1/174. Vanishing pulmonary hypertension in mixed connective tissue disease.A 29-year-old woman with mixed connective tissue disease presented with signs of progressive pulmonary hypertension. After admission to the hospital her condition worsened rapidly and she developed a cardiac arrest resistant to cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Therefore, emergency extracorporeal assist was performed. No pulmonary embolism was found. Right heart catheterisation showed severe pulmonary hypertension, which was treated with nitric oxide ventilation. She was weaned from the extracorporeal assist with high doses of inotropic agents. Because of suspicion of exacerbation of her underlying disease, which led to pulmonary hypertension, immunosuppressive treatment was started with high doses of corticosteroids and plasma exchange. This resulted in slow recovery over the next four weeks. Control echocardiography showed complete normalisation of cardiac function without signs of pulmonary hypertension. Two months after admission she was discharged from the hospital in good condition.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = disease (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/174. Neurally mediated syncope in 2 patients with extracardiac disease.We describe the cases of 2 patients with repetitive episodes of syncope with profound bradycardia and hypotension. In both patients, the symptoms were initially thought to be neurally mediated and idiopathic but were ultimately determined to be triggered by serious underlying pathologic processes: a massive and locally invasive tumor of the hypopharynx in 1 patient and a gangrenous gallbladder in the other. Appropriate treatment resulted in a resolution of this syndrome in both patients. These cases emphasize the importance of an appropriate evaluation and broad differential diagnoses for patients with severe bradycardia and hypotension.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.66666666666667keywords = disease (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/174. Cardiac syncope secondary to glossopharyngeal neuralgia--effectively treated with carbamazepine.A 64-year-old male with glossopharyngeal neuralgia, cardiac asystole and grand mal seizures has been relieved of his attacks by intake of 400 mg of carbamazepine per day over a 4-year period. Simultaneous EEG-EKG recordings before and after drinking water document the diagnosis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1760.3391603785keywords = glossopharyngeal neuralgia, glossopharyngeal, neuralgia (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/174. Preliminary experience with a percutaneous cardiopulmonary support system.Percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass has been introduced to support circulation in critical patients. In our preliminary experience we resuscitated two patients who sustained a prolonged cardiac arrest (52 min. and 31 min.) after coronary angiography and elective cardiac surgery, respectively. Cannulation was achieved percutaneously within 10 min. in both cases. Pump flow ranged from 2 to 31/m. Total support lasted from 52 min. to 180 min.. Both patients were successfully weaned. Patient 1 was declared brain dead and expired 17 days later. Patient 2 was discharged from the hospital and is doing well. Cannulation was attempted in a third patient after 30 min. of cardiac arrest. Despite surgical cut down of the femoral vessels, it was impossible to advance the arterial cannula because of bilateral occlusive disease. We conclude that PCPS is a powerful technique in selected patients to recover a stable cardiac function after prolonged cardiac arrest.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.16666666666667keywords = disease (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/174. The portable Doppler: practical applications in EMS care.The practical application of a new, commercially available, portable Doppler ultrasound device to the operation of a busy city-county emergency department and ambulance service was investigated. An initial evaluation using healthy volunteers confirmed accuracy and reproducibility of the Doppler blood pressure readings comparable to that of auscultatory and palpatory measurement. In selected patients, the Doppler readings correlated well with readings from patients who had intra-arterial lines. When used in several low flow states, such as testing adequacy of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and verification of electromechanical dissociation, the Doppler aided the clinical evaluation and treatment in many cases where traditional methods were useless. The Doppler was also helpful in the evaluation of local arterial injury but this unit was not found sensitive enough for venous disease. Finally, the Doppler enhanced the obtaining of vital signs in the noisy environment of our ambulances.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.16666666666667keywords = disease (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/174. Ventricular asystole during vagus nerve stimulation for epilepsy in humans.Electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve, a recently available option for patients with refractory epilepsy, has demonstrated safety and efficacy. We report four patients with refractory epilepsy who experienced ventricular asystole intraoperatively during initial testing for implantation of the vagus nerve stimulator. Acute intraoperative vagus nerve stimulation may create ventricular asystole in humans. Extracorporeal cervical vagus nerve stimulation testing with continuous EKG monitoring intraoperatively before generator implantation is warranted.