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Background : The clinical and economic burden of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in young adults ( Methods and Results : We used the National Inpatient Sample database between 2004 and 2018 to study trends in PCI volume, in-hospital mortality, length of stay (LOS), and health care expenditure among adults aged 18- 44 years who underwent PCI. The data were weighted to explore national estimates of the entire US hospitalized population. We identified 558,611 PCI cases, equivalent to 31.4 per 1,000,000 person-years; 25.4% were women, and 69.5% were White adults. Overall, annual PCI volume significantly decreased from 41.6 per 100,000 in 2004 to 21.9 per 100,000 in 2018, mainly due to 83% volume reduction in non-myocardial infarction (MI) cases. The prevalence of cardiometabolic comorbidities, smoking, and drug abuse increased. Overall, in-hospital mortality was 0.87%; women had higher mortality than men (1.12% vs. 0.78%; P=0.01). The crude and risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality significantly increased between 2004 and 2018. Women, STEMI, NSTEMI, drug abuse, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, and renal failure were associated with higher odds of in-hospital mortality. Inflation-adjusted cost significantly increased over time ($21,567 to $24,173). Conclusion : We noted reduction in PCI volumes but increasing mortality and clinical comorbidities among young patients undergoing PCI. Demographic disparities existed with women having higher in-hospital mortality than men.

Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is a rare complication following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). True incidence is unknown, as at least 50% are asymptomatic. CAF can be either congenital or acquired. Congenital CAF is either an isolated finding or seen with other congenital cardiac anomalies or structural heart defects. Acquired CAF is seen in relation with trauma, infection, or iatrogenic injury. We report a rare case of a 58-year-old man with iatrogenic aorto-right atrial fistula following inadvertent saphenous vein grafting (SVG) implantation to a right coronary vein with persistent angina following CABG and resolution of symptoms following successful obliteration of large, hemodynamically significant, fistulae by coil embolization when medical management failed. J Med Cases. 2020;11(4):97-99 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc3448

Retroperitoneal hemorrhage from iliac artery injury is a potentially serious complication of vascular interventional procedures leading to hemorrhagic shock and death if not diagnosed early and treated promptly. We report a 70-year-old male admitted to our facility with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction, whose heart catheterization revealed left anterior descending artery (LAD) with 80% proximal, 95% mid and 100% distal disease. The left circumflex and right coronary arteries were 100% occluded proximally and received collaterals from the LAD. The patient declined coronary artery bypass surgery; therefore, the decision was made to perform high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the LAD with Impella left ventricular assist device support. Left femoral artery angiogram revealed severely tortuous and calcified aorta, left external iliac and left common iliac arteries, and was accessed with 14-inch Impella sheath. He developed groin pain with mild hypotension thought to be due to sedation, which responded to intravenous fluids and dopamine. He underwent successful rotational atherectomy of the proximal and mid LAD with deployment of drug-eluting stents. Following PCI, he suffered acute profound hypotension necessitating intravenous fluids and vasopressor support with epinephrine. Emergency transthoracic echocardiogram did not reveal any pericardial effusion, and showed normal left ventricle and right ventricle systolic function. The Impella device was removed and selective left common iliac angiogram from the right femoral access revealed a vascular injury site with shift of the bladder to the right indicative of retroperitoneal hematoma. A digital subtraction angiogram revealed extravasation of blood at the vascular injury site. An 8.0 × 59 mm iCAST covered stent was deployed to the left external iliac artery with successful sealing of the perforation. The Impella device site was closed with two Perclose devices. The patient required 4 units of packed red blood cell transfusion. His hospital course was complicated by transient acute kidney injury, with return of his renal function to baseline at discharge 10 days later. This case underscores the importance of prompt recognition and treatment of vascular complications associated with interventional procedures, and highlights some of the risk predictors of such complications, which should be anticipated and planned for prior to intervention.

Congenital coronary anomalies are uncommon and are mostly asymptomatic; however, patients may have symptoms depending on the origin and course of anomalous artery. Very rarely, coronary anomalies can also lead to life-threatening complications especially in young athletes. A malignant course of the left main (LM) or left anterior descending (LAD) artery between aorta and pulmonary artery is considered the most significant risk factor for such complications. Various noninvasive tests are available to evaluate myocardial ischemia due to anomalous coronary artery. Coronary computed tomography (CT) angiogram derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) is a noninvasive diagnostic test which has shown promising results in the hemodynamic assessment of obstructive coronary artery disease. However, its role in coronary anomalies has not been studied. We present a case of a 22-year-old male who presented with atypical chest pain and was found to have anomalous origin of left anterior descending (LAD) artery and left circumflex (LCX) artery from right coronary sinus. LAD had a malignant course for which CT-FFR was done which was hemodynamically nonsignificant. The decision was made to manage the patient conservatively.

A 72-year-old male is diagnosed with paradoxical embolus after he presented with concurrent deep vein thrombosis, stroke, and multiple arterial emboli in the presence of a patent foramen ovale (PFO). Paradoxical embolus requires the passage of a thrombus from the venous into the arterial circulation through a right-to-left shunt leading to systemic embolism. But, despite the high incidence of PFO (27.3% across all age groups by autopsy), paradoxical embolism (PDE) is uncommon, representing

Left atrial myxomas are rare primary cardiac tumors. Their incidence is estimated to be about 0.1% of total cases. Neurological complications resulting from cardiac myxomas are seen in 20–35% of patients. Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) is preferred over transthoracic echocardiogram for evaluation of left atrial myxoma. Three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography ensures better visualization of intracardiac structures. It has been used prior to surgery for diagnostic support in the surgical treatment of cardiac masses. We present a case of a 46-year-old Hispanic male who developed acute ischemic stroke of left frontal lobe and was also found to have multiple ‘silent’ cerebral infarcts in the MRI of the brain. On further workup, he was found to have a left atrial myxoma on 3D TEE. This was resected with the assistance of intra-operative 3D TEE imaging. We present this case to increase awareness and to stress at early evaluation of secondary causes of ischemic cerebrovascular accident, outside the realm of hypercoagulability. This case also exhibits the need for basic cardiac workup in young individuals who present with symptoms of intermittent palpitations or chest pain to minimize significant morbidity or mortality.Keywords: left atrial myxoma; three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiogram; acute stroke(Published: 17 February 2016)Citation: Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives 2016, 6: 29604 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/jchimp.v6.29604

We report the case of a 45-year-old female referred to us with progressive shortness of breath and a huge left mediastinal mass. Computed tomography of the chest revealed a mass occupying the posterior mediastinum and extending from the apex caudally to the left hemidiaphragm. Further magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated tumor extension to the left interverteberal foramina of T5-T6 and T6-T7. Excision of the mass was performed through a left posterolateral thoracotomy. Histology confirmed a mediastinal ganglioneuroma. This is an unusual tumor with more than one extension in the spine. Ganglioneuromas are rare tumors of the peripheral nervous system. Most of these tumors are, however, retroperitoneal and are more common in children and young adults. Ganglioneuromas arise from neural crest cells. These tumors are mostly asymptomatic, but some may present with hypertension and flushing. Massive tumors can present with pressure symptoms.