[Coronary lesions in rudimentary infarction].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Di Matteo.
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Five uraemic patients who developed progressive cardiac failure with clinical evidence of congestive cardiomyopathy at the start or during haemodialysis treatment were studied. The diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, for which there was no apparent cause, was confirmed by angiocardiographic and haemodynamic studies. These showed a significant increase in left ventricular end-diastolic volume over normal values obtained in 12 patients without uraemia. The mean velocity of myocardial fibre shortening was significantly decreased, as was the index of normalised rigidity. Three of the five patients presented the complete picture of the disease. The other two also had considerable ventricular dilatation and a decreased index of normalised rigidity but normal ejection fraction and only moderately decreased myocardial contractility indices. This suggests that there may be primary involvement of normalised heart muscle rigidity followed by secondary changes in myocardial contractility in uraemic patients with congestive cardiomyopathy.
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Although greater than in patients with stabilised coronary insufficiency, the risks of carrying out coronary arteriography during the period of a threatened infarction are still modest in the hands of an experienced team. In a series of 66 such investigations under these conditions over an 18 month period, there were no deaths as immediate sequelae. Three myocardial infarctions occurred, one of which was probably encouraged by ceasing the propranolol prior to arteriography. Analysis of the results confirms the frequency of lesions affecting all three trunks (47% of cases), the anterior descending branch being the most commonly affected. A collateral circulation was established in 23% of cases. Ventriculography was normal in one third of cases. The mean value for the ventricular ejection fraction was 0.57 over the entire series. In 58% of cases, all the arteriographic and ventriculographic criteria of operability were satisfied. It therefore appears that coronary arteriography is justifiable during the period of threatened infarction; it may be undertaken at an early stage if the angina does not respond to medical treatment. It is always best to carry it out several days after cessation of the pain where possible. The investigation may lead to urgent surgical intervention.
In order to evaluate the importance of the indices of ventricular rigidity and compliance (k=dP/dV.P and dV/dP), three groups of patients were studied and compared. A simplified method of calculating the diastolic compliance made use of the values of end-diastolic volume (EDV) measured by cineangiography, and of end-diastolic pressure (EDP), using the assumption that the relationship P-V is an exponential one arising from the ordinate: 0.43 mmHg. The correlation between EDP and EDV, which was positive in 19 coronary artery patients, was in fact negative in 11 patients with obstructive cardiomyopathy (OCM), and insignificant in 12 control patients. There were multiple correlations between k, EDPs and EDVs in 11 OCMs, and none in the two other groups. The ratio dV/dP decreased in end-diastole both in the OCM group and in the coronary group, and did not reflect the difference in pathology between these two groups. On the other hand k was increased in the patients with OCM, normal in the coronary patients, and represented in the former a primary modification in the relationship P-V and a primary increase in diastolic rigidity.
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There is no controversy about the prosthetic replacement of the aortic valve in cases in which there is a disorder of function or cardiac failure, or in cases with a tight aortic stenosis, even if it appears to be well-tolerated clinically. It is especially critical in cases of aortic incompetence with marked cardiac enlargement, but the problems are not overwhelming. The indications for operation in very advanced cases with cardiac failure which is refractory, or in aged patients, are discussed.
The sinus function of 60 patients was studied by atrial stimulation at a fixed rate, and also at a rate linked with the preceding sinus cycle. These patients were divided into 3 groups according to the surface-recorded ECG; 10 had clear evidence of sinus dysfunction, 23 had an isolated sinus bradycardia, and 27 were considered as controls a their sinus rate was above 60/min., with a normal PR interval. Calculation of the limits of tolerance showed that at the 5% level, 95% of the values for all the controls fell between 96.8 and 568.7 ms for the corrected post-stimulatory pause, and between 114.5 and 434.3 ms for the corrected maximum return cycle. A study of the distribution zones of the graph CT/CR-AA/AA proved that an absent zone II is a pathological finding. In the group of sinus bradycardias the limits of what constitutes pathology are less clear, and the situation is not improved by noting whether atrial "echos" are present or absent. Because there is a narrow positive correlation between the values given by the two methods, the physio-pathology of sinus dysfunction can be discussed.
Repeated recordings were made of the apexcardiogram throughout the first month after myocardial infarction in 30 patients. The classical timed intervals of the systolic wave are open to some criticism. The systolic waveforms are important. In the majority of transmural anterior infarctions there is a rounded appearance to the beginning of the wave which seems to prolong the electromechanical latency, followed by a late systolic bulge, or a domed waveform. This signifies a non-contractile area, and not neccessarily an ectasia. The early diastolic "peaktrough" appearance, found very frequently wherever the necrosis is situated, is indicative of asynergic contraction of the left ventricle. All of the diastolic phases are altered, probably by increased parietal stiffness: the TRI is lengthened; the "F" wave is flattened (and often absent later on in the condition), its duration is shortened over the anterior positions, and it may contain a shallow dip if there is LVF; the stasis wave is very feeble; the "a" wave is large when the infarct is extensive, or when there is LVF, or when there is longstanding hypertension. Enlargement of the "a" wave is especially indicative of a lowering of the performance of the left ventricle.
Selective intracoronary injection of microspheres labelled with radioactive substances which emit gamma rays with different energy levels (Indium 113 m and Technetium 99 m) allows us to explore by scintigraphic methods the areas of distribution of the two coronary arteries. Having been carefully calibrated, the particles are injected in limited numbers, and block the precapillary arterioles, where they gradually diminish in number. Scintigraphic examination is carried out in various projections (anteroposterior, left anterior oblique and right anterior oblique) immediately after coronary arteriography. Coronary scintigraphy allows us to establish the integrity of the distribution network of a coronary trunk which appears normal on coronary arteriography, to visualise the diminution of flow caused by a stenosed but patent trunk, and to visualise the extent of the collateral circulation and the quality of revascularisation achieved by an aorto-coronary bypass operation.
The authors report a case of Steinert's disease with disordered sino-atrial and atrio-ventricular conduction. The presence of sudden syncopal attacks and the absence of a cardiomyopathy (excluded by right- and leftsided haemodynamic studies and coronary arteriography) indicated the insertion of a definitive intra-cavitary pacemaker, especially as the life expectancy of this 54 year old patient did not seem to have been significantly reduced by his disease.
A cine-angiographic study was carried out in eleven patients with major aortic incompetence, in two of whom there was an associated aortic stenosis. The ventricular end-diastolic volume is always greatly increased, disproportionately to the modest increase in end-diastolic pressure. The pressure-volume relationship during filling is therefore altered, and makes it possible for a normal end-diastolic compliance (dV/dP) TD to be preserved. The indices of contractility are markedly altered, despite the recent appearance of signs of poor tolerance. These findings argue in favour of a full haemodynamic investigation and of early corrective surgery.
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