1/12. Cardiac arrest during exercise: anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary trunk.Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary trunk is associated with high mortality in infancy but in rare cases the condition is diagnosed in adults. The present report describes three adult cases of this anomaly. Two of the patients (age 18 and 34 years) were resuscitated from cardiac arrest, which had occurred in relation to physical exercise. The third patient (20 years) had presented with angina pectoris and signs of ischaemia on exercise ECG. In all patients, coronary arteriography revealed a large right coronary artery with collateral filling of the left coronary artery, which originated from the pulmonary trunk. A successful surgical correction of the anomalous coronary artery was performed in two of the patients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/12. An unusual case of ST elevation in a 39-year-old man.A 39-year-old man presented to a university hospital emergency department with anginal chest pain, ventricular tachycardia and ST elevation in the anterolateral leads (V3 to V6, I and aVL). Due to discrepancies in the history and physical examination, thrombolysis was withheld until a past electrocardiogram could be obtained, which was unchanged. Subsequent investigations revealed no evidence of myocardial necrosis, and the patient was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This is the first reported case of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with ST elevation as the predominant electrocardiographic abnormality. In patients with discrepancies in the clinical presentation, it is essential to obtain past elecrocardiograms to ensure appropriate utility of thrombolysis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/12. Periods of cluster headache induced by nitrate therapy and spontaneous remission of angina pectoris during active clusters.Glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) is known to induce single extra attacks of cluster headache (CH) during active cluster periods, most probably via actions of nitric oxide (NO). Induction of whole periods of CH by organic nitrates has, however, attracted little attention in the literature. We report on eight patients with episodic CH and coexistent effort-induced angina pectoris. Cases 1-6 had been free of their headaches for many years but got recurrence of CH within a few weeks after the administration of long-acting organic nitrates (isosorbide-dinitrate, isosorbide-5-mononitrate or slow-release GTN) aimed at treating their chest pains. These nitrate-induced headache periods were more severe and had a longer duration than the previous spontaneous ones. Furthermore, one of the subjects and two additional cases experienced a marked reduction of their anginal attacks during successive CH periods. Exercise time to effort-induced angina was increased in all three patients and one of them revealed a markedly elevated threshold for eliciting ischaemic cardiac symptoms by standardized physical exercise on a cycle ergometer. We hypothesize whether extra CH periods elicited by sustained nitrate therapy and remission of angina pectoris during active clusters are caused by central mechanisms involving inhibition of sympathetic tone and effects on both cranial vessels and cardiac functions.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/12. Fistulous connection between internal mammary graft and pulmonary vasculature after coronary artery bypass grafting: a rare cause of continuous murmur.A 58-year-old male who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) using left internal mammary artery and a sequential saphenous vein graft 2 years ago presented with new onset angina. His initial physical examination revealed an unexpected continuous murmur over the left sternal border, and two-dimensional echocardiography has failed to identy the cause. cardiac catheterization then performed and revealed patent left internal mammary artery and saphenous vein grafts. Besides, selective injection of the left internal mammary artery graft also showed a fistula formation between left internal mammary artery graft and pulmonary vasculature of the left upper lobe. He was managed conservatively because of the severely diseased left anterior descending artery distal to internal mammary artery anastomosis and low pulmonary artery pressure. The development of fistulous connection between internal mammary artery and pulmonary vasculature is an extremely rare complication following CABG. patients with such fistulae usually present with chest pain due to coronary steal syndrome. A new heart sound, especially a continuous murmur, may be detected during physical examination. Surgical correction is indicated in the event of refractory angina, growing fistula causing heart failure or endarteritis. Otherwise, a conservative approach with instruction of the patient for prophylactic precautions of subacute bacterial endocarditis may be recommended for asymptomatic patients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/12. myocardial bridging causing transmural ischemia. Successful coronary artery bypass surgery.myocardial bridging is a common and usually benign inborn coronary anomaly. We report on a 51-year-old man who presented with recent angina on minimum physical effort. cineangiography showed myocardial bridging of the mid-left anterior descending artery (LAD), and intracoronary ultrasonography excluded atherosclerotic disease. Gated single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), with exercise stress, showed an extensive anterior perfusion defect, and remarkable ST-segment elevation (up to 10 mm) in recovery. Vasospasm of the LAD was the main hypothesis. Additional oral drugs did not bring about improvement, as indicated on a new SPECT; disabling angina persisted. Surgical revascularization of the LAD by left internal mammary artery graft was performed. Two years later, SPECT and exercise tests returned to normal. The patient remains asymptomatic.