Hemodynamical evaluation of a coronary artery lesion is an important diagnostic step to assess its functional impact. Fractional flow reserve (FFR) received a class IA recommendation from the European Society of Cardiology for the assessment of angiographically moderate stenosis. FFR evaluation of coronary artery disease offers improvement of the therapeutic strategy, deferring unnecessary procedures for lesions with a FFR > 0.8, improving patients' management and clinical outcome. Post intervention, an optimal FFR > 0.9 post stenting should be reached and > 0.8 post drug eluting balloons. Non-hyperemic pressure ratio measurements have been validated in previous studies with a common threshold of 0.89. They might overestimate the hemodynamic significance of some lesions but remain useful whenever hyperemic agents are contraindicated. FFR remains the gold standard reference for invasive assessment of ischemia. We illustrate this review with two cases introducing the possibility to estimate also non-invasively FFR from reconstructed 3-D angiograms by quantitative flow ratio. We conclude introducing a hybrid approach to intermediate lesions (DFR 0.85-0.95) potentially maximizing clinical decision from all measurements.
Chylopericardium is the accumulation of chylous fluid in the pericardial space. Many etiologies can be found and the treatment depends on the etiology and remains unclear. This rare entity needs some tests to determine its causes. Diagnosis is based on many tools; the pericardial biopsy puncture and lymphoscintigraphy are the most important ones. The treatment requires low fat diet, lipid lowering therapy and surgery in some cases. We here report the first case in the IBN ROCHD university hospital's Cardiology department of Casablanca, Morocco. It deals with a 32-year-old patient who consulted for dyspnea exacerbation for 18 months, becoming at rest. Chest X-ray and echocardiography were performed discovering pericardial effusion. Pericardiocentesis was performed to confirm the nature of liquid and lymphoscintigraphy showed no abnormal communication between the thoracic duct and pericardium.
Background Systemic juvenile lupus erythematosus can affect any organ including the heart. While pericarditis and endocarditis are the most common cardiac complications, dilated cardiomyopathy remains rare. We report the full recovery of dilated cardiomyopathy in a girl with juvenile lupus. Case presentation A 7-year-old girl presented with persistent fever, weight loss, alopecia, positive anti-lupus antibodies, and decreased complement. Examination found dyspnea, tachycardia, and hypotension. Chest X-ray revealed an enlarged cardiac silhouette, and echocardiography showed a left ventricular ejection fraction of 35%. After excluding other causes, systemic lupus erythematosus related dilated cardiomyopathy was selected. Heart failure treatment, Prednisone, and hydroxychloroquine were prescribed. On day three, she developed macrophage activation syndrome which responded to methylprednisolone boluses. Clinical and biological improvement was observed after 4 weeks, normalization of echocardiography after 4 months. Conclusion A review of the literature confirmed the rare and severe nature of dilated cardiomyopathy in juvenile lupus emphasizing the importance of performing echocardiography at the slightest cardiac sign.
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