This review examined the relevance of chest pain, pericardial friction rub, pericardial effusion and ECG changes in regard to the diagnosis of acute pericarditis. It also assessed the evidence for the management and therapeutic guidelines, specifically nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), colchicine and corticosteroids. Overall, there appears to be a lack of research into pericarditis. The bulk of high-quality research seems to have been carried out prior to the publication of the European Society of Cardiology guidelines of 2015. Diagnostically, the current combination of symptoms, clinical signs and investigations offer reasonable criteria for diagnosis, but they are not a gold standard. Research into its therapeutic treatment options is required to address the effects of specific nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

PurposeIn this study, we sought to prospectively analyse the management and long term outcomes associated with revascularisation of left main stem disease via percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in our centre.MethodsThis prospective study enrolled all patients with unprotected left main stem disease undergoing revascularisation from January 2013 to June 2014. Baseline characteristics, hospital presentation and hospital stay length were collected. Patients were followed up at 1, 2 and 3 years. Primary outcomes of Major Adverse Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Events (MACCE) were defined as death, Q wave myocardial infarction, stroke, repeat revascularisation and readmission within 30 days.Results56 patients with significant left main stem coronary artery disease were identified from the clinical registry. 27 patients underwent PCI (median age 67.7) and 29 CABG (median age 68.6). PCI patients had a higher surgical risk as measured by mean euroSCORE (4.95±5.8 vs 3.11±3.85). At 3 years, total MACCE occurred in 29.6% of the PCI cohort and 27.5% of the CABG cohort. Death occurred in three patients in the PCI group within the first 6 months. Death occurred in one patient in the CABG group over 2 years postprocedure. Two patients in the CABG cohort presented with Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIAs) at 2-year follow-up. At 3 years, revascularisation occurred in three patients in the PCI cohort. There were no revascularisation events in the CABG cohort.ConclusionsPCI with modern drug eluting stents is a reasonable treatment option for unprotected left main stem disease in a non surgical centre.

GL and ABT successfully aided stent delivery in unfavorable and heavily calcified lesions which otherwise may have been considered unsuitable for PCI.

DesCripTionA 73-year-old man presented to our cardiology service with intense central chest pain as an ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) call. His ECG showed inferior ST-segment elevation with reciprocal anterior ST-segment depression. We proceeded directly to coronary angiography which showed an ectatic aneurysmal right coronary artery (RCA) with heavy thrombotic burden (figure 1) but trombolysis in myocardial infarction 3 flow.At this point during the procedure, the patient was pain free, and his ST-segment elevation had resolved. As such, we elected to manage him acutely with intravenous unfractionated heparin. Abciximab was considered but given the patient's age, abnormal renal function, normalised ST segments and absence of pain, we elected not to use this therapy acutely. Atrial fibrillation was searched for in the patient's medical history but was not identified.This case details spontaneous thrombosis in an ectatic RCA presenting as an acute STEMI. Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is a relatively rare disorder defined as dilatation of a segment of coronary artery with a diameter 1.5 times or greater than that of the adjacent normal coronary artery.

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