Malignant cardiac tamponade: safety and efficacy of intrapericardial bleomycin instillation.

BACKGROUND: Malignant cardiac tamponade is a life-threatening condition that requires prompt treatment and effective management to prevent recurrence. This paper describes safety and efficacy outcomes after intrapericardial instillation of bleomycin as well as possible predictors of survival. METHODS: We performed a 10-year retrospective, single-center study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intrapericardial instillation of bleomycin in patients with suspected malignant cardiac tamponade. RESULTS: Intrapericardial instillation of bleomycin was performed in 31 cancer patients (9 men, 22 women) presenting with cardiac tamponade. Non-fatal complications occurred in 3 patients and relapse occurred in 1 patient. Overall survival was less than 10% at the end of the study. Median survival was 104 days (95% CI, 0-251 days). Survival was compared between different groups (defined by primary tumor, type of tumor, TNM stage and results of cytological analysis) with median survival being considerably higher when oncologic therapy was altered afterwards. CONCLUSIONS: The use of intrapericardial bleomycin instillation following pericardiocentesis for malignant cardiac tamponade is a safe procedure with a high success rate. Survival rates depend on further oncological treatment options available.

Treatment of pre-existing cardiomyopathy during pregnancy.

Heart failure is an established predictor of primary cardiac events during pregnancy. Adequate heart failure treatment in pregnant women is hampered by important foetotoxicity of several conventional drugs. Hydralazine with or without long-acting nitrates has been proposed as an alternative for ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers. There are no published data, however, on the use of hydralazine to treat heart failure during pregnancy. We describe the course and outcome of pregnancy in two patients with heart failure. A 31-year-old woman with dilated cardiomyopathy was not treated with hydralazine during pregnancy and developed worsening heart failure. A 36-year-old woman with ischaemic cardiomyopathy was treated with hydralazine early during pregnancy and remained stable throughout and after pregnancy. We assume that early initiation of hydralazine as an alternative for ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers during pregnancy in patients with cardiomyopathy could prevent further left ventricular dilatation and worsening heart failure.

Sinus tachycardia: don't blame the whistle-blower.

Sinus tachycardia due to sympathetic activation may be the ultimate response to support cardiac output. Abrupt heart rate reduction in this condition may be deleterious as is illustrated by two cases. Both patients were referred in cardiogenic shock after inappropriate treatment with a beta-blocking agent, initiated as a symptomatic treatment of a sinus tachycardia.Thus even if beta-blocking agents provoked a paradigm shift in the understanding of heart failure and became a cornerstone of the treatment, therapy should be initiated with knowledge of the underlying condition.

Acute and critically ill peripartum cardiomyopathy and 'bridge to' therapeutic options: a single center experience with intra-aortic balloon pump, extra corporeal membrane oxygenation and continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices.

INTRODUCTION: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) patients refractory to medical therapy and intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) counterpulsation or in whom weaning from these therapies is impossible, are candidates for a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) as a bridge to recovery or transplant. Continuous-flow LVADs are smaller, have a better long-term durability and are associated with better outcomes. Extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be used as a temporary support in patients with refractory cardiogenic shock. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of mechanical support in acute and critically ill PPCM patients. METHODS: This was a retrospective search of the patient database of the Ghent University hospital (2000 to 2010). RESULTS: Six PPCM-patients were treated with mechanical support. Three patients presented in the postpartum period and three patients at the end of pregnancy. All were treated with IABP, the duration of IABP support ranged from 1 to 13 days. An ECMO was inserted in one patient who presented with cardiogenic shock, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and a stillborn baby. Two patients showed partial recovery and could be weaned off the IABP. Four patients were implanted with a continuous-flow LVAD (HeartMate II, Thoratec Inc.), including the ECMO-patient. Three LVAD patients were successfully transplanted 78, 126 and 360 days after LVAD implant; one patient is still on the transplant waiting list. We observed one peripheral thrombotic complication due to IABP and five early bleeding complications in three LVAD patients. One patient died suddenly two years after transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: In PPCM with refractory heart failure IABP was safe and efficient as a bridge to recovery or as a bridge to LVAD. ECMO provided temporary support as a bridge to LVAD, while the newer continuous-flow LVADs offered a safe bridge to transplant.

How to remove accumulated iodine in burn-injured patients.

BACKGROUND: Absorption of large quantities of iodine, as induced by the use of topical antimicrobial povidone-iodine in burn-injured patients, may cause metabolic and electrolyte abnormalities as well as renal failure. To diminish iodine levels, haemodialysis was previously reported to be a suitable therapy. We therefore studied the kinetics of iodine in order to define the most optimal dialysis strategy. METHODS: Two patients with elevated iodine levels (93.6 and 81.2 mg/L) underwent continuous dialysis with blood flows Q(B) 150 and 120 mL/min. Blood was sampled from the inlet and outlet dialysis line at several time points during a 7-h and 39-h 10-min period, respectively. Samples were analysed for iodine with the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) method. Kinetic analysis was performed using one and two compartmental models, deriving kinetic parameters: plasmatic volume V(1), extraplasmatic volume V(2) and intercompartmental clearance K(12). The calibrated kinetic model of Patient 2 was further used to simulate different dialysis strategies: 12-h per day with Q(B) 240, 6-h per day with Q(B) 480 and 240, and 12-h every 2 days with Q(B) 240. For each strategy, the mean average plasmatic and extraplasmatic concentration (TAC(p) and TAC(ep)) was calculated during 48 h. RESULTS: Iodine seemed to follow one compartmental kinetics when serum sample collections were limited to the first 7 h of dialysis (Patient 1), but iodine appeared to be distributed in two volumes (V(1)=19.4 L, V(2)=38.0 L and K(12)=55 mL/min) when a longer observation period was taken into account (Patient 2). The simulations disclosed that 12-h dialysis per day with Q(B) 240 or continuous dialysis with Q(B) 120 resulted in the lowest TAC(p) (18.2 and 19.0 microg/L) and TAC(ep) (34.4 and 36.1 microg/L). CONCLUSION: In patients with elevated iodine levels, especially when associated with renal failure, haemodialysis with a minimum 12-h duration with sufficient blood flow should be the first choice to remove iodine.

Successful alcohol septal ablation for late recurrence of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction after surgical myectomy in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.

An 18-year-old male patient, known with familial hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy underwent a septal myectomy 10 years ago for significant left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction. During follow-up a progressive increase in LVOT gradient was noted in association with severe mitral valve regurgitation. The patient underwent percutaneous alcohol septal ablation to induce regression of left ventricular hypertrophy. Coronary angiography, with intracoronary contrast and guided by echocardiographic imaging, was applied for localisation of the appropriate septal branch. The vessel was subsequently injected with 1.5 cc ethanol. No procedure-related complications were reported. The LVOT gradient decreased from 90 mmHg to 48 and 45 mmHg at rest 6 weeks and 6 months, respectively, after the procedure. Mitral valve regurgitation was significantly reduced. This case nicely illustrates the feasibility of percutaneous alcohol septal ablation for recurrent LVOT obstruction 10 years after myectomy.