Association between Mean Platelet Volume-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and the Presence of Apical Mural Thrombus in Post-Myocardial Infarction Patients

Abstract Background Left ventricular apical thrombus (AT) is generally associated with ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathies. The thrombo-inflammatory process plays an important role in the pathophysiology of acute coronary syndromes and post-myocardial thromboembolic complications. Mean platelet volume (MPV) has been linked to poor prognosis following myocardial infarction. Recently, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) has emerged as a new marker of worse outcomes linking inflammation and thrombosis. Objective We aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of the marker - mean platelet volume to lymphocyte ratio (MPVLR) in patients with AT. Methods Fifty-six patients with left ventricular AT after an anterior myocardial infarction and 51 patients without left ventricular AT after an anterior myocardial infarction were enrolled in this study retrospectively. Admission MPVLR was compared between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify whether MPVLR is an independent predictor of AT. The receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was used to show the optimal cut-off for MPVLR to predict AT. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results Age, gender, frequency of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and atrial fibrillation, and ejection fraction values did not differ between the groups. MPVLR was higher in patients with AT than patients without AT (7.91±2.5 vs 5.1±2.1, p<0.001). ROC analysis revealed moderate diagnostic value in predicting the presence of AT with a MPVLR cut-off > 4.75 (82.1% sensivity and 70.2% specifity (area under the curve=0.811, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.731-0.891, p<0.001). MPVLR was found to be an independent risk factor for the formation of AT (B:0.441, p.0.001). Conclusion MPVLR is a simple, cheap and easily accessible test that can predict left ventricular AT formation. (Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2020; [online].ahead print, PP.0-0)

Right Atrial Paraganglioma: An Extremely Rare Primary Cardiac Neoplasm Mimicking Myxoma

In this report, we present a case of 35-year-old lady who had presented with atypical chest pain and exertional breathlessness for past six months. Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiograms showed a well-circumscribed, echo-dense mass in the right atrium, attached to the interatrial septum at the level of atrioventricular junction and in the vicinity of coronary sinus ostium. She underwent successful resection of the cardiac mass. Histopathology revealed paraganglioma, which was reconfirmed by immunohistochemistry study. This represents an extremely rare presentation as primary cardiac tumors are 20-times less common than metastatic tumors and paraganglioma is one of the rarest primary cardiac tumors, accounting for < 1% of all cases.

Unexpected Pathologic Diagnosis of the Mitral Valvular Mass

A 59-year-old man with multifocal cerebral infarction was found to have the large obstructive mitral valvular mass. Although benign tumor was under suspicion before surgery, he was finally diagnosed as chronic infective endocarditis by microscopic evaluation. The precise diagnosis and the proper management of a cardiac mass are very important since even the benign tumor may cause fatal complications. However, primary cardiac mass has the broad spectrum from pseudo-tumor to malignancy and the differential diagnosis using non-invasive methods is not easy even with the currently available imaging techniques.

Unusual Diaphragmatic Hernias Mimicking Cardiac Masses

Hiatal hernia and Morgagni hernia are sorts of diaphragmatic hernias that are rarely detected on transthoracic echocardiography. Although echocardiographic findings have an important role for differential diagnosis of cardiac masses, we often might overlook diaphragmatic hernia. We report three cases of diaphragmatic hernias having specific features. The first case is huge hiatal hernia that encroaches left atrium with internal swirling flow on transthoracic echocardiography. The second case is a hiatal hernia that encroaches on both atria, incidentally detected on preoperative echocardiography. The third case is Morgagni hernia which encroaches on the right atrium only. So, we need to consider possibility of diaphragmatic hernia when we find a cardiac mass with specific echocardiographic features.

Masa en aurícula derecha / Mass in right atrium

Se presenta el caso clínico de un anciano de 83 años de edad, ingresado en el Hospital Clinicoquirúrgico Docente "Dr. Joaquín Castillo Duany" de Santiago de Cuba por presentar enfermedad cerebrovascular, además de fibrilación auricular, de manera que se sospechó una fuente embolígena cardiovascular. En el ecocardiograma realizado se observó una imagen de tipo T en la aurícula derecha que no explicaba el cuadro clínico del paciente, pero llamó la atención que esta desapareció después del tratamiento, lo cual motivó a la descripción del siguiente caso clínico para ser publicado.

