Multiple myocardial bridges affecting left anterior descending artery and right coronary artery with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy:a case report

The prevalence of myocardial bridging in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy （HCM） is relatively higher, and it usually occurs in the middle and distal portions of the left anterior descending artery. It is rarely reported that multiple lesions of myocardial bridging affecting not only the left anterior descending artery but also right coronary artery. We reported a 56-year-old man suffering from chest discomfort on exertion. Echocardiography and ventriculography showed hypertrophy of the apex involving the anterior and lateral wall. Coronary angiograph revealed multiple myocardial bridges affecting the left anterior descending artery and the right posterior descending artery.

Coronary artery anomalies： the left main coronary artery or left anterior descending coronary artery originating from the proximal of right coronary artery

Coronary artery anomalies （CAAs） are present at birth, but are usually asymptomatic and are found during coronary angiography or multi-slice computed tomography （MSCT） examinations. Their prevalence is less than 1.3% based published series.1＇2 The most common coronary anomaly is separate origin of the left anterior descending coronary artery （LAD） and left circumflex coronary artery （LCX） from the left sinus of the Valsalva. The second most common anomaly is the origin of the LCX artery from the right coronary artery （RCA） or right sinus of the Valsalva. We present two cases of coronary artery anomalies： one is the left main coronary artery （LMCA） arising from the proximal RCA, the other is the LAD originating from the proximal RCA.

Angiographic differentiation of systolic narrowing of the left anterior descending coronary artery in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy from myocardial bridges

To the Editor： I read with great interest the case report of multiple myocardial bridges affecting both coronary arteries in a patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. However, I differ with the authors in their interpretation of the coronary arteriograms.

Coronary collateral circulation： Effects on outcomes of acute anterior myocardial infarction after primary percutaneous coronary intervention

Background To investigate the effects of collateral coronary circulation on the outcome of the patients with anterior myocardial infarction （MI） with left anterior desending artery occlusion abruptly. Methods Data of 189 patients with acute anterior MI who had a primary percutaneous coronary intervention （PCI） in the first 12 h from the onset of symptoms between January 2004 and December 2008 were retrospective analyzed. Left anterior descending arteries （LAD） of all patients were occluded. LADs were reopened with primary PCI. According to the collateral circulation, all patients were classified to two groups： no collateral group （n = 111）, patients without angiographic collateral filling of LAD or side branches （collateral index 0） and collateral group （n = 78）, and patients with angiographic collateral filling of LAD or side branches （collateral index 1, 2 or 3）. At one year＇ s follow-up, the occurrence of death, reinfarctlon, stent thrombosis （ST）, target vessel revascularization and readmission because of heart failure were observed. Results At one year, the mortality was lower in patients with collateral circulation compared with those without collateral circulation （1% vs. 8%, P = 0.049）, whereas there Were no differences in the occurrence of reinfarction, ST, target vessel revascularization and readmission because of heart failure. The occurrence of composite of endpoint was lower in patients with collateral circulation compared with those without collateral circulation （12% vs. 26%; P = 0.014）. Conclusions Pre-exist collateral circulation may prefigure the satisfactory prognosis to the patients with acute anterior MI after primary PCI in the first 12 h of MI onset.

Variant of Wellen’s syndrome in type 1 diabetic patient: A case report

BACKGROUND Wellen’s syndrome is a form of acute coronary syndrome associated with proximal left anterior descending artery(LAD)stenosis and characteristic electro-cardiograph(ECG)patterns in pain free state.The abnormal ECG pattern is classified into type A(biphasic T waves)and type B(deeply inverted T waves),based on the T wave pattern seen in the pericodial chest leads.CASE SUMMARY We present the case of a 37-year-old male with history of type 1 diabetes mellitus(T1DM),gastroparesis,mild peripheral artery disease and right toe cellulitis on IV antibiotics who presented to the emergency department with nausea,vomiting and abdominal pain for 3 d and as a result couldn’t take his insulin.Noted to have fasting blood sugar 392 mg/dL.Admitted for diabetic gastroparesis.During the hospital course,the patient was asymptomatic and denied any chest pain.On admission,No ECG and troponin draws were performed.On day 2,the patient became hypoxic with oxygen saturation 80%on room air,intermittent mild right-sided chest pain which he attributed to vomiting from his gastroparesis.Initial ECG done was significant for Biphasic T wave changes in leads V2 and V3 and elevated high sensitivity troponin.Patient was transitioned to cardiac intensive care unit and cardiac catheterization performed with result significant for extensive coronary artery disease.CONCLUSION This case highlights an exceptional manifestation of Wellen's syndrome,wherein the right coronary artery and circumflex artery display a remarkable 100%constriction,alongside a proximal LAD stenosis of 90%-95%.Notably,this occurrence transpired in a patient grappling with extensive complications arising from T1DM.Moreover,it underscores the utmost significance of promptly recognizing the presence of Wellen's syndrome and swiftly initiating appropriate medical intervention.

