Heart, lung & circulation
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Heart, lung & circulation · Oct 2014
ReviewThe use of gastrointestinal cocktail for differentiating gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and acute coronary syndrome in the emergency setting: a systematic review.
Differentiating acute chest pain caused by myocardial ischaemia from other, potentially more benign causes of chest pain is a frequent diagnostic challenge faced by Emergency Department (ED) clinicians. Only 30% of patients presenting with chest pain will have a cardiac origin for the pain, and gastro-oesophageal disorders are one of the common sources of non-cardiac chest pain, yet remain clinically difficult to differentiate from cardiac pain. ⋯ Current diagnostic protocols for Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) revolve around early and serial ECG monitoring and cardiac biomarker testing, imaging and careful clinical examination. In patients with chest pain and suspected ACS, the use of a GI cocktail compared with standard diagnostic protocols (serial ECG and biomarkers and provocative testing or imaging) is not proven to improve accuracy of diagnosis, and cannot reliably exclude myocardial ischaemia.
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Heart, lung & circulation · Oct 2014
Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency prior to cardiothoracic surgery.
Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common chronic medical conditions in the world and also prevalent in Australia. A growing body of evidence suggests that low vitamin D also has adverse effects on cardiovascular health, including coronary risk factors and adverse cardiovascular outcomes such as myocardial infarction, cardiac failure and stroke. There is some evidence suggesting that a greater proportion of people with cardiovascular disease have low vitamin D compared to the general population. We examined the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in elective cardiothoracic surgical patients presenting to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia and compared this to recent Victorian statistics for people of the same age group. ⋯ Based on our small screening study, a substantial proportion of elective cardiothoracic surgical patients have less than optimal serum vitamin D3 levels prior to surgery. We found two-thirds of patients had serum vitamin D levels below 60 nmol/L, placing them at higher risk of falls. This finding is of concern as these patients would have received multiple consultations with various medical practitioners prior to hospital admission and yet their inadequate vitamin D status remained. Failing to identify patients with low vitamin D and correcting it with supplementation places older adults at unnecessary risk, especially of falls, which are associated with a high risk of mortality. In an ageing population with CVD, vitamin D status needs to be assessed and any inadequacy corrected. Whether low vitamin D status prior to cardiac surgery affects post-surgery outcomes, is another issue which deserves future investigation.
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Heart, lung & circulation · Oct 2014
Normalisation of haemodynamics in patients with end-stage heart failure with continuous-flow left ventricular assist device therapy.
New generation continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) utilise centrifugal pumps. Data concerning their effect on patient haemodynamics, ventricular function and tissue perfusion is limited. We aimed to document these parameters following HeartWare centrifugal continuous-flow LVAD (HVAD) implantation and to assess the impact of post-operative right heart failure (RHF). ⋯ HVAD support improves haemodynamics, LV dimensions and renal function. Following implantation with a centrifugal continuous-flow LVAD, RHF remains a significant risk with a tendency to worse outcomes in the short to medium term.
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Heart, lung & circulation · Oct 2014
Case ReportsPost-traumatic injury of the brachiocephalic artery: on-pump beating heart repair.
We report the case of 54 year-old man who presented with an injury of the brachiocephalic artery secondary to a violent blunt chest trauma. The patient underwent urgent open surgical repair. The procedure was achieved on on-pump beating heart approach. The subsequent course was uneventful.