Subject(s)
Blood Donors , DNA, Viral/blood , Hepatitis B virus/isolation & purification , Hepatitis B/transmission , Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques , Blood Transfusion/standards , Hepatitis B/prevention & control , Hepatitis B Antibodies , Humans , Mass Screening/methods , Transfusion ReactionSubject(s)
Arrhythmias, Cardiac/complications , Coronary Disease/complications , Adult , Coronary Disease/therapy , Heart Ventricles , Humans , Male , RiskABSTRACT
This report describes a family showing muscular dystrophy and atrioventricular block with an x-linked hereditary transmission. Among a known pedigree of 101 family members, 12 males were found to have skeletal muscle involvement and six needed pacemakers around age 30 years. Unlike the x-linked muscular dystrophies of Duchenne and of Becker, the predominant skeletal involvement was in humeral muscles, was usually very mild, and did not produce incapacitation. Cardiac involvement consisted of various atrial arrhythmias and atrioventricular block. The few sporadic reports of other families that describe the same disease under different names are briefly reviewed. Recognition of this subtle muscular dystrophy is important for early detection of incipient complete atrioventricular block to prevent fatal complications by pacemaker insertion.
Subject(s)
Arrhythmias, Cardiac/genetics , Heart Block/genetics , Muscular Dystrophies/genetics , Sex Chromosomes , X Chromosome , Adult , Electrocardiography , Female , Humans , Male , PedigreeABSTRACT
Postmortem examination two weeks following implantation of a demand pacemaker with sutureless electrodes demonstrated that (1) the loops of intrapericardial electrode leads indented the myocardium and produced a circumscribed area of subepicardial necrosis, and (2) one of the electrode coils protruded into the right ventricular cavity. The use of extrapericardial electrode leads and left ventricular implantation sites should avoid these problems.
Subject(s)
Electrodes, Implanted/adverse effects , Heart Injuries/etiology , Myocardial Infarction/etiology , Pacemaker, Artificial/adverse effects , Heart Injuries/pathology , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Myocardial Infarction/pathology , Myocardium/pathology , Necrosis , Pericarditis/etiology , PressureABSTRACT
The antiarrhythmic activity of diphenidol, an antiemetic, has been demonstrated both in electrophysiologic studies of patiens and in experimental arrhythmias in animals. Accordingly, 18 patients with tachyarrhythmias were treated with intravenous diphenidol in doses of 0.5 to 1.5 mg/kg. In six patients with atrial arrhythmias, there was no notable effect. Similarly, 12 patients with premature ventricular contractions were treated and studied. In six of them, ectopic beats were abolished, at least transiently; in three the number of ventricular premature contractions decreased; in two there was no effect; and in one, the number of premature beats was increased. Of the total number of 18 patients, 14 suffered adverse effects related to the central nervous system. These adverse effects were of such severity as to suggest that further studies with diphenidol as an antiarrhythmic are not warranted.
