Cardiac and Metabolic Effects of Bariatric Surgery Among Obese Patients in a Malaysian Tertiary Hospital: A 6-month Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: Obesity is known to be associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction due to its effect on blood pressure and glucose tolerance. We aimed to investigate whether weight loss after bariatric surgery might improve diastolic dysfunction through in-depth echocardiographic examination. Methodology: We recruited twenty-eight patients who were about to undergo bariatric surgery by purposive sampling. They underwent echocardiography at baseline and 6 months after surgery with a focus on diastolic function measurements and global longitudinal strain (GLS). They also had fasting serum lipid and glucose measurements pre- and post-surgery. Results: The mean weight loss after surgery was 24.1 kg. Out of the 28 subjects, fifteen (54%) initially had diastolic dysfunction before surgery. Only two had persistent diastolic dysfunction 6 months after surgery. The mean indexed left atrial volume 6 months post-surgery was 27.1 from 32 ml/m2 prior to surgery. The average E/e' is 11.78 post-surgery from 13.43 pre-surgery. The left ventricular GLS became (-)25.7% after surgery from (-)21.2% prior to surgery. Their post-surgery fasting serum lipid and glucose levels also showed significant improvement. Conclusion: Our study reinforced the existing evidence that bariatric surgery significantly improved echocardiographic parameters of diastolic function and left ventricular global longitudinal strain, along with various metabolic profiles.

Medical therapy of a left-sided native valve endocarditis with neurologic sequela.

Infective endocarditis could present with a plethora of signs and symptoms. Among the rarity of its presentation is acute confusion associated with neurological deficits, mimicking stroke especially in the young population. We report a case of a 33-year-old young man with acute right-sided hemiparesis and confusion 2 weeks after  tooth extraction. The brain CT and MRI was consistent with new infarction on the left middle and anterior cerebral arteries' territory. Echocardiography unveiled the existence of posterior mitral valve leaflet vegetation. Blood culture grew Group B beta-haemolytic Streptococcus, sensitive to penicillin. Two weeks of intravenous gentamicin with 6 weeks of intravenous benzylpenicillin were administered. In this case report, we highlight the importance of recognition of infective endocarditis in a young patient presenting with cerebrovascular accident following tooth extraction.