Occlusion myocardial infarction is a clinical diagnosis
Written by Willy Frick (@Willyhfrick). Willy is a cardiology fellow with a keen interest in the ECG in OMI.A woman in her late 70s presented with left arm pain. The arm pain started the day prior when she was at the dentist ' s office for a root canal. Her systolic blood pressure at the dentist was over 200 mm Hg. She was given nitroglycerin which improved her blood pressure, and she completed the procedure. Her arm pain abated. The pain returned that evening and woke her from sleep. She eventually fell back asleep, and woke up feeling normal the next day (the day of presentation). After dinner the day of presentatio...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - December 11, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Willy Frick Source Type: blogs
Thrombus, tumor or vegetation?
This question is often faced by the echocardiographer while evaluating a mass detected on the heart valves or cardiac chambers. Usual method is to take it in the clinical context. There could also be non-infective vegetations of marantic endocarditis which are almost impossible to differentiate from infective vegetations. Marantic vegetations can be suspected in the presence of small and multiple vegetations changing from one examination to another, without associated abscess or valve destruction [1]. It may be noted that echocardiography is neither 100% specific nor 100% sensitive for the diagnosis of infective endocardi...
Source: Cardiophile MD - December 15, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Upon arrival to the emergency department, a senior emergency physician looked at the ECG and said " Nothing too exciting. "
This article fails to specify whether it was troponin I or T, but I contacted the institution and they used exclusively troponin I during that time period.Reference on Troponins: Xenogiannis I, Vemmou E, Nikolakopoulos I, et al. The impact of ST-segment elevation on the prognosis of patients with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. J Electrocardiol [Internet] 2022;Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jelectrocard.2022.09.009Cardiology opinion: Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (EF 30-35%)V Fib Cardiac arrestProlonged QTCNSTEMI (Smith comment: is it NSTEMI or is it Takotsubo? -- these are entirely different)Moderate sin...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - November 30, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
What is Door in – Door Out Time?
What is Door in – Door Out Time?
Door in door out time is applicable when a person presents with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction to a centre which does not have the facility to perform primary angioplasty by percutaneous coronary intervention or PCI.
Recommended door in – door out time in ST elevation myocardial infarction presenting to non-PCI capable center is less than 30 minutes. Primary angioplasty being the best option to open up the infarct related coronary artery, it has to be done at the earliest. So time should not be lost by undue observation at a non PCI capable centre. When the person presen...
Source: Cardiophile MD - November 26, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
How is pulmonary embolism treated? Cardiology Basics
Pulmonary embolism is obstruction of pulmonary arteries due to emboli migrating from other parts of the body. It is a potentially life threatening condition if a major branch or multiple branches are obstructed. More emboli can travel to the lungs from the original source and hence pulmonary embolism may worsen later even if the initial episode involves only a small portion of the lungs. So, it is important to treat pulmonary embolism even if it is mild. Treatment options will depend on the severity of the situation.
Initial treatment will be with parenteral anticoagulants like heparin or low molecular weight heparin. Aft...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 18, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
What is thrombolytic therapy for myocardial infarction? Cardiology Basics
Thrombolytic therapy used to be an important mode of early treatment of acute myocardial infarction. Though it has been largely superseded by primary angioplasty, thrombolytic therapy may still be useful in certain situations. It is still an important form of treatment in resource limited locations.
Myocardial infarction is usually due to sudden occlusion of a coronary artery by thrombus formation on a pre-existing partial obstruction by an atherosclerotic plaque. Plaque rupture with local thrombus formation is the usual mechanism. Dissolving the thrombus soon after the occurrence of a myocardial infarction can salv...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 14, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
What is myocardial stunning and hibernation? Cardiology Basics
Just as you can get stunned for some time if hit on the head, part of the myocardium can also stop functioning following transient coronary obstruction. This usually occurs following a myocardial infarction after which the occluded coronary artery gets opened up spontaneously or by thrombolytic therapy or primary angioplasty.
After a variable period of time, the stunned myocardium usually recovers full function. During the period of stunning, if a large part of myocardium is involved, the person may have features of heart failure due to decreased left ventricular systolic function. Myocardial stunning is the reason for he...
Source: Cardiophile MD - October 13, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Right ventricular infarction
Right ventricular infarction can be associated with inferior wall infarction. It is due to occlusion of the right ventricular branches of the right coronary artery. The actual prevalence of right ventricular infarction may be underestimated because right sided chest leads are not part of routine 12 lead ECG. In a study which included right sided chest leads V3R, V4R, V5R and V6R, ST elevation of 1 mm or more in any of these leads was found to be a reliable sign of right ventricular involvement. It was a study of 67 patients who underwent serial electrocardiograms and 99mtechnetium pyrophosphate scintigraphy and a dynamic ...
