Coronary artery fistulae (CAF) are either congenital or acquired coronary artery abnormalities, that have different anatomical appearance; with varying degree of shunting (Qp/ Qs); and associated cardiac anomalies [1]. Etiologies include high cardiac output state and congestive heart failure with shunting of blood into a cardiac chamber, great vessel, or other structures, bypassing the myocardi...

Pericardial effusion (PE) associated with myocardial infarction (MI) is considered to be associated with anterior ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI), with large infarcts, and when heart failure is present. When PE is associated with cardiac tamponade, it is usually due to cardiac rupture, hemorrhagic pericarditis, or aortic dissection involving the right coronary artery. However, the majority of P...

Introduction. Dissection of the myocardium is a rare form of cardiac rupture, caused by a hemorrhagic dissection among the spiral myocardial fibers, its diagnosis is rarely established before the operation or death, and extremely few cases have been reported in the literature and none of these cases seem to have a history of previous cardiac surgery which makes our report unique. Case Presentat...

Kumar A, Kar S, Fay WP. Thrombosis, physical activity, and acute coronary syndromes. J Appl Physiol 111: 599–605, 2011. First published May 19, 2011; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00017.2011.—Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are common, life-threatening cardiac disorders that typically are triggered by rupture or erosion of an atherosclerotic plaque. Platelet deposition and activation of the blood coa...

BACKGROUND Dendritic cells (DC) play pivotal roles in regulating the immune system and inflammatory response. We previously reported DC infiltration in the infarcted heart and its immunoprotective roles in the post-infarction healing process after experimental myocardial infarction (MI). However, its clinical significance has not been determined. METHODS AND RESULTS The degree of DC infiltrat...

BACKGROUND Traumatic pericardial rupture is a rare presentation. Pericardial rupture itself is asymptomatic unless complicated by either hemorrhage or herniation of the heart through the defect. Following diagnosis surgical repair of the pericardium is indicated because cardiac herniation may result in vascular collapse and sudden death. OBJECTIVES Here we present a case of traumatic, non-her...

Late rupture of the left ventricle after repeat MVR was successfully repaired by patch closure through the right atrium. We recommend early elective repair of such lesions before cardiac function is compromised.

Sinus of Valsalva aneurysm rupture is a rare cardiac anomaly and demands prompt treatment. We present a case of a young patient who underwent transcatheter closure due to a ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm.

The matricellular protein SPARC (secreted protein, acidic and rich in cysteine, also known as osteonectin) mediates cell-matrix interactions during wound healing and regulates the production and/or assembly of the extracellular matrix (ECM). This study investigated whether SPARC functions in infarct healing and ECM maturation after myocardial infarction (MI). In comparison with wild-type (WT) m...

Background and Objectives: In spite of large number of studies conducted so far, sudden cardiac death remains an enigma and relative importance of acute coronary events as a trigger of sudden death is currently unclear. An autopsy study of heart was therefore planned to observe various histomorphological cardiac changes, and to determine the frequency association of acute coronary events and my...