J Formos Med Assoc
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Review Case Reports
A two-case series of entrapment of a ruptured balloon in the coronary artery: Avoidable complications and nonsurgical management.
The entrapment of a ruptured catheter balloon during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is rare, but it can lead to life-threatening complications, such as myocardial infarction (MI) and lethal arrhythmias. Ruptured balloon entrapment usually occurs in either tortuous, calcified, or angulated coronary lesions without adequate balloon deflation. ⋯ We successfully removed the ruptured and entrapped balloons through nonsurgical techniques. Coronary interventionists should be aware of the possibility of balloon entrapment during complex coronary interventions; they should also become familiar with nonsurgical catheter-based methods for the retrieval of ruptured and entrapped balloons.
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Pediatric cardiac computed tomography (CT) is a noninvasive imaging modality used to clearly demonstrate the anatomical detail of congenital heart diseases. We investigated the impact of cardiac CT on the utilization of cardiac catheterization among children with congenital heart disease. ⋯ The use of noninvasive CT in children with selected heart conditions might reduce the use of diagnostic cardiac catheterization. This may release time and facilities within the catheterization laboratory to meet the increasing demand for cardiac interventions.
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This study investigated the clinical significance of quality of life (QOL) related specifically to Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) among Taiwanese patients. ⋯ Scores on the Chinese (Taiwan) version of the GO-QOL were strongly correlated with disease severity and clinical activity. The GO-QOL is a simple and practical tool that can be used to evaluate health-related QOL in GO patients.