A Case Report on Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is an extremely rare cause of acute coronary syndrome. Although it predominantly affects young women in the peripartum period, it can also occur in men. The left coronary artery is most frequently involved. The usual presentation is ST segment elevation myocardial infarction. Although several treatment modalities have been proposed, the optimal treatment options still remain to be established. This current case report focuses on a 40- year-old male presented with acute coronary syndrome and subsequently was found to have coronary artery dissection.

Admission Serum Uric Acid Levels and In-Hospital Outcomes in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Background: Uric acid is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Hospital admission for ischemic heart disease (IHD) is increasing rapidly in our country. Although studies were conducted abroad regarding association of serum uric acid with in-hospital outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), no data is yet available to show the association in our country. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the association of serum uric acid level on admission with in-hospital outcomes of the patients with ACS. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional comparative study was done in the Department of Cardiology, Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) from January to December 2012. After proper ethical consideration total 93 ACS patients were enrolled in the study by nonrandom sampling. Serum uric acid of all subjects was measured within 24 hours of admission. Then in-hospital outcomes were observed in all subjects. Results: The frequency of hyperuricemia among ACS patients was 24.7% (22.54% in male and 31.82% in female). Hyperuricemic patients significantly developed heart failure (30.4% vs 11.4%, p=0.032) and conduction defect (13.0% vs 1.4%, p=0.017) than normouricemic subjects. The mean ejection fraction was significantly lower in hyperuricemic patients than patients with normal uric acid level (50.87 ± 10.27% vs 55.94 ± 6.66%). The mean ± SD duration of hospital stay of hyperuricemic group was significantly longer in patients with ACS (8.26 ± 1.18 vs 7.51±1.18 days, p=0.010). Conclusion: The measurement of serum uric acid level, an easily available and inexpensive biochemical tool, might turn out as a valuable risk marker for prediction of in-hospital outcomes in patients with ACS.

Sudden Cardiac Death in Three Generations of the Same Family: A case report.

Every one of us has heard about tragic and sudden death of a healthy young person and which is often stated as ‘inexplicable’. The current case report focuses on a 20 year old young man with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy facing premature death with history of similar sudden premature death of his grandmother, father and brother. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the commonest cause of sudden cardiac death in young adults and is also an important substrate for heart failure disability at any age.

Atrial Infarct: An Easily Missed Reality with Hidden Threat – A case report with Review of Literature.

Atrial infarction is a very rare diagnosis. Though available literature suggests, the condition per se may have been not so rare. Over the past few decades, atrial infarction have been reported several times, even some case series have been reported, but there is no consensus on the diagnosis of this condition, and its true importance also has not been understood completely. Previous works have shown that this condition is associated with several serious complications; hence recognition of this condition in early period is important, which is at the same time not so easy due to subtlety of the known features and less availability of information. We report a case of 70 year old Muslim, Bengali, male suffering from acute coronary syndrome, in whom, right atrial infarction was recognized by electrographic features, which is very rarely diagnosed with confidence in ante-mortem patients. Since, in Bangladesh, post-mortem autopsy to find out causes behind cardiac death is not done routinely and in the light of possibility of serious life-threatening complications, ante-mortem diagnosis of atrial infarction is necessary. So, Cardiologists should be aware of this uncommon condition.

In-Hospital Outcome of Older and Younger Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Background: Acute coronary syndrome is a cardiac emergency. It is increasingly common in younger peoples. Management of elderly peoples is difficult due to their associated comorbidity. This study tried to compare the in-hospital outcome of the younger and older patients with acute coronary syndrome. Methods: The study was a comparative cross sectional study. Clinical and biochemical evaluation was done in hospital settings. A total number of 120 patients were included in the study and divided into two groups according to distribution of age. In group I there were elderly groups of aged >60 yrs. and in group II there were patients within the age 40 to 60 yrs. All the data were collected systematically in a preformed data collection form. Results: Group I populations had more in hospital stay and more complications than group II. Conclusion: The study revealed significant association with age and outcome of Acute coronary syndrome patients. Complications of acute coronary syndrome increase as the age of the patients increases.

Comparison of Diagnostic Criteria to Detect Undiagnosed Diabetes in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients with Admission Hyperglycemia.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is one of the most important risk factors of coronary artery disease. Admission hyperglycemia adversely influences the outcome of acute coronary syndrome patients. The study was conducted to compare the various diagnostic methods for the detection of undiagnosed diabetes mellitus in acute coronary syndrome patients with admission hyperglycaemia in Bangladeshi population. Methods: It was a cross sectional comparative study involving 157 patients with admission blood glucose level e”7.8 mmol/l. Fasting plasma glucose, Glycated haemoglobin, pre-discharge oral glucose tolerance test was measured in all subjects and comparison of performance of different methods was done. Results: Oral glucose tolerance test revealed that in spite of admission hyperglycaemia, 57 (36.3%) patients were diabetic and 52 (33.12%) patients had impaired glucose homeostasis and 48 (30.57%) patients had normal glucose metabolism. Undiagnosed diabetes could not be adequately predicted with admission plasma glucose, fasting plasma glucose or HbA1c alone (area under the ROC curve 0.589, 0.825 and 0.852 respectively). Conclusion: Admission hyperglycaemia does not diagnose diabetes reliably in a stressful condition like acute coronary syndrome. Although neither admission plasma glucose, fasting plasma glucose, nor HbA1c level were as good as oral glucose tolerance test in detecting true diabetes, but combined fasting plasma glucose & HbA1c were found to be more sensitive & specific screening tool for detecting unknown diabetes in acute coronary syndrome patients with admission hyperglycaemia.

