N S I B L E for more than 20% of all ischemic strokes. The examination of atrial sources of cardioembolic strokes has focused almost exclusively on the left atrial appendage (LAA) and the pathophysiology of thrombus formation at this site is well understood. However, especially in rheumatic heart disease, thrombi can occur in the left atrium (LA) outside the appendage a significant proportion of the time with poor understanding of the underlying mechanism. We present 3 patients in whom a thrombus was seen adherent to the septal LA. The probable underlying pathophysiology and the relationship to a recently described novel atrial structure, the left atrial septal pouch (LASP) (Fig. 1) that has the potential to be a site of stasis with thromboembolic complications, is discussed (1). Figure 1. Examples of LASP(A) Autopsy example of the left atrial septal pouch (LASP). A probing rod is inserted into the blind pouch that opens into the left atrial cavity. In our autopsy study, a LASP was seen in 37 of 94 hearts examined, with an average depth of 8.3 Ϯ 3.5 mm (1). Subsequent studies with transesophageal echocardiograms (B) and computed tomography angiograms (C) revealed the LASP to be present in about 30% to 35% of individuals with a depth similar to the autopsy study. The pouch is felt to represent an incomplete closure of the foramen ovale where fusion between the septum primum and secundum is limited to the caudal portion of the zone of overlap.

BackgroundThere is a dearth of data regarding the appropriateness of elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a limited-resource country such as India. In an attempt to rationalise the use of PCI, Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) were developed for cardiovascular care in the USA. In the Indian context, considering the high prevalence of coronary artery disease, the dramatic rise in the number of revascularization procedures and an increasing role of government/private reimbursements, application of AUC could potentially guide policy to optimize the utilization of resources and the benefit-risk ratio for individual patients.ObjectivesThe study sought to determine the overall and year-wise trends in the appropriateness of elective PCI using the AUC and also understand the impact of the government health insurance scheme (GHIS).Material and MethodsThe inpatient records of all patients undergoing elective PCI, at a single large tertiary care centre in Western India, from January 2009 to December 2014 were retrospectively analysed (n=972, 759 males, 213 females) by a neutral observer. The AUC scores and subsequent ranking were calculated using the dedicated web-based software and each PCIwas ranked as either ‘appropriate’, ‘uncertain’ or ‘inappropriate’. Elective PCI performed within a month after the index acute coronary syndrome (ACS) was considered as 'ACS' while applying the AUC. All other indications were considered as 'non-ACS'. Nearly 95% of elective PCI performed after July 2012 were covered under theGHIS and therefore the period January 2009–June 2012 was compared with the July 2012– December 2014 to assess the impact of this scheme.ResultsA total of 894 elective PCI (379 and 515 PCI in the ACS setting and non-ACS setting respectively) performed on 857 patients were analysed. The elective PCI performed in the pre-GHIS and GHIS period were 458 and 436 respectively. As per AUC, 352 (39.6 ± 4.4 %) of the overall elective PCI were ranked as ‘appropriate’, while 487 (55.3 ± 4.1 %) cases as ‘uncertain’ and 55 (5.1 ± 0.6 %) cases as ‘inappropriate’. An overall year-wise temporal trend in the proportion of cases in any of the AUC rankings did not show any significant trends(p > 0.05). However, 80.4 ± 7.3 % of elective PCI in the ACS setting were categorised as ‘appropriate’ and 82.6 ± 6.9 % of elective PCI in non-ACS setting were ranked as ‘uncertain’. With state-wide implementation of the GHIS, the total number of elective PCI increased by 50% (436 in the 3½ year pre-GHIS study period as against 458 in the 2½ year GHIS study period). The introduction of GHIS led to a marginal increase (p > 0.05) in the average annual number of elective PCI in non-ACS setting as opposed to a 120% rise in the number of elective PCI done in the ACS setting (p < 0.001) and the delay in performing PCI after coronary angiogram reduced from 55.8 ± 43.6 days to 33 ± 22.9 days (p < 0.01). Also, the ratio of men: women undergoing elective PCI rationalised from 5.4:1 to 2.7:1 (p < 0.001). With the introduction of the GHIS, the share ...

No abstract

No abstract

BackgroundQuantification of mitral regurgitation (MR) has always required an “integrated approach” as there is no single gold-standard method. We investigated a new Doppler-derived parameter “left ventricular early inflow-outflow index (LVEIO)” for the quantification of MR and its likelihood to predict severe MR in correlation with already established parameters in an Indian population including a large subset of patients with rheumatic etiology.MethodsA prospective study was performed at a major tertiary care center in western India over a 5-month period. Five hundred patients diagnosed with isolated MR including 260 (52%) patients with rheumatic etiology were included in the study after applying exclusion criteria. We analyzed MR using color flow jet, effective regurgitant orifice area (EROA), and vena contracta (VC) width. LVEIO is a simplification of the regurgitant volume (RV) method, which was calculated as “E velocity divided by LV outflow velocity integrated over the systolic ejection period left ventricular outflow tract velocity time integral” and compared with the established parameters.ResultsLVEIO was 4.65 ± 1.45, 6.56 ± 1.52, and 9.91 ± 3.70 among patients diagnosed with mild, moderate, and severe MR, respectively (p < 0.001). Those with LVEIO ≥8 were the most likely to have severe MR (positive likelihood ratio: 10.42). LVEIO had specificity of 93.25% for diagnosis of severe MR with positive predictive value of 86.36%. There was positive correlation observed between LVEIO and VC width (r = 0.591), RV (r = 0.410), and EROA (r = 0.778) (all p < 0.001) in the Pearson correlation test. The specificity of LVEIO remained consistent in diagnosing severe MR in patients with rheumatic etiology.ConclusionLVEIO is a simple yet specific Doppler echocardiographic parameter for estimation of severity of MR including that of rheumatic etiology.

A 60-year-old male, diabetic, nonhypertensive, tobacco chewer, presented with a history of inferior wall myocardial infarction in 2007. Patient underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty with stent to right coronary artery in 2007, but no reports available. Now, patient was admitted with new onset crescendo angina for the last 1 month.

No abstract

No abstract