Two-dimensional echocardiographic evaluation of mitral valve calcification. Sensitivity and specificity.

The effectiveness of two-dimensional echocardiography in assessing mitral valve calcification was compared to radiography of the surgically excised valves in 43 patients affected by rheumatic disease of the mitral valve. Mitral valve calcification was graded as absent or present if single thin or multiple dense conglomerate echoes defined the valvular orifice in short axis view, provided the sensitivity of the instrumentation was adequately optimized. The radiograph of the excised valve was similarly graded. The interobserver reproducibility for both two-dimensional echocardiography and radiography was 100 percent. There were 14 true positives, 19 true negatives, 10 false positives and no false negatives, thus giving, for two-dimensional echocardiography, a sensitivity of 100 percent and a specificity of 65 per cent. It is concluded that two-dimensional echocardiography is an extremely sensitive method for assessing mitral valve calcification, and is prospectively useful also in planning reconstruction versus replacement in mitral valve surgery. Nevertheless, the consistent number of false positives affecting two-dimensional echocardiography represents a definite limit to the specificity of the technique.

Isosorbide dinitrate alone and in association with intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation in acute myocardial infarction. A clinical study by precordial ECG mapping.

The effects of the association of Isosorbide Dinitrate (ISDN) and Intra-Aortic Balloon Counterpulsation (IABCP) on ECGphic signs (in 24-lead precordial maps) of myocardial damage were studied in 7 patients (pts) with anterior acute myocardial infarction (AMI) without cardiogenic shock and/or pulmonary congestion, admitted to the CCU within 6 hours (hrs) since the chest pain. Matched control group consisted of 7 pts treated with ISDN alone. Analysis of variance showed that the association of IABCP and ISDN influenced favourably (p less than 0.01) the trend of the sigma ST (in all leads and in those with ST segment elevation greater than 0.2 mV), of the ST and of NST. The trend of sigma R was similar in the two groups. sigma Q was influenced either by time and by therapy; NQ was significantly lower (p less than 0.01) in pts treated with ISDN and IABCP. These findings seem to give evidence that the association of ISDN and IABCP may really be effective in reducing and stabilizing the ECG extent of ischemic myocardial injury in pts with transmural AMI without left ventricular failure; however this aggressive therapy cannot have a widespread indication until more reliable criteria for evaluating infarct size are available and larger randomized clinical trials performed.

[Cardiac insufficiency caused by iatrogenic arteriovenous fistula]. / Scompenso cardiaco da fistola artero-venosa iatrogena.

Two cases of iatrogenic arterio-venous fistula complicated by heart failure are described. A 50 year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with congestive heart failure and a questionable diagnosis of congestive cardiomyopathy. A continuous murmur heard over the lumbar spine close to a surgical scar from an intervention on the L4-L5 disc that the patient had undergone six months before, led to the diagnosis of an arterio-venous fistula. Angiography demonstrated a direct communication between the right iliac artery and the right iliac vein. After surgical closure of the fistula normal cardiac function was restored. The second patient (a sixty-year-old woman) had undergone surgical mitral valve replacement with a Hancock bioprosthesis 18 months before the current admission. In the post-operative period the percutaneous insertion of an intravenous line through the left jugular vein had been unsuccessfully attempted. She had mild heart failure which was ascribed to incompetence of the bioprosthetic valve. A continuous murmur in the left supraclavear area suggested the presence of an arterio-venous fistula. Angiography showed a direct communication between the supraclavear branch of the left subclavian artery and the left subclavian vein. The fistula was successfully closed. Both cases confirm the potential harmfulness for the vascular bed of certain surgical interventions and intravascular monitoring techniques. When heart failure of uncertain etiology appears in patients previously submitted to the one of the above mentioned procedures, a careful clinical examination can lead to a correct diagnosis of iatrogenic arterio-venous fistula, whose surgical correction is usually followed by the restoration of a normal cardiac function.

[Interatrial defect functionally cancelled by a left atrial myxoma within the framework of embolizing mitral stenosis and insufficiency]. / Difetto interatriale funzionalmente cancellato da un mixoma atriale sinistro con quadro di steno-insufficienza mitralica embolizzante.

