Nonoperative Management of Iatrogenic Right Atrial Appendage Pseudoaneurysm During Catheter Ablation.

Atrial pseudoaneurysms are exceedingly rare. Cardiac pseudoaneurysms are at risk for rupture, which may be catastrophic and require emergent thoracotomy for definitive treatment. We report a case of right atrial appendage perforation during catheter ablation leading to tamponade and right atrium pseudoaneurysm.

An Updated Healthcare System-Wide Clinical Pathway for Managing Patients With Chest Pain and Acute Coronary Syndromes.

Clinical pathways reinforce best practices and help healthcare institutions standardize care delivery. The NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center has used such a pathway for the management of patients with chest pain and acute coronary syndromes for almost 2 decades. A multidisciplinary panel of stakeholders serially updates the algorithm according to new data and recently published guidelines. Herein, we present the 2019 version of the clinical pathway. We explain the rationale for changes to the algorithm and describe our experience expanding the pathway to all the 8 affiliated institutions within the NewYork Presbyterian healthcare system.

Manual Aspiration Thrombectomy in Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Clinical Experience.

Multiple clinical studies have failed to establish the role of routine use of thrombectomy in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. There is a paucity of data on the impact of thrombectomy in unselected STEMI patients outside clinical trials. We sought to evaluate the clinical variables and outcomes associated with the performance of thrombectomy in STEMI patients. We retrospectively examined the clinical outcomes in all STEMI patients who underwent successful percutaneous intervention (PCI) at our center. Patients were divided into two groups, one with patients who underwent conventional PCI and another with patients who had thrombus aspiration in addition to conventional PCI. We compared the baseline clinical characteristics, laboratory investigations, re-infarction rates, and all-cause mortality. Total 477 consecutive STEMI patients were identified. Overall, 29% (139) of the patients underwent conventional PCI and 71% (338) of the patients were treated with aspiration thrombectomy and PCI. In addition to the presence of thrombus, patients with nonanterior infarction, and patients with hemodynamic instability requiring intra-aortic balloon pump support were more likely to undergo thrombectomy. Thrombectomy was associated with higher enzymatic infarction (creatine kinase: 2,796 [2,575] vs. 1,716 [1,662]; p < 0.0001; CK-MB: 210.6 [156.0] vs. 142.0 [121.9], p < 0.0001). However, thrombectomy was not associated with any difference in 30 day reinfarction rate (3.3 vs. 2.9%, p = 0.83), mortality (5.0 vs. 7.2%, p = 0.35), or composite of death and 30 day reinfarction (7.7 vs. 9.4%, p = 0.55). We observed that STEMI patients with anterior infarction and hemodynamic instability were more likely to undergo thrombectomy during primary PCI.

Mortality in the coronary care unit.

OBJECTIVES: Currently, there are limited data on mortality or predictors of survival for patients admitted to the coronary care unit (CCU). The purpose of this study was to provide data on mortality in the modern-day CCU and to better define factors influencing patient survival. METHODS: A survey was conducted of all patients admitted to CCUs in New York City metropolitan academic hospitals in 2011, followed by a retrospective analysis comparing clinical data from 59 nonsurvivors with those from 897 survivors at two representative institutions. RESULTS: The weighted average mortality in the CCU across all hospitals was 5.6% (range 2.2-9.2%). The average age of the patients admitted to the CCU was 67 years, with 68% being male. Acute coronary syndromes accounted for 57% of all CCU admissions. Survival was worse in patients admitted for cardiac arrest (P=0.000), sepsis (P=0.002), primary respiratory failure (P=0.031), and systolic heart failure (P=0.003). Excluding patients who were made 'do not resuscitate' during their CCU stay, patients receiving treatments such as defibrillation after in-CCU cardiac arrest, right heart invasive monitoring, mechanical ventilation, inotropic support, emergent dialysis, or placement of an intra-aortic balloon pump had higher rates of in-CCU mortality. The most frequent causes of death were intractable cardiogenic shock, brain death, respiratory failure, multiorgan failure, or hypotension. CONCLUSION: This study provides additional mortality information for the modern-day CCU and should help identify factors that may predict survival.

Coronary Artery Spasm in Multivessel ACS: What More Should We Know?

Coronary spasm may present as acute coronary syndrome (ACS), "which can be an ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-STEMI, or unstable angina." However, the prevalence of coronary spasm in patients with ACS remains unknown due to scarcity of data. Concomitant coronary spasm may mask the true atherosclerosis burden in such cases, posing several management challenges. We illustrate the case of managing an ACS patient with concomitant spasm and atherosclerotic disease. We show that the routine use of vasodilator treatment in ACS cases may prevent inappropriate stenting by identifying concomitant coronary spasm, influencing the clinical outcomes associated with inappropriate stenting in the setting of coronary spasm.