Bolus fluorouracil induced syncope and pulseless ventricular tachycardia: a case report

5-fluorouracil is an anti-cancer drug commonly used in oncology practice. Typical side effects are myelosupression, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomatitis. Cardiotoxicity is the other toxicity. Cardiac side effects are ST segment changes, rhythm abnormalities, supraventricular and ventricular dysrhytmias. Pulseless ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation releated with bolus fluorouracil were not detected in the literature. Here we discussed a 46 year-old male patient that has no known cardiac history. After bolus fluorouracil administration, syncope and pulseless ventricular tachycardia developed in this patient. There are a few explanations about the cardiotoxicity of fluorouracil. One of these is the effect on nitric oxide. It causes a reduction in the levels of endothelial NO and this leads coronary vasospasm. Another explanation is protein kinase C mediated vasospasm. In animal studies toxic myocarditis like lesions were detected with fluorouracil infusions. Finally both myocardit and vasospasm may lead cardiac problems like sudden cardiac deaths. Bolus 5-fluorouracil is as cardiotoxic as 5-fluorouracil infusion and we must be careful about the arrhytmia after the bolus administration.

Age-related diseases; degenerative aortic valve disease and osteoarthritis

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relationship between degenerative aortic valve disease and osteoarthritis Background: Degenerative aortic valve disease (DAVD) and osteoarthritis (OA) are age-related degenerative diseases whose pathogenesis involves mechanical stress and local inflammation.

METHODS

Forty-four patients with DAVD (Group 1) and 21 controls (Group 2) were included in this study, which was intended to investigate the similarity between the two conditions. The two groups were similar in terms of age, sex, body mass index, a history of hypertension, cholesterol levels, diabetes mellitus and cigarette consumption.

RESULTS

The average age + standard deviation of the DAVD patients were 71.3 +/- 7.5, compared to 67.5 +/- 10.6 in the control group. In radiological OA analysis, the Lane scale was employed in the lumbar region and the Kellgren-Lawrence scale in the knee joint. Comparison of Groups 1 and 2 revealed no difference in radiological OA in the lumbar region and knee joint.

CONCLUSION

Our study has shown that there is no relationship between these diseases that increased with age. However, extensive studies examining pathogenic mechanisms are needed (Tab. 2, Ref. 11).

C-Reactive protein as a risk factor for left ventricular thrombus in patients with acute myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND

Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) has been found to correlate with higher risk for cardiac events in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). It has been suggested that CRP may be involved in initiation process of coagulation; however, the role of CRP level in the formation of left ventricular (LV) thrombus has not been studied.

HYPOTHESIS

This study investigated whether CRP is a risk factor for LV thrombus in patients with AMI.

METHODS

Clinical, echocardiographic, and biochemical data were analyzed in 141 consecutive patients (aged 57 +/- 13 years; 33 women) with first anterior AMI. Two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic examinations were performed on Days 1, 3, 7, 15, and 30. Blood samples were obtained every day during hospitalization. Serum CRP concentrations were measured by an ultrasensitive immunonephelometry method.

RESULTS

Left ventricular thrombus was detected in 33 (23.4%) patients. Univariate analysis showed that patients with LV thrombus had a higher peak creatine kinase (CK) level (2,879 +/- 742 vs. 1,693 +/- 1,210 I/U, p = 0.001), higher peak CRP level (14.9 +/- 7.1 vs. 9.2 +/- 6.8 mg/dl, p = 0.001), higher wall motion score index (1.8 +/- 0.2 vs. 1.5 +/- 0.3, p = 0.002), higher apical wall motion score index (2.35 +/- 0.72 vs. 2.07 +/- 0.70, p = 0.001), larger end-diastolic volume (145.2 +/- 43.7 vs. 116.5 +/- 44.2 ml, p = 0.002), larger end-systolic volume (85.4 +/- 37.2 vs. 62.9 +/- 31.6 ml, p = 0.003), and lower ejection fraction (42.1 +/- 12 vs. 47.3 +/- 13, p = 0.04). In multivariate analyses, only peak CK level (p = 0.0001), LV apical wall motion score index (p = 0.001), and CRP levels (p = 0.001) were independent predictors of LV thrombus formation.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that CRP is a risk factor for LV thrombus in patients with AMI.

Effect of low-dose metoprolol in combination with sibutramine therapy in normotensive obese patients: a randomized controlled study

OBJECTIVE

Sibutramine is an effective appetite suppresser agent, but treatment is often complicated with side effects, including palpitations and hypertension. In this study, we aimed to assess the effect of low-dose cardio-selective beta blocker combination with sibutramine treatment.

