Radiofrequency catheter ablation of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome: report of 83 cases from Siriraj Hospital.

We described the characteristics of patients and accessory pathway and showed our results of Radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA). There were 41 males and 42 females at a mean age of 36 years. Accessory pathway associated with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome in our population was more prevalent on the right side which is different from previous reports. Most commonly associated heart disease was Ebstein's anomaly. Overall success rate was 96.4 per cent. Right free wall accessory pathway needed a longer procedure time and fluoroscopy time, higher radiofrequency power and more radiofrequency applications compared to other locations. Although the recurrence rate was 12 per cent, all patients with recurrence were successfully reablated. We also described the comparison of our result with previous studies. To our knowledge this is the first report in Thailand with a reasonable number of cases. RFCA is a very effective treatment of WPW syndrome in the Thai population and should be considered in symptomatic patients especially those who are refractory to medication.

Study of plasma hormones and lipids in healthy elderly Thais compared to patients with chronic diseases: diabetes mellitus, essential hypertension and coronary heart disease.

Simultaneous measurements of serum estradiol, testosterone, cortisol, prolactin, total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) and triglycerides in Thai men and postmenopausal women aged over 50 years were carried out in four groups of subjects: healthy controls, and patients with essential hypertension, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), and coronary heart disease. Hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia were found more often in patients with essential hypertension than in patients with other diseases. Low levels of HDLC with high TC/HDLC and LDLC/HDLC ratios occurred more frequently in coronary heart disease patients. Hypertensive men had the highest plasma estradiol levels while men with coronary heart disease had the least testosterone levels compared with men with the other two diseases. Decreased testosterone and/or increased estradiol may have an adverse effect on lipid profiles in elderly men. However, neither the sex hormones, cortisol, nor prolactin, appeared to have any influence on serum lipids and lipoproteins in elderly women. These findings in the Thai population are consistent with those previously reported in other populations.

Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction due to a left ventricular myxoma: a case report and review of the literature.

A 17-year-old-man who presented with syncope, had a left ventricular (LV) myxoma causing left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. The tumor was removed through left ventriculotomy using conventional cardiopulmonary bypass with good result. There have been 47 cases of LV myxoma reported in the world literature since 1957. Most of them are symptomatic (92.7%). Systemic embolism is the most common manifestation (50%) and often leads to death. The surgical removal should be performed urgently. Resection of the mass with limited normal tissue surrounding its pedicle is recommended. There are only three recurrences and five operative deaths.

Perforation of interventricular septum in acute myocardial infarction.

Eight cases of ruptured interventricular septum associated with myocardial infarction were diagnosed at Siriraj Hospital between 1985-1995. Clinical congestive heart failure and holosystolic murmur were found in all. Diagnosis was confirmed by echocardiogram and right heart catheterization in all patients. Two patients died from congestive heart failure preoperatively and the third case died from organ failure and sepsis postoperatively. Another five cases underwent successful ventricular septal defect closure and coronary artery bypass with good results.

Congenital coronary artery fistula: a report of 24 patients.

Clinical, hemodynamic and angiographic findings of 24 adolescent or adult patients with coronary artery fistula were retrospectively analyzed. There were 7 males and 17 females with the average age of 41.4 years. Nineteen of 24 patients (79.2%) were symptomatic and 18 were older than 20 years of age. Continuous murmur was present in 17 patients, "to and fro' murmur was audible in 2, apical systolic murmur was audible in 1. The remaining 4 patients had no audible murmur. Location of murmur in all patients was unusual for patent ductus arteriosus. Cardiomegaly on chest X-ray was found in 17 patients (70.8%) in whom 8 had prominent pulmonary artery. Electrocardiographic abnormalities were detected in 10 of 24 patients (41.6%) i.e. left ventricular hypertrophy (4 patients) biventricular hypertrophy (2 patients), incomplete right bundle branch block (2 patients), and ischemic changes (2 patients). The intracardiac pressures were slightly elevated and the mean Qp/Qs ratio was only 1.4 +/- 1.2. Angiographically, 28 fistulas were demonstrated in 24 patients. The origins of fistula were from right coronary artery in 12 patients (50%), left coronary artery in 8 patients (33.3%) and both coronary arteries in 4 patients (16.7%). Fistulas drained into the right atrium in 5 patients (20.8%), into coronary sinus in 2 patients (8.3%), into right ventricle in 4 patients (16.7%), into pulmonary arteries in 10 patients (41.7%) and into left ventricle in 3 patients (12.5%).

