Tag Archives: cardiomyopathy

Presentation A 52-year-old woman with a background of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency and severe emphysema underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) that demonstrated an apparent right atrial mass adhering to the inter-atrial septum. She was referred for transoesophageal echo (TOE) to investigate further. Additionally, she had been noted to desaturate on exercise, raising the possibility of intra-cardiac shunting. She was thus also referred for saline-bubble contrast TTE. Figure 1. Transthoracic echocardiography immediately following transoesophogeal echocardiogram. Apical four-chamber view at end-diastole demonstrating normal left ventri

Case presentation On Tuesday 23 October 2018, Sheffield United (also known as the Blades) played against Stoke City at Bramall Lane stadium in Sheffield. No goals were scored in the first half, and in the thirtieth minute of the second half, the Blades scored their first goal, much to the delight of their fans. They looked forward to a match win, which would have gained the Blades another three points and propelled the team to the top of the English Football League (EFL) Championship table, moving them one step closer to promotion to the Premier League. Unfortunately, just two minutes before the end of the match, Stoke City were awarded a fre

Introduction Table 1. Main amyloid types and responsible precursor fibrils Amyloid type Precursor fibril protein Immunoglobulin light chain (AL) Immunoglobulin light chains Hereditary transthyretin (hATTR) Mutations of the transythretin molecules Wild-type transthyretin (wtATTR) Wild-type (non-mutant) transthyretin molecules Hereditary fibrinogen (AFib) Mutations of the fibrinogen molecules Hereditary apolipoprotein (AApoA1) Mutations of apolipoprotein A1 molecules Isolated atrial amyloid (IAA) Atrial natriuretic peptide Systemic AA Serum amyloid A (SAA) protein This table illustrates the most common amyloid types and is

Introduction Takotsubo syndrome (TS) is increasingly recognised by the medical community following its first description in five Japanese patients, mostly male, in 1990 by Sato et al.1 Dote, his colleague, named the syndrome Takotsubo in 1991 due to its characteristic left ventricle (LV) shape in systole (narrow neck and wide base) and similarity to the Japanese octopus trap (takotsubo).2 The syndrome is also termed apical ballooning syndrome, broken heart syndrome and stress cardiomyopathy, among other names. Case one: a woman born in 1947 In January 2018 she was aged 70 and had been diagnosed with hypertension in 1996, but had no other card

Introduction Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging has developed into a crucial diagnostic tool in all patients with known or suspected heart disease. The role of CMR in differentiating ischaemic from non-ischaemic heart disease is well established and there are extensive data in the literature correlating myocardial fibrosis, as identified by the late gadolinium hyperenhancement technique, with adverse outcomes in patients with cardiomyopathy.1 A regional CMR service for the Essex region in southeast England was established in 2012, serving a population of 1,393,587 (2011 census data) with the benefit of avoiding transfer of patients to L

Case history A 79-year-old woman with a background history of non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy with severe left ventricular (LV) impairment, left-bundle branch block (LBBB) with QRS duration 130–140 ms and LV dyssynchrony, underwent cardiac resynchronisation device implantation after optimisation of her heart failure medication. She continued to remain breathless (New York Heart Association [NYHA] grade III) even after implantation of the device. Device interrogation revealed only 50% pacing due to interference by predominantly unifocal ventricular ectopics (VEs) with VE load of 20% on 24-hour Holter monitoring (figure 1), which did not

The survey can be found at http://www.cardiomyopathysurvey.co.uk/ and the results, along with other research, will be used by the Board of the Association to inform and guide its development. It should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. All views expressed are confidential and will be kept anonymous. The Association is conducting a review of the charity’s strategy, purpose, image and communications to determine how they can support more people affected by this condition. Please also forward this survey link to anyone you feel may have an interest in cardiomyopathy or the work of the charity. For more information, visit http://www

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Case report A 59-year-old woman was admitted with symptoms and signs suggesting acute coronary syndrome. A 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) demonstrated ST segment elevation in leads V2-V6, I, II and aVL consistent with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction. She underwent emergency coronary angiography, which demonstrated only minor irregularities in coronaries. Chest pain resolved completely after four hours. Figure 1b. Transthoracic echocardiography during the initial admission (apical four-chamber view, diastole) Figure 1a. Transthoracic echocardiography during the initial admission (apical four-chamber view, systole) demonstrating ba

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