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/12. Sustained-release diltiazem in patients with effort angina and severe coronary artery sclerosis.Two case histories are presented. Patient 1 was an agricultural worker, aged 63 years, whose attacks of chest pain, diagnosed as effort angina, were relieved by sublingual nitroglycerin. An exercise test revealed ST segment depression of 2 mV in lead V5 of the electrocardiogram. Coronary arteriography disclosed 99% stenosis with delay in segments 7 and 14, 90% stenosis in segment 10, and 25% stenosis in segment 1. Treatment with 100 mg of sustained-release diltiazem relieved some of the symptoms; when the dose was increased to 200 mg daily, no further chest pains were experienced. Patient 2 was a restaurant owner, aged 61 years, who reported attacks of chest pain during physical work. An exercise test revealed ST segment depression of 2 mV in lead aVF; coronary arteriography showed 99% stenosis in segment 7, 75% stenosis in segment 9, and 50% stenosis in segment 10. No attacks of chest pain were experienced after treatment with 200 mg of sustained-release diltiazem daily. blood pressure, heart rate, and the rate-pressure product fell in both patients after diltiazem treatment.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/12. Unstable angina, myocardial infarction and sudden death after an exercise stress test.We performed coronary angiography within 95 minutes of the onset of symptoms in seven patients with an acute coronary event after an exercise stress test. The test was normal in six patients. Previous angiography in four patients revealed no evident or moderate obstructive coronary arterial disease. After the test, unstable angina developed in two patients, acute myocardial infarction in four and ventricular fibrillation in one, who was successfully resuscitated. At acute angiography the coronary artery involved was occluded in four and sub-totally obstructed in three. In three cases, coronary occlusion was due to thrombosis, vasospasm, or both. In six vessels there was an eccentric lesion, which is consistent with a ruptured plaque. These findings show that physical exercise can unexpectedly provoke an acute coronary event with sub-total or total occlusion of a previous angiographically normal or moderately obstructed coronary artery. The mechanism is probably related to exercise-induced plaque rupture which can produce coronary (sub)occlusion by coronary thrombosis, spasm, or both.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/12. Termination of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia by digital rectal massage.A 71-year-old woman with an episode of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) complicated by angina pectoris and hypotension had her arrhythmia abruptly terminated by digital rectal massage (DRM) after other vagotonic maneuvers had failed. DRM termination of PSVT has not been heretofore reported. In treating PSVT by physical vagotonic maneuvers, DRM may be preferable to other techniques because of the decreased likelihood of complications noted with other such maneuvers.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/12. Generalized coronary arterio-systemic (left ventricular) fistula. Case report and review of literature.A coronary artery-to-left ventricular fistula is a rare finding; to the best of our knowledge, a total of only 35 cases have been reported. Only 5 cases of a generalized arterio-systemic fistula with three vessel involvement have been reported in the literature. We describe another case involving all major coronary arteries. A review of the literature is presented and the data of the reported cases are analyzed. A 55 year old woman was examined because of recurrent chest pain which had persisted for 2 years. On physical examination, the only abnormal finding was a fourth heart sound. Exertional chest pain, a positive exercise stress test, and the results of a lactate extraction study suggested severe myocardial ischemia. thallium myocardial scintigraphy showed no evidence of a perfusion defect. cardiac catheterization revealed an irregular left ventricular endocardial pattern (Thebesian veins). Selective coronary angiography showed communicating fistulae of all three major coronary arteries with the left ventricular cavity. We assume that this vascular anomaly causes a coronary steal phenomenon and subsequent myocardial ischemia.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/12. Variable threshold of angina during exercise: a clinical manifestation of some patients with vasospastic angina.Two patients complained of chest pain while at rest and during physical activities. However there seemed to be no direct relation between exertional angina and an increasing level of work performed, indicating that these patients had a variable threshold of angina during exercise. In one patient spontaneous chest pain was associated with transient S-T segment changes in precordial leads, and during coronary arteriography the administration of ergonovine induced spasm of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The other patient showed S-T segment elevation in inferior leads during an ergonovine-induced anginal attack and coronary arteriography revealed a spontaneous spasm of the right coronary artery. In both patients repeated exercise tests yielded different results, because the chest pain and S-T segment depression occurred at different work loads with large differences in heart rate-systolic blood pressure product. It is concluded that a variable threshold of angina during exercise is a clinical manifestation in some patients with vasospastic angina and is probably due to the difference in coronary arterial tone at the onset of exercise.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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