Hemorrhagic pericarditis associated with rivaroxaban in an atrial fibrillation patient with pacemaker.

Rivaroxaban is a new oral anticoagulant used for the prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. Hemorrhagic pericarditis is known to occur with rivaroxaban; however, only a few case reports in the literature describe such events. Recently, we experienced hemorrhagic pericarditis that treated with rivaroxaban for anticoagulation of newly diagnosed, non valvular AF patients with pacemaker. An 83 year old male with permanent pacemaker receiving rivaroxaban 20 mg daily once for 3 months presented at our emergency department complaining of exertional dyspnea. ECG showed intermittent atrial pacing failure and echocardiography showed large amount of pericardial effusion. After urgent pericardiocentesis, which resulted in removal of 500cc bloody fluid, there was an immediate and dramatic improvement in the patient's clinical state. He was discharged without anticoagulation therapy due to concern for further bleeding. This case highlight the potential for bleeding complications associated with novel anticoagulants. Rivaroxaban is being used with increasing frequently in outpatient care. However, no available laboratory test specifically measures the anticoagulant effect of rivaroxaban. Also, in the events of serious bleeding, no specific antidotes, reversal agents were available. Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of hemopericardium in patients treated with anticoagulants, including rivaroxaban who presented with cardiomegaly.

Successful treatment of a ruptured subclavian artery aneurysm presenting as hemoptysis with a covered stent.

An aneurysm of the subclavian artery is rare. Recently, we experienced a case of a ruptured subclavian artery aneurysm presenting as hemoptysis. The patient had experienced atypical chest discomfort, and computed tomography (CT) revealed a small aneurysm of the left subclavian artery (SCA). Hemoptysis occurred 2 weeks later. Follow-up CT showed a ruptured aneurysm at the proximal left SCA. Endovascular treatment with a graft stent was performed by bilateral arterial access with a 12-Fr introducer sheath placed via cutdown of the left axillary artery and an 8-Fr sheath in the right femoral artery. A self-expandable Viabahn covered stent measuring 13×5 mm was introduced retrogradely via the left axillary sheath and was positioned under contrast guidance with an 8-Fr JR4 guide through the femoral sheath. After the procedure, hemoptysis was not found, and the 3-month follow-up CT showed luminal patency of the left proximal SCA and considerable reduction of the hematoma.

One-year clinical impact of cardiac arrest in patients with first onset acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac arrest complicating acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is known to be associated with increased in-hospital mortality. However, little is known about the long-term outcomes after cardiac arrest complicating first onset STEMI in contemporary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) era. METHODS: We analyzed 7942 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with STEMI and had no previous history of MI. They were divided into two groups according to the presence of cardiac arrest (group I, patients with cardiac arrest; n=481, group II, patients without cardiac arrest; n=7641). RESULTS: In a stepwise multivariate model, previous history of chronic kidney disease, high serum level of glucose and low high density lipoprotein-cholesterol was an independent predictor of cardiac arrest complicating STEMI. Group I had significantly higher in-hospital mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 3.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.08-4.51, p<0.001) and 30-day mortality after hospital discharge (adjusted HR 2.92, 95% CI 1.86-4.58, log-rank p<0.001). However, there was no significant increase in mortality beyond 30 days (6-month, adjusted HR 1.46, 95% CI 0.45-4.77, log rank p=0.382; 1-year, adjusted HR 1.84, 95% CI 0.83-4.05, log-rank p=0.107). Also, there were no significant differences in 6-month and 1-year major adverse cardiac events in 30-day survivors. Performing PCI was associated with decreased 12-month mortality in 30-day survivors. CONCLUSIONS: Although patients with cardiac arrest complicating first onset STEMI had higher in-hospital and 30-day mortality after hospital discharge, cardiac arrest itself did not have any residual impact on mortality as well as clinical outcomes.

Impact of patients' arrival time on the care and in-hospital mortality in patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Only a few studies have focused on the clinical characteristics and outcomes of non-ST-segment myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) during off-hours. The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of patients' arrival time on the care of NSTEMI and whether this pattern might affect hospital mortality. This study analyzed 4,736 NSTEMI patients included in the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry from November 2005 to January 2008. Patients' arrival time was classified into regular hours (weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) and off-hours (weekdays 18:01 p.m. to 8:59 a.m., weekends, and holidays). A subtotal of 2,225 (46.9%) patients was admitted during off hours, compared with 2,511 (53.1%) patients with regular-hour admission. A higher proportion of patients admitted during off-hours had a higher Killip class, had more frequent cardiopulmonary resuscitation, were less likely to receive percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (67.7% vs 72.7%, p <0.001), and had longer door-to-balloon times (28 hours, interquartile range: 11 to 63 vs 23 hours, interquartile range 4 to 67, p <0.001). Although unadjusted hospital mortality was associated with admission during off-hours (4.5% vs 3.3%, p = 0.023), after adjusting for all patients covariates, the difference in mortality was attenuated and was no longer statistically significant (odds ratio 0.94, 95% confidence interval 0.59 to 1.48, p = 0.793). In conclusion, despite receiving fewer PCIs and having substantially longer waiting times to PCI, patients admitted during off-hours may not be at risk for increased in-hospital mortality. If patients are treated within an appropriate reperfusion strategy according to their clinical risk, arrival time may not influence on mortality.