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.28099948075632keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/174. myocardial infarction and death after caesarean section in a woman with protein s deficiency and undiagnosed phaeochromocytoma.We describe the case of a 36-year-old woman, with a previous history of recurrent abortion due to protein s deficiency, undergoing an elective Caesarean section at 39-weeks gestation. During pregnancy no signs of hypertension or cardiovascular disease were reported, but at the end of the surgical procedure, the patient developed acute hypertension, leading to myocardial infarction, severe heart failure and death. The autopsy revealed a 2-cm undiagnosed phaeochromocytoma in the right adrenal gland. Clinical diagnostic features of phaeochromocytoma during pregnancy as well as the main therapeutic approaches suggested in the literature are discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.16666666666667keywords = disease (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/174. Lyme carditis: complete AV dissociation with episodic asystole presenting as syncope in the emergency department.We report a case of Lyme carditis in an otherwise-healthy young male who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with syncope and a possible seizure. This patient, without documented history of lyme disease, acutely developed third-degree atrioventricular (AV) block with episodic asystole, which required placement of a transvenous pacemaker in the ED and resolved only after the patient had been placed on ceftriaxone. We discuss the significance of Lyme carditis and its increasing prevalence, and review the current literature. We also recommend appropriate screening modalities for patients with known lyme disease, or an atypical profile for cardiac abnormalities.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.33333333333333keywords = disease (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/174. Congenital long-QT syndrome: a case report illustrating diagnostic pitfalls.This article reviews the clinical course of a 10-year-old child with a lifelong history of seizures and congenital deafness who presented after an episode of sudden cardiac arrest secondary to long-QT syndrome-induced torsade de pointes. Jervell-Lange-Nielsen syndrome is a rare cardioauditory syndrome in which affected subjects are susceptible to recurrent syncope and sudden death from ventricular dysrhythmias, usually before the second decade of life. Careful evaluation of suspected subjects is important because of the variability of the QTc interval. Recent research has identified specific gene sequences that encode ion channels responsible for both prolonged QTc interval and deafness. Treatment of symptomatic cardiac disease with beta-blockers in combination with pacemakers and automated internal cardioverter defibrillators can markedly improve quality of life and suppress ventricular dysrhythmias even in the most severely affected subjects. The recent identification of gene sequences identifying some congenital long-QT syndromes may improve screening methods for affected patients and lead to potential therapeutic intervention.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.16666666666667keywords = disease (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/174. bradycardia and asystole with the use of vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of epilepsy: a rare complication of intraoperative device testing.PURPOSES: A 56-year-old man with mild mental retardation, right congenital hemiparesis, and refractory partial seizures was referred for vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). methods: Routine lead diagnostic testing during the surgical procedure (1.0 mA, 20 Hz, and 500 micros, for approximately 17 s) resulted, during the initial two stimulations, in a bradycardia of approximately 30 beats/min. A third attempt led to transient asystole that required atropine and brief cardiopulmonary resuscitation. RESULTS: The procedure was immediately terminated, the device removed, and the patient recovered completely. A postoperative cardiologic evaluation, including an ECG, 24-h Holter monitor, echocardiogram, and a tilt-table test, was normal. CONCLUSIONS: Possible mechanisms for the bradycardia/asystole include stimulation of cervical cardiac branches of the vagus nerve either by collateral current spread or directly by inadvertent placement of the electrodes on one of these branches; improper plugging of the electrodes into the pulse generator, resulting in erratic varying intensity of stimulation; reverse polarity; and idiosyncratic-type reaction in a hypersusceptible individual. The manufacturer reports the occurrence rate in approximately 3,500 implants for this intraoperative event to be approximately one in 875 cases or 0.1%.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.21074961056724keywords = nerve (Clic here for more details about this article) |
| | Next -> |