Reocclusion following successful thrombolysis. Emerging concepts

The behaviour of physicians is increasingly coming under scrutiny and attack, both from patients and from institutions that represent the public interest. This social process is partly a necessary and healthy quest for healing and partly a retaliatory response to inevitable failures on the part of physicians to live up to the standards expected of them. The process can assume such ruthless and pervasive forms that physicians are becoming exposed to impossible demands and even abuse at the hands of those they are trying to help. As a result, many physicians become defensive, withdrawing from patient care or reasserting their own needs in regressive ways that further offend or injure their patients. This increases public anxiety and outrage resulting in regressive and even violent "solutions", creating a vicious cycle in which mutual trust and respect is eroded and true health eludes our grasp. Physicians who practise psychotherapy are particularly aware of such regressive emotional pressures and therefore their experience can be taken as a bellwether of social change. Stirred by recent encounters with colleagues who have undergone public inquisition, humiliation and punishment, and drawing on personal clinical experience with patients whose regressive self-expression could at times be considered "borderline", the author attempts to understand the nature of the emotional forces being experienced by members of the profession at large. As in therapy, so in social change; the outcome depends on how well we understand, contain and channel the powerful feelings that underlie whatever actions are taken.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The flip side of the coin: Understanding the school's contribution to dropout and completion.

Argues that schools play an important role in fostering student retention and completion. It is suggested that psychological perspectives on the goodness of fit between students and the school environment should be used to guide school reform efforts. Using a structural perspective from organizational theory, the authors review aspects of schooling associated with dropout. They then briefly review selected reform initiatives that restructure the school environment to improve student achievement and retention. It is proposed that efforts to understand and promote school completion will be most effective if they are based on sound psychological theory and science and are embedded in an ecological perspective that accounts for the complex reciprocal interactions of individuals and their environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Direct coronary angioplasty versus thrombolysis in the acute phase of myocardial infarction--inpatient outcome

Both thrombolysis and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) are effective methods for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In our centre we perform primary PTCA during the available schedule of the hemodynamics laboratory. In this article we compare the predischarge evolution of patients submitted to each therapeutic procedure. From January 1996 to June 1997, 298 patients were admitted with the diagnosis of AMI. Eighty-four patients (28%) were thrombolysed (TB group) and 30 patients (10%) underwent primary PTCA (PTCA group). There were no significant differences among the two groups concerning demographic characteristics: age (61 +/- 13--TB and 59 +/- 12 years--PTCA); sex (male 81%--TB; 83%--PTCA), risk factors and previous cardiac history. The mean time since the onset of symptoms until arrival at the hospital was 156 +/- 156 minutes for TB and 202 +/- 210 minutes for PTCA (p < 0.02). The delay since admission until the beginning of treatment was 100 +/- 88 minutes for TB and 119 +/- 142 minutes for PTCA. The primary success rate of PTCA was 94% and there were no complications during the procedure. During the hospital stay, 12 patients developed post-infarction angina in the TB group and two patients in the PTCA group; in 15 patients of the TB group a revascularization procedure was performed (surgery in 5 and PTCA in 10 patients); one patient suffered reinfarction in the TB group. Two patients of the TB group (2.4%) had intracranial hemorrhage; the in-hospital mortality was 9.5% in the TB group and 3.3% in the PTCA (p < 0.001). The mean in-hospital stay was 11 +/- 5.6 in the TB group and 7.8 +/- 2.5 days in the PTCA group (p = 0.055). In our experience, primary PTCA in AMI appeared to be a safe procedure with lower occurrence of coronary events and hemorrhagic complication, with an earlier hospital discharge when compared to thrombolysis.     

Perceived side effects and benefits of coronary angioplasty in the early recovery period

BACKGROUND/AIM: Appendicitis and its complications remain a common problem affecting patients of all age groups. Foreign bodies are a rare cause of appendicitis. We tried to define potentially dangerous foreign bodies that may cause appendicitis and summarize general guidelines for their clinical management. METHODS: A 100-year literature review including 256 cases of ingested foreign bodies within the appendix with emphasis on: (1) objects that are more prone to cause appendicitis or appendiceal perforation; (2) foreign bodies that are radiopaque and may be detected during follow-up with plain abdominal films, and (3) guidelines for clinical management. RESULTS: Complications usually occur with sharp, thin, stiff, pointed and long objects. The majority of these objects are radiopaque. An immediate attempt should be made to remove a risky object by gastroscopy. If this fails, clinical follow-up with serial abdominal radiographs should be obtained. If the anatomical position of the object appears not to change and, most commonly, remains in the right lower abdominal quadrant, an attempt at colonoscopic removal is indicated. If this is unsuccessful, laparoscopic exploration with fluoroscopic guidance should be carried out to localize and remove the objects either by ileotomy, colotomy, or by appendectomy. CONCLUSION: Foreign bodies causing appendicitis are rare. However, if stiff or pointed objects get into the appendiceal lumen they have a high risk for appendicitis or perforation. These foreign bodies are almost always radiopaque.     

