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Myocardial infarction as the most severe clinical manifestation of coronary atherosclerosis is the major cause of death in western countries. Although rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque is generally causal for this event, in recent years differential diagnoses have been discussed to further optimize diagnosis and treatment of myocardial ischemia. The "universal definition of myocardial infarction" defines five subtypes of myocardial infarction: in particular, type 2 myocardial infarction includes other diseases related to myocardial ischemia such as hyper- or hypotension, coronary artery spasms, arrhythmia, etc. Some medications for the acute therapy of migraine like triptans can lead to myocardial infarction.

History and Admission Findings: A 63-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for evaluation of leukocytopenia and blast cells in the peripheral blood smear. The general condition was reduced, a maculo-papulous exanthema of the face and upper body as well as a general lymphadenopathy were found., Investigations: Bone marrow examination revealed the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) FAB M1 and a normal karyotype. Extramedullary manifestations of AML were demonstrated in skin and lymphnode biopsies. ECG showed no signs of ischemia, echocardiography a normal left-ventricular function., Treatment and Course: The patient received induction treatment using sequential high-dose cytosinarabinosid and mitoxantrone, which rapidly resolved the extramedullary skin- and lymphnode-manifestations of the AML. During the chemotherapy-associated bone marrow aplasia a non-ST-elevation infarction (NSTEMI) developed combined with severe ischemic cardiomyopathy, high-grade mitral valve deficiency and serious congestive heart failure with respiratory failure. Coronary artery angiography showed a complete occlusion of the proximal ramus circumflexus. Percutanous coronary intervention (PCI) with implantation of a bare-metal stent was performed, which resulted in prompt improvement of the condition. Despite the transfusion-dependent thrombocytopenia a dual antiplatelet therapy with acetylsalicylic acid and clopidogrel was given. After each unit of platelets transfused a loading dose of 600 mg clopidogrel was given to prevent stent thrombosis. The patient did not experience major bleeding and was discharged in complete remission of AML and completely cardially recompensated., Conclusion: Coronary angiography and stenting can generally be safely performed in patients with transfusion-dependent thrombocytopenia. Despite a higher risk of bleeding an oral dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and e. g. clopidogrel according to the guidelines should be performed, but its duration should be adapted to the individual patient circumstances., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Purpose: Since Sildenafil (Viagra) has become available, there have been reports of death and cardiac risks associated with its use. As large doses of Sildenafil medication is often prescribed particularly in diabetic patients with erectile dysfunction (ED), our study was designed to evaluate the coronary flow reserve (CFR) and possible resulting cardiac risk specifically in diabetic men., Materials and Methods: Because these men often suffer from clinically significant ischaemic heart problems without their knowledge and without symptoms, all of our patients were examined by treadmill ECG and CFR., Results: In 44 men (35 - 74 years) with type I and II diabetes also suffering from ED objectified by FCDS measurement of the penile vessels, a surprisingly high rate of objective cardiac problems were found, which were then verified by coronary angiography. These patients are at risk for ischaemic problems during Sildenafil-assisted intercourse and were excluded from further study. Interestingly, only 3 of theses 11 men would have been detected by conventional examinations. Patients free of coronary stenosis who received 50 mg Sildenafil (20 patients) showed no cardiac problems during treadmill exercise and CFR measurement., Conclusions: Coronary flow reserve in diabetic men lies at the lower end of the normal range, but is not further decreased by Sildenafil. However, diabetics with ED frequently showed coronary artery stenosis that was not clinically symptomatic. Furthermore, conventional cardiological examinations often fail to detect these patients, although they are at ischaemic risk during medically assisted intercourse. Furthermore, although 5 of 20 men who received Sildenafil had an increase in penile blood flow without sexual stimulation, only 7 of 20 were responders to Sildenafil after take home medication. Thus, Sildenafil medication is not a suitable test medication for organic erectile dysfunction.

Background: In the past cardiotoxicity has been increasingly reported as 5-fluorouracil is widely used as well in curative adjuvant as in palliative chemotherapy of malignant neoplasms., Methods: We report on two cases of 5-fluorouracil-associated cardiotoxicity on palliative treatment of head and neck cancer and evaluate the importance of intensive drug monitoring., Results: 5-fluorouracil-associated cardiotoxicity occurs with an incidence of 1.1-4.5%. Ischaemic cardiopathy due to vasospasms is believed to be the most common manifestation., Conclusions: Since most patients with head and neck cancer have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, 5-fluorouracil-associated cardiotoxicity should not be underestimated and patients should be monitored carefully.

After a patient treated with lamotrigine (LTG) had suffered from thoracal pain and repolarisation deficiencies in the electrocardiogram (ECG), we prospectively investigated 20 patients with localization-related epilepsies to assess cardiovascular side effects of LTG. During the study, LTG was added to a stable dosage of one to three first line antiepileptic drugs (AED). Physical examinations and ECG recordings were performed regularly. Clinical cardial side effects did not occur. Only in single ECG traces of six patients non specific abnormalities were seen. Only in one patient, the abnormalities (supraventricular extrasystoles and a first grade atrioventricular block) unequivocally appeared initially under LTG. However, in the same patient two later ECG recordings under higher LTG dosages were normal. The statistical analysis of the ventricular activation times did not reveal any significant changes under LTG (p = 0.05) with the exception of an extended PQ time when comparing a patient group before LTG (n = 11) with another patient group under LTG (n = 11). Since this observation was not confirmed by the statistical analysis of a third patient group (n = 10) with ECG data prior to and under LTG, we believe that the statistically significant changes mentioned above were based mainly on structural differences between the patient groups and not on true LTG effects. Our results do not give evidence for an elevated risk of clinically relevant cardial side effects under LTG.

Ornipressin (OR), a synthetic derivative of natural vasopressin, is widely used in combination with local anaesthetics in order to reduce surgical bleeding and systemic absorption of the local anaesthetic. As shown previously in experimental studies, OR causes severe coronary vasoconstriction. The myocardial oxygen balance is compromised by an increase in myocardial oxygen demand due to hypertension and impaired oxygen delivery following coronary vasoconstriction. We describe the case of a 19-year-old male who was admitted to the hospital for elective tonsillectomy. There was no evidence of systemic or cardiovascular disease (ASA I). Following the induction of anaesthesia with thiopentone 4 mg/kg and ventilation with N2O/O2 (FiO2:0.25), vecuronium was administered to facilitate orotracheal intubation. Anaesthesia was maintained with N2O/O2 (FiO2:0.33) and 2 MAC isoflurane. After reaching an anaesthetic steady state with stable haemodynamic conditions, peritonsillar infiltration with a prilocaine solution containing a total of 0.8 IU OR (0.1 IU/ml) produced marked tachycardia and hypertension. Concomitantly, distinct ST-segment-depression was observed in a lead II ECG. Hypertension and tachycardia occurred within 3 min after the local infiltration with prilocaine/OR. Maximum ST-segment depression and haemodynamic changes were recorded 11 min after infiltration, with an increase in heart rate from 58 to 136 min and a rise in blood pressure from 115/50 to 217/130 mmHg. Considering experimental results, the ECG changes in this case show clear evidence that even in healthy humans OR-induced systemic haemodynamic changes may be complicated by severe myocardial ischaemia due to coronary vasoconstriction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)