2004;82(2) – ABC CARDIOL

Artigo Original

Exercise stress testing is useful, safe, and efficient even in patients aged 75 years or older

Luciano Janussi Vacanti et al. Luciano B H Sespedes Maíra de Oliveira Sarpi

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical and hemodynamic variables obtained with exercise testing in elderly patients SW >75 years. METHODS: This study assessed 100 patients aged 75-94 years (80±4 years) undergoing symptom-limited exercise testing, 65% of whom were asymptomatic, 25% had nonanginal chest pain, and 10% had typical precordialgia. Of the 100 patients, 32% were males, 50% were hypertensive, 36% were dyslipidemic, 14% were diabetic, and 9% had had previous coronary artery disease. A ramp-adaptation of the Bruce protocol (ramped Bruce protocol) was used, preceded by a 1-minute warm-up with no treadmill incline and a velocity of 1.0 mph. RESULTS: No complications were observed, and 92% of the tests were efficient. On average, the patients reached 95% of the maximum heart rate predicted. The mean duration of the test and the mean metabolic equivalent reached were, respectively, 6.8 ±2 minutes and 6.6 ±2.3 METs. Eleven patients had a hyperreactive inotropic response, and 37% of the sample had noncomplex ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias. Eighteen percent of the tests were positive for myocardial ischemia. The patients with typical precordialgia had more ischemic responses than did those with nonanginal chest pain or those who were asymptomatic: 70% vs 16% (P<0.001) and 70% vs 10% (P<0.01), respectively. CONCLUSION: The symptom-limited exercise test is useful, safe, and efficient for analyzing ischemic and hemodynamic responses, even in very elderly individuals.

Read Full Article

Artigo Original

Thyroid hormone levels in patients with aortic dissection: comparison with controls and correlation with the percentage of the aortic media composed of myxoid deposits

Paulo Sampaio Gutierrez et al. Maria Adelaide Albergaria Pereira Regina Célia Martins Oliveira Noedir Antonio Groppo Stolf Maria de Lourdes Higuchi

OBJECTIVE: Deposits of myxoid material, similar to myxedema related to thyroid disease, are described in the medial layer of aortas with dissection. We analyzed the clinical or subclinical thyroid dysfunction of patients with this disease and analyzed whether a correlation exists between serum levels of thyroid-related hormones and the myxoid content of the aortic media. METHODS: We measured, with standard methods, serum levels of triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in 28 patients who underwent aortic dissection and free T4 in 20 of them. The same hormones were quantified in 20 control patients matched by sex and age. Results were compared by using the Mann-Whitney test. We also measured the percentage of the aortic media occupied by myxoid material in the surgical specimens of 25 of the patients with aortic dissection and analyzed its correlation with hormone levels by using the Pearson test. RESULTS: In the 20 pairs in which the amount of hormones was compared, the mean values for T3, T4, free T4, and TSH were 1.22ng/mL, 9.89mcg/dL, 1.18ng/dL, and 5.45 microIU/mL in study patients and 1.15ng/mL, 8.57mcg/dL, 1.32ng/dL, and 2.15 microIU/mL in controls. Neither these differences nor the correlation between the percentage of myxoid content (mean=30%) and the values for T3, T4, free T4, and TSH (mean 1.22ng/mL, 9.44mcg/dL, 1.20ng/dL, and 5.08 microIU/mL, respectively; n= 25) were significant. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that serum levels of thyroid hormones have no relation with the myxoid content in the aortic media in cases of aortic dissection.

Read Full Article

Comunicação Breve

Persistent respiratory insufficiency secondary to diastolic heart failure

José Acylino de Lima Neto et al. Claudio Buarque Benchimol Ricardo Segadas Acylino de Lima

This study assessed two 85-year-old patients diagnosed with diastolic heart failure and persistent respiratory insufficiency characterized by severe obstructive ventilatory disorder and gas exchange alterations. The possibility that the respiratory impairment was consequent to primary pulmonary disease was excluded. Radiological signs of mild pulmonary edema had been observed in 1 of the patients during the 4 years preceding the first hospitalization. The respiratory findings were attributed to pulmonary lesions conditioned to the presence of chronic pulmonary edema. The incidence of the disease in very elderly patients may create an illness that can be called congestive pulmonary disease.

Read Full Article

Relato de Caso

Pheochromocytoma-induced segmental myocardial dysfunction mimicking an acute myocardial infarction in a patient with normal coronary arteries

Eduardo S. Darzé et al. Roberto L. Von Sohsten

We report a case of pheochromocytoma-induced segmental myocardial dysfunction and electrocardiographic abnormalities mimicking an acute anterior myocardial infarction, probably due to coronary spasm. Coronary angiography showed normal coronaries, and the electrocardiographic and echocardiographic changes resolved completely after therapy with an alpha-adrenergic blocker and tumor removal. Our case illustrates the importance of maintaining a high index of suspicion in patients presenting with an unexpected myocardial event and a hypertensive crisis.

