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Biomedical subjects

G Hanania

Publications and source records attributed to G Hanania.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

[Mycotic aneurysm of the carotid artery secondary to acute bacterial endocarditis].

Mycotic aneurysms of the extracranial carotid arteries are rare. A new case of mycotic aneurysm of the bifurcation of the carotid artery secondary to acute bacterial endocarditis affecting the aortic valve is reported. Simultaneous treatment of the two lesions was instituted. The twenty six cases of mycotic aneurysm of the extracranial carotid arteries previously described in the literature are reviewed by the authors.

Aneurysm, Infected↗

[Cardiology in general hospitals. A cooperative survey on medical teams, technical means and activity].

A national enquiry carried out in 1990 in the departments of cardiology of general and private non-profit making hospitals established the status of these departments and the evolution of their personnel and equipment since their creation. The enquiry involved two thirds of the cardiology departments of the general hospitals (119/180) and showed that most (66%) were established between 1974 and 1988. Implanted in fairly important cities with catchment areas of 100,000 to 400,000 people, they have an average of 32 beds (range 11 to 100) and 7.25 coronary care beds (range 4 to 19); 347 doctors work full (211) or part time (136) in these departments. These two types of work are allowed in the majority of these units (64/119). Specialist certified cardiologists practice in 62 departments (56%). The usual technical equipment is available in 80% of the units (Doppler echocardiography, exercise stress testing, Holter monitoring, right heart catheterisation). Permanent pacing is performed in 65% of these hospitals, more so in the provinces than in the Paris region. Coronary angiography is only available in 21%, radioisotopic investigations in 15% and coronary angioplasty in 12% of these centres. A prospective study performed in 1990 concerning 110 hospitals recruited 1,030 myocardial infarctions, which enabled the total number of infarcts hospitalised in the coronary care units of the general hospitals to be estimated at about 21,000 (60% of French myocardial infarctions).

Angioplasty↗

[Early postoperative thrombolysis of Saint-Jude aortic valve prosthesis].

The authors report a case of thrombolytic therapy with streptokinase in the early postoperative period after aortic valve replacement with a Saint Jude medical prosthesis. After good initial progress, the patient had to be reoperated on the 12th postoperative day for sternal disunion. Reoperation was followed rapidly by progressive thrombosis of the aortic prosthesis demonstrated by repeated Doppler echocardiographic examination. The impossibility of eliminating mediastinitis led to medical thrombolysis. The outcome was favourable after a regressive cerebral embolic event. This case illustrates the value of Doppler echocardiographic examination in the postoperative period. Thrombolysis may constitute an alternative to reoperation when the operative risk is high. The risk of thrombolysis may not be as great as some believe.

Echocardiography, Doppler↗

[Dystrophic aortic insufficiency: influence of dilatation of the ascending aorta on secondary outcome].

This cooperative study recensed 89 cases of patients operated for aortic regurgitation in whom the dystrophic process was confirmed on anatomical (thin, translucent valves without symphysis, multilation or sclerosis) and histological criteria (mucinous infiltration). They included 81 men (91%) and the average age was 52 +/- 14 years. The valvular degeneration was part of a generalised dystrophy of elastic tissue in 8 patients (6 "formes frustes" of Marfan's syndrome, 2 Lobstein's syndrome). The patients were divided into 2 groups according to the diameter of the ascending aorta measured by echocardiography and/or aortography. In Group 1 (n = 40), the aorta was not dilated (diameter less than 40 mm) whereas in Group 2 (n = 49), the diameter of the ascending aorta was dilated (40-55 mm) but not aneurysmal (loss of parallelism of the aortic walls). The two groups were comparable before surgery with respect to age, sex, functional class, degree of left ventricular dilatation, left ventricular ejection fraction and presence of associated coronary disease). There were no differences in the operative parameters but aortic parietal biopsy (n = 35) revealed clear signs of cystic medianecrosis more often in Group 2 than in Group 1 (14/25 versus 1/10, p less than 0.05). No operative procedure was performed on the ascending aorta during aortic valve replacement. One operative death occurred in each group. After an average follow-up of 4 years, there was a higher mortality in Group 2: the actuarial 7 year survival rate being 74% in Group 1 and 54% in Group 2. This was explained by a higher incidence of ascending aortic complications. Only 1 patient in Group 1 developed an aneurysm of the ascending aorta requiring reoperation compared to 14 patients in Group 2, 8 of whom were reoperated (p less than 0.01). These results suggest that non-aneurysmal dilatation of the ascending aorta in patients with dystrophic aortic regurgitation is a poor prognostic factor because of the high incidence of secondary aortic parietal complications (aneurysm, dissection).

Actuarial Analysis↗

[Delays in hospital admissions of myocardial infarction].

Analysis of the delays in hospital admission to the coronary care unit of 100 patients with recent myocardial infarctions showed an average delay time of 9 hr 50 with early hospital admission within 4 hours in 38% of cases. The number of early hospital admissions increased to: 51% when the infarct was preceded by unstable angina (35 cases, p less than 0.05); 65% when the patient himself diagnosed a coronary thrombosis (34 cases, p less than 0.001); 72% when the intermediary was a specialised emergency medical service called directly by the patient (11 cases, p less than 0.01). These results confirm the necessity of improving public education and of increasing direct access to emergency cardiovascular ambulance services.

Adult↗

[Infective endocarditis of a valve prosthesis. Multicenter study (179 cases)].

Over a 5-year period (1982-1986) 176 cases of infective endocarditis on prosthesis (IEP) were recorded in 40 cardiology departments. 65 p. 100 of the patients were male, and the mean age of the population was 51 years. Mechanical prostheses were involved in 57 p. 100 of the cases and bioprosthesis in 43 p. 100. There was a high proportion of initial indications for bacterial endocarditis (18 p. 100) and for reoperation on prosthesis (10 p. 100). IEP developed early in 40 cases and late in 139 cases; 19 (48 p. 100) of the early IEPs were staphylococcal, while 31 p. 100 of late IEPs were streptococcal (p less than 0.01). 143 patients were reoperated upon within less than 1 month in 41 p. 100 of the cases, with a pre-operative antibiotic therapy of less than 10 days in 39 p. 100. Reoperation was performed in stage IV or as an emergency in 45 p. 100 of the cases. Abscesses were three times more frequent with aortic prostheses than with mitral prostheses (58 p. 100 vs 20 p. 100, p less than 0.001). Vegetations were more frequent on mechanical prostheses than on bioprostheses (43 p. 100 vs 31 p. 100, NS). The operative mortality rate was 25 p. 100; the mortality rate of unoperated patients was even higher (31 p. 100). The survival rate in operated IEP was 51 p. 100 at 30 months, as against 46 p. 100 at 12 months in unoperated IEP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

[Echocardiographic-Doppler study of a case of subacute and incomplete parietal rupture after myocardial infarction].

The authors report the case of a 55 year old man who suffered a silent, laterobasal myocardial infarction which was complicated by a subacute pseudo-false aneurysm of the lateral wall of the left ventricle. They underline: The importance of two-dimensional echocardiography in the diagnosis of a neo-para left ventricular cavity showing systolic expansion and communicating with the left ventricle by a narrow neck indicating rupture of the free ventricular wall; The value of two-dimensional color coded Doppler which enables the operator to distinguish the active nature of the neo-left ventricular cavity before surgery and its inactivity after surgery. The surgical indication for emergency resection of the pseudo aneurysm was based on these preoperative non-invasive observations. This case confirms the value of cardiac two-dimensional echo-Doppler studies in the investigation of ischaemic heart disease.

Aged↗

[Surgery of acquired heart valve diseases in France: developments in a 10-year period. A multicentric study].

A multicenter study compares the surgery of acquired valvular diseases in France in 1974 and 1984. This study concerns etiology, surgical procedures and postoperative results within 3 months after operation. 2718 observations issued from 20 medical and surgical centers are divided in 2 groups: the first includes 856 patients who underwent surgical operation in 1974, the other group with 1862 patients was operated on in 1984. Significant differences may be observed. The mean age is higher in 1984 (55 vs. 47 years); the rheumatismal etiology decreases from 50.2% in 1974 to 35.1% in 1984; the degenerative and dystrophic causes increase from 13.8% in 1974 to 32.9% in 1984; while the monovalvular mitral lesion is more frequent (42%) than the aortic one (32.7%) in 1974, the proportion is reversed in 1984 where 47% aortic and 34.5% mitral lesions are found; the number of surgical treatments of mitral stenoses in 1984 is half of those in 1974, but the number of surgically treated aortic stenoses and mitral regurgitations is double of those in 1974; the preoperative examination includes left-side heart catheterization in 81.1% and coronary angiography in 64% of surgically treated patients en 1984, the respective percentages en 1974 being 57.8% and 16.1%. In 1974, 27.6% of patients are in a preoperative functional stage I or II, in contrast to 42.8% in 1984. Mitral commissurotomy represents 29.3% of mitral surgery in 1974 (25.6% of them with closed operation), the respective percentage in 1984 being only 10.5% (2.5% of them with closed heart operation).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

Aneurysms of sinus of Valsalva: two-dimensional echocardiographic diagnosis and recognition of rupture into the right heart cavities.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of echocardiography in the diagnosis of sinus of Valsalva aneurysms projecting toward the right heart cavities. Three patients who had a ruptured aneurysm of a sinus of Valsalva diagnosed by echocardiography and confirmed by catheterization underwent cardiac surgery. In two patients, the aneurysm originated from the right coronary sinus and had perforated into either the inflow or outflow tract of the right ventricle. In the third patient, the aneurysm, which originated from the noncoronary sinus, ruptured into the atrium. A fourth patient was also investigated and had an unruptured aneurysm of the right coronary sinus projecting into the right ventricular outflow tract. M-mode, two-dimensional and contrast echocardiographic studies were performed before cardiac catheterization in all patients and after surgery in three patients. M-mode echocardiography was useful only when the aneurysm had an anterior projection, whether or not the aneurysm was ruptured. Conversely, two-dimensional echocardiography was always able to identify the aneurysmal sac which appeared as an abnormal circular thin-walled structure protruding into the right heart cavities. By using multiple views, it was possible to investigate the whole abnormal structure and locate the sinus from which the aneurysm originated. The use of the echo contrast technique allowed more precise definition of the aneurysmal sac and diagnosis of a left to right shunt by demonstrating a negative contrast image in the right cavities. On the other hand, no negative contrast image was recorded in the patient with an unruptured aneurysm or in the two instances of a successful surgically reconstructed aorta.

Adult↗

[Nodoventricular Mahaim fibres. 2 cases confirmed by electrophysiological study].

Two adolescents with no obvious cardiac were investigated for paroxysmal tachycardia at a rate of about 200/mn with wide QRS complexes showing left bundle branch block, reduced by vagal manoeuvres. Atrial pacing showed shortening of the HV interval associated with widening of the QRS complex to appearances identical to those of the tachycardia, suggesting right ventricular preexcitation masked in sinus rhythm. The progressive prolongation of the atrio-ventricular conduction time with increasing prematurity of the extrastimulus and atrioventricular block after intravenous injection of ATP were more in favour of right nodo-ventricular Mahaim fibres (NV) than a Kent bundle. These properties of the NV pathway and the recording of a "gap" phenomenon during the measurement of the refractory period of the accessory pathway are explained by the proximal part of the AV node not being short-circuited. Paroxysmal tachycardia was easily induced by atrial and ventricular stimulation; the tachycardia QRS complexes always showed appearances of left bundle branch block with a His potential at the onset of the ventricular complex. The NV pathway therefore always depolarised in the anterograde direction in tachycardia; the retrograde pathway is discussed: His, latent Kent bundle or purely intranodal reentry.

