Thromboembolic risk in atrial flutter. The FLASIEC (FLutter Atriale Società Italiana di Ecografia Cardiovascolare) multicentre study.

AIMS: Patients with atrial flutter are believed to be at lower risk of thromboembolism than patients with atrial fibrillation. However, the incidence of atrial thrombi and the need for anticoagulation in patients with atrial flutter is not well established. METHODS AND RESULTS: A prospective observational multicentre study was undertaken to assess the frequency of atrial thrombi and spontaneous echocontrast and the prevalence for aortic complex atherosclerotic lesions in a cohort of unselected patients with atrial flutter. We evaluated 134 patients (102 male, aged 70+/-9 years); exclusion criteria were history of atrial fibrillation, rheumatic mitral valve disease and mitral mechanical prosthesis. The median of atrial flutter duration was 33 days. Twelve patients had been taking warfarin for more than 7 days. One hundred and twenty-four patients (94%) underwent a transoesophageal echocardiogram, which revealed left atrial appendage thrombi in two patients (1.6%) and right atrial thrombi in one patient (1%). At least moderate left atrial echocontrast was found in 16/124 patients (13%). Complex atherosclerotic aortic plaques were detected in 10 patients (8%). Atrial flutter conversion was attempted in 93/134 patients (69%). At the 1-month follow-up, two patients experienced a thromboembolic event following restoration of sinus rhythm. CONCLUSIONS: Atrial thrombi and echocontrast, and complex aortic atherosclerotic plaques are relatively uncommon in patients with atrial flutter. Post-cardioversion embolism was observed in two patients in our study population.

[Hypokinetic arrhythmia, paradoxical chronotropic reaction and hypotension during dobutamine stress test]. / Aritmie ipocinetiche, risposte cronotrope paradosse ed ipotensione in corso di test eco-dobutamina.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of hypokinetic arrhythmias, bradycardiac (BR) and hypotensive reactions in a population of 775 patients during dobutamine stress test (DST): 281 patients (36.2%, group I) were symptomatic for thoracic pain without any history of coronary artery disease (CAD); 494 patients (63.8%, group II) were evaluated 3-4 weeks after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to stratify ischemic risk. None of these patients was receiving coronarodilating therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: DST was performed using an infusion of 5, 10, 20, 40 micrograms/kg/min for 5 minutes during the first two stages and for 3 minutes during subsequent stages, and was accompanied by EKG and echocardiographic monitoring. BR was defined as severe when heart rate diminished more than 40 b/min, moderate when the decrease ranged between 20 and 39 b/min, and mild when the decrease was less than 20 b/min. RESULTS: A total of 34 (4.38%) BR were observed, 19 (55%) in group I and 15 (45%) in group II. BR were severe in 12 patients (35.9%), 3 with recent AMI (2 inferior and 1 anterior) and 9 without a history of CAD. Fifteen (45%) presented moderate BR, 8 with recent AMI (6 inferior and 2 anterior); 7 cases were in group I. Mild BR was observed in 7 patients (20%), 2 with recent AMI (1 inferior, 1 anterior), of which 5 were in group I. Episodes of junctional rhythm were also observed in 10 patients (29.4%) and 1 patient (2.9%) presented 2nd degree AV block during DST positive for ischemia. The mean duration of bradycardic episodes was 89.6 seconds (+/- 29.8) and only 3 patients (8.8%) presented significant hypotension. In 13 patients (38.2%) arrhythmia was observed during dobutamine-induced ischemia. In spite of the often severely diminished heart rate, no significant hypotension was evident during the bradycardiac episode in 19 patients (55%). Only one patient (2.9%) showed a decrease of more than 40 mmHg. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, we found that the incidence of BR during DST (4.38%) is higher than that reported in the literature; moreover, patients with recent inferior AMI showed a higher incidence of BR compared to patients with AMI in other sites (9 vs 4, p = n.s.). We feel that ischemia alone may not be responsible for hypokinetic arrhythmia during DST, but that dobutamine-induced neurovegetative reflexes may also contribute to the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the phenomenon.

[Infectious endocarditis following artificial insemination. A clinical case report and review of the literature]. / Endocardite infettiva seguita ad inseminazione artificiale. Descrizione di un caso clinico e revisione della letteratura.

We describe a case of infective endocarditis in a 33 year old patient, with mitral valve prolapse (MVP), who underwent nine attempts of artificial insemination with semen by donor. Several blood cultures demonstrated the presence of Enterococcus faecalis; the same agent was identified in some vaginal cultures. Despite antibiotic therapy, infective endocarditis was complicated by severe mitral regurgitation, followed by the rupture of a chorda tendinea. The patient underwent cardiac surgery: valvuloplasty of posterior mitral cusp, chordae tendineae in Goretex and anulus reinforcement with autologous pericardium. MVP is the most common heart disease associated with infective endocarditis in non-drug addict patients (32-54%). The review of the literature did not show any other case of infective endocarditis after artificial insemination procedures. Because of the large spread of these procedures, we think antibiotic prophylaxis of infective endocarditis should be considered in patients with MVP.