Introduction: Coronary Angiogram and Percutaneous Coronary Interventions are commonly performed via the femoral route. Then, transradial coronary catheterization became a popular & default technique due to less vascular access site complications and bleeding as compared to femoral route. Distal puncture of the radial artery through the anatomical snuff box access, however, has recently been shown potential benefit, like comfort to patients and operators, as well as maintenance of blood flow through the superficial palmar arch, in case of radial artery occlusion. Our aim was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of this new approach. Methods: A cross-sectional observational prospective study of patients underwent invasive diagnostic or therapeutic coronary procedures through the distal trans-radial access and traditional radial access. The primary endpoints were to access difficulties and in-hospital access-site related complications. Results: In 2 months, 190 patients underwent coronary procedures, of which 82 (43%) were selected in both distal transradial & traditional radial group. In 2 (2.4%) & 3 (3.6%) cases, distal radial & traditional radial access cannulation was unsuccessful respectively (p > 0.05). The mean age was 57.7 ± 10 & 57.2 ± 10 years in successful distal transradial & traditional radial cases respectively. There were no any major vascular complications in distal transradial group while there were 2 vascular complications in traditional radial group (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Distal transradial access is feasible and safe in selected cases, when performed by experienced operators. Larger case series and randomized trials are required to determine its efficacy in reducing vascular complications when comparing to the traditional technique.

Background and Aims: Coronary artery disease (CAD) constitute a major cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality worldwide with an enormous burden on healthcare resources. Prevalence and pattern of CAD in patients of rheumatic and non-rhemuatic valvular heart diseases varies widely with limited data on optimal strategies for diagnosis and treatment.Methods: This study includes 97 patients with rheumatic and non-rheumatic valvular heart disease who underwent coronary angiogram (CAG) before cardiac surgery. Patients were divided into two groups based on rheumatic heart disease (RHD) & non-rheumatic disease (Non-RHD) and correlate the patterns of CAD.Results: Out of 97 patients, 22 (22.6%) patients were found to have significant CAD. In patients with non-rheumatic origin CAD was common (15 patients, 68.1%) as compared to rheumatic origin (7 patients, 31. 8%). In rheumatic origin, the prevalence was 7(12.2%) out of 57 patients while in non-rheumatic origin, was 15(37.5%) out of 40 patients. In RHD group, all patients with CAD were found to have single vessel diease (SVD) while, in non-RHD group, 11 patients (73.3%) had SVD, 3 patients (16.7%) had double vessel disease (DVD) and one patient (5.6%) had triple vessel disease (TVD).Conclusions: Prevalence of CAD is higher in patients with non-RHD in comparison to those with RHD. We also found SVD to be the most common pattern of CAD in both rheumatic and non-rheumatic valvular heart disease.

Introduction: Valvular heart disease continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality around the world, with rheumatic heart disease accounting for the bulk of cases in developing nations. The aim of this study is to find out the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease among patients with valvular heart disease admitted to the in-patient department of a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from December, 2018 to December, 2020 at a tertiary care centre after receiving ethical approval from the Institutional Review [Reference number: 395 (6-11) e2 077/078]. Patients of age ≥18 years presenting with valvular manifestations of any disease diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography were included and patients other than Nepalese nationals were excluded. Convenience sampling was done and a sample size of 327 was taken. Data were collected, entered and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22.0. Point estimate at a 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and percentages for binary data. Results: Among 327 patients, the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease was found to be 237 (72.47%) (67.63-77.31 at 95% Confidence Interval). Conclusions: The prevalence of rheumatic heart disease was similar to the other similar studies conducted in similar settings.

Introduction Temporary transvenous pacemaker insertion is an emergency lifesaving procedure for patients with hemodynamically unstable and life-threatening bradyarrythmias. The aim of this study was to analyze demographics, indications, route of insertion and complications in patients undergoing temporary transvenous pacemaker implantation. MethodsThis was a retrospective observational study conducted at a tertiary-care center in Nepal. The hospital records of patients who had undergone temporary transvenous pacemaker implantation between July 2015 and June 2019 were reviewed. ResultsA total of 343 patients with mean age of 65.52±16.09 years received temporary transvenous pacing. Out of these 205 (59.8%) were males. Greater proportion of patients were between the age group of 70-80 years (n=76, 22.2%). Hypertension (n=97, 28.3%) was the most common comorbidity noted. The most common indication for temporary pacing was symptomatic complete heart block 165 (59.6%). Total of 288 (84%) patients received permanent pacemakers while 55(16%) had reversible cause so TPI was removed. Right Femoral vein was the most common (99%) venous access site. Among the 343 patients, complications were observed in 29 (8.4%) of cases during and after the temporary transvenous pacemaker insertion. The overall mortality stood low at 2% (n=7). ConclusionTemporary transvenous pacemaker insertion is required in elderly population presenting with bradyarrythmias and occasionally in acute myocardial infarction presenting with bradyarrythmias as complication. Temporary pacemaker insertion was overall a safe procedure with infrequent serious complications; however, strategies to avoid and alleviate such complications (RV perforation) should be sought and implemented.

Background. Patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) present with various clinical presentations with majority of them developing pulmonary complications. This study focuses on cardiac implications of COVID-19 which are less discussed and thus will help to address cardiac implications of COVID-19. Methods. PubMed, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar were screened for articles which mentioned cardiac implications of COVID-19. NHLBI Study Quality Assessment Tools for the observational cohort and cross-sectional studies was used for assessing the risk of bias of our studies. Results. All 14 studies selected were good and had score of ≥9 by NHLBI Study Quality Assessment Tools. Cardiac complications of COVID-19 are common. They are associated with significant mortality. Also, people infected with COVID-19 with premorbid conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus have poor prognosis as compared to those without premorbid conditions. Cardiac biomarkers such as highly sensitive troponin I, creatinine, and creatinine kinase-MB on admission are good prognostic markers. Conclusions. Cardiac complications such as heart failure, myocardial injury, and arrhythmias are common among patients infected with COVID-19. Elevated cardiac markers and patients with cardiac complications require utmost care and continuous cardiac monitoring.