Customized 3D-printed occluders enabling the reproduction of consistent and stable heart failure in swine models

Reproducibility of clinical output is important when investigating therapeutic efficacy in pre-clinical animal studies.Due to its physiological relevance,a swine myocardial infarction(MI)model has been widely used to evaluate the effectiveness of stem cells or tissue-engineered constructs for ischemic heart diseases.Several methods are used to induce MI in the swine model.However,it is difficult,using these approaches,to obtain a similar level of functional outcomes from a group of animals due to interpersonal variation,leading to increased experimental cost.Hence,in order to minimize human intervention,we developed an approach to use a customized occluder that has dimensional similarities with that of the coronary artery of animals in the case of the swine model.We carried out angiography to measure the diameter of the middle left anterior descending artery of each individual animal to fabricate the customized occluder using a 3D-printing system.The fabricated occluder contained a central hole smaller than that of the targeted middle left anterior descending artery to mimic an atherosclerotic coronary artery that has an approximately 20%blocked condition.Interestingly,the 3D-printed occluder can provide continuous blood flow through the central pore,indicating a high survival rate(88%)of up to 28 days post-operation.This method showed the possibility of creating consistent myocardial infarction induction as compared to the conventional representative closed-chest method(50%survival rate),thus highlighting how our method can have a profound effect on accelerating reliable experiments for developing new therapeutic approaches to ischemic heart diseases.

Novel treatment of coronary artery fistulae concealing severe coronary artery lesion： using thrombus aspiration catheter as a delivery guide

In this case report, we present the occlusion of multiple coronary artery fistulaes originating from proximal left anterior descending （LAD） and fight sinus valsavla and empting to the pulmonary artery at the same place. We occluded LAD fistulae by using thrombus aspira- tion catheter as a delivery guide. To the best of our knowlege, this is the first case of occlusion of coronary fistulaes with the help of throm- bus aspiration catheter. Our experience may suggest that thrombus aspiration catheters can be used in treating coronary artery fistulaes with difficult anotomv.

Combined Hepatocardiac Hydatid Cystic Disease

Cardiac echinococcus is a serious problem. Although it is rare, it could cause dangerous complications like anaphylactic shock which could be fatal. In our case a 14-year-old female complained with the intermittent chest pain and had combined cystic lesions in the heart and the liver. The liver cyst was treated conservatively, while the heart cyst was excised by open heart surgery.

Can transthoracic Doppler echocardiography be used to detect coronary slow flow phenomenon？

Background Coronary slow flow phenomenon （CSFP） is an important, angiographic clinical entity but is lacking non-invasive detecting techniques. This study aimed to elucidate the value of transthoracic Doppler echocardiography （TTDE） in the diagnosis and monitoring of coronary slow flow in left anterior descending （LAD） coronary artery.Methods We consecutively enrolled 27 patients with CSFP in LAD detected by coronary arteriography from August 2009 to April 2010. Thirty-eight patients with angiographically normal coronary flow served as control. Corrected thrombolysis in myocardial infarction （TIMI） frame count （CTFC） was used to document coronary flow velocities. All subjects underwent TTDE within 24 hours after coronary angiography. LAD flow was detected and the coronary diastolic peak velocities （DPV） and diastolic mean velocities （DMV） were calculated.Results Sixty of 65 （92.3%） subjects successfully underwent TTDE. Baseline clinical characteristics were similar between the two groups. Coronary DPV and DMV of LAD were significantly lower in the CSFP group than in the control group （（0.228±0.029） m/s vs. （0.302±0.065） m/s, P=0.000; （0.176±0.028） m/s vs. （0.226±0.052） m/s, P=0.000,respectively）. There was a high inverse correlation between CTFC and coronary DPV and DMV （r=-0.727, P=0.000;r=-0.671, P=0.000, respectively）. Receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve showed that the area under the curve （AUC） was less than one half for coronary DPV （AUC=0.104） and DMV （AUC=0.204）, respectively.Conclusions In patients with CSFP, there is a high inverse correlation between CTFC and coronary diastolic flow velocities in the LAD coronary artery, as measured by TTDE. The value of TTDE in the monitoring and evaluation of coronary flow in patients with CSFP deserves further investigation.