Initial experience with a rapid access blackouts triage clinic.

Transient loss of consciousness (T-LOC), or blackout, is common in acute medicine. Clinical skills are not done well, with at least 74,000 patients misdiagnosed and mistreated for epilepsy in England alone. The aim of this study was to provide a rapid, structured assessment and an electrocardiogram (ECG) for patients with blackouts, aiming to identify high risk, reduce misdiagnoses, reduce hospital admission rates for low-risk patients, diagnose and treat where appropriate, and also provide onward specialist referral. The majority of patients had syncope, and very few had epilepsy. A high proportion had an abnormal ECG. A specialist-nurse-led rapid access blackouts triage clinic (RABTC) provided rapid effective triage for risk, a comprehensive assessment format, direct treatment for many patients, and otherwise a prompt appropriate onward referral. Rapid assessment through a RABTC reduced re-admissions with blackouts. Widespread use of the web-based blackouts tool could provide the NHS with a performance map. The U.K. has low rates of pacing compared to Western Europe, which RABTCs might help correct. The RABTC sits between first responders and specialist referral, providing clinical assessment and ECG in all cases, and referral where appropriate.

New-onset palpitations in general practice: assessing the discriminant value of items within the clinical history.

BACKGROUND: Palpitations are non-specific, with less than half of patients experiencing palpitations having a cardiac arrhythmia. Currently it seems that there is little evidence available to assist GPs in discriminating between patients complaining of palpitations who have significant cardiac arrhythmias and those who do not. OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to estimate discriminant functions for specific items of clinical information in relation to the categorization of a patient (aged over 18 years) with a symptom of new-onset palpitations presenting to primary care. METHODS: A network of 62 GPs spread amongst 36 practices agreed to recruit patients with new-onset palpitations over the course of a 9-month study period. Patients consenting to be involved in the study were asked a number of questions, focusing particularly on the medical history, and were requested to complete a Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Each patient was also provided with a RhythmCard cardiac event recorder for up to 2 weeks and was asked to record their heart rhythm if they experienced palpitations. Odds ratios (adjusted for age and sex) were used to compare the clinical information obtained from patients with the final diagnosis. RESULTS: Of the 139 patients with palpitations presenting to GPs, it would appear that males [odds ratio = 2.1 (1.0-4.5)], those with regular palpitations [odds ratio = 2.5 (1.0-5.8)], those experiencing palpitations at work [odds ratio = 3.0 (1.3-7.2)] and those experiencing palpitations affected by sleeping (odds ratio = 3.3 (1.4-7.7)] were more likely to have a cardiac cause for their palpitations. Similar findings were made in an analysis focusing solely on the 81 patients with a RhythmCard result. Furthermore, amongst this group, it is interesting to note that patients with regular palpitations were more than twice as likely to have a 'significant' cardiac arrhythmia as a cause for their palpitations. There were suggestions of dose-response effects between the rate of the palpitation, the duration of the palpitation and the likelihood of it being a 'significant' arrhythmia. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides some information on the characteristics of patients reporting palpitations to GPs who may have 'significant' cardiac arrhythmias. Based on this work, we believe that a larger community-based study would be worthwhile and would provide useful and useable clinical discriminant information for GPs in the settings where they work and amongst the types of patients they encounter.

Percutaneous rotational atherectomy in peripheral vascular disease for lesions unsuitable for balloon angioplasty.

Percutaneous rotational atherectomy (Rotablator), a high speed (> 140,000 RPM) rotational burr was used to relieve 90-99 percent obstruction in 3 superficial femoral and 2 axillary arteries. These patients had severe claudication in respective extremities. In 4 patients, the lesion was considered to be unsuitable for balloon angioplasty and one patient underwent rotational atherectomy after failure to cross the lesion with balloon catheter. The burr size used ranged from 1.5 to 2.5 mm. After rotablation, the stenosis was reduced from 94.6 +/- 4.5 percent to 42 +/- 8.4 percent. The residual narrowing was further reduced by adjunctive balloon angioplasty to 14 +/- 5.5 percent (p < 0.001). Except for hemoglobinuria in one patient, there were no complications. All patients had good distal pulsations and were relieved of their claudication. On follow-up of 5-18 months, there has been no restenosis. Thus, our preliminary experience suggests that rotational atherectomy is safe and produces gratifying results in patients with peripheral vascular disease having lesions unsuitable for primary balloon angioplasty.

Clinical, angiographic and histopathological predictors of restenosis after directional coronary atherectomy.

