The international journal of cardiovascular imaging
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Oct 2005
Case ReportsA rare cause of myocardial infarction: acute inferoposterior myocardial infarction after successful intravenous thrombolytic treatment of mechanical mitral prosthetic valve thrombosis.
Prosthetic valve thrombosis is a rare and dreaded complication of patients with mechanical valves, particularly those in the mitral position. A 45-year-old female with status post prosthetic mitral valve replacement was admitted to the hospital with acute pulmonary edema. ⋯ Coronary angiography showed normal coronary arteries. Presented case had acute inferoposterior myocardial infarction secondary to coronary emboli after the successful thrombolytic treatment of prosthetic mitral valve thrombosis.
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Apr 2005
Case ReportsUnruptured giant left ventricular pseudoaneurysm complicating silent myocardial infarction in a diabetic young adult: left ventricular giant pseudoaneurysm after silent myocardial infarction.
We report a very rare case of a 36-year-old diabetic man who had a silent myocardial infarction, a ruptured myocardial wall, and an unruptured left ventricular pseudoaneurysm. The patient admitted with a 3-month history of dyspnea on exertion, without evidence of acute coronary syndrome. Coronary angiography showed severe stenosis of the right coronary artery. ⋯ Patient underwent to surgery with excellent results. We present this case because rarity and high clinical index of suspicion is needed to avoid missing the diagnosis in such an unusual sequence of silent myocardial infarction in diabetic patient. The clinical picture of dyspnea in a diabetic patient in presence of a diagnostic echocardiographic finding warrants coronary angiography to document the ischemic etiology of the pseudoaneurysm in view of prompt surgical correction.
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Clinical progress by the development of multi-slice CT (MSCT) technology beyond 16 slices can more likely be expected from further improved spatial and temporal resolution rather than from a mere increase in the volume coverage speed. We present an evaluation of a recently introduced 64-slice CT (64SCT) system, which makes use of a periodic motion of the focal spot in the longitudinal direction (z-flying focal spot) to double the number of simultaneously acquired slices. ⋯ 64SCT Cardiac imaging provides an increased spatial resolution with an isotropic voxel size of 0.4 mm and an improved temporal resolution of 83-165 ms. These benefits hold great promise especially for fast-moving organs requiring detailed imaging, such as the heart and coronary arteries.
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Oct 2004
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialA randomized trial assessing the value of ultrasound-guided puncture of the femoral artery for interventional investigations.
Using a prospectively collected database of patients undergoing diagnostic or therapeutic angiography via transfemoral access, we sought to determine those patients who may benefit from ultrasound-guided puncture of the femoral artery. One-hundred-twelve patients with normal anticoagulation parameters were randomized in two groups. Fifty-six patients received ultrasound-guided puncture of the femoral artery, 56 patients underwent traditional palpation-guided vessel cannulation. ⋯ In contrast, time for vessel cannulation was increased in patients with strong arterial pulse using ultrasound guidance. No significant differences were found with respect to diminished complications neither comparing both patient groups nor comparing risk subgroups. In conclusion ultrasound guidance for femoral artery access is recommended only in patients with a weak or absent arterial pulse and obese patients.
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Feb 2004
Myocardial adaptation in different endurance sports: an echocardiographic study.
Of this study was to investigate three groups of highly trained competitive endurance athletes consisting of marathon runners, triathletes and cyclists for differences in left ventricular adaptation. ⋯ There is a sport-specific left ventricular adaptation in endurance athletes. The triathlon heart and the heart of a cyclist differ significantly from a marathon heart.