ABSTRACT
Concealed pentageminy was observed during 10 h of Holter monitoring in a 27-year-old woman without apparent heart disease. In a continuous electrocardiographic recording the number of sinus beats within 114 consecutive interectopic intervals complied with the formula of S = 5n-1. The probability of this occurring by chance alone is infinitesimally small (p = 2(-114).
Subject(s)
Cardiac Complexes, Premature/diagnosis , Adult , Cardiac Complexes, Premature/physiopathology , Diagnosis, Differential , Electrocardiography/methods , Female , Humans , Purkinje Fibers/physiopathologyABSTRACT
Precordial pain associated with ECG ischemic pattern is a very rare phenomenon in children. Such findings were observed in an 8-year-old boy concomitantly with clinical signs of increased intracranial pressure resulting from occlusion of a previously installed atrioventricular shunt. When the shunt was replaced, chest pain and the ECG abnormalities disappeared. This experience would warrant alertness to the possibility that clinical and ECG signs of myocardial ischemia and other characteristic ECG abnormalities, as an expression of increased intracranial pressure, may occur not only in adults, but also in children.
Subject(s)
Electrocardiography , Intracranial Pressure , Myocardial Infarction/diagnosis , Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts , Child , Diagnosis, Differential , Humans , Hydrocephalus/diagnosis , Male , Meningocele/surgery , Postoperative Complications/diagnosisABSTRACT
Concealed quadrigeminy has been observed in a 24-year-old pregnant woman without apparent heart disease during 10-hour Holter monitoring; in a 33-year-old female with prolapse of the mitral valve during 0.5-hour continuous electrocardiographic recording, and in an 80-year-old man with anterior myocardial infarction. In all these continuous electrocardiographic recordings 391, 437, 25 consecutive interectopic intervals were correlated and the number of sinus beats in each interval fitted the formula s=4n - 1. The 2nd case showed a variant of concealed quadrigeminy. The number of sinus beats in 9 interectopic intervals fitted the formula s=4n when the first ectopic beat of the interval was interpolated and did not interfere with the propagation of the next first sinus beat.
Subject(s)
Cardiac Complexes, Premature/diagnosis , Adult , Aged , Electrocardiography , Female , Humans , Male , PregnancyABSTRACT
This is the first clinical and angiographic description of congenital subclavian steal in a patient with left aortic arch, isolation of the right subclavian artery, and an aortic diverticulum.
Subject(s)
Aorta, Thoracic/abnormalities , Subclavian Artery/abnormalities , Subclavian Steal Syndrome/congenital , Adolescent , Aorta, Thoracic/diagnostic imaging , Aorta, Thoracic/embryology , Humans , Male , Radiography , Subclavian Artery/diagnostic imaging , Subclavian Steal Syndrome/diagnostic imagingABSTRACT
Chronic sympathetic nervous system overactivity has been implicated as a factor capable of elevating and maintaining high serum cholesterol levels independent of dietary measures. We conducted a controlled trial to determine the effect of a relaxation technique. Transcendental Meditation, on serum cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolemic subjects. Serum cholesterol levels were measured at beginning and end of an 11-month period in 12 hypercholesterolemic subjects who regularly practiced meditation. Eleven hypercholesterolemic controls who did not practice the technique were similarly followed up for 13 months. Paired comparisons showed a significant (p less than 0.005) reduction in fasting serum cholesterol levels of those subjects who practiced meditation. These results suggest that the regular practice of a relaxation technique may contribute, most likely through a reduction in adrenergic activity, to the amelioration of hypercholesterolemia in certain subjects.
Subject(s)
Hypercholesterolemia/therapy , Relaxation Therapy , Adult , Cholesterol/blood , Female , Humans , Hypercholesterolemia/blood , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
The clinical, radiologic, angiographic, and operative findings in 15 patients with double aortic arch are described. In five patients, both arches were functional; in the other 10, a portion of the left arch was atretic. Depending on the location of the atretic segment, the anomalies were classified into types A, B, and C double aortic arch. We considered an additional type D double aortic arch which as yet remains a theoretical possibility. With the help of refined angiographic signs obtained by countercurrent right brachial angiography and on the basis of clinical and radiologic signs of tracheoesophageal compression, the differential diagnosis among various types of double aortic arch and right aortic arch anomalies was improved.
