Background:This was a retrospective study conducted at a rural referral center in East Java, Indonesia, to evaluate the association between the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) on hospital admission and the incidence of new symptomatic heart failure (HF) within 6 months in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
Material/Methods:The study population consisted of all ACS patients who were hospitalized between 1 January and 31 December 2018 at a non-percutaneous coronary intervention-capable secondary referral hospital and came for a routine follow-up until 6 months afterwards. The diagnosis of new symptomatic HF was based on International Classification of Diseases 10 th revision code I50.9.
Results:From 126 hospitalized patients, 92 patients were included in the analysis. The incidence rate of new symptomatic HF at 6 months was 70.65%. High PLR upon initial admission was significantly associated with new symptomatic HF incidence (odds ratio=1.70, P<0.001). PLR was also able to discriminate new symptomatic HF incidence at 6 months with area under the curve of 0.83 (P=0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that PLR was an independent predictor for new symptomatic HF incidence (hazard ratio=4.5, P=0.001).
Conclusions:In a rural center in Indonesia, the PLR was independently correlated with the onset of new symptomatic HF in patients with ACS 6 months after hospital admission. The PLR may be a supplementary biomarker for clinical outcomes in patients with ACS for use in resource-limited regions.
ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is one of the medical emergencies in cardiology with high morbidity and mortality rate which requires rapid response. In elderly patients, its presenting symptoms may be atypical which may cause the diagnosis of MI to be delayed or missed. Therefore, ST-segment elevation on ECG has become the main instrument for initial diagnosis. However, there are a variety of conditions mimicking the ECG changes of STEMI. We report a case of 70-year-old patient with acute peritonitis and pneumoperitoneum secondary to gastric perforation with dynamic ECG changes mimicking anteroseptal STEMI. After the surgery, the ECG dynamically reverted to normal. He was then discharged after 4 days without any remaining symptoms. Misinterpretation of ECG findings may lead to unnecessary aggressive intervention, costly management strategies and delay in appropriate treatment.
Rare disease Background: Pulmonary artery aneurysm (PAA) is a rare disease in cardiovascular system. This disease is difficult to diagnose and less often considered due to its non-specific clinical manifestations. Until now there are no clear guidelines about its optimal management because of the small number of reported cases. Case Report: We report a 56-year-old male with chief complain of atypical bilateral chest pain and shortness of breath. Initial electrocardiogram (ECG) and laboratory evaluation showed no sign of ischemic heart disease. After the patient was stabilized, he was evaluated using chest x-ray, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), and multi slice computed tomography (MSCT). The patient was then diagnosed with PAA secondary to suspicion of pulmonary hypertension (PH) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure. Conservative treatment was chosen because of the limited resources for surgery and patient's refusal to be referred. The treatment aims to lower the pulmonary artery pressure while monitoring the aneurysm. His 6-month follow-up evaluation showed an improvement in pulmonary artery pressure and persistent of the PAA without any increasement of the diameter. Conclusions: PAA is a rare disease that is difficult to diagnose because of its non-specific nature. Persistent atypical chest pain can be an early symptom of PAA, thus clinicans should be aware in a high-risk patient suffered persistent chest pain, despite normal ECG and laboratory findings. TTE and MSCT evaluation are reliable for diagnosing PH and PAA. With conservative treatment and routine follow-up, patient with PAA secondary to PH could be managed well.
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