Severe Aortic Stenosis Associated with Unicommissural Unicuspid Aortic Valve in a Middle Aged Male

Unicuspid aortic valve (UAV) is an extremely rare form of congenital aortic valvular abnormality. Although UAV shows similar clinical characteristics to bicuspid aortic valve, the clinical symptoms develop at earlier age and progress at a faster pace in UAV. In this report, we are presenting a 42-year-old male with severe aortic stenosis associated with unicommissural UAV. The patients underwent a successful Bentall operation.

Clinical Impact of Time Delay on 1-Year Mortality in Patients with ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction / 대한내과학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The delay between the onset of myocardial infarction symptoms and primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is an important prognostic factor in patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). We reviewed this delay in patients with STEMI and analyzed clinical outcomes. METHODS: The study enrolled 3,399 patients (age, 61.4 +/- 12.8 years; 25.6% women) with STEMI who underwent primary PCI within 12 hours of symptom onset between October 2005 and February 2008 from the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry. The patients were divided into two groups according to the symptom-to-balloon time: group I ( 3 hours, n = 2444). The in-hospital mortality rates and 1-year mortality and major adverse cardiac event (MACE) rates were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The mean time interval from the onset of symptoms to arrival at the emergency room (ER) was 188.0 +/- 133.6 minutes (median, 152 minutes). The mean time interval from the ER to reperfusion (door-to-balloon time) was 97.8 +/- 67.9 minutes (median, 80 minutes). The mean time interval from the onset of symptoms to reperfusion (symptom-to-balloon time) was 285.8 +/- 146.2 minutes (median 250 minutes). The in-hospital mortality rate was significantly lower in group I as compared with group II (3.6% versus 5.2%, p = 0.044). The 1-year mortality rate was also significantly lower in group I (4.7% versus 7.2%, p = 0.012), while the 1-year MACE rate was not significantly different between groups (17.9% versus 20.4%, p = 0.179). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that there is a significant pre-hospital time delay in patients with STEMI in Korea and this time delay is associated with increased 1-year mortality.