Iodinated contrast media induced Kounis syndrome during coronary angiogram: a life-threatening clinical dilemma

Development of a risk score model for the prediction of patients needing percutaneous coronary intervention

BACKGROUND

The incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) is increasing worldwide. The need for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is determined by coronary angiography (CAG). As coronary angiography is an invasive and risky test for patients, it will be of great help to develop a predicting model for the assessment of the probability of PCI in patients with CHD using the test indexes and clinical characteristics.

METHODS

A total of 454 patients with CHD were admitted to the cardiovascular medicine department of a hospital from January 2016 to December 2021, including 286 patients who underwent CAG and were treated with PCI, and 168 patients who only underwent CAG to confirm the diagnosis of CHD were set as the control group. Clinical data and laboratory indexes were collected. According to the clinical symptoms and the examination signs, the patients in the PCI therapy group were further split into three subgroups: chronic coronary syndrome (CCS), unstable angina pectoris (UAP), and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The significant indicators were extracted by comparing the differences among the groups. A nomogram was drawn based on the logistic regression model, and predicted probabilities were performed using R software (version 4.1.3).

RESULTS

Twelve risk factors were selected by regression analysis; the nomogram was successfully constructed to predict the probability of needing PCI in patients with CHD. The calibration curve shows that the predicted probability is in good agreement with the actual probability (C-index = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.79-0.89). According to the results of the fitted model, the ROC curve was plotted, and the area under the curve was 0.801. Among the three subgroups of the treatment group, 17 indexes were statistically different, and the results of the univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that cTnI and ALB were the two most important independent impact factors.

CONCLUSION

cTnI and ALB are independent factors for the classification of CHD. A nomogram with 12 risk factors can be used to predict the probability of requiring PCI in patients with suspected CHD, which provided a favorable and discriminative model for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Blood Transfusion Components Inducing Severe Allergic Reactions: The First Case of Kounis Syndrome Induced by Platelet Transfusion

Kounis syndrome is a multisystem and multidisciplinary disease affecting the circulatory system that can be manifested as spasm and thrombosis. It can occur as allergic, hypersensitivity, anaphylactic, or anaphylactoid reactions associated with the release of inflammatory mediators from mast cells and from other interrelated and interacting inflammatory cells, including macrophages and lymphocytes. A platelet subset with high- and low-affinity IgE surface receptors is also involved in this process. Whereas the heart, and particularly the coronary arteries, constitute the primary targets of inflammatory mediators, the mesenteric, cerebral, and peripheral arteries are also vulnerable. Kounis syndrome is caused by a variety of factors, including drugs, foods, environmental exposure, clinical conditions, stent implantation, and vaccines. We report a unique case of a 60-year-old male with a past medical history of allergy to human albumin, alcoholic cirrhosis, and esophageal varices, who was admitted due to multiple episodes of hematemesis. Due to low hemoglobin levels, he was transfused with 3 units of red blood cells and fresh frozen plasma without any adverse reactions. On the third day of hospitalization, severe thrombocytopenia was observed and transfusion of platelets was initiated. Immediately following platelet infusion, the patient developed chest discomfort, skin signs of severe allergic reaction, and hemodynamic instability. The electrocardiogram revealed ST segment elevation in the inferior leads. Given the strong suspicion of Kounis syndrome/allergic coronary spasm, the patient was treated with anti-allergic treatment only, without any anti-platelet therapy. The clinical status of the patient gradually improved and the electrocardiographic changes reverted to normal. Based on these findings, Kounis hypersensitivity-associated acute coronary syndrome, specifically, type I Kounis syndrome, was diagnosed. Although platelet transfusion can be a life-saving therapy, each blood transfusion carries a substantial risk of adverse reactions. The aims of this report are to expand the existing knowledge of patient responses to blood transfusion and provide information on the incidence of various severe transfusion reactions to all blood components and especially to platelets. To the best of our knowledge, Kounis syndrome induced by platelet transfusionhas never been previously reported. Hypersensitivity to platelet external membrane glycoproteins in an atopic patient seems to be the possible etiology. Despite that Kounis syndrome remains an under-diagnosed clinical entity in everyday practice, it should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes.