Natural disasters and myocardial infarction: the six years after Hurricane Katrina.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prolonged effect of Hurricane Katrina on the incidence and timing of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the city of New Orleans. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Our study population consisted of 1476 patients with AMI before (August 29, 1999, to August 28, 2005) and after (February 14, 2006, to February 13, 2012) Hurricane Katrina at Tulane University Health Sciences Center to determine post-Katrina alterations in the occurrence and timing of AMI. RESULTS: Compared with pre-Katrina values, there was a more than 3-fold increase in the percentage of admissions for AMI during the 6 years after Hurricane Katrina (P<.001). The percentage of admissions for AMI after Hurricane Katrina increased significantly on nights (P<.001) and weekends (P<.001) and decreased significantly on mornings (P<.001), Mondays (P<.001), and weekdays (P<.001). Patients with AMI after Hurricane Katrina also had significantly higher rates of psychiatric comorbidities (P=.01), smoking (P<.001), lack of health insurance (P<.05), and unemployment (P<.001). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the effect of natural disasters on the occurrence of AMI may persist for at least a 6-year period and may be related to various factors including population shifts, alterations in the health care system, and the effects of chronic stress and associated behaviors.

Coronary angiographic significance of hyperacute ST-T changes associated with regadenoson stress.

An abnormal electrocardiographic stress test is typically characterized by ST segment depression. In rare cases, ST segment elevation is observed, which, in the absence of diagnostic Q waves, has anatomic specificity for localized myocardial ischemia. Most instances of ST elevation occurring during cardiac stress testing have been observed with exercise, with only six cases reported with pharmacologic stress. Despite different physiologic mechanisms for inducing myocardial ischemia, development of ST segment elevation during pharmacologic stress, as illustrated by the present case, may also be indicative of critical coronary stenoses, warranting urgent coronary arteriography.

Persistent giant U wave inversion with anoxic brain injury.

Various electrocardiographic changes have been reported in the setting of acute neurological events, among them large, upright U waves. In contrast, the occurrence of inverted U waves is strongly suggestive of cardiovascular disease, most commonly hypertension, coronary artery disease, or valvular abnormalities. Presented herein is the case of a 29-year-old man with previous anoxic brain injury (but without apparent cardiovascular disease) whose electrocardiogram demonstrated persistent giant inverted U waves.

Effect of Hurricane Katrina on chronobiology at onset of acute myocardial infarction during the subsequent three years.

The onset of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has been shown to occur in a nonrandom pattern, with peaks in midmorning and on weekdays (especially Monday). The incidence of AMI has been shown to increase locally after natural disasters, but the effect of catastrophic events on AMI biorhythms is largely unknown. To assess the differences in the chronobiology of AMI in residents of New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina, the onset of AMI in patients at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in the 6 years before and the 3 years after Hurricane Katrina was retrospectively examined. Compared to the pre-Katrina group, the post-Katrina cohort demonstrated significant decreases in the onset of AMI during mornings (p = 0.002), Mondays (p <0.0001), and weekdays (p <0.0001) and significant increases in onset during weekends (p <0.0001) and nights (p <0.0001). These changes persisted during all 3 years after the storm. In conclusion, the normal pattern of AMI onset was altered after Hurricane Katrina, and expected morning, weekday, and Monday peaks were eliminated.