Complete atrioventricular block associated with rheumatoid disease

[Rheumatoid nodule and complete heart block: diagnosis by transesophageal echocardiography]

We report a case of 48 years old women with a 8 years history of rheumatoid arthritis and severe articular deformation treated during the last 6 months by prednisone (5 mg daily) and chloroquine (200 mg daily), admitted in the emergency room because of syncope. The electrocardiogram showed a complete atrioventricular block. Transesophageal echocardiography was performed and revealed an hyperechogenic mass (6 x 2.5 mm) in the interventricular septum probably related to a fibrous rheumatoid nodule. This potentially explain the atrioventricular block by infiltration of the conduction pathways. A permanent double chamber pacemaker was inserted. The chloroquine, another factor of conduction disturbances was not incriminated in this case. The conduction disturbances should be systematically detected in case of severe rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, every patient must be submitted to a transthoracic echocardiography. Transesophageal echocardiography may be helpful to detect rheumatoid nodule.

QT dispersion as a predictor of arrhythmic events in patients with ankylosing spondylitis

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to evaluate QT dispersion (QTd), an indicator of repolarization heterogeneity, and its relation to ventricular arrhythmias in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

METHODS

A full history, clinical examination, electrocardiograms and 24-h Holter monitoring were performed in 88 AS patients and 31 volunteers of similar age and sex. Groups were compared based on electrocardiographic abnormality, QTd, arrhythmias and heart blocks.

RESULTS

QTd and corrected QTd (QTcd) were significantly greater in AS patients than controls (QTd, 52.8 +/- 15.1 vs 35.5 +/- 8.9 ms, P: < 0.0001; QTcd, 60.3 +/- 16.1 vs 39.4 +/- 10.7 ms, P: < 0.0001). The magnitudes of these parameters were associated with the duration of the disease (QTd, r = 0.56, P: < 0.01; QTcd, r = 0.60, P: < 0.001). The frequency of ventricular extrasystoles was found to be correlated with QTd (r = 0.35, P: < 0.01) and QTcd (r = 0.33, P: < 0. 01).

CONCLUSION

Involvement of the heart may be seen in AS during the early clinical course of the disease. QTd may give clues about the presence of arrhythmias and can be used as a new technique for the evaluation of asymptomatic patients. Earlier detection of cardiac involvement could alter the prognosis of the patients.

Nonatherosclerotic causes of coronary artery narrowing--Part III

Approximately 5% of patients with acute myocardial infarction do not have atherosclerotic coronary artery disease but have other causes for their luminal narrowing. The third part of this three-part review of nonatherosclerotic causes of coronary narrowing focuses on coronary vasculitis, infectious diseases, Kawasaki's disease, metabolic disorders, metastatic disease, and substance abuse (cocaine).

Intra-hisian block associated with unusual etiologies

One hundred and sixty-nine patients underwent electrophysiologic study for atrioventricular block. Forty-five (27%) had intra-Hisian block. Four of these 45 patients had unusual etiologies: rheumatoid arthritis, cysticercosis cellulosae, Behcet's disease, and Takayasu aorto-arteritis. Their clinical and electrophysiologic features are described in detail.

Anaesthesia for hip replacement in ankylosing spondylitis

Thirteen total hip replacements in 8 patients with ankylosing spondylitis are reviewed. Complications of the disease which can lead to anaesthetic difficulties are discussed, and the importance of a preoperative visit and the value of indirect laryngoscopy emphasized. As intubation problems may occur, especially in undiagnosed cases, equipment for emergency intubation should always be readily available. The results fully justify the operation.

Complete heart block and bowel infarction secondary to rheumatoid disease

A case of complete heart block secondary to rheumatoid involvement of the conduction system is presented. The same patient died after infarction of the colon as a consequence of arterial spasm superimposed upon pre-existing rheumatoid changes in the mesenteric arteries. The coexistence of rheumatoid involvement of the heart and of the bowel vasculature has not previously been reported.

Atrioventricular conduction time in rheumatoid arthritis

The atrioventricular conduction time (P-R interval) was determined in 189 women and 90 men with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Only three women and one man were found to have pathological prolongation of the P-R interval. However, a significant prolongation of the P-R interval, within normal range, was seen in women with RA compared with healthy controls. Apart from the relation to radiographically enlarged heart, prolonged P-R interval showed no association with other signs of RA and had no prognostic implications in the follow-up period (mean 5.4 years). Current chloroquine therapy delayed the atrioventricular conduction while corticosteroids accelerated it.

Complete heart block in rheumatoid arthritis

We report 8 cases of complete heart block (CHB) occurring in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and review 20 similar patients previously reported. Complete heart block occurs generally in patients with established erosive nodular rheumatoid disease. It usually appears to be sudden and permanent, but progression from minor conduction delays is not uncommon. The characteristic histopathological finding is a rheumatoid granuloma in or near the AV node or bundle of His. If syncope or Stokes-Adams attacks occur, the treatment of choice is the insertion of a permanent pacemaker. The prognosis is good provided no other cardiac lesions occur, whether pericardial, valvular, or myocardial.

Aortitis in ankylosing spondylitis: early detection of aortic root abnormalities with two dimensional echocardiography

Mild aortic root dilatation, cusp thickening and subvalvular fibrous ridges have been reported as characteristic in patients with ankylosing spondylitis and aortic regurgitation. Thirty-five patients with ankylosing spondylitis (10 also had Reiter's syndrome) without clinically apparent cardiac involvement were studied using phased array two dimensional and sector-directed M mode echocardiography to determine the prevalence of aortic abnormalities. Aortic root dimensions were measured at the aortic anulus, at the tip of the cusps and 0.5 to 1.5 cm above the cusps. The two dimensional echocardiographic study was also analyzed for qualitative abnormalities. The dimensions were compared with those in 20 normal men and among patient subgroups separated according to age, duration and severity of ankylosing spondylitis and presence of qualitative abnormalities. With one exception, no abnormally increased aortic dimensions suggestive of aortic dilatation were found in any group. However, two patients had aortic dimensions greater than 4.2 cm at the valve (normal 4.0 cm or less). Also, six patients had discrete areas of increased bright echoes below the left or noncoronary cusps suggestive of a subaortic "bump" and two of the six patients had increased aortic cusp echoes suggestive of thickening or fibrosis, or both. These changes tended to occur more commonly in older patients and those with more severe disease. It is concluded that aortic root changes suggestive of inflammation or fibrosis, or both, occur in asymptomatic patients with ankylosing spondylitis and are detectable on two dimensional echocardiography. Dilatation usually does not occur without aortic regurgitation.

Early detection of aortic dilatation in ankylosing spondylitis using echocardiography

Aortic root abnormalities including cusp thickening, subvalvular stenosis, and mild aortic root dilatation are the most common cardiac complications in patients with long standing ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Twenty-three patients with definite idiopathic AS (New York Criteria 1966) and twenty-two matched controls were studied with M-mode echocardiography. Only one of the AS patients had clinical aortic incompetence. Six of the AS patients had mildly dilated aortic roots (normal less than 3.7 cm) with a mean diameter of 3.9 cm (range 3.8 to 4.00 cm). None of the twenty-two controls matched for age, sex and blood pressure had dilated aortic roots, with a mean diameter of 3.3 cm (range 2.9 to 3.6 cm). No correlation existed between aortic dilatation and severity of disease estimated by acute phase proteins--caerulo plasmin, alpha 1-antitrypsin, alpha 1 acid glycoprotein, ferritin and C Reactive protein. Contrary to a previous report, mild aortic root dilatation occurs in long standing cases of AS. Although it is a non-specific finding, it does not appear to be related to age or blood pressure and may therefore be the forerunner of aortic incompetence.

De subitaneis mortibus. XXIII. Rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis

The conduction system of the heart was carefully examined at necropsy in two cases of rheumatoid arthritis and one of ankylosing spondylitis. All three patients had cardiac electrical instability and two fo the three died suddenly. The electrophysiological abnormalities of the three patients included paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in the first case, sustained atrial fibrillation with complete heart block and escape atrioventricular (A-V) junctional rhythm in the second case, and progressively increasing heart block eventually became complete in the third case. The sinus node exhibited extensive focal degeneration with and without associated inflammation in all three hearts, but the sinus node artery was not remarkably abnormal in any of these. All three hearts had important focal degenerative disease in the A-V node and His bundle, and in each of these there was marked narrowing of the local nutrient arteries, amounting to virtual occlusion in two hearts. The probable relationship of these postmortem histological findings to the electrocardiographic disturbances in each patient is discussed. Abnormalities in the cardiac conduction system of the hearts of these three patients are compared to ones previously reported for disseminated lupus erythematosus, polyarteritis nodosa, and scleroderma heart disease.

Rheumatoid pericardial effusion with heart block treated by pericardiectomy and implantation of permanent pacemaker

A patient with long-standing seropositive erosive rheumatoid arthritis developed a pericardial effusion with chronic cardiac tamponade. He had evidence of conducting system disease and developed heart block. He was successfully treated by pericardiectomy and implantation of a demand pacemaker.

Runaway pacemaker rhythm after 36 hours of electrical inactivity

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Scleritis and aortic incompetence. Two manifestations of connective tissue disease

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