It is sometimes difficult to identify the culprit lesion and treatment strategy in patients with acute coronary syndrome who have complex coronary lesions and jeopardized left internal mammary artery graft. This report describes a heart team approach for a non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction case with complex coronary vasculature. A 73-year-old man presented to the emergency department with crescendo angina. He had a history of total aortic arch replacement with concomitant coronary artery bypass graft using left internal mammary artery. Emergent coronary angiography demonstrated severe stenosis at left main trunk bifurcation caused by calcified nodule. While the bypass graft to left anterior descending coronary artery was patent, the proximal segment of left subclavian artery was occluded. Following the prompt discussion with our heart team, we performed percutaneous coronary intervention in the first step for treating the left main stenosis using rotational atherectomy into the unprotected left circumflex artery. After clinical recovery, stress myocardial scintigraphy identified the presence of anteroseptal ischemia, which indicated coronary subclavian steal syndrome due to left subclavian artery occlusion. Contrast-enhanced CT visualized that the occlusion originated from the anastomosis, suggesting the potential procedural risk of endovascular treatment by dilatation. Our heart team discussed again and decided to undergo axillo-axillary artery bypass surgery. He was discharged 8 days after the surgery without any sequelae. This is the rare case report of non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction who had similar condition to coronary subclavian steal syndrome after total aortic arch replacement. This case highlights the importance of a collaborative approach of the heart team to identify the best therapeutic strategy in a patient with complex coronary vasculature.

Purpose: Little is known about the outcomes of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) or non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) who undergo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in the current percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) era. Methods: We analyzed 25120 acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients hospitalized between January 2011 and December 2016. In-hospital outcomes were compared between patients who underwent CABG during hospitalization and those who did not undergo CABG in the STEMI group (n = 19428) and NSTEMI group (n = 5692). Results: Overall, CABG was performed in 2.3% of patients, while 90.0% of registered patients underwent primary PCI. In both the STEMI and NSTEMI groups, patients who underwent CABG were more likely to have heart failure, cardiogenic shock, diabetes, left main trunk lesion, and multivessel disease than those who did not undergo CABG. In multivariable analysis, CABG was associated with lower all-cause mortality in both the STEMI group (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.26–0.72) and NSTEMI group (adjusted OR = 0.34, 95% CI 0.14–0.84). Conclusion: AMI patients undergoing CABG were more likely to have high-risk characteristics than those who did not undergo CABG. However, after adjusting for baseline differences, CABG was associated with lower in-hospital mortality in both the STEMI and NSTEMI groups.

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Introduction: Rupture of an aortic aneurysm into the right atrium (RA) is extremely rare, while rupture into the thoracic cavity or pericardial sac is a common fatal complication. We describe a case of acute heart failure due to rupture of an aortic pseudoaneurysm with aorta-right atrial fistula. Case Summary: A 73-year-old man presented to the emergency department with dyspnea and abdominal distention. He had a history of ascending aortic replacement for type A aortic dissection 18 years ago. On arrival, physical examination revealed diminished breath sounds, leg edema but no cardiac murmurs. Investigations demonstrated abnormality of hepatic and kidney function, elevated BNP (490.9 pg/ml) in blood exam, and enlargement of ascending aortic aneurysm at the proximal anastomotic site with ascites/pleural effusion on computed tomography (CT), while left ventricular function was normal on transthoracic echocardiogram. We diagnosed acute heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and started to reduce fluid using diuretics. However, the response to diuretics was not good and the progression of lactic acidosis was observed regardless of using cardiotonic agent. Since it was becoming difficult to maintain systemic circulation, we performed further investigations before introducing mechanical support. The pulmonary artery catheterization revealed elevated RA pressure with wide pulse pressure (38/12 mmHg) and Oxygen step up in RA. An aortic root angiogram, contrast-enhanced CT and transesophageal echocardiogram showed a rupture of aortic pseudoaneurysm complicated with aorta-right atrial fistula (Figure). Although emergent surgery was performed, he unfortunately died the following day. Conclusions: This is a rare case of intracardiac perforation of aortic aneurysm diagnosed by various modalities. We should consider the possibility of developing shunt disease when we meet patients with rapidly progressive circulatory failure unresponsive to drugs.