Analysis of coronary ultrasound thrombolysis endpoints in acute myocardial infarction (ACUTE trial). Results of the feasibility phase

BACKGROUND: It has been demonstrated that therapeutic ultrasound effects ultrasound thrombolysis by selectively disrupting the fibrin matrix of the thrombus. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical feasibility of percutaneous transluminal coronary ultrasound thrombolysis in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS AND RESULTS: Consecutive patients (n = 15) with evidence of anterior AMI and Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) grade 0 or 1 flow in the left anterior descending artery underwent coronary ultrasound thrombolysis. Angiographic follow-up was performed after 10 minutes and 12 to 24 hours. Ultrasound induced successful reperfusion (TIMI grade 3 flow) in 87% of the patients. Adjunct percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) after ultrasound thrombolysis produced a final residual stenosis of 20 +/- 12% as determined by quantitative coronary angiographic analysis. There were no adverse angiographic signs or clinical effects during the procedure. There was no change in the degree of flow in any of the patients at the 12- to 24-hour angiograms. During hospitalization, 1 patient had recurrent ischemia on the fifth day after the procedure, and emergent catheterization revealed occlusion at the treatment site. The patient was successfully treated with PTCA. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ultrasound thrombolysis has the potential to be a safe and effective catheter-based therapeutic modality in reperfusion therapy for patients with AMI and other clinical conditions associated with intracoronary thrombosis.     

Acute myocardial infarction: failed thrombolysis revisited

The prognosis following acute myocardial infarction is dependent upon the presence of adequate blood flow in the infarct-related vessel. All too often, this is not achieved by thrombolytic therapy ('failed thrombolysis'). Diagnosis of failed thrombolysis is difficult and the optimum management is currently unclear.     

Mechanical thrombolysis with the Amplatz thrombectomy catheter

The authors describe a rare case of rhinocerebral mucormycosis. This is an acute, suppurative mycosis with poor prognosis. It has a particular affinity for rhinocerebral tissue and less frequently affects pulmonary tissue. Mucormycosis affects immunosuppressed patients and more than 75% of the cases involve patients suffering from acidosis, especially diabetic ketoacidosis. One characteristic feature is that the blood vessels are flooded causing thromboses, infarction and emboli. The disease is spread through the blood vessels or by expansion. The first clinical symptoms can be confused with an early stage of acute sinusitis with mucosanguineous rhinorrhea, facial tumescence and pain. In 50% of the cases there is rhinocerebral and orbital involvement. If the disease remains untreated it can prove fatal in 10 to 14 days. Effective treatment relies on an early diagnosis and prompt administration of intravenous amphotericin B as well as avulsion of the necrotic areas. To date only 200 cases of this severe pathology have been described. The present work is an attempt to throw further light on this disorder.     

Selective inhibition of factor Xa is more efficient than factor VIIa-tissue factor complex blockade at facilitating coronary thrombolysis in the canine model

OBJECTIVES: We determined the effect of adjunctive inhibition of the extrinsic coagulation pathway by factor VIIa-tissue factor complex inhibitors, DEGR VIIa and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), and the selective factor Xa inhibitor, tick anticoagulant peptide (TAP), after thrombolytic therapy with tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) in a canine model of electrically induced coronary thrombosis. BACKGROUND: Ongoing thrombin generation is considered an important component of the heightened thrombin activity associated with thrombolytic therapy and may be responsible for reperfusion failure and reocclusion. METHODS: Forty-two dogs with electrically induced coronary thrombus undergoing thrombolysis with t-PA (1 mg/kg over 20 min) were randomly assigned to one of the following adjunctive regimens: TAP (30 micrograms/kg body weight per min for 90 min, n = 10); TFPI (100 to 150 micrograms/kg per min for 90 min, n = 10); DEGR VIIa (1- to 2-mg/kg bolus, n = 10) and saline control (n = 12). The dogs were observed for 120 min after thrombolysis for reocclusion. RESULTS: All three active study agents accelerated the time to reperfusion by an average of 12 min (all p < 0.05). Duration of reflow was greatest with TAP (117 +/- 8 min, p < 0.05 compared with saline control), whereas DEGR VIIa and TFPI did not prolong the duration of reflow. Reocclusion rates were similar among control, DEGR VIIa and TFPI groups (70%, 78% and 67%, respectively). Tick anticoagulant peptide reduced the occurrence of reocclusion (0%, p < 0.05 compared with saline control). CONCLUSIONS: In this experimental model, during systematic blockade of various extrinsic coagulation pathway proteins, we demonstrated that whereas acceleration of thrombolysis occurs with factor VIIa-tissue factor complex inhibition, optimal enhancement of thrombolysis was achieved through specific factor Xa blockade.