METHODS

In total, 57 obese subjects were enrolled in the study and separated into two groups in order to receive sibutramine 10 mg/day plus placebo (group P) or sibutramine 10 mg/day plus metoprolol 25 mg/day (group M). Patients were evaluated in the beginning and at the end of the third month with anthropometric measurements, biochemical analysis, peripheral insulin resistance, and ambulatory 24 h blood pressure monitoring. Side effects were evaluated with a visual analog scale.

RESULTS

During the study period, the drop-out rate was significantly higher in group P compared with group M (55 and 21%, respectively, P=0.014). Palpitations and headache were prominent symptoms in group P. Diastolic blood pressure (78.6+/-11.6 and 70.6+/-4.8 mmHg, respectively, P=0.013) and mean heart rate (84.3+/-6.1 and 75.8+/-8.4 beats/min, respectively, P=0.003) were significantly higher in group P compared with group M at the end of the third month. Weight loss was similar between the two groups (100.9+/-11.5 to 91.8+/-12.8 kg for group P, P<0.0001 and 97.9+/-13.2 to 88.9+/-13.8 kg for group M, P<0.0001). We did not find any deleterious effect of metoprolol on metabolic parameters.

CONCLUSION

Addition of low-dose metoprolol to sibutramine therapy increased patient compliance to the treatment, and decreased the frequency and severity of side effects including hypertension and palpitations, without decreasing the drug efficacy or causing significant deleterious changes in metabolic parameters.

Echocardiographic evaluation in patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism

OBJECTIVE

To assess cardiac function in patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.

STUDY DESIGN

We studied heart structure and left ventricular systolic and diastolic function by echocardiography in 38 patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (34 men and 4 women, mean age 24 +/- 4 years) and in 30 healthy subjects (25 men and 5 women, mean age 22 +/- 3 years). Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, end-systolic diameter, left ventricular septal wall thickness, posterior wall thickness and ejection fractions were measured by M-mode echocardiography. Parameters of mitral flow were measured by pulsed wave Doppler echocardiography.

RESULTS

Between patients with and without hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, there were no significant differences in echocardiographic measurements.

CONCLUSION

Cardiac function is normal in patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.

Behçet's disease with a large intracardiac thrombus: a case report

Behçet's disease is recognised as a chronic multisystem disorder with vasculitis as its underlying pathological process. Cardiac involvement is rare and often associated with poor prognosis. A case of a 33 year old man with Behçet's disease, presenting with a large right ventricle and right atrial thrombus, is reported. Two dimensional (cross sectional), colour Doppler, and transoesophageal echocardiography, angiography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging were used to diagnose the disease. With cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone treatment, the cardiac lesions progressively resolved.

Doppler-derived mitral deceleration time as an early predictor of left ventricular thrombus after first anterior acute myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND

The relation between left ventricular (LV) diastolic function and LV thrombus has not yet been fully investigated. The aim of this study was to determine whether early assessment of Doppler-derived mitral deceleration time (DT), a measure of LV compliance and filling, may predict LV thrombus formation after acute myocardial infarction.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic examinations were performed in 98 consecutive patients (aged 57 +/- 12 years; 8 women) with first acute myocardial infarction. The patients were studied within 24 hours and at days 3, 7, 15, and 30 after arrival to the coronary care unit. Mitral flow velocities were obtained from the apical 4-chamber view with pulsed Doppler. LV thrombus was detected in 20 of 98 patients. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to LV thrombus formation: group 1 (n = 20) with thrombus and group 2 (n = 78) without thrombus. Mitral E-wave DT was significantly shorter in group 1 than group 2 (134 ms vs 175 ms; P <.001). Patients in group 1 had significantly larger LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes and a higher wall motion score index than patients in group 2 (133 +/- 39 mL vs 112 +/- 41 mL, P =.03; 83 +/- 34 mL vs 59 +/- 30 mL, P =.003; and 1.8 +/- 0.3 mL vs 1.5 +/- 0.3 mL, P =.007, respectively). The LV ejection fraction was significantly lower in group 1 than in group 2 (39% +/- 13% vs 48% +/- 12%; P =.004). In a multivariate regression analysis, mitral E-wave DT was identified as an independent variable related to development of LV thrombus (P =.04).

CONCLUSIONS

Doppler-derived mitral DT is superior to conventional clinical and 2-dimensional echocardiographic assessment in estimating the risk of left ventricular thrombosis after myocardial infarction.

Mitral valve prolapse and mitral insufficiency in two siblings with Gaucher's disease

Gaucher's disease is an autosomal recessive storage disorder. We report two siblings with Gaucher's disease, both of which had mitral valve prolapse and mitral insufficiency. One of the siblings died of bacterial endocarditis and pneumonia, while the other continues under followup.