Read Full Article

Artigo Original

Race and hypertensive target-organ damage in patients from an university-affiliated outpatient care referral clinic in the city of Salvador

Antonio Carlos Beisl Noblat et al. Marcelo Barreto Lopes Antonio Alberto Lopes

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether a patient’s race is associated with the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy, stroke, and renal failure in hypertensive patients from an outpatient care referral clinic in the city of Salvador in the state of Bahia. METHODS: We assessed the data of 622 patients collected during their first visit to the hypertension outpatient care clinic between 1982 and 1986, identifying those with a previous history or sequela of stroke, left ventricular hypertrophy, or renal failure (serum creatinine > 1.4 mg/dL). Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of the association between race (mulattos or black vs white individuals) and hypertensive target-organ damage adjusted for sex and age. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 53.8±14.3 years, and 74.1% were women. In regard to race, 15.1% were white, 65.9% mulatto, and 19.0% black. Stroke was significantly more frequent in blacks or mulattos than in white individuals [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 3.44; 95% confidence interval (CI) = (1.23-9.67). In regard to the associations involving race and the events of left ventricular hypertrophy and renal failure, the aORs were not statistically significant but were consistent with a greater prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy and renal failure in blacks and mulattos. CONCLUSION: Hypertensive mulattos and blacks have a greater risk of target-organ damage than white individuals do, with a greater racial difference for nonfatal stroke. Whether racial differences in mortality related to hypertensive complications influence the associations observed between race and target-organ damage should be assessed.

Read Full Article

Relato de Caso

Left ventricular lipoma

Paulo Manuel Pêgo-Fernandes et al. Carlos Alfredo Batagello Fábio Fernandes Fabio Biscegli Jatene Sérgio Almeida Oliveira

We report the case of a 21-year-old female referred to our institution complaining of dizziness when standing up, which improved in the dorsal decubitus position and at rest, after a few minutes. The symptom, which had lasted for years, was not accompanied by vertigo, syncope, or neurological changes, but was gradually getting worse. Transthoracic echocardiogram showed a hyperechoic mass in the middle-apical region of the left ventricular posterior wall and normal pericardium. The cardiac nuclear magnetic resonance allowed the diagnosis of the left ventricular tumor suggestive of lipoma. Surgery was performed and the tumor was resected. The patient recovered well and is currently asymptomatic.

Read Full Article

Artigo Original

Pulmonary veins isolation to treat patients with refractory paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: clinical results after a single procedure

Mauricio Scanavacca et al. Raul Sartini Fernando Tondato André d'Ávila … Denise Hachul Francisco Darrieux Sissy Lara Eduardo Sosa

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to access the clinical outcome of patients submitted to a single procedure of radiofrequency pulmonary veins (PV) isolation to treat refractory paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS: This study included 49 consecutive patients (36 male; mean age 54±10 years old) who had frequent symptomatic paroxysmal AF refractory to at least three antiarrhythmic drugs. We used a circular decapolar catheter for mapping PVs – left atrial connections and a 4-mm distal tip catheter for ablation (30 W and 50 C), aiming to achieve electrical isolation of 3 -4 PVs. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients (51%) did not present any AF recurrence in a mean follow-up of 12±5 months. Twenty-four (49%) had at least one recurrence during outcome; twenty (83%) of them within the first month after the procedure and four after two to nine months. After introducing antiarrhythmic drugs 15 (63%) patients were under control, 10 were asymptomatic and five complained of sporadic short duration AF episodes. Nine (37%) patients remained very symptomatic despite the use of antiarrhythmic drugs and were referred to a new procedure of PV isolation. No patient presented major complications. At the end of the follow-up, 35 (71%) patients remained in stable sinus rhythm with no AF recurrences after a single procedure, 50% of them without antiarrhythmic drugs. CONCLUSION: Most patients who present symptomatic paroxysmal AF refractory to antiarrhythmic drugs obtain a good clinical control after a single PV isolation procedure.