Source: Cardiophile MD - June 25, 2021 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis Tags: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
A man in his 30s with greater than 12 hours of chest pain
Written by Bobby Nicholson MD, with edits by MeyersA man in his early 30s presented at 7:35am to the ED with chest pain (7/10) beginning suddenly at 7:30pm the night prior. The note did not specify whether the pain had been truly constant for 12 hours, or whether it had been intermittent. He had associated nausea, vomiting, hot flashes, chills, dyspnea, and cough. He had uncontrolled type 1 diabetes and smoking history. Vitals were normal. Physical exam was unremarkable. No prior ECG was on file.At 0742, this ECG was obtained in triage:What do you think?Raw Findings: - Sinus rhythm - QRS is narrow wit...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - May 7, 2021 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
Getting It Right Despite the Wrong Paradigm
Written by Alex Bracey, edits by Meyers and SmithA 50 something year old male presented to the ED as a transfer from an outside hospital with chest pain. As EMS gave report I looked through the transfer packet for the initial ECG:Sinus bradycardia with loss of R-wave progression and hyperacute T-waves in V2-V5, slight STE in aVL and I without meeting STEMI criteria. There is a down-up T-wave in lead III, which is a very specific reciprocal finding in high lateral OMI. Very highly suspicious of OMI. Applying the 4-variable formula for detection of subtle anterior OMI would yield: STE60V3 = 2.5, QTc = 360, RV4 = 3, QRSV2 = 5...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - April 12, 2021 Category: Cardiology Authors: Bracey Source Type: blogs
A man in his early 40s with chest pain: STD in V1-V4, but posterior lead are negative
This study by Shah et al. shows that the STD of subendocardial ischemia (in contrast to posterior OMI) is maximal in V5 and V6.Shah A, Wagner GS, Green CL, et al. Electrocardiographic differentiation of the ST-segment depression of acute myocardial injury due to the left circumflex artery occlusion from that of myocardial ischemia of nonocclusive etiologies. Am J Cardiol [Internet] 1997;80(4):512 –3. Available from: https://europepmc.org/article/med/9285669However, STD in V1-V4 can occasionally be due to subendocardial ischemia. If posterior leads also show ST depression, then subendocardial ischemia is probable!!&...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - February 14, 2021 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
Chest Pain and Ischemic ST Depression — but there is no Cath Lab available. Thrombolytics?
===================================MY Comment by KEN GRAUER, MD (7/14/2020):===================================This middle-aged man with hypertension and hyperlipidemia presented to the ED with 2 hours of new-onset chest pain — and the ECG shown in Figure-1. The patient was hemodynamically stable. No prior tracing was available for comparison.HOW would you interpret the ECG shown in Figure-1?Immediate cath lab activation was not an option in this hospital. Should acute thrombolysis be used?Figure-1: The initial ECG in the ED (See text).My THOUGHTS on ECG #1...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - July 14, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: ECG Interpretation Source Type: blogs
CDK5 as a Target to Reduce Cell Death Following Ischemic Stroke
In this study, we synthesized a membrane-permeable peptide (Tat-CDK5-CTM) that specifically disrupts the binding of CDK5 and NR2B and then leads to the degradation of CDK5 by a lysosome-mediated pathway.
We found that the administration of Tat-CDK5-CTM not only retards calcium overload and neuronal death in oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD)-treated neurons but also reduced the infarction area and neuronal loss and improved the neurological functions in MCAO (middle cerebral artery occlusion) mice. The peptide-directed lysosomal degradation of CDK5 is a promising therapeutic intervention for stroke.
Link:...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 18, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
How does acute left main occlusion present on the ECG?
Post by Smith and MeyersSam Ghali (https://twitter.com/EM_RESUS) just asked me (Smith):" Steve, do left main coronary artery *occlusions* (actual ones with transmural ischemia) have ST Depression or ST Elevation in aVR? "Smith and Meyers answer:First, LM occlusion is uncommon in the ED because most of these die before they can get a 12-lead recorded.But if they do present:The very common presentation of diffuse STD with reciprocal STE in aVR is NOT left main occlusion, though it might be due to subtotal LM ACS, but is much more often due to non-ACS conditions, especially demand ischemia. In these ...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - August 8, 2019 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
What happens when a patient with LAD OMI does not go immediately to the cath lab?
This patient was extremely elderly, and although the diagnosis was recognized, she did not go to the cath lab for reasons related to age and patient/family choice.Nevertheless, there is a lot to learn from the ECGs.I was shown this ECG without any information:QTc = 431 msWhat was my response?I immediately said:" Acute LAD occlusion. OcclusionMI (OMI) " (And sinus rhythm with a PVC.) (Not quite a STEMI, but same effect.)Why did I diagnose LAD occlusion?There isST elevation in V2-V4 that does not quite meet " STEMI criteria. " Is it normal ST elevation? No! How do I know? First, there is re...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - April 2, 2019 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