The case is presented by a 54 year-old woman, studied because of a clinical diagnosis of mitral valve disease, in which echocardiographic and angiocardiographic examination afforded the diagnosis of left atrial tumor. The surgical finding was of a large myxoma implanted on the atrial septum and prolapsing into the mitral opening and engaging with a branch into an atrial septal defect of the cavalis superior type. Some considerations are made on the times of possible origin and growth of the tumor; the complete absence of the increased pulmonary flow in the presence of a large interatrial communication suggested an early beginning of the tumor that, obstructing the defect, might have hindered the hemodynamic derangement.

[M.-mode and two-dimensional echocardiographic diagnosis of pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle (author's transl)]. / Diagnosi ecocardiografica mono e bidimensionale di un caso di pseudoaneurisma del ventricolo sinistro.

The echocardiographic features of a case of postinfarction pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle are described. M-mode echocardiography displayed an echo-free space behind the posterior left ventricular wall and two-dimensional echocardiography defined the saccular contour of the pseudoaneurysm and its probable communication with the ventricular cavity. A second echocardiographic examination--a week later--revealed a marked enlargement of the pseudoaneurysm and a characteristic fast backward early systolic motion of the ventricular wall interposed between left ventricular cavity and the saccular aneurysm; this motion is interpreted as a passive displacement of the ruptured wall during ventricular systole, and allows a differential diagnosis with similar echocardiographic M-mode aspects, due to pericardial effusion, pleural effusion or pericardial cysts. Echocardiography findings were confirmed by angiocardiography and the surgery. Echocardiography seems to be a safe method for early non-invasive diagnosis of left ventricular pseudoaneurysm.

[Coronary aneurysm. Report of a case of inflammatory etiology and review of the literature (author's transl)]. / Aneurisma coronarico. Presentazione di un caso ad eziologia infiammatoria e revisione della letteratura.

The case is presented of a 31 year old man with anteroseptal myocardial infarction, whose chest X-ray showed an anomalous protrusion along the left cardiac border. After 6 months, the increase in size of such protrusion lead to left ventriculographic and coronariographic examination: the presence of a large nonfistulous bisaccular coronary aneurysm was documented along the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery. Cardiac surgery consisted in resection of the coronary aneurysm and of the left ventricular post-infarction area, and was followed by good surgical and angiocardiographic result. Histological examination showed the wall of the coronary aneurysm to be composed of collagenous bands in the absence of elastic components, with hemosiderin and fibrino-hematic deposits and scattered granulocytic infiltrates. An infective etiology is hypothesized for the coronary parietal lesion, leading to a coronary pseudo-aneurysm an subsequent myocardial infarction.

[Dynamic ECG, exercise stress testing and coronary arteriography for the diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease. A Bayesian analysis of probability (author's transl)]. / ECG dinamico, ECG da sforzo e coronarografia nella diagnosi della cardiopatia ischemica. Analisi bayesiana della probabilità.

In spite of great technological improvement in Ambulatory ECG Monitoring (AEM), there is still debate about its reliability in detecting ECG signs of myocardial ischemia and about the utility of AEM and Exercise Stress Testing (ET)--apart and/or in association--to predict Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). 50 consecutive male patients (pts) (mean age 51 +/- 69 years, 37 to 64 years) were studied for precordial chest pain. 17 had evidence of previous myocardial infarction. Resting ECG was normal in 21 pts and abnormal in 29; no pt received therapy during the examination period. ECG recordings were considered positive for ischemic ECG changes if there was greater than or equal to 1 mm of horizontal or down sloping ST-segment depression or ST-segment elevation of the same degree for greater than or equal to 0.08 sec in at least 15 consecutive beats; coronary arteriography was considered positive for significant CAD if any major vessel had greater than or equal to 75% luminal diameter narrowing. The percentage of false negative results was similar in AEM and ET (22.7% vs 22.2%); the false positives were few with both tests: 2 pts and 1 pt respectively; Bayesian probability (post-test likelihood for disease) calculated using the prevalence of CAD estimated from 2124 male pts who underwent coronary angiography in our Laboratory, for a given test result was very high: 97.1% +/- 1.3% (AEM), 98.6% +/- 1.1% (ET) and 98.1% +/- 1.1% (AEM & ET if concordant); post-test likelihood for CAD in a patient who did not show the given test result decreased to 67.8% +/- 1.3% (AEM), 60.9% +/- 1.1% (ET) and 52.1% +/- 1.1% (AEM & ET if concordant). The application of Bayes' theorem to these two non invasive tests improves the evaluation of patients with suspected CAD; the association of AEM and ET enhances the diagnostic accuracy.