Self-Inserted Needles in the Heart
Cardiac injuries due to penetration by sharp foreign bodies usually have a clear clinical presentation. A case of a 38-year-old man with self-inserted cardiac lesions and a misleading presentation is…
Preoperative Electrocardiogram
Before cataract surgery, a 64-year-old diabetic man had an electrocardiogram ( Figure 1 ). It shows 257 atrial flutter waves per minute and 2:1 atrioventricular conduction. The second, fifth, eighth, fifteenth,…
Computed Tomographic and Morphologic Features of Syphilis of the Aorta
This report describes certain computed tomographic and morphologic features of syphilitic aortitis in 2 patients in whom the process involved the entire thoracic aorta. In 2009, a report from this…
Thrombus Aspiration to Reduce Cardiac Events; What About Medical Therapy?
I read the report by Boghdady and Elbadry, recently published online in the American Journal of Cardiology . In their study, the authors reported that rescue percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)…
Relation of Total and Cardiovascular Death Rates to Climate System, Temperature, Barometric Pressure, and Respiratory Infection
A distinct seasonal pattern in total and cardiovascular death rates has been reported. The factors contributing to this pattern have not been fully explored. Seven locations (average total population 71,354,000)…
Using Natriuretic Peptides for Selection of Patients in Acute Heart Failure Clinical Trials
Acute heart failure (AHF) is a complex syndrome with presentations ranging from hypotensive cardiogenic shock to hypertensive emergency with pulmonary edema. Most patients with AHF present with worsening of chronic…
Syphilis as a Cause of Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm
In 2009, we described morphologic findings in 22 patients having resection of an ascending aortic aneurysm in the previous 11 years at the Baylor University Medical Center, and histologic examination of…
Gender Disparities in Outcomes and Resource Utilization for Acute Pulmonary Embolism Hospitalizations in the United States
Current data regarding gender disparities in outcomes after acute pulmonary embolism (PE) are limited and controversial. We sought to assess the gender-specific rates and trends in treatment, outcomes, and complications…
Changes of Cardiac Function During Ultradistance Trail Running
Previous studies have noted reversible cardiac dysfunction during marathon races, but few data are available concerning ultradistance trail running. The aim of this study was to assess echocardiographic parameters during…
Reporting of a Publicly Accessible Protocol and Its Association With Positive Study Findings in Cardiovascular Trials (from the Epidemiological Study of Randomized Trials [ESORT])
Selective outcome reporting is common among published randomized trials and is often associated with the reporting of positive study findings. We investigated whether publication of study protocols in publicly accessible…
