Faculty Bibliography

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To describe cholesterol embolization syndrome (CES) and its risk factors, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment. RECENT FINDINGS: To date, no specific diagnostic test (other than biopsy) for CES has been developed. Effective treatments for CES are yet to be developed. SUMMARY: CES (also referred to as cholesterol crystal embolization, atheromatous embolization or atheroembolism) occurs when cholesterol crystals and other contents of an atherosclerotic plaque embolize from a large proximal artery to smaller distal arteries, causing ischemic end-organ damage. Clinical manifestations of CES include constitutional symptoms (fever, anorexia, weight loss, fatigue and myalgias), signs of systemic inflammation (anemia, thrombocytopenia leukocytosis, high erythrocyte sedimentation rate, elevated levels of C-reactive protein, hypocomplementemia), hypereosinophilia, eosinophiluria, acute onset of diffuse neurologic deficit, amaurosis fugax, acute renal failure, gut ischemia, livedo reticularis and blue-toe syndrome. CES may occur spontaneously or after an arterial procedure. There is no specific laboratory test for CES. Retinal exam demonstrating Hollenhorst plaques supports the diagnosis of CES. Biopsy of target organs (usually skin, skeletal muscles or kidneys) is the only means of confirming the diagnosis of CES. Treatment consists of supportive care and general management of atherosclerosis and arterial ischemia

BACKGROUND: Two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography are standard methods to assess the severity of pulmonic insufficiency (PI). However, methods to define severity of

AIM: To assess the effects of shortened door-to-intervention (DTI) time on appropriate clinical decisions regarding the four most critical and costly decisions during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI): cath-lab activation (CLA), use of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPI), use of PCI, and deployment of drug-eluting stent (DES). BACKGROUND: STEMI PCI patients are frequently subject to decision making based on abbreviated medical encounter and limited medical information. METHODS: Clinical data were prospectively collected in a STEMI registry over 19 months. Retrospective chart reviews were conducted to determine the level of appropriateness of the above-mentioned decisions. RESULTS: Between June 2006 and December 2007, 200 EKGs with suspected STEMI were transmitted; 88 (44%) resulted in CLA. Compared to prior year, DTI times decreased from 145.7 to 69.9 min (P=.00001). DTI was longer during nights and weekends (87.5 vs. 51.8 min, P=.001) and the initial 6 months of the registry (86.8 vs. 66.8 min, P=.07). Nineteen (21.6%) of the patients undergoing angiography did not require revascularization, 56 (63.6%) received GPIs, and 65 patients (73.8%) underwent at least one vessel PCI, and at least one DES was used in 39 patients (60% of PCI cohort). When assessed for appropriateness, CLA was appropriate in 81.8% of the time and rendered borderline or inappropriate in 5.7% and 12.5%, respectively. GPI use was appropriate in 66% of the patients but seemed borderline or inappropriate in 28.5% and 5.4%, respectively. PCI was appropriate in 90% of the lesions treated, and borderline or inappropriate in 7.1% and 2.9%, respectively. DES use was viewed appropriate in 38.4%, and borderline or inappropriate in 51% and 10.2% of the DES deployments, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: (1) In view of expedited care, certain information required for decision-making process is either not available or ignored during primary PCI. (2) Appropriate use of resources in primary PCI needs to be better defined. (3) Measures of extracting patients' previous medical records and imaging studies along with in-lab immediate blood work and echocardiography and establishing new 'time-out' protocols for STEMI patients may improve resource utilization and patient care and outcome

We describe a patient with an infrequent combination of variants in both the right and the left coronary arterial ostia, namely a combination of two separate right coronary artery (RCA) ostia from the aorta, and an anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA). To our knowledge, such a combination has not been previously reported. Based on published statistics for individual variants, such a combination is expected to occur approximately once for every 500,000 to one million live births. ALCAPA and dual RCA anatomy was characterized in our patient by echocardiography, conventional angiography, and multidetector computed tomography before and after Takeuchi repair

Cardiac complications of chest trauma range from arrhythmias to valvular avulsions to myocardial contusion, rupture, and rarely myocardial infarction. We describe a case of a young patient with blunt chest trauma after a motor vehicle accident in whom the diagnosis of myocardial infarction was established a week later because no electrocardiogram or cardiac biomarkers were obtained on presentation. Retrospective review of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) of the chest done on presentation demonstrated a perfusion defect in the distribution of the left anterior descending artery (LAD). Subsequent coronary angiography demonstrated dissection in the proximal LAD. Our case illustrates the importance of electrocardiography and contrast-enhanced chest CT in initial evaluation of patients with blunt chest trauma and suspected injury to the coronary arteries

BACKGROUND: There are currently no standardized three-dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiographic (TEE) views of the interatrial septum and atrial septal defects (ASDs). Without a standardized approach, it is difficult to ascertain the important anatomic relationships (such as the location of the aortic rim of an ASD), to perform relevant measurements (such as the size of an ASD or the size of its rims), or to guide the deployment of catheters and devices during atrial septal closure. METHODS: Using a 3D TEE matrix-array transducer, 706 TEE studies were performed over a 14-month period. The purpose of the study was to develop a standardized protocol for anatomically correct orientation of 3D TEE images of the interatrial septum and ASDs. RESULTS: Among 706 TEE studies, there were 23 patients with ASDs, representing 3.3% of the study population. Eighteen patients had secundum ASDs, two had primum ASDs, and three had sinus venosus ASDs of the superior vena cava type. A protocol for properly orienting 3D TEE images of the interatrial septum and ASDs was developed. When the images are acquired at an angle of 0 degrees , the septum is properly oriented by the tilt-up-then-left maneuver. The initial 3D TEE image in first tilted up to reveal the right atrial side of the septum. Then the image is tilted 180 degrees around its vertical axis to reveal the left atrial side of the septum; the aortic rim is on the left, the superior vena cava on the top, and the right-sided pulmonary vein ostia on the right side of the screen. For acquisitions at a higher angle, the rotate-left-in-z-axis maneuver is used. The image is first tilted up to reveal the right atrial side of the septum, as in the tilt-up-then-left maneuver. The image is then rotated counterclockwise in the z axis until the superior vena cave is at 12 o'clock. Finally, the image is tilted 180 degrees around its vertical axis to reveal the left atrial side of the septum. CONCLUSIONS: The use of standardized tilt-up-then-left and rotate-left-in-z-axis maneuvers enhances the diagnosis of ASDs, ascertains the important anatomic relationships of ASDs to surrounding structures, and facilitates communication between echocardiographers obtaining 3D TEE images and interventional cardiologists or cardiac surgeons performing ASD closures