Background Despite its great relevance, there are no studies in our country evaluating the application of the 2012 guidelines for the appropriate use of cardiac diagnostic catheterization. Objective To analyze the adequacy of coronary angiography performed in two hospitals in the southern region of Brazil. Methods This is a multicenter cross-sectional study, which analyzed indications, results and proposals for the treatment of 737 coronary angiograms performed in a tertiary hospital with multiple specialties (Hospital A) and a tertiary cardiology hospital (Hospital B). Elective or emergency coronary angiographies were included, except for cases of acute myocardial infarction with ST segment elevation. The level of statistical significance adopted was 5% (p < 0.05). Results Of the 737 coronary angiograms, 63.9% were performed in male patients. The mean age was 61.6 years. The indication was acute coronary syndrome in 57.1%, and investigation of coronary artery disease in 42.9% of the cases. Regarding appropriation, 80.6% were classified as appropriate, 15.1% occasionally appropriate, and 4.3% rarely appropriate. The proposed treatment was clinical for 62.7%, percutaneous coronary intervention for 24.6%, and myocardial revascularization surgery for 12.7% of the cases. Of the coronary angiographies classified as rarely appropriate, 56.2% were related to non-performance of previous functional tests, and 21.9% showed severe coronary lesions. However, regardless of the outcome of coronary angiography, all patients in this group were indicated for clinical treatment. Conclusion We observed a low number of rarely appropriate coronary angiograms in our sample. The guideline recommendation in these cases was adequate, and no patient required revascularization treatment. Most of these cases are due to non-performance of functional tests.

In December 2019, in the city of Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, in China, the first cases of a new disease that would reach global proportions and become devastating in many aspects were identified. [1][2][3] The world has watched the spread of this disease caused by the new coronavirus (COVID-19) from Asia to Europe and then to the Americas in less than three months. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) 1 announced the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.In addition to its rapid transmission, even by presymptomatic and asymptomatic infected individuals, the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) has significantly higher mortality as compared with other coronaviruses associated with

Heart valve diseases account for a significant portion of hospitalizations due to cardiovascular diseases in Brazil. Prosthetic heart valves, which are often part of treatment, are susceptible to complications, such as paravalvular leak. Surgical intervention remains the treatment of choice for correcting this defect. However, transesophageal echocardiography-guided catheter correction has emerged as a less invasive alternative for paravalvular leak treatment in patients at high surgical risk. We report a case of extensive mitral paravalvular leak in a patient who had two previous cardiac surgeries and a high surgical risk, who underwent successful transcatheter closure with three prosthesis implantation by transapical access.

We present a case report in which a conventional intervention for the correction of atrial septal defect resulted in an exploratory videolaparoscopy and exeresis of an ovarian cyst. Atrial septal defect is one of the primary congenital cardiopathies diagnosed in adults; ovarian cysts present a high prevalence and are frequently asymptomatic. The possible relation between atrial septal defect and ovarian cyst is debated. The femoral venous puncture techniques, guided by anatomic landmarks and by ultrasonography, are analyzed from the perspective of current scientific evidence.

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