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Among 1254 patients with coronary artery occlusive disease (CAOD) who underwent cardiac catheterization studies in our laboratory from 1975 through 1977,114 (9%) had signWicant (250%) stenosis of the left main coronary artery (LMCA). Thirty-four of the 114 (29.8%) had stenosis of the LMCA ostium (2.7% of all CAOD patients). Clinical, hemodynamlc, and anglographic data of the 34 patients wereanalyzed. Unstable angina was more frequent in these patients, most of whom were in functional classes 111 and IV, than those with other LMCA lesions. Of the 18 who underwent treadmill exercise testing, results were positive In 16 (11 of whom had ST segment depression 3 2 mm Hg), negative in none and indeterminate in two. By avoiding overlapping the coronary ostium with the sinus of Valsalva without significant foreshortening of the LMCA during angiography, LMCA ostial stenosis was recognizable in all patients in the moderate left anterior oblique position only and not in other projections. Coronary arteriography was performed without occurrence of ventricular fibrillation, infarction, or any other morbidity or mortality in the 34, as well as in the entire group of 114 patients with LMCA disease. To ensure a safe procedure, left ventricular filling pressure was monitored constantly via a catheter in the pulmonary artery, and patients experiencing sharp Increases following coronary injections were promptly treated with nitroglycerine.Coronary artery bypass, with an average of 3.2 grafts per patient, was performed in 30 patients with a survival of 97% and only one death In a patient who underwent aortic valve replacement and triple bypass. Stenosis of the ostium of the LMCA is not an uncommon lesion in patients with CAOD and should be suspected in all patients whose symptoms are severe. Coronary angiography, performed with adequate precautions, as well as aortocoronary bypass, can be accomplished successfully.

This study was conducted to identify patients at high risk of the development of Pulmonary Embolism (PE) after open heart surgery, to evaluate pertinent diagnostic methods, and to assess the mortality associated with this complication. We evaluated the records of 2,551 consecutive patients who underwent open heart surgery over a 10-year period to identify those patients in whom PE developed. All surgical reports, ventilation/perfusion scans, pulmonary angiograms, and autopsies from the same period were also reviewed. Preoperative and postoperative risk factors for pulmonary embolism were also analyzed, as well as the outcome of this complication in each type of surgical procedure. Pulmonary embolism was identified in 69 (2.7%) patients after open heart surgery, in 43 (62.3%) of whom the diagnosis was established within the first week of surgery. Factors associated with high incidence for PE were hyperlipidemia, congestive heart failure and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (P < 0.001); obesity and prolonged mechanical ventilation (P < 0.005); and prior right heart catheterization by the femoral approach and prior PE and/or deep vein thrombosis (P < 0.05). The diagnosis of PE was established by a high-probability ventilation/perfusion scan in 25 patients, by pulmonary angiography in 42 (29 of whom had prior V/Q scan read as intermediate or low probability for PE) and by autopsy in two patients. The mortality rate in patients who had PE was 7.2%, while in those without this complication it was 3.2%. These findings suggest that aggressive approach for the diagnosis of PE by pulmonary angiography whenever the V/Q scan is not read as high probability is crucial in patients with recent open heart surgery; such approach may identify patients with PE at an early stage and may have an impact in reducing mortality incurred by this complication. This diagnostic assessment should be emphasized in the perioperative period, especially in patients with multiple significant and identifiable risk factors for PE.

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Cardiac rupture complicating acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains a serious diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. The authors present 27 consecutive patients who died from cardiac rupture following AMI. These included 22 patients from 1975 through 1983 (prethrombolytic era) and 5 patients from 1984 through 1992 (postthrombolytic era) and all had postmortem examination. There were 16 men and 11 women with a mean age of seventy-two years. Myocardial infarction was anterior/anterolateral in 10 and inferior/inferoposterior in 17. Cardiac rupture followed AMI within one day in 14 (52%), two to five days in 8 (30%), and six to fourteen days in 5 (18%). Chest pain followed by sudden hypotension leading to electromechanical dissociation was the common terminal event. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was unsuccessful in all patients. Postmortem findings showed three-vessel coronary disease in 21 (78%) and two-vessel disease in 6 (22%). Isolated free left ventricular wall rupture was found in 22 (81%), was anterior/anterolateral in 13 (48%), posterior in 9 (33%), and in conjunction with interventricular septum or papillary muscle in 5 (18%). Patients encountered in this series were mostly elderly hypertensives with multivessel coronary disease and postinfarction angina. Furthermore, cardiac rupture commonly occurred within the first five days of AMI and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was uniformly unsuccessful. During the thrombolytic era at their institution, this complication is now being seen much less often. These observations suggest that such interventions are expected to have a favorable impact on reducing the incidence of this catastrophic event.