Classic hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a rare but fatal congenital heart disease associated with variable underdevelopment of the left side of the heart. Complex forms of hypoplastic left heart syndrome have been reported to coexist with anomalous pulmonary venous drainage, transposition of the great arteries, or pulmonary valve dysplasia. We report a case of hypoplastic left heart syndrome with anomalous origin of the right pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta a rare association not reported in the literature. Preoperative comprehensive echocardiography is essential for diagnosis and accurate recognition of such rare anatomic variations.
Background
The current COVID-19 pandemic has become a global public health crisis and presents a serious challenge in treatment of severe COVID pneumonia patients. With an imperative need for an effective treatment, we aimed to study the effectiveness of Pentaglobin, an intravenous immunoglobin in the treatment of severe Covid-19 pneumonia patients.
Methods
This is an open-label non-randomised controlled study. Patients in the study group (n=17) received Pentaglobin in addition to standard therapy and the control group (n=19) received only the standard of care treatment. Severity of illness were quantified by severity scores and inflammatory laboratory parameters were compared between the two groups.
Results
The average length of hospital stay in pentaglobin group were 12.35±6.98 days compared to 10.94±4.62 days in standard treatment group with mean difference of 1.4 days (p value=0.4). Pentaglobin did not provide an added advantage in terms of reducing the duration of hospital stay. There was no significant difference between both the groups in terms of requirement of invasive ventilation (p=0.56) and mortality (p=0.86). CT Severity score (OR= 1.39 95% CI= 1.09-1.77, P=0.01), APACHE II score (OR=1.16 95% CI= 0.99-1.35, P=0.05) and the SOFA score (OR=2.11 95% CI=1.13-3.93, P=0.02) were independent predictors of mortality.
Conclusion
The administration of pentaglobin in COVID -19 patients has no significant effect in reducing the risk of mechanical ventilation or death, in disease worsening or in reduction of inflammation.
Background The coronary collaterals have been ascribed as a potential alternative source of myocardial perfusion to the extent that some suggest it as a “natural bypass”! We proposed to evaluate the impact of the extent of collaterals on left ventricle ejection fraction among Asian Indians presenting with acute coronary syndrome. Methods This was a retrospective, all-comers study performed on consecutive 3614 patients presenting with the acute coronary syndrome. Angiograms were evaluated for collaterals graded according to Rentrop’s classification among group A (grades 0 and 1) and group B (grades 2 and 3) collaterals. Results Patients were matched for traditional cardiovascular risk factors in groups A and B as well as for ST elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction subgroups in both the groups. Grades 2 and 3 collaterals were significantly ( P = 0.04) higher in patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction—266/1319 (20.17%), as compared to ST elevation myocardial infarction—group 400/2295 (17.43%). Left ventricle ejection fraction on presentation was better preserved in group A as compared to group B in those with double-vessel disease and triple-vessel disease patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction, whereas it was better in single-vessel disease and triple-vessel disease patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction. The inverse correlation ( r = −0.111, P = 0.000) existed between left ventricle ejection fraction and grades of collaterals. Conclusion Patients with the single-vessel disease were more likely to have poor coronary collateral as compared to double-vessel disease/triple-vessel disease. Despite higher grade coronary collateral among Asian Indians presenting with acute coronary syndrome, both non-ST elevation myocardial infarction and ST elevation myocardial infarction patients with triple-vessel disease had significantly lower left ventricle ejection fraction. This paradoxically brings out worse left ventricle ejection fraction on presentation in those with double-vessel disease and triple-vessel disease with ST elevation myocardial infarction and single-vessel disease and triple-vessel disease with ST elevation myocardial infarction despite higher grade of coronary collateral representing as “Asian Indian Paradox” in our cohort.
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