The case of a 83-year-old man is reported, who was admitted to "Dr. Joaquín Castillo Duany" Teaching Clinical Surgical Hospital in Santiago de Cuba due to cerebrovascular disease and atrial fibrillation, so that an embolic cardiovascular source was suspected. The echocardiogram showed a T-type image in the right atrium that did not explain the patient's clinical pattern, but it was noticed that it disappeared after treatment, which led to the description of this case for publication.

Fetal cardiac rhabdomyoma without Tuberous Sclerosis: A case report.

We report a 34 year old pregnant women in the fetus of whom a 6×7 mm of homogenious, hyperechoic mass lesion that was supposed to be a rhabdomyoma was observed in the left ventricle at the site of interventricular septum at the 24th gestational week. No extracardiac abnormality was detected at either fetal MRI or postnatal investigations of the urinary system and eye, therefore, tuberous sclerosis was not suspected. Cardiac functions and rhythm was normal and the lesion decreased in size within 3 months after birth.

Anormalidades metabólicas en la deficiencia de la hormona de crecimiento / Metabolic Abnormalities in growth hormone deficiency

Increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality has been reported in adult subjects with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). Long term follow up of a large cohort of patients with adult onset GHD, suggests that GH therapy may contribute to a reduced risk of nonfatal stroke, particularly in women and in a decline in nonfatal cardiac events in GHD men(1,2). Adult hypopituitary patients with untreated growth hormone deficiency have been shown to have a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors such as increased visceral adiposity, disturbances in lipoprotein metabolism, premature atherosclerosis, impaired fibrinolytic activity, increased peripheral insulin resistance, abnormal cardiac structure, impaired cardiac performance and endothelial dysfunction (3,4). Several of these risk factors have now been confirmed in double blind, randomized, placebo controlled trials (5,6). Metabolic changes in GH deficient children and adolescents have been evaluated only quite recently and superficially. In this article we will discuss these metabolic abnormalities and their underlying mechanism in untreated GHD subjects and we will review the beneficial effect of growth hormone therapy in adults, adolescents and children with GHD.

Se ha reportado un aumento en la morbilidad y mortalidad de pacientes adultos con deficiencia de la hormona de crecimiento (DHC). El seguimiento a largo plazo de una cohorte de pacientes con DHC sugiere que la administracion de hormona de crecimiento puede contribuir a una reducción en el número de los accidentes cerebrovasculares no fatales, particularmente en mujeres y de eventos cardíacos en hombres(1,2). Pacientes adultos con hipopituitarismo y una DHC cursan con un acúmulo de factores de riesgo cardiovascular tales como un aumento en la adiposidad visceral, alteraciones en el metabolismo lipoproteico, ateroesclerosis prematura, actividad fibrinolítica alterada, resistencia a la insulina, masa y función cardíaca alterada y disfunción endotelial (3,4). Varios de estos factores de riesgo han sido comprobados en estudios doble ciego, randomizados con placebo (5,6). Las alteraciones metabólicas en niños y adolescentes deficientes de hormona de crecimiento han sido evaluadas sólo recientemente y de manera aún superficial. En este manuscrito discutiremos estas anormalidades y los mecanismos etilógicos subyacentes en sujetos DHC no tratados y revisaremos el efecto beneficioso de la terapia con hormona de crecimiento en niños, adolescentes y adultos.

Resection of Cardiac metastasis of malignant melanoma

Malignant melanoma is unique in its propensity to metastasize to the heart with frequencies ranging from 50% to 71%. We report a case of a resection of large intracavitary malignant melanoma causing obstruction of the right ventricular inflow and outflow tract of the heart. A 49-year-old-woman presented clinical symptoms and signs of life-threatening congestive right heart failure. Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography revealed a large intracavitary mass occupying the entire right ventricle. Inguinal lymph node biopsy demonstrated metastatic melanoma. The cardiac main mass was palliatively resected and demonstrated to be a metastatic melanoma. The patient improved symptomatically about 60 days after the operation.