Comparison of triple anti-platelet therapy and dual anti-platelet therapy in patients with acute myocardial infarction who had no-reflow phenomenon during percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND: No-reflow phenomenon is a serious complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and associated with poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to determine whether triple anti-platelet therapy could improve clinical outcome in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who had no-reflow phenomenon during PCI compared with dual anti-platelet therapy. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 727 eligible patients received either dual anti-platelet therapy (aspirin and clopidogrel; dual group, n=532) or triple anti-platelet therapy (aspirin, clopidogrel, and cilostazol; triple group, n=195). The triple group received additional cilostazol for at least 1 month. One-year major adverse cardiac events (MACE) including death, myocardial infarction (MI), target vessel revascularization (TVR) and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) were evaluated. The triple group had a similar incidence of major bleeding and in-hospital mortality compared with the dual group. At 1 year, the triple group had significantly lower cardiac mortality (17.7% vs. 11.8%, log-rank P=0.039), lower all-cause mortality (19.0% vs. 12.3%, log-rank P=0.035), and lower incidence of composite MACE (25.9% vs. 16.9%, adjusted hazard ratio, 0.50; 95% confidence interval: 0.31-0.80, P=0.004) compared with the dual group with no differences in MI and TVR. CONCLUSIONS: Triple anti-platelet therapy seems to be superior to dual anti-platelet therapy in patients with AMI who had no-reflow phenomenon during PCI.

A patient with repeated catastrophic multi-vessel coronary spasm after zotarolimus-eluting stent implantation.

Drug-eluting stents (DES) have gained great popularity because of extraordinarily low rates of restenosis. Despite these superior clinical outcomes, several cases regarding the severe multi-vessel coronary spasm, although rare, after the placement of first generation DES have been reported. We report a case of severe, multi-vessel coronary spasm that occurred two occasions after placement of a zotarolimus-eluting stent, one of the second generation DES, in a 42-year-old man with unstable angina. The first incidence was relieved by intracoronary nitroglycerin alone, and second incident, which had combined fixed stenosis was treated with intracoronary nitroglycerin and everolimus-eluting stent.

Impact of total occlusion of an infarct-related artery on long-term mortality in acute non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients who underwent early percutaneous coronary intervention.

Some patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) have a total occlusive infarct-related artery. However, the long-term prognosis of these patients is uncertain, particularly for those who underwent an early invasive strategy. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical impact of total occlusion (TO) of an infarct-related artery (IRA) in these patients. A total of 2,094 patients with NSTEMI who underwent an early invasive strategy with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the Korea Acute MI Registry (KAMIR) were analyzed (TO group; 665 patients, and non-TO group; 1,429 patients).In-hospital and one-year clinical outcomes were compared between the two groups. The left circumflex (42.9%) and right coronary artery (31.9%) were the major IRA in the TO group, while the left anterior descending artery was more common as an IRA in the non-TO group (44.1%). In-hospital complications including death and cardiogenic shock occurred frequently in the TO group. Also, the rates of one-month and 12-month adverse cardiac outcomes were higher in the TO group. In the Cox-proportional hazard model, TO in IRA predicted 12-month all-cause death. In conclusion, NSTEMI patients with TO in IRA showed worse short- and long-term clinical outcomes compared with those of non-TO patients.

Is Myocardial Infarction in Patients without Significant Stenosis on a Coronary Angiogram as Benign as Believed?

The present study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and 1-year outcomes of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients without significant stenosis on a coronary angiogram comparison with the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with significant coronary artery stenosis. A total of 1,220 patients with AMI were retrospectively classified into Group I (≥50% diameter stenosis, n=1,120) and Group II (<50%, n=100). Group II was further divided into two subgroups according to the underlying etiology: cryptogenic (Group II-a, n=54) and those with possible causative factors (Group II-b, n=46). Patients in Group II were younger, were more likely to be women, and were less likely to smoke and to have diabetes mellitus than were patients in Group I. The levels of cardiac enzymes, LDL-cholesterol levels, and the apo-B/A1 ratio were lower in Group II. However, 1-month and 12-month rates of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were not significantly different between the two groups. The Group II-b subgroup comprised 29 patients with vasospasm, 11 with myocardial bridge, and 6 with spontaneous thrombolysis. Left ventricular ejection fraction and creatinine clearance were lower and levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were higher in Group II-a than in Group II-b. However, outcomes including MACE and mortality at 12 months were not significantly different between the two subgroups. The 1-year outcomes of patients in Group II were similar to those of patients in Group I. The clinical outcomes in Group II-a were also similar to those of Group II-b, although the former group showed higher levels of NT-proBNP and hs-CRP.