The optimal treatment for free-floating massive right heart thrombi remains uncertain. However, they appear to increase the risk of mortality compared to the existence of a solitary pulmonary thromboembolism. Thrombolytic therapy has been shown to be effective in most patients, resulting in complete resolution of the massive thrombus and clinical improvement. We report the echocardiographic disappearance of a free-floating right heart thrombus after thrombolysis, however, the thrombus migrated and resulted in pulmonary thromboembolism. It was successfully removed with surgery.
To validate the right ventricular outflow tract systolic flow acceleration (RVOTACC; peak flow velocity/time-to-peak velocity) measured by phase-contrast (PC)-cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) as a novel index of right ventricular (RV) function, and to investigate its clinical implications in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Thirty (38% male, 43 ± 15 years old) out of 55 consecutive patients who were initially diagnosed with PAH at the referral center were prospectively enrolled between March 2009 and July 2010 and were followed for PAH-related cardiovascular events for 2 years. The invasively measured maximum dP/dt (dP/dtmax) was used as an index of RV contractility. The PC-CMR-derived RVOTACC was compared with well-known prognostic parameters. The PC-CMR-derived RVOTACC correlated strongly with the dP/dtmax and estimated RV function more accurately than the CMR-derived RV ejection fraction. The CMR-derived RVOTACC level (HR = 0.87, 95% CI 0.78-0.98, p = 0.038) could be another powerful prognostic index compared with the functional capacity (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.78-0.97, p = 0.035) and REVEAL Registry risk score (HR = 0.83, CI 0.56-0.95, p = 0.012). Furthermore, receiver-operating characteristic analysis identified ≥0.4 m/s2 as the optimal RVOTACC cut-off for predicting subsequent cardiovascular events. PC-CMR-derived RVOTACC is a promising non-invasively measured index of RV function and prognosis in patients with PAH.
a b s t r a c tSuccessful implantation of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) that is performed to avoid surgery in patients with atypical vasculature is still problematic. Acute angulations and significant tortuosity of the venous vasculature may influence both procedural success and periprocedural complications. We successfully implanted an ICD in a patient with deformed vasculature caused by tuberculosis-induced lung destruction by using a flexible coiled sheath instead of a friable peel-away sheath. This report highlights an alternative maneuver that may be an option in patients who have an acute angle between the brachiocephalic vein and the superior vena cava.
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