Subject(s)
Angiography/methods , Aorta, Thoracic/abnormalities , Aorta, Thoracic/diagnostic imaging , Aorta, Thoracic/surgery , Brachial Artery/diagnostic imaging , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Humans , Infant , MaleABSTRACT
A 9-year-old girl with type D right aortic arch anomaly, has been presented. The diagnosis was based upon the presence of signs and symptoms of a vascular ring and the early visualization of a retroesophageal aberrant left innominate artery, by means of countercurrent right brachial angiography. Division of the ligamentum arteriosum at operation relieved the symptoms.
Subject(s)
Aorta, Thoracic/abnormalities , Brachiocephalic Trunk/abnormalities , Aorta, Thoracic/diagnostic imaging , Brachiocephalic Trunk/diagnostic imaging , Child , Esophagus/pathology , Female , Humans , Radiography , Trachea/pathologyABSTRACT
Eight patients with arteriosclerotic systolic hypertension whose blood pressure had been nonresponsive to conventional antihypertensive therapy, were given minoxidil in daily doses of 4 to 15 mg. Within 2 to 5 days the blood pressure of seven patients was brought to more "normal" levels. After 10 to 20 days of treatment, a significant weight increase was observed with a concomitant rise of blood pressure, which could be overcome by more vigorous diuretic therapy. However, six of the seven blood pressure responders and the one nonresponder complained of severe adverse effects curtailing further use of the drug. It is concluded that despite the effectiveness of arteriolar vasodilation in the reduction of elevated systolic blood pressure, such lowering may be deleterious in patients with atherosclerotic involvement of vital organs.
Subject(s)
Arteriosclerosis/complications , Hypertension/drug therapy , Minoxidil/adverse effects , Pyrimidines/adverse effects , Aged , Body Weight/drug effects , Coronary Disease/complications , Diuretics/therapeutic use , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Minoxidil/administration & dosage , Minoxidil/therapeutic use , SystoleABSTRACT
Four infants with type C double aortic arch (double aortic arch with aberrant left subclavian artery) are discussed. The diagnosis was based on symptoms and signs of tracheoesophageal compression with a bilateral impression in the frontal plane of the esophagogram, as well as on early visualization of the aberrant left subclavian artery during counter-current right brachial angiography. Division of the atretic segment of the left arch and of the ligamentum arteriosum relieved the symptoms.
Subject(s)
Aorta, Thoracic/abnormalities , Subclavian Artery/abnormalities , Aorta, Thoracic/diagnostic imaging , Aorta, Thoracic/embryology , Aortography , Humans , Infant , Subclavian Artery/diagnostic imaging , Subclavian Artery/embryologyABSTRACT
The QT interval has been studied in ECG in mouse and rat embryos during two stages of development. The QT interval during the early stage of development is prolonged and an ST segment clearly exists. Both disappear during fetal development and do not exist in adult animals in which the T wave immediately follows the QRS. Mammalian embryos have therefore been proposed as a model for the study of QT prolongation. It is suggested that the origin of the QT prolongation in the young embryos is caused by the prolonged duration of the action potentials of the primordial cardiac tissue. During embryonic development this tissue becomes organized as a conductive system surrounded by "neomyocardial" tissue with a shorter duration of action potential, which causes the shorter QT interval at this stage. Our working hypothesis is that the pathogenesis of the prolonged QT syndrome in children could be interpreted as an incomplete or delayed differentiation between the primordial or primordial-like myocardium retaining prolonged action potential duration, and "neomyocardium" with short duration.
Subject(s)
Arrhythmias, Cardiac/congenital , Disease Models, Animal , Fetal Heart/physiology , Heart Defects, Congenital/physiopathology , Animals , Arrhythmias, Cardiac/physiopathology , Electrocardiography , Female , Gestational Age , Heart Conduction System/physiopathology , Heart Rate , Mice , Pregnancy , RatsABSTRACT
A further case of osteogenesis imperfecta with valvular heart disease is added to the 12 already reported in the literature. The presence of a dilated mitral annulus and a ballooned mitral leaflet in this case together with the findings reported in the literature leave little doubt as to the relationship between the valvular lesion and the underlying connective tissue disorder.
