Etiología y factores de riesgo en una muestra de 200 pacientes consecutivos con insuficiencia cardiaca / Etiology and risk factors in a serie of 200 consecutive patients with heart failure

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[Colchicine treatment for recurrent pericarditis]. / Tratamiento con colchicina de la pericarditis recidivante.

The treatment of the recurrent pericarditis is difficult habitually. The colchicine, antiinflammatory drug used in gouty arthritis, is effective in preventing the recurrences of acute pericarditis. We review the literature about the efficacy of colchicine in the prevention of recurrent pericarditis.

[Primary cardiac tumors: a review of 29 cases]. / Tumores cardíacos primários: revisión de 29 casos.

A series of 29 cardiac tumors were operated in Asturias Central Hospital between 1974 and 1994. There were 23 benign and 6 malignant tumors. Among the benign neoplasms, 22 were myxomas and 1 lipoma; there were 6 remalignant tumors, one pulmonary artery sarcoma, two rhabdomyosarcoma, one mesothelioma and two lymphomas. We review the clinical findings of these patients. Long-term results were excellent in patients with benign lesions, and only one recurrence was found. In patients with malignant tumors, surgical procedures were only palliative and aimed at prolonging life; hence, prognosis remained unchanged.

[Reversible dilated cardiomyopathy and hyperthyroidism]. / Miocardiopatía dilatada reversible e hipertiroidismo.

Thyrotoxicosis may precipitate atrial fibrillation, myocardial ischemia or heart failure if underlying heart disease is present. However, reversible dilated cardiomyopathy is rare. We report a case of a 51-year-old man with thyrotoxicosis and dilated cardiomyopathy that was reversed with antithyroid treatment.

[Primary pulmonary hypertension]. / Hipertensión pulmonar primaria.

Primary pulmonary hypertension is defined as pulmonary arterial hypertension of unknown cause. It's a diagnosis made by exclusion; all recognizable causes of pulmonary hypertension must be ruled out before the diagnosis of primary pulmonary hypertension can be made. The prognosis is poor for medical management. Recently, with the advent first of heart-lung transplantation and then of single-lung transplantation the therapeutic options have increased considerably. We discuss the characteristics of this disease and we review the literature.

[Coronary angioplasty through 6 French guiding catheters]. / Angioplastia coronaria a través de catéteres guía 6 French.

BACKGROUND: The development of new small guiding catheters with large internal lumen has allowed their use in routine coronary angioplasty. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to present the technical characteristics, results and complication rates obtained with the use of 6 French guiding catheters compared with those obtained with the use of 8 French. METHODS: During a 23 month period, a total of 355 consecutive patients was enrolled in this study. Coronary angioplasty was performed in 177 of them using a 6F guiding catheter and 178 using an 8F. RESULTS: We found no differences in technical characteristics between both groups: Radiation time (15.7 +/- 14 min vs 16.2 +/- 14 min), guiding catheter to patient ratio (1.1 +/- 0.3 vs 1.06 +/- 0.2), number of balloon catheters per patient (1.2 +/- 0.7 vs 1.36 +/- 0.7). There were no differences in the results obtained (Success 93% in 6F group vs 91% in 8F), major complication rates (Death 0.5% vs 1.6%, CABG 1.1% vs 2.2% or AMI 0% vs 2.2%), or peripheral complications. CONCLUSIONS: In coronary angioplasty, with the use of 6F guiding catheters the same results can be achieved as with the use of larger catheters without an increase in technical difficulties or in complication rates.

[Ventricular tachycardia secondary to phenylpropanolamine poisoning: apropos a case]. / Taquicardia ventricular secundaria a intoxicación por fenilpropanolamina: a propósito de un caso.

We report a case of a 17-years-old patient with an accidental ingestion of high doses of phenylpropanolamine. Nine hours after the ingestion she presented ventricular bigeminy and an episode of non sustained ventricular tachycardia. No cardiovascular disease was demonstrated.

Infective endocarditis of an interventricular patch caused by Acinetobacter haemolyticus.

A case of infective endocarditis caused by Acinetobacter haemolyticus affecting and interventricular patch is reported. The patient, a 21-year-old man with a Fallot's tetralogy who had undergone cardiovascular surgery several years before, received imipenem and gentamicin for 6 and 4 weeks respectively and showed a good response without needing surgical treatment. Endocarditis by Acinetobacter species is very unusual and, to our knowledge, this is the first reported case of infective endocarditis caused by A. haemolyticus. As the clinical characteristics and the response to antibiotics appear to be similar to those reported for infective endocarditis by Acinetobacter lwoffi, prosthetic infective endocarditis by A. haemolyticus is apparently not always an indication for surgical treatment.

[Study of associated risk factors and prevalence of heart diseases in patients with arterial hypertension]. / Estudio de los factores de riesgo asociados y la prevalencia de cardiopatía en pacientes con hipertensión arterial.

We studied the frequency of heart disease and association with other coronary risk factors in 243 consecutive patients (124 male and 119 female) suffering from arterial hypertension (Group HT). The mean age was 67.5 +/- 9.6 years. This group was compared to a group of 357 subjects (217 male and 140 female) without arterial hypertension (Group noHT) and mean age of 63.5 +/- 13 years. In our group the patients with arterial hypertension presented smoking habits in 35%, hypercholesterolemia in 22%, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in 18%, alcoholic habits in 15%, hypertriglyceridemia in 12%, diabetes in 9% and hyperuricemia in 7%. 15% of the patients suffering from arterial hypertension turned out with coronary heart disease (62% angina and 38% myocardial infarction), 19% with atrial fibrillation and 13% with heart failure. Compared to the patients without hypertension we found significant statistical correlation with the age (67.5 +/- 9.6 HT and 63.5 +/- 13 no HT, p < 0.001), the LVH (18% HT and 4% no HT, p < 0.001) and number of coronary risk factors (2 +/- 1 HT and 1.1 +/- 0.9, p < 0.001). The percentage of people without cardiac disease is lower among the group with arterial hypertension (53% HT and 71% noHT, p < 0.001), showing as well a higher incidence of atrial fibrillation (19% HT and 11% noHT, p < 0.05) and heart failure (13% HT and 7% noHT, p < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)