Associations between coronary artery disease, aneurysm and ectasia.

AIM: Investigation the frequency and contribution of coronary artery aneurysm/ectasia in addition to their correlation with coronary artery disease (CAD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the coronary angiography records of 6500 adult consecutive patients, and 418 of them were met inclusion criteria and used in the present study. The CAD was defined as the presence of angiographic coronary stenosis of > 50% of the luminal diameter in no less than one of the epicardial coronary arteries. Moreover, the prevalence and features of the coronary artery aneurysm/ectasia among the cases with and without CAD were compared. RESULTS: We observed coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) and ectasia (CAE) in 6.6% of the patients with significant CAD (+), and 6.1% of the patients with significant CAD (-) (p = 0.2). The percentage of coronary artery aneurysms was significantly higher in CAD (+) patients than in CAD (-) patients (0.8% vs. 0.4%, p = 0.015). The percentage of coronary artery ectasia showed no variation between CAD (+) patients and CAD (-) patients (5.8% vs. 5.7%, p = 0.47). The frequency of spotting aneurysm on a single coronary artery was higher than discerning aneurysm on two or three coronary arteries. CONCLUSIONS: Presence of CAA or CAE cases is often encountered in those who have undergone angiography procedures. Furthermore, CAA and CAE should not be considered as simple dilations of vessels. Further studies are needed to determine the effective procedures for the treatment and prognostic evaluations of the patients with CAA or CAE.

Role of gender in types and frequency of coronary artery aneurysm and ectasia.

This study aimed to evaluate the role of gender in types and frequency of coronary artery aneurysm and ectasia.We assessed retrospectively the angiography records of 6100 patients. At first, we mainly reviewed angiographic movies for the presence of coronary ectasia and/or aneurysm. Consequently, based on the number of the coronary artery involvement, the coronary ectasia and aneurysm were graded as mild if 1 coronary artery was involved and severe if 2 or more coronary arteries were involved. The location of ectasia and aneurysm was analyzed with respect to their isolated or combined location on various coronary arteries. The patients included in the present study were divided into 2 groups based on their gender as male and female. Then, we evaluated the impact of gender on severity and the location of the ectasia and aneurysm.The incidence of the aneurysm and ectasia was 3.5%. Among the patients with aneurysm and ectasia, 6.9% were male and 4.5% were female. Aneurysm and ectasia were evaluated together; their frequency was significantly higher in the male than female patients (P < 0.01). However, when their incidence was evaluated separately, coronary artery ectasia was markedly greater in male patients with regard to female patients (P < 0.01). Incidence of CAE presence on the RCA was significantly greater in males than females (2.7% vs 1.9%, P < 0.05).This study showed that incidence of CAE is more common in males than females. Particularly, frequency for the involvement of CAE on RCA and concurrently on 3 vessels is greater in male patients than female patients.

Clinical Characteristics and Outcome of Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Device Infections in Turkey.

Infection is one of the most devastating outcomes of cardiovascular implantable electronic device (CIED) implantation and is related to significant morbidity and mortality. In our country, there is no evaluation about CIED infection. Therefore, our aim was to investigate clinical characteristics and outcome of patients who had infection related to CIED implantation or replacement. The study included 144 consecutive patients with CIED infection treated at 11 major hospitals in Turkey from 2005 to 2014 retrospectively. We analyzed the medical files of all patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of CIED infection. Inclusion criteria were definite infection related to CIED implantation, replacement, or revision. Generator pocket infection, with or without bacteremia, was the most common clinical presentation, followed by CIED-related endocarditis. Coagulase-negative staphylococci and Staphylococcus aureus were the leading causative agents of CIED infection. Multivariate analysis showed that infective endocarditis and ejection fraction were the strongest predictors of in-hospital mortality.

Asystole induced by radiofrequency catheter ablation of slow pathway.

Radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation is a treatment of choice widely used for a variety of supraventricular tachycardia. Transient sinus and atrioventricular (AV) node dysfunctions may occur during RF application to sites remote from the sinus and AV nodes, but they generally resolve quickly after cessation of RF current. We present a case of two episodes of asystole in a 43-year-old man induced by RF catheter ablation of an AV nodal slow pathway. A Bezold-Jarisch-like reflex, direct stimulation of parasympathetic fibers traveling to the sinus and AV nodes, RF-induced myocardial injury or pain could be responsible for this situation.