Cardiology - Diseases

BACKGROUND: Hyperkalemia increases the risk of death and limits the use of inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) in high-risk patients. We assessed the safety and efficacy of patiromer, a nonabsorbed potassium binder, in a multicenter, prospective trial. METHODS: Patients with chronic kidney disease who were receiving RAAS inhibitors and who had serum potassium levels of 5.1 to less than 6.5 mmol per liter received patiromer (at an initial dose of 4...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

A 39-year-old woman with a history of gestational diabetes was admitted with epigastric pain from acute pancreatitis. She had no history of hyperlipidemia, but multiple blood samples were grossly lipemic, and serum triglyceride levels were markedly increased.

An 81-year-old man with no documented medical history presented to the emergency department with suprapubic pain and urinary retention resulting from benign prostatic hyperplasia. He was incidentally found to have an elevated troponin I level, at 0.17 ng per milliliter (normal value,

A 59-year-old man with hypertension and Crohn's disease that was complicated by fistulas was found unconscious at home. He was being treated with infliximab administered through a central venous access device, which had been placed for long-term intermittent treatment. The patient had been treated..

Tetralogy of Fallot is a congenital cardiac malformation that consists of an interventricular communication, also known as a ventricular septal defect, obstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract, override of the ventricular septum by the aortic root, and right ventricular hypertrophy. This combination of lesions occurs in 3 of every 10,000 live births, and accounts for 7-10% of all congenital cardiac malformations. Patients nowadays usually present as neonates, with cyanosis of varying intensity based on the degree of obstruction to flow of blood to the lungs...

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) disease is the most common congenital cardiac defect. While the BAV can be found in isolation, it is often associated with other congenital cardiac lesions. The most frequent associated finding is dilation of the proximal ascending aorta secondary to abnormalities of the aortic media. Changes in the aortic media are present independent of whether the valve is functionally normal, stenotic, or incompetent. Although symptoms often manifest in adulthood, there is a wide spectrum of presentations ranging from severe disease detected in utero to asymptomatic disease in old age...

Heightened awareness of the characteristic patterns of ST-segment depression and T-wave inversion is paramount to quickly identifying life-threatening disorders. This paper reviews how to distinguish the various causes of these abnormalities.

Experimental models of atherogenesis have provided a growing body of information about molecular mechanisms of plaque growth; however, transition from coronary stability to instability is less well understood due to the lack of animal models reflective of human disease. The abrupt clinical presentation of acute coronary syndromes gives a strong signal of discontinuity in the natural history of atherothrombosis. The causes of such discontinuity are complex, probably multiple, and still largely unknown. A better knowledge of the causes of coronary instability might allow identification of new therapeutic targets aimed at the preservation of plaque stability in those subjects in whom primary prevention fails to prevent plaque growth...

Atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries is common, extensive, and more unstable among patients with chronic renal impairment or chronic kidney disease (CKD). The initial presentation of coronary disease is often acute coronary syndrome (ACS) that tends to be more complicated and has a higher risk of death in this population. Medical treatment of ACS includes antianginal agents, antiplatelet therapy, anticoagulants, and pharmacotherapies that modify the natural history of ventricular remodeling after injury...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an extremely common clinical problem with an important population morbidity and mortality burden. The management of AF is complex and fraught with many uncertain and contentious issues, which are being addressed by extensive ongoing basic and clinical research. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society AF Guidelines Committee produced an extensive set of evidence-based AF management guidelines in 2010 and updated them in the areas of anticoagulation and rate/rhythm control in 2012. In late 2013, the committee judged that sufficient new information regarding AF management had become available since 2012 to warrant an update to the Canadian Cardiovascular Society AF Guidelines...