Relationship between exercise capacity and left ventricular function in aortic and mitral regurgitation.

The exercise capacity as assessed by treadmill exercise or functional class from clinical history cannot predict standard echocardiographic findings in patients with AR/MR, in terms of EF, LVDs, ESVI. Therefore, exercise capacity cannot be used to predict the timing for surgery in those patients. However, symptomatic patients with dilated LV usually have low LVEF such as in our group.

Prevalence of myocarditis in idiopathic dysrhythmias: role of endomyocardial biopsy and efficacy of steroid therapy.

In order to study the prevalence of myocarditis, EMB was carried out prospectively in 53 consecutive patients with various idiopathic dysrhythmias and efficacy of steroid therapy was evaluated. The patients consisted of 24 males and 29 females with ages ranging between 12 to 80 yrs. Histologic studies revealed myocarditis in 36 per cent. Steroid therapy resulted in good response in 14 of 18 patients (77.8%) with biopsy-proven myocarditis and in 5 of 17 patients (29.4%) with biopsy-negative but with clinically suspected myocarditis. The remaining patients did not have good response to steroid and there was 1 sudden death in each group.

Hemodynamic effects of a beta adrenergic blocking agent-atenolol in patients with severe mitral stenosis.

The hemodynamic effects of atenolol, a cardioselective adrenergic blocking drug, were studied in 10 patients with clinically severe mitral stenosis during cardiac catheterization to evaluate the severity of disease before cardiac surgery. At 5 minutes after intravenous injection of 0.1 mg/kg of atenolol, there were significant reductions of heart rate, cardiac index, pulmonary pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and mitral valve gradient. The right and left ventricular filling pressures were increased slightly. The pulmonary and systemic vascular resistance did not change after atenolol. The PR interval although prolonged significantly was still within normal range. No serious side effects occurred during the post-catheterization 24 hour observation period except for one patient who developed slow ventricular rate (48/min) during the study. The hemodynamic effects of atenolol observed in this study appear to benefit the patients with mitral stenosis by reduction of pulmonary pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and mitral valve gradient. These hemodynamic changes may, therefore, lead to improvement of pulmonary congestive symptoms.

Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiographic diagnosis of cor triatriatum: operation without catheterization in an adult patient.

Cor triatriatum presenting in adulthood is extremely rare. An 18-year-old female patient presented with a clinical picture masquerading mitral valvular heart disease. Both transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography demonstrated a membrane in the left atrium with no other cardiac anomaly. The patient was successfully operated on without the need for catheterization.

Endomyocardial biopsy: its diagnostic usefulness.

In order to assess the diagnostic usefulness of EMB in patients with clinically suspected myocardial diseases, with and without heart failure or dysrhythmias, a prospective study was carried out in 84 consecutive patients. With EMB, the histological diagnosis was considered specific in 33 patients (39.3%), confirmative in 12 patients (14.3%) and negative in 39 patients (46.4%). It was found particularly useful in patients with unexplained heart failure and idiopathic dysrhythmias and in the differentiation between restrictive cardiomyopathy and constrictive pericarditis. The procedure can be safely performed with minimal morbidity and there was no mortality in the present study.

Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy associated with spontaneous complete heart block.

Spontaneous complete A-V block is very rare in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We report here two siblings with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who developed spontaneous complete A-V block with deterioration of cardiac symptoms, necessitating implantation of permanent pacemaker.