Read Full Article

Relato de Caso

Bone marrow cell transplantation to the myocardium of a patient with heart failure due to Chagas' disease

Fábio Vilas-Boas et al. Gilson Soares Feitosa Milena B. P. Soares Joel Alves Pinho-Filho … Augusto Mota Augusto José Gonçalves Almeida Cristiane Carvalho Heitor Ghissoni de Carvalho Adriano Dourado de Oliveira Ricardo Ribeiro dos Santos

We report the first case of bone marrow cell transplantation to the myocardium of a patient with heart failure due to chagas’ disease. The patient is a 52-year-old man with chronic heart failure, NYHA functional class III, despite the optimized clinical therapy. The procedure consisted of aspiration of 50 mL of bone marrow through puncture of the iliac crest, followed by filtration, separation of the mononuclear cells, resuspension, and intracoronary injection. The left ventricular ejection fraction at rest, measured using radionuclide ventriculography with labeled red blood cells prior to transplantation, was 24%, and, after 30 days, it increased to 32% with no change in the medicamentous schedule. The following measurements were assessed before and 30 days after transplantation: left ventricular end diastolic diameter (82 mm and 76 mm, respectively); Minnesota living with heart failure questionaire score (55 and 06, respectively); and distance walked in the 6-minute walking test (513 m and 683 m, respectively). Our findings show that intracoronary injection of bone marrow cells may be performed, suggesting that this is a potentially safe and effective procedure in patients with due to Chagas’ disease heart failure.

Read Full Article

Artigo Original

Epidemiology of decompensated heart failure in the city of Niterói: EPICA – Niterói Project

Leandro Reis Tavares et al. Heraldo Victer José Maurício Linhares Clovis Monteiro de Barros … Marcus Vinicius Oliveira Luis Carlos Pacheco Cenésio Henrique Viana Sabrina Bernardez Pereira Gisele Pinto da Silva Evandro Tinoco Mesquita

OBJECTIVE: To compare the epidemiological and socioeconomic profiles, clinical features, etiology, length of hospitalization, and mortality of patients with decompensated heart failure admitted to public and private hospitals in the city of Niterói. METHODS: We carried out a prospective, multicenter study (from July to September 2001) comprising all patients older than 18 years with the primary diagnosis of heart failure and admitted to hospitals in the city of Niterói, whose scores according to the Boston criteria were 8 or above. Proportions were compared using the chi-square and Fisher exact tests. RESULTS: The sample comprised 203 patients as follows: 1) 98 patients from public hospitals: 50% were men, their mean age was 61.1±11.3 years, 65% were black, 57% had an income of 1 minimum wage or less, 56% were illiterate, 66% had ischemic heart disease, their mean length of hospitalization was 12.6 days, and the mortality rate adjusted for age was 5.23; 2) 105 patients from private hospitals: 49% were men, their mean age was 72±12.7 years, 20% were black, 58% had an income greater than 6 minimum wages, 11% were illiterate, 62% had ischemic heart disease, their mean length of hospitalization was 8 days, and the mortality rate adjusted for age was 2.94. The distribution of comorbidities and risk factors was similar among the patients of the 2 hospital systems, except for the smoking habit, which was more frequent among patients from public hospitals. CONCLUSION: In addition to the socioeconomic asymmetries, the hospitalization length and the mortality rate adjusted for age were greater in patients in the public health system.

Read Full Article

Artigo Original

Comparison of the lipid profile, blood pressure, and dietary habits of adolescents and children descended from hypertensive and normotensive individuals

Maria Cristina Elias et al. Max Samuel Mattos Bolívar Francisco Antonio Helfenstein Fonseca Tania Leme da Rocha Martinez … Japy Angelini Celso Ferreira Nelson Kasinski Angelo Amato Vincenzo de Paola Antonio Carlos Camargo Carvalho

OBJECTIVE: To compare blood pressure, lipid profile, food intake, and anthropometric data of adolescents with or without a familial history of hypertension. METHODS: Forty-three adolescents from both sexes were assessed, with ages ranging from 11 to 18 years old. Twenty had hypertensive parents, and 23 had normotensive parents. The following variables were examined: blood pressure, food intake, anthropometric data, lipid profile, and the results of following dietary guidelines (American Heart Association). RESULTS: The offspring of hypertensive parents had greater baseline systolic blood pressure (109 ± 3 vs. 99 ± 2 mm Hg, P=0.01), diastolic blood pressure (68 ± 2 vs. 62 ± 2 mm Hg, p=0.04), greater TC/HDL-C ratio (4.1 ± 0.3 vs. 3.2 ± 0.2, P<0.01), and greater LDL/HDL-C (2.7 ± 0.2 vs. 1.9 ± 0.1, P<0.01), and smaller values of HDL-C (43 ± 2 vs.53 ± 2 mg/dL, P<0.005). Dietary intake and anthropometric measures assessed did not differ between the groups. Even though dietary intervention resulted in reductions in body mass index (21.0± 1.2 vs. 20.1 ± 1.1 kg/m², P<0.01), it did not change dyslipidemia present in the offspring of hypertensive individuals. CONCLUSION: Increased blood pressure levels and less favorable lipid profiles are found among offspring of hypertensive parents, where low levels of HDL-C were the most relevant finding regardless of anthropometric or nutritional variables.

Read Full Article