Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research

Marfan's syndrome (MFS) is an inherited autosomal dominant disorder of connective tissue with mutation on the fibrillin-1 gene encoding for fibrillin. This frequently involves the cardiovascular system with prevalence is 1:5000-10,000. The clinical major criteria involve the skeletal and ocular apparatus and the cardiovascular and central nervous system. In Marfan's syndrome mitral valve prolapse and aortic dilation are the main cardiovascular manifestations. According to the literature database the prevalence of aortic dilatation is 76%, 62% for mitral valve prolapse, 29% for mitral valve regurgitation and 26% for aortic regurgitation, in adult patients with Marfan's syndrome...

We are reporting the first case of spontaneous endocarditis caused by rapid grower non-tuberculous Mycobacterium chelonae in a case of rheumatic heart disease. The diagnosis was confirmed as there was repeated isolation of rapidly growing atypical Mycobacterium from blood culture which was identified as M. chelonae by Reverse line probe assay. The patient presented with pyrexia of unknown origin. Later she was found to have rheumatic heart disease with severe aortic regurgitation & large vegetation was seen attached to the aortic valve...

BACKGROUND: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) concomitant with aortic dissection (AD) is rare but a devastating situation if misdiagnosed as simply AMI, followed by anticoagulant or thrombolytic therapy. In such cases, Standford type B AD was extremely infrequent. OBJECTIVES: To present a case with apparent concordance with the patient's history, symptoms, cardiac enzymes that lead to diagnostic error. CASE REPORT: An 85-year-old man with chronic hypertension and coronary atherosclerotic heart disease presented in our emergency department with squeezing retrosternal chest pain and dyspnea...

Small pericardial effusion (PE) is not an infrequent manifestation in primary hypothyroidism. But massive PE with or without cardiac tamponade is rare and often associated with severe form of the disease. Here we report an eight-year-old boy who was admitted with massive PE that required repeated pericardiocentesis. Detailed examinations failed to identify the etiology initially. Five months later, child was readmitted with massive PE with impending cardiac tamponade. Primary hypothyroidism was diagnosed based on the clinical and laboratory finding and was thought to be the underlying etiology of previously encountered undiagnosed massive PE...

Coronary artery perforation is a rare but catastrophic complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Grade III coronary perforation and rupture invariably results in pericardial effusion and tamponade requiring urgent pericardiocentesis. Advances in coronary intervention have increased the opportunity to treat coronary artery perforation. We are reporting a case of 55 years old hypertensive female who presented with effort angina. Coronary angiogram revealed significant stenosis in the left anterior descending coronary artery...

Many types of cardiac arrhythmias have been noted following acute myocardial infarction. Polymorphic ventricular arrhythmias (polymorphic ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation) related to an acute myocardial infarction generally strike during the hyperacute phase, are clearly related to ischaemia and are not associated with a long QT interval time. Pause-dependent Torsade de pointes has been reported following acute myocardial infarction and this arrhythmia generally occurs 3-11 days after the onset of acute myocardial infarction and none has been reported during the hyperacute phase...

Anomalous pulmonary venous return is an uncommon congenital malformation which can be broadly categorized into partial or total, of which the former is more common. The anomaly is considered to be partial if some of the pulmonary veins drain into the systemic circulation and total if all the pulmonary veins drain into systemic circulation. Isolated partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVC) is an uncommon finding and is a very uncommon cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Whilst many patients with PAPVC remain asymptomatic, some may present at a later age with symptoms related to left-to-right shunt, pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure...

Thrombolytic therapy directed to the achievement of early reperfusion in cases with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction can have significant complications which can be due to bleeding or in the form of allergic reactions. Sometimes these complications can cause mortality or significant and incapacitating morbidity which may at times surpass the risk possessed by the disease itself. We are reporting an interesting case of 63-year-old male, who presented to us with acute anterior wall myocardial infarction and developed acute onset paralysis following intravenous administration of streptokinase and heparin...

Methadone is a drug that has found widespread utility in the management of opioid addiction and pain. Along with its popularity, methadone has also earned an infamous reputation for causing prolongation of the QT interval and an increased risk of torsades de pointes. In this article we will give a brief overview of the long QT syndromes, followed by an in-depth look at the current pathophysiologic mechanisms of methadone induced QT prolongation, a review of the existing literature and the current concepts regarding the prevention and management of methadone induced torsades de pointes...

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally and are the leading cause of death in India also. Several surveys conducted across the country over the past few decades have shown a rising prevalence of major risk factors for CVD in Asian Indian population. The problem of increasing risk factors for CVD in India is because of lack of surveillance system and lack of proper diagnosis. This study will help to point out the need of research so that some advanced diagnosis system may be developed for proper diagnosis of CVDs and to reduce the growing burden of CVDs in the country...

