Left Atrial Angiosarcoma: A Rare Cardiac Tumor at an Uncommon Site.

Cardiac angiosarcoma is the most common among primary malignant cardiac tumors in adults. Malignant cardiac tumors commonly arise in the right-sided cardiac chambers unlike benign tumors that commonly arise in the left-sided chambers. Cardiac tumors on the left side need to be carefully assessed for malignant features for deciding treatment strategy and prognostication. We present the case of a 62-year-old female with a large left atrial mass infiltrating the interatrial septum and adjacent myocardial wall. Histology was suggestive of angiosarcoma. Although a radical excision was done, the tumor recurred within 6 months of the postoperative period and she died shortly after the recurrence.

Correlation between Doppler, Manual Morphometry, and Histopathology Based Morphometry of Radial Artery as a Conduit in Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

Background. Long-term graft patency is the major factor impacting survival after coronary artery bypass grafting. Arteries are superior in this regard. Radial artery is considered the second best conduit after internal mammary artery. Several studies have shown excellent radial artery patency. We evaluated the morphologic characteristics of radial artery by three modalities, (i) preoperative Doppler ultrasound, (ii) intraoperative manual morphometry, and (iii) postoperative histology-based morphometry, and compared these with the aim of validating Doppler as a noninvasive test of choice for preoperative assessment of radial artery. Methods. This was a prospective study involving 100 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting in which radial artery was used. The radial artery was assessed using preoperative Doppler ultrasound studies, intraoperative morphometry, and postoperative histopathology and morphometry. The morphometric measurements included (i) luminal diameter, (ii) intimal and medial thickness, and (iii) intima-media thickness ratio. Results. Using Bland-Altman plots, there was a 95% limit of agreement between the preoperative Doppler measurements and the postoperative histopathology and morphometry. Conclusion. Doppler ultrasound is an accurate screening test for evaluation of radial artery, in terms of intimal/medial thickness and luminal diameter as a conduit in coronary artery bypass grafting and has been validated by both morphometric and histopathology based studies.

Is radial artery Doppler scanning mandatory for use as coronary bypass conduit?

BACKGROUND: Screening of the radial artery prior to harvesting as a conduit for coronary bypass may be performed clinically by the Allen test or by Doppler ultrasound. In a developing country like ours, the use of resources for Doppler studies may be questioned when Allen tests lead to a low rate of clinical sequelae. However, the rare occurrence of hand ischemia may be devastating and could justify the routine use of Doppler screening. This study aimed to address this question. METHODS: One hundred patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting were screened by the modified Allen test and Doppler ultrasound for suitability of use of a radial artery conduit. After harvesting, proximal and distal segments of the radial artery were subjected to histopathological examination. RESULTS: Of the 95 patients deemed suitable for radial artery grafting, 6 had mild calcification on Doppler ultrasound and 9 had calcification on histopathological examination. While Doppler showed atherosclerosis in 9 patients, only 6 had histopathological evidence of this (false-positive rate 3%). Of the 6 patients with histopathologic evidence of atherosclerosis, 2 were negative on Doppler (false-negative rate 2%). CONCLUSION: Routine preoperative Doppler screening of the radial artery in the setting of limited resources is not justified. On the other hand, the time-tested Allen test which is easy to perform, interpret, and reproduce can be safely used as the sole screening test to harvest the radial artery.

Use of tenecteplase for left-sided prosthetic valve thrombosis.

INTRODUCTION: Prosthetic valve thrombosis (PVT) following cardiac valve replacement in rheumatic heart disease patients is a common cause for referral to tertiary care centre. Although surgery has been described as the traditional choice of therapy, thrombolytic therapy has reported high success rates in published literature. CASE REPORT: This is a case report of ten patients with left-sided PVT receiving tenecteplase. The mean dose of tenecteplase used was 1.01 mg/kg given as IV bolus injection along with enoxaparin, heparin and acenocoumarol. The diagnosis and response was assessed based on trans-thoracic echocardiography. The reduction in peak transvalvular gradient was in the range of 46% - 81% and in mean transvalvular gradient was in the range of 50% - 84%. There was normalization of valve motion in all patients. There was no incidence of mortality, intracerebral hemorrhage, systemic bleeding or embolism. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the largest published evidence so far showing efficacy and safety of tenecteplase for PVT.