Step-by-step venous navigation in treatment of tentorial dural arteriovenous fistula supplied by artery of Bernasconi and Cassinari.

The artery of Bernasconi and Cassinari is a small infraclinoid branch of the internal carotid artery that originates from its cavernous segment and then runs along the tentorium. Because of its gracile appearance, it is often visible only when related to neoplasms and vascular lesions in the tentorial regions.1 Dural arteriovenous fistulas (dAVFs) are arteriovenous shunts contained within the dural leaflets, supplied largely by the regional meningeal arteries and classified based on the type of venous drainage. Tentorial dAVFs are mostly supplied by branches of the meningohypophyseal trunk, including the artery of Bernasconi and Cassinari.2 Unlike fistulas of other locations, tentorial fistulas are linked with a higher risk for venous hypertension and hemorrhage and thus demand immediate and appropriate treatment.3 Digital subtraction angiography is necessary to understand its arterial and venous components. Treatment aims to achieve complete embolization of the fistulous connection and venous portions by either a transarterial or transvenous approach, without causing serious changes in the flow dynamics.4, 5.

The impact of earthquakes on the frequency and prognosis of the most common emergency cardiac conditions.

AIM: To assess whether the number of patients with a cardiac chief complaint and their characteristics differed between before and after two major earthquakes that struck Croatia in 2020. METHODS: We collected data on all visits of patients with a cardiac chief complaint examined in the emergency departments of six hospitals nearest to the epicenters. Patients seen during the 7 days before the earthquake were compared with those seen on the day and during the 6 days after the earthquake. RESULTS: Patients seen after the earthquake were younger (68 [59-79] vs 72.5 [65-80]; P<0.001) and less frequently had cardiovascular disease (32.9% vs 42.8%; P<0.001). This group less frequently had the primary diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (15.6% vs 21.9%; P=0.005), heart failure (9.3% vs 19.4%; P<0.001), dysregulated hypertension (13.9% vs 19.4%; P=0.01), but more frequently had non-anginal chest discomfort (28.8% vs 18.0%; P<0.001). In a subgroup analysis of patients seen in hospitals located within 20 km from the epicenter, significantly more patients seen after the earthquake compared with those seen before the earthquake presented with AMI (14.5% vs 22.8%; P=0.028), acute elevation of blood pressure (10% vs 21.8%, P=0.001), and paroxysmal arrhythmias treated with electrocardioversion (0.9% vs 4.5%, P=0.022). CONCLUSION: After two moderately strong earthquakes, hospitals within 20 km from the epicenter saw a significant increase in acute cardiac conditions such as elevated blood pressure, AMI, and cardioverted arrhythmias. Eventually, these earthquakes had no impact on the outcomes of the studied population.

Cardioversion in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation: observational study using prospectively collected registry data.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent cardioversion compared with those who did not have cardioverson in a large dataset of patients with recent onset non-valvular atrial fibrillation. DESIGN: Observational study using prospectively collected registry data (Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-AF-GARFIELD-AF). SETTING: 1317 participating sites in 35 countries. PARTICIPANTS: 52 057 patients aged 18 years and older with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation (up to six weeks' duration) and at least one investigator determined stroke risk factor. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparisons were made between patients who received cardioversion and those who had no cardioversion at baseline, and between patients who received direct current cardioversion and those who had pharmacological cardioversion. Overlap propensity weighting with Cox proportional hazards models was used to evaluate the effect of cardioversion on clinical endpoints (all cause mortality, non-haemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism, and major bleeding), adjusting for baseline risk and patient selection. RESULTS: 44 201 patients were included in the analysis comparing cardioversion and no cardioversion, and of these, 6595 (14.9%) underwent cardioversion at baseline. The propensity score weighted hazard ratio for all cause mortality in the cardioversion group was 0.74 (95% confidence interval 0.63 to 0.86) from baseline to one year follow-up and 0.77 (0.64 to 0.93) from one year to two year follow-up. Of the 6595 patients who had cardioversion at baseline, 299 had a follow-up cardioversion more than 48 days after enrolment. 7175 patients were assessed in the analysis comparing type of cardioversion: 2427 (33.8%) received pharmacological cardioversion and 4748 (66.2%) had direct current cardioversion. During one year follow-up, event rates (per 100 patient years) for all cause mortality in patients who received direct current and pharmacological cardioversion were 1.36 (1.13 to 1.64) and 1.70 (1.35 to 2.14), respectively. CONCLUSION: In this large dataset of patients with recent onset non-valvular atrial fibrillation, a small proportion were treated with cardioversion. Direct current cardioversion was performed twice as often as pharmacological cardioversion, and there appeared to be no major difference in outcome events for these two cardioversion modalities. For the overall cardioversion group, after adjustments for confounders, a significantly lower risk of mortality was found in patients who received early cardioversion compared with those who did not receive early cardioversion. STUDY REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01090362.

Chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation: European Society of Hypertension project - ESH A Fib.

ABSTRACT: Our aim was to analyze characteristics of atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) from the Croatian cohort of the ESH A Fib survey and to determine the association of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) with cardiovascular (CV) mortality after 24 months of follow-up.Consecutive sample of 301 patients with AF were enrolled in the period 2014 to 2018. Hypertension was defined as BP > 140/90 mm Hg and/or antihypertensive drugs treatment, CKD was defined as eGFR (CKD Epi) < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 which was confirmed after 3 months.CKD was diagnosed in 45.2% of patients (13.3% in CKD stage > 3b). CKD patients were older than non-CKD and had significantly more frequent coronary heart disease, heart failure and valvular disease. CKD patients had significantly higher CHA2DS2-VASc score and more CKD than non-CKD patients had CHA2DS2-VASc > 2. Crude CV mortality rate per 1000 population at the end of the first year of the follow-up was significantly higher in CKD vs non-CKD group who had shorter mean survival time. CV mortality was independently associated with eGFR, male gender, CHA2DS2VASc and R2CHA2DS2VASc scores.Prevalence of CKD, particularly more advanced stages of CKD, is very high in patients with AF. Observed higher CV mortality and shorter mean survival time in CKD patients could be explained with higher CHA2DS2VASc score which is a consequence of clustering of all score components in CKD patients. However, eGFR was independently associated with CV mortality. In our cohort, R2CHA2DS2VASc score was not associated significantly more with CV mortality than CHA2DS2VASc score.

Cardioversion Safety - Are We Doing Enough?

There is a considerable periprocedural risk of thromboembolic events in atrial fibrillation patients undergoing cardioversion, and treatment with anticoagulants is therefore a hallmark of cardioversion safety. Based on retrospective subgroup analyses and prospective studies, non-vitamin K anticoagulants are at least as efficient as vitamin K-antagonists in preventing thromboembolic complications after cardioversion. The risk of thromboembolic complications after cardioversion very much depends on the comorbidities in a given patient, and especially heart failure, diabetes, and age >75 years carry a markedly increased risk. Cardioversion has been considered safe within a 48-h time window after onset of atrial fibrillation without prior treatment with anticoagulants, but recent studies have set this practice into question based on e.g. erratic debut assessment of atrial fibrillation. Therefore, a simple and more practical approach is here suggested, where early cardioversion is performed only in hemodynamically unstable patients.

PERIPHERAL NERVE INJURY IN SPORTS.

- Peripheral nerve injuries in sports are rare. Peripheral nerve injuries in sports are caused by pressure, stretching, or bone fracture. Peripheral nerve injuries are more frequent on upper limbs, and the type of injury is determined by the type of sport. According to Seddon, we distinguish 3 levels of injury: 1) neurapraxia; 2) axonotmesis; and 3) neurotmesis. Diagnosis must be reached as early as possible to enable timely initiation of appropriate treatment. The diagnostics of peripheral nerve injuries includes electromyography and nerve conduction studies, somatosensory evoked potentials, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound. Proximal nerve injuries have a poorer prognosis for neurologic recovery.

Pulmonary granular cell tumours: case presentations and literature review.

Pulmonary granular cells tumours are very rare tumours, most probably originating from Schwann cells. Although rare, clinical and biological presentation is diverse. They are most commonly endobronchial masses, usually a solitary pulmonary lesion, although in up to 20% they can occur as multiple lesions and can be mistaken for malignant process. In spite of infiltrative growth, and rare direct lymph node invasion, they have a very good prognosis if completely removed. Here we present two cases from the archives of the Institute of Pathology, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, with literature review.

Sports and health: equivalence or contrariety.

Playing sports is a widely known method of health promotion. Balanced exercise and diet are keys to healthy life. However, sports activities can cause different injuries, from joint to head injuries. Although head injuries cause a variety of acute and chronic disorders, they are often undertreated. There are 1.6 million injured people examined at emergency departments throughout Europe every year. In sports like boxing, football, soccer, hockey, handball, basketball and bicycling, head injuries occur at a frequency of 4% to 22%. Particularly significant are chronic difficulties that occur after recurrent head injuries, i.e. cognitive deficits and changes in electroencephalogram. Qualifications of professional personnel are insufficient for professional evaluation and treatment of head injuries. The best way for sports to become an important link in health and disease prevention is to go back to sports basics while using acquired scientific knowledge.