BACKGROUND: A wide variation exists in the patterns of pharmacotherapy among patients admitted with cardiovascular diseases. Very few studies have evaluated the potential determinants of drug utilization. Our objective was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and patterns of cardiovascular drug utilization among patients in coronary care unit (CCU) and assess the determinants of cardiovascular drug use among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, the medical records of CCU patients were reviewed independently by two trained physicians over one year...

AIMS: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains a major cause of death and disability in the United States and worldwide. Despite the importance of surveillance and secondary prevention, the incidence of and mortality from AMI are not continuously monitored, and little is known about survival outcomes after 30 days of AMI hospitalization or associated risk factors, especially in the rural areas. The current study examines rural-urban differences in both in- and out-hospital survival outcomes for AMI patients...

Coronary artery anomalies are found in 0.6%-1.5% of patients undergoing diagnostic coronary angiogram. Intervention in these patients poses a particular technical challenge secondary to the aberrancies in the vessel origin and course. From March 2011 to February 2013, 13 cases with complex coronary artery anomalies were observed among 2482 patients undergoing CAG (0.52%) at our cath lab. Only three patients had severe stenosis in the anomalous artery sufficient to require an intervention and had presented with myocardial infarction...

A 56-year-old male patient was admitted with an evolved inferior wall myocardial infarction (IWMI). Electrocardiogram (ECG) showed presence of ST elevation and T wave inversion in the inferior leads. ECG taken on the next day surprisingly showed features suggestive of acute high lateral wall myocardial infarction (LWMI), without features suggestive of re-infarction which was finally diagnosed to be an artefact due to lead reversal. Lead reversal between left arm and left leg can mimic as high LWMI in a case with IWMI and we should aware of this situation before misdiagnosing it as re-infarction...

A 58-year-old male patient had diagnosed with Buerger's disease for 30 years. Patient referred us with non-healing scar on his right thumb. In another center, amputation was suggested due to his non-healing scar. We have assessed the patient multidisciplinary with cardiovascular and plastic reconstructive esthetic surgery for non-healing scar. During the multidisciplinary surgical treatment we applied radial artery endarterectomy, cross finger flap reconstruction, after operation medically we have treated with cilostazol...

We are reporting the first case of rare association between multiple congenital cardiac malformations with severe rheumatic mitral stenosis which is an acquired structural cardiac disease. A 16 years old female patient presented with progressive dyspnoea & cyanosis for the last one month with past history of recurrent pneumonia since infancy. Physical examination revealed presence of cyanosis, grade I clubbing, radio-radial & radio-femoral delay, loud & single second heart sound, apical long mid diastolic murmur and left parasternal ejection systolic murmur...

We are presenting an interesting case of a 30-year-old patient taken for percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC) for severe rheumatic mitral stenosis in which there was a collection of four unusual occurrences during the course of a procedure. She had recurrent generalized tonic-clonic seizures immediately after femoral sheath insertion requiring the patient to be mechanically ventilated. Subsequently, the pressure tracings recorded with catheters in the aorta and the pulmonary artery showed transient unusually high supra-systemic pulmonary artery pressure...

Ranolazine is a novel anti-anginal agent acting through pharmacologic mechanism of inhibition of the late phase of the inward sodium current. In addition, it is a potent inhibitor of rapid delayed rectifier potassium currents, leading to prolongation of the QT interval. However, ranolazine has not yet described to be associated with Torsade de Pointes despite its QT-prolonging effect. In this case report, we describe a patient on ranolazine who developed Torsade de Pointes and discuss about the potential contribution of ranolazine to the development of Torsade de Pointes...

This article reports a rare case of coarctation of the aorta associated with Dandy-Walker variant in a 17-year-old girl. Differential diagnoses of coarctation of the aorta and Dandy-Walker variant are extensively discussed. In addition, standard surgical treatment of coarctation as well as new approaches such as endovascular stenting are described in detail to provide therapeutic insights into her management. Although surgical or endovascular repair of coarctation results in significant improvement of systemic hypertension and is associated with better survival, cardiovascular complications are still very common...

BACKGROUND: Sesame oil is a potent antioxidant dietary source for human health. Oxidative stress through generation of free radicals damages the myocardium in different experimental condition. The present research was designed to evaluate the antioxidant property of chronic oral administration of sesame oil against isoproterenol induced myocardial injury. METHODS AND RESULTS: Male Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into five groups (n = 6) and treated as per treatment protocol with two different doses of sesame oil (5 and 10 ml/kg b...