This is a report of a biatrial cardiac myxoma in a young man with a 10-month history of exertional dyspnea and palpitation. The echocardiogram revealed biatrial myxoma prolapsing through the mitral and tricuspid valves during diastole. All cardiac chambers were enlarged and dysfunctional. The electrocardiogram revealed a rapid ventricular response with atrial flutter rhythm. The masses were resected and diagnosed as myxoma by a histological examination. The follow-up echocardiogram revealed significant improvement in ventricular function and reduction in the cardiac chambers’ volume. There was no evidence of myxoma recurrence. The most probable cause of the patient’s heart failure was considered to be tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy.
Carcinoid tumors are rare neuroendocrine malignancies. We present two cases of metastatic carcinoid tumors, complicated by carcinoid syndrome and by cardiac valve involvement. Carcinoid syndrome is characterized by secretory diarrhea, episodic flushing, and bronchospasm. Cardiac involvement occurs in up to 50% of patients with metastatic carcinoid tumors which commonly causes abnormalities of the right sided valves. Echocardiography is the best available and non invasive technique for diagnosis. Characteristic features of carcinoid heart disease are thickened, shortened, retracted, and fixed or partially fixed valve leaflets. Three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography provided an en face view of pulmonary and tricuspid valve, not obtainable by two-dimensional echocardiography, and improved delineation of the relationship between these structures and cardiac chambers.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) is spreading rapidly and there is now much concern regarding different aspects of public health. Underlying disorders like cardiovascular diseases can increase the mortality rate. Understanding cardiovascular complications, manifestations and management in COVID19 is a necessary need. In this comprehensive review, we evaluated different aspects of cardiovascular disorders or complications related to COVID19 infection.
Background and Aims: The isolated tricuspid valve surgery is performed using beating or arrested heart surgery. The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the results of patients who underwent isolated tricuspid valve surgery using the beating and arrested heart techniques.
Methods:In this retrospective observational study, all patients undergoing isolated tricuspid valve surgery between 2011 and 2018 were included. The patient's demographic information, echocardiographic, surgery, and hospitalization results were collected, and the EuroSCORE was calculated from the patient's medical records.Results: Fifty-three patients were included in the study of which 21 (39.63%) and 32 (60.37%) underwent a beating heart and arrested heart surgeries, respectively. There were no significant differences between the two studied groups in the echocardiographic results before and after the surgery, total hospitalization days (p = 0.56), and the mortality in the first 30 days after the surgery (p = 0.152). However, the duration of surgery (p < 0.001), EuroSCORE (p = 0.005), and patients who underwent lateral thoracotomy (p = 0.007) were notably lower in the arrested heart than in the beating heart group. In contrast, the duration of cardiopulmonary bypass and hospitalization in an intensive care unit after the surgery was remarkably lower in the beating heart than in the arrested heart group (p < 0.001 for both cases).
Conclusion:Although there were some significant differences between the two kinds of surgery techniques, it seems superficial that made a particular decision to consider each method's superiority. Therefore, further studies with larger populations and meta-analyses are required to recommend the preferred method for the surgeons certainly.
Background and Aims: The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum N-terminal (NT)-pro-brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels and incidence of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic dysfunction in patients who underwent low-dose anthracycline chemotherapy.Methods: This observational, prospective study was conducted on all patients with proven breast cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, or non-Hodgkin lymphoma and no history of previous cardiac or any chronic diseases who were candidates for low-dose anthracycline chemotherapy from March 2017 to February 2018. We evaluated the serum NT-proBNP level and performed trans-thoracic echocardiography at baseline, 6, and 9 months after the chemotherapy.Results: Among 57 patients who successfully finished the study, 13 (22.8%) patients were men and 44 (77.19%) patients were women, and the total mean age was 52 ± 14.86 years. Our results revealed that the LV systolic and diastolic function and NT-proBNP mean levels were in the normal range at all three measured times.Additionally, no significant differences were observed between the levels of NT-proBNP, LV systolic, and diastolic function at baseline, 6, and 9 months after chemotherapy with low-dose anthracycline (p = 0.6, 0.1, and 0.4, respectively).
Conclusion:Following low-dose anthracycline chemotherapy, none of our patients encountered LV systolic and diastolic dysfunctions and changes in serum NT-proBNP level. However, further studies with a larger population, longer follow-up duration, and higher dosage of anthracyclines are required to determine the effects of low-dose anthracycline on NT-proBNP level and LV systolic and diastolic functions.
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