A case of aortic valve laceration after balloon aortic valvuloplasty with morphological features.

A 71-year-old man suffered from congestive heart failure due to severe aortic stenosis. We performed balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) as a bridge to transcatheter aortic valve replacement using transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) by the retrograde approach. Balloon dilatation was carefully performed using an 18 mm balloon. After balloon dilation, TEE showed right coronary cusp (RCC) laceration and severe aortic regurgitation. We discontinued the procedure despite the incomplete result. Aortic valve laceration is a rare complication considered to be mainly caused by the use of large balloon or by balloon slipping. In the present case, TEE showed that the commissure of RCC fused strongly with both the other cusps by thick calcification, and the center of RCC had a spotty low echoic area with soft tissue. The force of the balloon dilatation concentrated to soft tissue area and lacerated the center of RCC. We verified the finding in the operative specimen. When performing BAV, we should pay attention to the morphology of the aortic valve using TEE to avoid aortic valve laceration as a fatal complication. .

Effective treatment of congestive heart failure using adaptive servo-ventilation in an end-stage renal disease patient on hemodialysis.

A 61-year-old man who was being treated with hemodialysis (HD) for end-stage renal disease presented with symptoms of severe congestive heart failure (CHF). Removing excess intravascular fluid during HD was difficult due to the patient's chronic hypotension induced by severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. The application of adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV) increased the patient's cardiac output and blood pressure during HD, thus resulting in the effective removal of excess intravascular fluid. Therefore, ASV may be effective for treating CHF in HD patients with LV dysfunction and chronic hypotension.

Ventricular tachycardia originating from a heart-shaped idiopathic left ventricular aneurysm diagnosed on a three-dimensional electroanatomical mapping system integrated with CT imaging.

Idiopathic left ventricular aneurysms and diverticula (LVA/Ds) are rare cardiac malformations that can be detected using certain imaging techniques. Although most patients with these malformations are clinically asymptomatic, some patients exhibit cardiac arrhythmias and other clinical manifestations. In electrophysiological studies, it is often difficult to establish the relationship between clinical manifestations of cardiac arrhythmias and those of LVA/Ds due to anatomical complexities. We herein report the case of a 67-year-old man who was successfully diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia originating from an idiopathic LVA that was clearly demonstrated on a three-dimensional electroanatomical mapping system integrated with CT imaging.

Efficacy of linear block at the left atrial roof in atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: After extensive encircling of ipsilateral pulmonary vein isolation (EEPVI) for atrial fibrillation (AF), we sometimes observe AF recurrence, or the occurrence of atrial tachycardia originating from the left atrium. This study examined the efficacy of additional linear ablation at the left atrial (LA) roof in combination with EEPVI to prevent arrhythmia recurrences. METHODS: This study included 104 patients with drug-refractory AF (75 with paroxysmal, 29 with persistent). The patients in Group A (n=70) underwent EEPVI treatment alone, and the patients in Group B (n=34) underwent linear ablation at the LA roof in addition to EEPVI treatment. At 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after ablation, patients underwent clinical review and 24-h ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring to identify asymptomatic arrhythmias. Follow-up included daily trans-telephonic event monitoring, transmitted irrespective of the patient's symptoms. RESULTS: At 12 months, 57% of Group A and 79% of Group B were free of arrhythmias (p<0.05). Cox regression analysis demonstrated that among the variables of age, sex, duration of AF, types of AF (paroxysmal or persistent), LA size, ejection fraction, existence of hypertension, ischemic heart disease, valvular heart disease, history of stroke, and the ablation technique, only the ablation technique of the linear block at the LA roof was the independent predictor of arrhythmia-free recovery after ablation. CONCLUSIONS: EEPVI in combination with the linear ablation at the LA roof is associated with an improved clinical outcome compared with EEPVI alone.

Molecular diagnosis of prosthetic valve endocarditis with aorto-right atrial fistula.

Definite diagnosis of infective endocarditis is impossible when all blood cultures are negative under antibiotic treatment. In this case, Streptococcus canis was identified using polymerase chain reaction from preoperative whole blood and excised valve tissue, and considered as the pathogen for infective endocarditis, despite negative blood cultures. This information was useful for diagnosis and selection of antibiotics.