Adolescent↗

[Correlation between the angiographic appearance and the left intraventricular gradient in obstructive myocardiopathy. Apropos of 42 cases].

42 patients who were given the diagnosis of obstructive cardiomyopathy (OCM) on the basis of a basal left intraventricular systolic gradient equal to or in excess of 20 mmHg were divided into two groups, according to the angiocardiographic appearances (in the right anterior oblique projection) of the left ventricular cavity during systole. In 20 cases the appearances were those of a typical obstructive cardiomyopathy. In the other 22, despite the presence of a fairly large left intraventricular gradient, the appearances on angiocardiography were closest to those described for the non-obstructive cardiomyopathies with diffuse myocardial hypertrophy. These two groups were compared in the quest for a difference between the clinical, radiological, electrocardiographic, phonomechanographic, and haemodynamic picture on the one hand, and the appearances at angiography on the other. These two groups can only be separated by the mean value of the left intraventricular systolic gradient established under basal conditions; this is greater when the angiographic picture is less characteristic. However, the value of this gradient is shown by the positive correlation between the figure for the gradient and that for the left ventricular ejection time, as determined from external phonomecanographic measurements and from the catheter on the left side. This determination confirms the existance of obstruction to the outflow and the diagnosis of obstructive cardiomyopathy, even when the angiographic appearances are not typical.

Adolescent↗

[Long-term results of aortic valve replacement with a prosthesis].

A long term evaluation of prosthetic replacement of the aortic valve by various types of prosthesis has been carried out; 530 patients from various centres of cardiology were studied. The average annual mortality after the first two postoperative years was about 2.5% and half of the patients undergoing surgery were still alive after 10 years. The functional improvement is usually marked and is generally to be expected, although with an increased risk, even in patients who underwent surgery at stage IV of the NYHA classification. In this study, the prostheses which were associated with the best long term results were the Starr-Edwards 1260, the Smeloff-Cutter, and the Björk. The commonest complications after the first month were dehiscence of the prosthesis (11.8%), thromboembolic episodes (11.2%), coronary complicatons (11.1%) and cardiac failure (7.1%). The most serious is infection of the prosthesis, which is almost invariably fatal. Deterioration in the substance of the prosthesis has become very rare, but there must be reservations in this respect with the SE2400, which has still not been in use long enough. Revision operations were carried out on 7.6% of the survivors at one month, with a mortality of 18.4%. Sudden death remains a constant threat. A study of the actuarial survival graphs for operated and non-operated cases shows that surgery should be advised in all poorly tolerated valve defects, and even for an uncomplicated tight aortic stenosis. Bearing in mind the progressive lowering of operative mortality, surgical treatment is also justified in cases with marked or gross aortic incompetence which is well tolerated if flow-up studies show a progressive increase in cardiac volume.

Aortic Valve↗

[Long-term fate of mitral valve prostheses].

The long term fate of mitral valve replacements (over 2 years) has been studied by the collection of information from many French cardiology centres. The Starr valve with a plastic ball-valve is by far the most commonly used prosthesis. The late complications are dominated by thrombo-embolic sequelae. The functional result seems to be proportionally better the earlier the stage at which the operation is carried out.

Adolescent↗

[Long term results of surgical treatment of obstructive myocardiopathy by intervention on the interventricular septum].

An analysis of the results of septal myotomy or myectomy in 26 adults with obstructive cardiomyopathy (OCM) with a mean follow-up period of more than 5 years lead to the conclusion that this treatment brings about, at the price of a mortality rate of about 10%, a sustained improvement in function, a reliable correction of the left ventricular gradient, and an improved long term survival rate by comparison with the rate among patients treated medically.

Adolescent↗