The Cook arterial introducer sheath was the first of these devices to be introduced, after which case reports followed documenting sterile inflammation at the sheath access site, characterized histologically by perivascular granulomas containing hydrophilic polymer. More recently, hydrophilic polymer emboli have been reported in the vessels of the lungs and brain in association with ischemia and infarct following vascular procedures using polymer coated devices. ⋯ The emboli were most frequent in the area of acute infarction, suggesting that the emboli may have resulted in ischemia leading to the patient's death. This is the third documented case of intramyocardial polymer emboli following cardiac catheterization and the first case to our knowledge to document an association between intravascular myocardial polymer emboli and acute myocardial infarction.