Cardiology Journal 2008, tom 15, nr 6

Coarctation of the aorta (CoA) accounts for about 4% of all congenital cardiovascular defects [1]. In most cases it is asymptomatic and patients can live with this defect even till the 4th or 5th decade of life, unaware of its presence. Arterial hypertension and late complications, which appear in the natural course of this defect are important problems related to the diagnostics and the surgical treatment of CoA...

Apical ballooning syndrome (ABS) is a unique acute cardiac syndrome characterized by symptoms and electrocardiographic changes that mimic acute myocardial infarction. It occurs in patients without evidence of significant obstructive coronary artery disease and is associated with transient extensive wall motion abnormalities of the apical and mid portions of the left ventricle. The onset of ABS is preceded by a stressful event, either emotional or physical in around 65% of cases...

Placing a coronary stent during angioplasty minimizes reduces of acute vessel occlusion [1] and restenosis [2]. Although permanent metallic stents are effective in preventing recoil and late restenosis after coronary angioplasty, they continue to have limitations such as stent thrombosis and mismatch of the stent to the vessel size. In-stent restenosis is the major shortcoming of conventional (permanent-implant) stent therapy...

Magnetic navigation and mapping systems have been used for electroanatomic voltage mapping and substrate-based catheter ablation in arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) [1–3]...

In this paper, we present a case of a female patient with clinically unstable angina pectoris and a bordeline stenosis in the proximal segment of the left anterior descending coronary artery as assessed by coronary angiography and intravascular ultrasound. Virtual histology revealed morphological criteria of a vulnerable plaque forming the culprit lesion. Optical coherence tomography visualized both fibrous cap fracture and a significant stenosis of a coronary artery caused by soft structures identified as mural thrombus covering the plaque surface...

We describe a rare case of Twiddler’s syndrome that resulted in a complex ICD lead fracture involving both the insulation and the conductor...

Atrial flutter (AFL) is a rapid, regular atrial tachyarrhythmia that occurs most commonly in patients with underlying structural heart disease. AFL with 1:1 atrioventricular (AV) conduction is a rare occasion. We describe a 70-year-old male patient with hyperthyroidism in whom AFL was associated with 1:1 AV conduction...

Prediction of functional myocardial recovery post acute myocardial infarction should be based not only on flow patency of the infarct related artery (IRA) but also on the quality of microcirculation in at-risk segments. Myocardial blush grade (MBG) is a method of perfusion assessment which has an established value in prediction of both ventricular remodelling and prognosis....

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of in-hospital cardiac arrest and survival during 10 years of observation...

The aim of this study was to determine the outcome after surgical repair of aortic coarctation in adults, analysing its effect on arterial blood pressure...