[Dyspnoea Due to Foreign Embolism after Percutaneous Vertebroplasty]. / Dyspnoe aufgrund eines Fremdkörper-Embolisats nach perkutaner Vertebroplastie.

HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS: Emergency admission of a 66-years-old man with right-sided and partly breath-dependent chest pain in the interdisciplinary emergency room. The complaints existed for several days and had a progressive character. Purulent expectoration and fever were negated. There was a history of COPD with occasional pulmonary exacerbations. Several weeks before the current event, community-acquired pneumonia had been treated with antibiotics. Moreover, the patient reported on multiple spine surgery procedures performed in recent months. INVESTIGATIONS AND DIAGNOSIS: In transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), detection of a foreign body (Palacos) in the right ventricle, which was confirmed to be a toothpick-like structure in the supplementary CT scan of the thorax and the transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE). TREATMENT AND COURSE: Foreign body extraction using right anterior mini thoracotomy. Subsequently, iatrogenic pneumothorax with bilateral nosocomial pneumonia and drainage. After short-term convalescence, renewed admission with bilateral pulmonary infiltrates. Under invasive ventilation, new left-sided pneumothorax was diagnosed, which was supplied with a Bülau drainage. Due to the detection of positive blood cultures, re-conducting of a TOE examination. Now first diagnosis of tricuspid valve endocarditis. Despite successful surgical biologic tricuspid valve replacement with an epicardial pacemaker electrode placement, the patient died approximately three quarters of a year after he became an emergency patient due to dyspnoea. DISCUSSION: The present case shows that a typical clinical symptom, associated with a previously known chronic illness, has to be reminded again and again of other and less common diseases. Even everyday diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are associated with a residual risk of possible complications.

Cranial nerve deficits in giant cavernous carotid aneurysms and their relation to aneurysm morphology and location.

BACKGROUND: Giant cavernous carotid aneurysms (GCCAs) usually exert substantial mass effect on adjacent intracavernous cranial nerves. Since predictors of cranial nerve deficits (CNDs) in patients with GCCA are unknown, we designed a study to identify associations between CND and GCCA morphology and the location of mass effect. METHODS: This study was based on data from the prospective clinical and imaging databases of the Giant Intracranial Aneurysm Registry. We used magnetic resonance imaging and digital subtraction angiography to examine GCCA volume, presence of partial thrombosis (PT), GCCA origins, and the location of mass effect. We also documented whether CND was present. RESULTS: We included 36 GCCA in 34 patients, which had been entered into the registry by eight participating centers between January 2009 and March 2016. The prevalence of CND was 69.4%, with one CND in 41.7% and more than one in 27.5%. The prevalence of PT was 33.3%. The aneurysm origin was most frequently located at the anterior genu (52.8%). The prevalence of CND did not differ between aneurysm origins (p = 0.29). Intracavernous mass effect was lateral in 58.3%, mixed medial/lateral in 27.8%, and purely medial in 13.9%. CND occurred significantly more often in GCCA with lateral (81.0%) or mixed medial/lateral (70.0%) mass effect than in GCCA with medial mass effect (20.0%; p = 0.03). After adjusting our data for the effects of the location of mass effect, we found no association between the prevalence of CND and aneurysm volume (odds ratio (OR) 1.30 (0.98-1.71); p = 0.07), the occurrence of PT (OR 0.64 (0.07-5.73); p = 0.69), or patient age (OR 1.02 (95% CI 0.95-1.09); p = 0.59). CONCLUSIONS: Distinguishing between medial versus lateral location of mass effect may be more helpful than measuring aneurysm volumes or examining aneurysm thrombosis in understanding why some patients with GCCA present with CND while others do not. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NO: NCT02066493 ( clinicaltrials.gov ).

[Diastolic left ventricular dysfunction--significance for differential diagnosis and therapy of heart failure in the aged]. / Diastolische linksventrikuläre Dysfunktion--Bedeutung für die Differentialdiagnostik und -therapie der Herzinsuffizienz im Alter.

The discrimination of the pathogenesis of the clinical picture "heart failure" as caused by a dominant systolic or diastolic LV-dysfunction is of a special importance in the elderly patient because of the consequences for the choice of pharmacological therapy, resulting from the age-related physiological increase of stiffness of the myocardium. The pathophysiology of diastolic dysfunction is characterized by a prolonged relaxation period as well as by compromised passive filling properties, caused by myocardial and external determinants. Typical clinical signs of diastolic dysfunction are dyspnea or pulmonary edema. Cardiac disorders with a dominance of diastolic dysfunction are coronary and hypertensive heart disease as well as hypertrophic or uremic cardiomyopathies. Diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction easily can be performed noninvasively by means of Doppler-echocardiography. Pharmacological therapy in diastolic dysfunction should prefer beta blocking drugs and calcium-antagonists against vasodilators or digitalis.

[Treatment of chronic stable angina pectoris with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition--a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind cross-over study]. / Behandlung der chronisch stabilen Angina pectoris durch Angiotensin-Converting-Enzym-Hemmung--Eine randomisierte, placebokontrollierte, Doppelblind-cross-over-Studie.

