Hidatidosis cardíaca con embolismo aórtico / Cardiac echinococcosis with aortic embolism

La hidatidosis cardíaca con embolismo aórtico es una entidad extremadamente infrecuente. Se produce por una rotura o un desprendimiento total o parcial de un quiste hidatídico cardíaco. Presentamos el caso de un niño de 11 años de edad con manifestaciones de isquemia de miembros inferiores de inicio súbito y antecedentes de disnea y dolor torácico. Se describe la utilidad de la angiotomografía computada multidetector en la evaluación de este tipo de afecciones.

Cardiac echinococcosis with aortic embolism is an extremely rare entity. It is caused by the rupture or detachment of fragments of the cardiac cyst. We report the case of an 11 year-old boy with sudden onset of lower limb ischemia and a previous history of dyspnea and chest pain. We describe the usefulness of multislice computed tomography in the evaluation of this disease.

Fatal Aortic Tumor Embolism Presenting as Acute Paraplegia

We report a case of fatal aortic tumor embolism presenting as acute paraplegia. A four-year-old girl was referred from a local hospital with sudden paraplegia and a poor medical condition. A neighbor had noticed her fall from a bike, and she could not walk. She had no previous illness. Emergency spine MRI revealed no remarkable findings. During the process of evaluation, her general condition deteriorated progressively. Chest and abdominal CT showed a large mass in the left lung field, and a diagnosis of aortic occlusion was made. An emergency transfemoral embolectomy was attempted. However, the patency of the aorta was not recovered. On pathological examination of tissues taken from the embolectomy, a pleuro-pulmonary blastoma was found. The patient died 22 hours after the onset of her symptoms. We describe a possible mechanism for the tumor embolism. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of aortic occlusion caused by an embolic malignancy, presenting as acute paraplegia.

A Case of an Aortic Embolism and Systemic Embolism in Infective Endocarditis

In spite of advanced diagnostic teclmology and better antimicrpbial therapy, infective endocarditis is relatively common, life-threatening infection. Heart failure and systemic embolism are the common and serious complications associated with the infective endocarditis. Because embolic event caR result in irreversible organ dysfunction or death, prevention is a desirable goal. Identification of pltients who are in the high risk of embolism and who can be helped by early surgical intervenCion is very important. Echocardiography has been generally accepted as the technique of choice for noninvasive diagnosis of infective endocarditis because of its potential for direct visualization of endocarditis-induced lesions. We experienced a case of an aortic embolism and systemic embolism in infective endocarditis in 21 year old male patient. He adrnitted for abdominal pain and dark colored urine for 30 days. Diagnosis of infective endocarditiis was made by clinical manifestation and echocardiography. Abdominal CT showing a low density areas in the spleen and the right kidney suggestive of a splenic infarction and a renal infarction. Aortography revealed dilatation of the bifurcation site of the aorta into common iliac artery and nonvisualization of left common iliac artery. Aortoiliac bypass surgery and splenectomy were done. After antibiotics and anticoagulation therapy, the patient was discharged relatively good condition.