Single Center 7 Year Experience of Coronary Artery Perforation: Angiographic and Procedural Characteristics, Management and Outcome.

CONTEXT: Coronary artery perforation is a rare but potentially catastrophic complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). It is infrequent complication of PCI. AIMS: The objective of the study is to report the 7-year experience of coronary artery perforation with respect to incidence, clinical and angiographic characteristics, management and outcomes. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The study involved retrospective analysis of single centre 7 years of percutaneous coronary intervention data. Patients who had complication of coronary artery perforation during PCI were identified and included in the study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of clinical, angiographic and procedural characteristics as well as management and outcome of coronary artery perforation was done. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The whole data were tabulated, variables were presented as mean and percentages and comparison was done within them. RESULTS: A total of 37 cases of coronary artery perforation were identified from 4532 PCI performed. Most of the coronary artery perforation belonged to Ellis Type II and Type III (both n = 15) followed by Type III CS and Type I. Lesions belonged to AHC/AHA Type C in 31 cases. Most frequent mechanism of coronary artery perforation was related to the use of guidewire and balloon (both n = 17). The total of 8 cases presented with cardiac tamponade requiring pericardiocentesis. Eleven cases required emergency covered stent implantation. In two cases microcoil was used while one case required polyvinyl alcohol particles to seal the perforation site. There was no in-hospital mortality while 30-day mortality occurred in one patient. One case was referred for emergency surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Coronary artery perforation is rare but potentially fatal complication of percutaneous coronary intervention. Complication of coronary artery perforation can be managed effectively in the catheterization laboratory without the need of emergency of bailout surgery and in-hospital outcomes remain good in the majority of cases.

A rare Case of "Acute Take Off" of Left Circumflex Artery Successfully Intervened using Dual-Lumen Microcatheter.

"Acute take off" of the left circumflex artery (LCX) is a rare coronary artery variant. Development of coronary artery disease in such a vessel increases technical difficulty and failure rate for percutaneous coronary intervention. We report a rare case of "acute take off" of the LCX with proximal critical stenosis successfully intervened using dual-lumen microcatheter.

Successful percutaneous retrieval of unusually knotted temporary pacemaker lead.

Implantation of temporary pacemaker lead is commonly performed procedure and is usually safe, but can sometimes develop rare and serious complication like intracardiac lead knotting which may require challenging retrieval techniques. We report a case of successful percutaneous retrieval of unusually knotted right internal jugular venous temporary pacing lead via left femoral transvenous approach using snare over a long sheath after cutting the electrode proximally and thus avoiding any surgical intervention.

Diastolic dysfunction characterizes cirrhotic cardiomyopathy.

AIM: Present study aims to study the occurrence of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy and its correlation to hepatorenal syndrome by assessing the cardiac status in patients with cirrhosis of liver and healthy controls. METHODS: Thirty alcoholic cirrhotic, thirty non-alcoholic cirrhotic and thirty controls were enrolled for the study. Cardiac parameters were assessed by color doppler echocardiography. Patients were followed up for twelve months period for development of hepatorenal syndrome. RESULTS: Mild diastolic dysfunction was present in 18 cirrhotic patients (30%): grade I in fifteen patients and grade II in three. Diastolic dysfunction was unrelated to age; sex and etiology of cirrhosis. Among all the echocardiographic parameters, only deceleration time was found to be statistically significant. Echocardiographic parameters in systolic and diastolic function were not different in compensated vs decompensated patients in different Child-Pugh classes or cirrhosis aetiologies. At one year follow-up, no significant differences were found in survival between patients with or without diastolic dysfunction. Hepatorenal syndrome developed in only two patients and its correlation with diastolic dysfunction was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Present study shows that although diastolic dysfunction is a frequent event in cirrhosis, it is usually of mild degree and does not correlate with severity of liver dysfunction. There are no significant differences in echocardiographic parameters between alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhosis. HRS is not correlated to diastolic dysfunction in cirrhotic patients. There is no difference in survival at one year between patients with or without diastolic dysfunction. Diastolic dysfunction in cirrhosis is unrelated to circulatory dysfunction, ascites and HRS.

Double-chambered right ventricle with pulmonary valve endocarditis.

We describe a rare case of pulmonary valve endocarditis associated with a double-chambered right ventricle in an adolescent male highlighting the two-dimensional and three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiographic findings. He was managed with aggressive antibiotic therapy followed by surgery. The echocardiographic findings were confirmed during surgery.