Comparison of Different Risk Factors and Coronary Angiographic Profile in Younger and Older Patients with Ischeamic Heart Disease.

Background: Due to socio-economic improvement and changes in the life style, ischeamic heart disease is becoming a major burden to our health care system. In recent years, the incidence is increasing among younger age groups as well. Methods: A total of 120 patients with ischeamic heart disease admitted for coronary angiogram were included in the study and were divided into two groups. Among them, 60 younger patients were in Group-I (d” 40 years of age); 60 older patients in Group-II (>40 years of age). We compared demographic profiles, different risk factors and angiographic profiles between two age groups. Results: Among the common risk factors, smoking (63.3% vs 40%, p=0.011) & family history of ischeamic heart disease (21.7% vs 8.3%, p=0.040) were more common in younger group. Whereas, hypertension (41.7% vs 65.0%, p=0.010) and DM (18.3% vs 36.7%, p=0.024) were more common in older patients. Serum Homocysteine level was found significantly higher in younger patients (30.0% vs 13.3%, p=0.026). In group-I. coronary angiography revealed normal coronaries in 15 patients (25%), single vessel disease in 29 (48.3%) and multi-vessel disease in 16 patients (26.6%). Whereas, 40(66.6%) patients in group-II were found to have multi-vessel disease and 2 of them had significant left main coronary disease. However, young patients who had high serum homocysteine level showed more angiographic severity than older patients. Conclusion: There are significant differences in the clinical, biochemical and angiographic profile of young patients with ischeamic heart disease as compared to older patients. Young patients with ischeamic heart disease has got less angiographic severity, except in those with high serum homocysteine level.

The Pattern of Cardiac Disease at Coronary Care Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Background: Epidemiological transition which is taking place in every part of the world, among all races, ethnic groups and cultures has resulted in the global rise in cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. We tried to assess the pattern of cardiac disease at coronary care unit (CCU) of tertiary care hospital. Methods: A cross sectional study conducted among the patients admitted at CCU of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) during the period of 1st January 2010 to 31st December 2010. A total of 2415 patients were included in the study. Results: A total 2415 patients in the year 2010, were admitted at CCU of DMCH, among them 56% (n=1346) were male and 44% (n=1069) were female. Out of total admitted patients 220 (9%) were below 30 years of age and 588 ( 24%) & 1607 (67 %) were the age group of 31 to 44 years and 45 years and above age group respectively. Among the disease group ischemic heart disease( IHD) (45%) was the most common cause of hospitalization followed by heart failure (HF) (16%) valvular heart disease (9%), hypertension (7%) and arrhythmia (2%). Acute myocardial infarction (30 %) was the leading cause of IHD followed by unstable angina (15%). Conclusion: This study has found that almost three-quarters of cardiac disease were due to IHD, HF and valvular heart disease in decreasing order of frequency. Countries like Bangladesh can be able to spend very little resources to address those cardiovascular diseases. Along with public as well as private sector efforts, public awareness about the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases should be improved to reduce this sort mortality and morbidity.

Association of Creatinine Clearance Rate and Coronary Angiographic Severity in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: In epidemiological studies and clinical trials renal function has been shown to be an independent predictor of coronary artery disease (CAD). We conducted this study to find out the association between creatinine clearance rate (CCr) and coronary angiographic severity in patients with (CAD). Method: It was a cross sectional study carried out in the department of Cardiology, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka during the period of April, 2011 to March, 2012. All the patients with Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) admitted in the department of Cardiology who fulfill the inclusion and exclusion criteria and underwent coronary angiogram were taken as sampling population. Sampling technique was purposive and sample size was 118. By Cockcroft-Gault formula, CCr was estimated from serum creatinine. Coronary angiographic severity of coronary artery disease was assessed by vessel score and stenosis score. Statistical analysis was carried out by descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient test and one way ANOVA test. Level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: Mean CCr among study subjects was 72.57 ± 17.78 ml/min. Vessel score showed 18.6% had normal coronaries, 37.3% single vessel disease, 31.4% double vessel disease and 12.7% triple vessel disease. There was significant positive relationship between serum creatinine and vessel score, and also negative relationship between CCr and vessel score. The study also showed significant negative correlation between CCr and stenosis score. Conclusion: Angiographic severity of coronary artery disease is associated with degree of renal dysfunction. Decreased creatinine clearance is associated with more extensive CAD.