Rev Esp Cardiol
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Case Reports
[The usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis of a free-floating thrombus in the left atrium].
The case of a patient with mitral prosthesis who had arterial embolism is presented. The transoesophageal echocardiogram showed a floating thrombus in the left atrium which had not been detected by transthoracic echocardiography. The usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis of this pathology is emphasized.
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Review Comparative Study
[Aspirin and heparin in the fibrinolytic treatment of acute myocardial infarction].
There is now extensive evidence of activation of platelet and the coagulation cascade with coronary thrombosis, and further activation with exogenous thrombolysis. Administration of aspirin and heparin has been shown to improve mortality when combined with thrombolytic therapy in acute myocardial infarction, probably by enhancing lysis and reducing subsequent reocclusion of infarct related artery. Most studies have evaluated the effect of aspirin or heparin in combination with streptokinase. ⋯ Intravenous administration of heparin seems justified, specially if rtPA is used as fibrinolytic agent. Potent new drugs capable of inhibiting platelets an the coagulation cascade emerge as a promising future. Until their effect is clinically proven, aspirin and i.v. heparin should remain as adjunctive therapy to fibrinolytic treatment in AMI.
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Tricuspid insufficiency caused by blunt chest trauma is rare and usually unsuspected clinically, early after trauma. Cross-sectional Echocardiography and Cardiac Catheterization are essential to establish the diagnosis. ⋯ We describe an 18-year-old boy with traumatic tricuspid regurgitation treated by reconstruction of the attachments of the anterosuperior leaflet and annuloplasty with a Puig-Massana ring. Six month after surgery he is fully recovered, although persist a moderate degree of tricuspid insufficiency.
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Review Comparative Study
[Comparison of clinical efficacy of thrombolytic drugs in patients with acute myocardial infarction].
Thrombolytic therapy has prove to be effective to recanalize the occluded coronary artery in patients with acute myocardial infarction, reducing infarct size, preserving ventricular function and improving short and long term survival. In a number of studies the relative efficacy of the available thrombolytic agents has been studied an are discussed in this revision of the comparative, randomized trials. Some differences have been found in the relative efficacy of streptokinase, APSAC, urokinase and tPA to recanalized the occluded infarct related coronary artery. ⋯ Systemic and cerebral hemorrhages are more frequently associated with the use of tPA and APSAC than with streptokinase. Allergic reactions are more frequent after administration of streptokinase and APSAC than after tPA or urokinase and the same occurs with hypotension requiring treatment. The analysis of the available data from the comparative studies do not offer enough clinical evidence to consider any of the thrombolytic agents as the drug of choice in most patients with acute myocardial infarction.
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Mycotic aneurysm of the septal leaflet of the mitral valve is an infrequent complication associated with aortic infective endocarditis. The most probable mechanisms implicated on its formation are two: the lesion induced by regurgitant jet striking on septal mitral leaflet and the direct spreading of infection through the fibrosa inter-valvular. ⋯ Surgical management will depend on the anatomic characteristics of the aneurysm and its hemodynamic repercussion. Careful echocardiographic search for mycotic mitral aneurysms should be performed in cases of aortic valve endocarditis, in view of its important prognostic implications.