Out of 127 directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) procedures done in our laboratory, there were 81 patients who had completed a minimum of six months of follow-up. To study the factors predisposing restenosis after successful DCA, we analysed the clinical and angiographic profile of the patients and the histopathological findings of the excised tissue in 44 patients whose complete follow-up data was available with us. The indication of DCA was an extremely eccentric significant stenosis located in the proximal or midsegment of a large vessel (> or = 3 mm size) in 97 percent of the cases. Angiographic restenosis, defined as more than 50 percent luminal diameter stenosis was absent in 24 (54.5%, Group A) and present in 20 (45.5%, Group B) patients. On univariate analysis, the factors which predisposed to restenosis were: (i) left anterior descending location, (ii) longer lesion length (9.6 +/- 3.1 mm vs 5.2 +/- 1.6, p < 0.01) and (iii) greater post-procedure residual luminal diameter stenosis (13.1 +/- 10.8% vs 4.3 +/- 6%, p < 0.01). No significant difference was found between the two groups for other variables like unstable angina, the location and the morphological characteristics of the lesion and the ratio of the vessel diameter to the size of the Atherocath. Histopathological examination of the retrieved tissue revealed the presence of media with or without external elastic lamina in 8 (33%) patients in Group A--without restenosis compared to only 1 (5%) patients in Group B--with restenosis (p < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Directional atherectomy for the dilatation of bifurcation stenoses in the coronary arteries.

Although bifurcation lesions in the coronary arteries can be dilated with balloon angioplasty, directional atherectomy is emerging as the treatment of choice in patients with large arteries. In this study, we report the immediate results and acute complications of treating bifurcation lesions in the coronary arteries with directional atherectomy in 9 patients, ranging in age from 33 to 60 (mean 56.7 +/- 10.8) years. All patients had true bifurcation stenoses with luminal diameter narrowing of more than 70 percent in both the primary vessel and the side branch. The lesions involved the left anterior descending (LAD)-diagonal system in 5, left circumflex (LCx)-obtuse marginal (OM) in 2, distal right coronary artery (RCA) in 1 and bifurcation of a large first diagonal branch in one patient. Double-wire atherectomy technique was used in 4 patients, although 7 had an additional wire in the side branch during post-atherectomy balloon angioplasty. The procedure was successful in all patients (100%), with luminal diameter stenosis decreasing from 93 +/- 7.5 percent to 6 +/- 8.6 percent in the primary vessel and from 83 +/- 9.2 percent to 13 +/- 9 percent in the side branch. There were no major complications. Minor complications included non-flow limiting dissection in 4 patients, distal migration of thrombus in one, occlusion of 2 small distal branches of the diagonal in one and entwinement of the guidewires in one. In conclusion, directional atherectomy can be performed safely and successfully for dilatation of complex bifurcation lesions in the coronary arteries without any major complications using the double-wire or sequential atherectomy technique.

Amlodipine monotherapy in chronic stable angina.

The efficacy and safety of amlodipine was evaluated in 20 patients with stable exertional angina. Patients with > or = 3 anginal attacks per week in the placebo run-in phase were admitted into a 4 weeks active treatment phase. Amlodipine was administered at a starting dose of 5 mg once daily at bed time, which could be adjusted after 2 weeks to 10 mg once daily if the patient continued to have even a single anginal attack/week. Four weeks of treatment with amlodipine produced a significant (p < 0.05) reduction from baseline in both the mean (+/- SE) number of anginal attacks/week (from 13.3 +/- 1.5 to 1.6 +/- 0.5) and the mean (+/- SE) number of isosorbide dinitrate tablets consumed per week (12.1 +/- 1.5 to 2.6 +/- 0.8). Eighty three percent of patients required an increase in dose to 10 mg daily. No significant change in heart rate, blood pressure, ECG and laboratory results were observed. One patient was withdrawn because of deteriorating angina and sinus tachycardia secondary to beta blocker withdrawal. Worsening of ankle odema was reported in 2 (10%) patients, which was tolerated and disappeared on completing therapy. Thus amlodipine is safe and effective when used as monotherapy in the treatment of chronic stable angina.

Amlodipine monotherapy in mild to moderate hypertension.

The efficacy and safety of amlodipine was evaluated in 20 patients of mild to moderate hypertension in a single blind, placebo controlled, noncomparative study. Patients with a baseline diastolic blood pressure of > 90 and < 115 mmHg while on placebo were admitted to a 4 week active treatment phase. Amlodipine produced a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in mean systolic (177 mmHg to 145 mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (106 mmHg to 84 mmHg) after 4 weeks treatment in all patients. 95% of the patients had their diastolic blood pressure reduced to < or = 90 mmHg by the end of the study period. There was no significant change in heart rate or in the laboratory parameters with amlodipine therapy. Seven patients reported mild to moderate adverse events which did not require discontinuation of therapy. This combination of efficacy and tolerability, together with convenience of once daily dosing, should ensure the usefulness of amlodipine in the treatment of hypertension.