To investigate the potential anti-ischaemic effects of benazepril (10 mg bid) in comparison to placebo, this new ACE-inhibitor was given to 11 patients with chronic stable angina, reproducible exercise-induced ST-segment depression and angiographically verified coronary artery disease. Blood pressure at rest, plasma renin activity, and plasma concentration of atrial natriuretic peptide were measured after treatment periods of two weeks. Bicycle exercise tests at the same time should evaluate ST-segment depression at comparable maximal workload, work capacity, blood pressure, and heart rate at exercise. In comparison to placebo, benazepril reduced arterial blood pressure significantly from 140 +/- 14/90 +/- 11 mm Hg to 125 +/- 16/84 +/- 10 mm Hg (p less than 0.05) and increased plasma renin activity from 2.19 +/- 3.76 ng/ml/h to 9.62 +/- 8.49 ng/ml/h (p less than 0.005). In contrast, ST-segment depression decreased only slightly and not significantly from 2.09 +/- 1.22 mm to 1.91 +/- 1.00 mm. Benazepril had neither an effect on the frequency of episodes of angina pectoris nor did it reduce the amount of GTN-consumption. Also, work capacity and plasma concentration of atrial natriuretic peptide were not changed in comparison to placebo. Although the significant reduction of blood pressure and the highly significant increase of plasma renin activity demonstrate the specific action of benazepril, a significant anti-ischaemic effect could not be established.

[Transdermal nitroglycerin systems with continuous and discontinuous drug release. A comparison of the anti-ischemic and hemodynamic acute and long-term effects]. / Transdermale Nitroglycerinsysteme mit kontinuierlicher und diskontinuierlicher Substanzfreisetzung. Vergleich antiischämischer und hämodynamischer Akut- und Langzeitwirkung.

The anti-ischaemic and haemodynamic effects of two transdermal nitroglycerin systems, each offering 15 mg of nitroglycerine, the first giving continuous release (group 1) and the other discontinuous release (group 2), were compared in 30 men (mean age 56.5 [33-70] years) with coronary heart disease confirmed by angiography. Resting and exercise haemodynamics together with the degree of exercise-induced ST segment depression were measured on the first day, before and two hours after application of the plaster. After one week's therapy these measurements were repeated 24 hours after the application of the plaster on the previous day and two hours after the last application. Two hours after the first application both groups showed significant reduction (P less than 0.01) in exercise-induced ST segment depression (group 1: -60%, group 2: -50%) and in mean pulmonary artery pressure during exercise (group 1: -10%; group 2: -7%). After one week's therapy the reduction in exercise-induced ST segment depression was still significant in group 1 (-60%; P less than 0.01), but in group 2 (-30%) it was no longer significant. After one week had passed there was no longer any significant reduction in mean pulmonary artery pressure in either group (group 1: -6%; group 2: 0%). The acute anti-ischaemic and haemodynamic efficacy of both transdermal nitroglycerin systems was hence comparable; however, the emergence of nitrate tolerance during long-term use was not prevented even by phased release of the drug.

[Doppler echocardiography description of diastolic function disorder in terminal renal failure--new characterization of uremic cardiomyopathy]. / Dopplerechokardiographische Beschreibung einer diastolischen Funktionsstörung bei terminaler Niereninsuffizienz--Neucharakterisierung der urämischen Kardiomyopathie.

In order to characterize left ventricular diastolic filling abnormalities in uremic cardiomyopathy in 50 patients on hemodialysis, the ratio VE/VA of peak early (VE) and late (VA) filling velocity was calculated using CW-Doppler echocardiography. Compared with normal subjects of identical age, VE/VA was found to be significantly lower in patients younger than 40 years, but without, however, significant differences in patients aged 40-60 years and older than 60. Thus, the incidence of diminished VE/VA-ratios fell from 64% in patients younger than 40 years to 5% in patients older than 60. Whereas duration of dialysis, extent of renal anemia and interdialytic volumeload showed no influence, diastolic malfunction was correlated to renal hypertension. Therefore, an actualized characterization of uremic cardiomyopathy can be achieved by CW-Doppler echocardiography, describing diastolic malfunction in most patients with terminal renal failure. In elderly patients, however, a distinction from physiologic alteration of diastolic filling is not possible. Clinical significance of diastolic malfunction is characterized by reduced tolerance of interdialytic volume-expansion, as well as intradialytic volume-depletion.

[Conventional and Doppler echocardiography in the differential diagnosis of right heart failure]. / Konventionelle sowie Doppler-Echokardiographie in der Differential-diagnose der isolierten Rechtsherzinsuffizienz.

In the differential diagnosis of isolated right heart failure 1- and 2-dimensional echocardiography and Doppler echocardiography have proved to be of an increasing significance. In right ventricular dysplasia associated ventricular arrhythmias and regional abnormalities in wall motion of the right ventricle are characteristic. The evaluation of pulmonary heart disease has been extended by the estimation of pulmonary artery pressure using doppler echocardiography. In isolated right heart infarction, echocardiography can detect regional wall motion abnormalities and potential complications like intracavitary mural thrombi. In addition to pericardial calcification on chest x-ray and "dip and plateau" sign on pressure wave form, the abnormal diastolic hemodynamics can be demonstrated studying motion of interventricular septum and posterior left ventricular wall by echocardiography. Separating patients with restrictive cardiomyopathy may be difficult, if demonstration of the characteristic findings--increase of ventricular wall thickness, small ventricular cavities--is impossible. The evaluation of isolated tricuspid valve diseases has become possible non-invasively by Doppler echocardiography. In the diagnosis of the rare right atrial myxomas 2-D-echocardiography is the method of choice.