Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to V M Walley.
A 61-year-old man who sustained separate spontaneous coronary artery dissections involving each of the three epicardial coronary arteries is described. Hyperestrinism related to hepatic cirrhosis may have been important in the pathogenesis of this unusual case.
An unusual complication after tricuspid valve annuloplasty is described where a ring suture ligated right coronary artery and precipitated myocardial infarct and patient death. The need for caution to prevent this complication with such surgery is emphasized.
Hemoptysis is most commonly due to pulmonary pathology. When cardiac in origin it is usually due to mitral valve disease. The authors present two unusual causes of hemoptysis: cor triatriatum and primary cardiac liposarcoma.
Spontaneous primary dissection of a coronary artery is extremely rare, and when it involves the left main trunk the outcome is catastrophic. A 41-year-old woman who survived such a dissection and resultant myocardial infarct with cardiogenic shock is reported here. The patient required a Jarvik 7-70 artificial heart to sustain life until an orthotopic cardiac transplant was performed, and she is now alive and well.
The case of a 61-year-old man, in whom heart transplantation was complicated by fatal gastrointestinal hemorrhage from duodenal ulcers 50 days after surgery, is described. Autopsy examination revealed extensive mucosal ulceration and hemorrhage into the bowel and peritoneal hemorrhage. Microscopy showed classical cytomegalovirus inclusions in clusters of cells in necrotic foci in the duodenum, lungs, and colon. This unusual case is the first reported example of cytomegalovirus-associated fatal gastrointestinal hemorrhage after heart transplantation. It is discussed in the context of the known features of the morbidity and mortality associated with cytomegalovirus infection in transplant patients.
The morphologic effects of percutaneous transluminal coronary artery balloon angioplasty (PTCA) on atherosclerotic vessels is described in six patients who died at varying intervals after the procedure (four early and two late). In the early group (less than one week post PTCA) one patient died because of electromechanical dissociation during emergency PTCA for evolving infarct; in the three other patients PTCA was performed for left main occlusion and cardiogenic shock with deaths 3, 24 and 25 h after PTCA. The two late deaths were patients who died one and nine months after PTCA from unrelated causes. There were 12 sites of balloon inflation in the six patients, all in left main, isolated marginal or left anterior descending arteries. Post mortem examinations, with in toto serial sectioning of the ballooned coronary arteries, revealed a number of local morphologic changes. Plaque fractures and disruptions of the arterial wall to variable depths were observed. At four sites these fractures were through media, and at one site was associated with a large dissection. These cases had only small epicardial hemorrhages or reactive adventitial changes associated with these deep fractures. Four of the six patients had intramural arterial emboli (athero/thrombo/calcium/foreign body). These findings confirm that a large part of the effect of PTCA is due to physical disruption of plaque and underlying native vessel.
Myocardial reperfusion hemorrhage has been reported in humans but rarely after percutaneous transluminal coronary artery angioplasty (PTCA) of occluded vessels and not after the reopening of left main occlusions. Three patients with infarct and cardiogenic shock and reperfusion hemorrhages after PTCA, with or without streptokinase infusion and reopening of acutely thrombosed left main coronary arteries are reported here. The effect of the reperfusion 24,9 and 7 h after symptom onset and 24,25 and 3 h before death is examined.
A 56-year-old woman with breast carcinoma was referred for an urgent two-dimensional echocardiogram. An anterior and posterior echo-free space suggesting pericardial effusion and a new right atrial mass were detected. A few hours later the patient died suddenly. Necropsy revealed neoplastic encasement of the heart without pericardial effusion.
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From May 1984 through June 1993, 162 patients have undergone orthotopic heart transplantation at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Thirty-three deaths occurred, and postmortem examinations were performed in 29 of these cases. This study evaluated the surgical anastomoses of these patients' hearts, an aspect of orthotopic heart transplantation that has not been well described in the literature. The major findings encountered were two cases of stenosis at the left atrial anastomosis, one case of aortic anastomotic tear, one case of pulmonary artery anastomotic kinking, one case of left atrial suture line mural thrombus and possible coronary embolism, and one case of extramural compression of a coronary artery by an anastomotic suture. Other findings when the suture lines were examined included residual native valve remnants, protruding tissue tags or other tissue remnants, mural thrombi, and protruding free suture ends. These findings are described, illustrated, and discussed in the context of the published literature on the subject.
This study reviews the clinical outcome of the 132 orthotopic heart transplantations performed at our institute from 1984 through 1991 and focuses on the pathology of those patients who died. The study comprised 124 adults (mean age, 45.6 +/- 0.9 years) and eight children. Twenty-six adult and one pediatric deaths occurred. Operative mortality (within 30 days) was 10.6%, with 84.8% of patients surviving to discharge. Actuarial probabilities of survival at 1 and 5 years were 84% +/- 3% and 71% +/- 6%, respectively. Of the 27 deaths, six (22.2%) occurred in the operating room (from hemorrhage, graft failure, and hyperacute rejection); 14 (51.9%) occurred in-hospital after surgery (from sepsis, rejection, cytomegalovirus disease, or myocardial infarct), and seven (25.9%) occurred after discharge (from rejection and/or recurrent coronary artery disease). Two groups of patients were at higher risk: patients in cardiogenic shock requiring pretransplantation mechanical support, with in-hospital mortality of 39.1%; and patients with previous valve replacement who were taking oral anticoagulants, with intraoperative mortality of 50.0%. Pathologic examination revealed occasional instances of unsuspected coronary artery disease in the donor hearts with more than 50% stenoses of the left anterior descending coronary arteries in three of 21 (14.3%) of cases. Complications of the transplantation or related therapeutic procedures were common among those who died. The complications ranged from functionally insignificant anatomic curiosities to life-threatening problems. These complications are tabulated and shown.
OBJECTIVE: To review the University of Ottawa Heart Institute's experience with surgery for cardiac tumours. Case series of all patients who had surgical exploration of cardiac tumours from 1980-91 inclusive. Hospital charts, surgical pathology reports, gross photographs and glass microscopic slides were reviewed in each case. SETTING: Tertiary care, specialized cardiac referral centre. PATIENTS: All patients were diagnosed and treated surgically for heart tumours at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute over the 11-year period. The group consisted of 29 adults (14 male, 15 female) aged 15 to 76 years (mean 48) and one male newborn (six days old). Follow-up was available in 24 of 30 cases and averaged three years and four months (range four days to seven years). RESULTS: Twenty-six patients had primary cardiac tumours; 24 were benign (18 myxomas and seven nonmyxomas [one patient with lipomatous hypertrophy had coexistent myxoma]) and two were malignant. Four patients had involvement of the heart by tumours elsewhere: one benign and three malignant. Twenty-two of 24 benign primary tumours were resected successfully with relief of symptoms; two tumours were not resectable. None of the resected benign tumours recurred. Both patients with malignant primary tumours died from their disease. Three of the four patients with tumours arising elsewhere died, while the patient with benign hepatic vein leiomyoma extending into the heart remains well. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, surgical resection of benign cardiac tumours, whether primary or secondary, is safe and usually curative. Surgery for malignant tumours is diagnostic at best.