Patent ductus arteriosus with infective endocarditis at age 92

Natural History of a Disease: Patent Ductus Arteriosus Diagnosed on an Elderly Woman

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a rare finding in adults. The ductus arteriosus (DA) is responsible for shunting blood from the pulmonary artery into the aorta bypassing the lungs in fetal life (the placenta is responsible for fetal oxygenated blood). Its closure happens after birth, once fetal circulation transitions to normal postnatal circulation and blood oxygenates in the lungs. If the DA does not close, the PDA may continue to shunt blood from the systemic (higher pressure) to the pulmonary (lower pressure) circulation causing remodeling of the left ventricle and eventually heart failure. A PDA is suspected when there is a systolic/diastolic murmur in the left sternal border; a transthoracic or transesophageal echocardiogram may visualize the shunt and measure the systemic/pulmonary shunt ratio. We described a case of an 84-year-old elderly woman who presented with an acute heart failure exacerbation as the first symptom of PDA and was found to have left ventricular hypertrophy, right ventricular hypertrophy, and pulmonary hypertension as the initial presentation.

[A case of primary diagnosis of patent ductus arteriosus at the age of 75 years]

The paper describes a case of primary diagnosis of functioning patent ductus arteriosus in a 75-year-old female patient.

Transcatheter closure of small ductus arteriosus with amplatzer vascular plug

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to share our experience of transcatheter closure of small patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) by using an Amplatzer vascular plug (AVP).

METHODS

We reviewed the medical records of 20 patients who underwent transcatheter closure at Samsung Medical Center and Sejong General Hospital from January 2008 to August 2012. The size and shape of the PDAs were evaluated by performing angiograms, and the PDA size and the AVP devices size were compared.

RESULTS

The mean age of the patients was 54.9±45.7 months old. The PDAs were of type C (n=5), type D (n=12), and type E (n=3). The mean pulmonary end diameter of the PDA was 1.7±0.6 mm, and the aortic end diameter was 3.6±1.4 mm. The mean length was 7.3±1.8 mm. We used 3 types of AVP devices: AVP I (n=5), AVP II (n=7), and AVP IV (n=8). The ratio of AVP size to the pulmonary end diameter was 3.37±1.64, and AVP size/aortic end ratio was 1.72±0.97. The aortic end diameter was significantly larger in those cases repaired with AVP II than in the others (P=0.002). The AVP size did not significantly correlate with the PDA size, but did correlate with smaller ratio of AVP size to aortic end diameter (1.10±0.31, P=0.032).

CONCLUSION

Transcatheter closure of small PDA with AVP devices yielded satisfactory outcome. AVP II was equally effective with smaller size of device, compared to others.

A case of patent ductus arteriosus with congestive heart failure in a 80-year-old man

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a rare clinical finding in adult patients. Considering the increase in cases of PDA discovered incidentally on echocardiograms at young ages, and the life-shortening effect of PDA, it is rare to diagnose PDA in old patients. We report a case of an 80-year-old patient who experienced symptoms of congestive heart failure showed findings suggestive of PDA in echocardiogram and confirmed the diagnosis through a cardiac catheterization and a coronary angiography. After percutaneous occlusion of PDA with an Amplatzer duct occlusion device, symptoms related to congestive heart failure improved.

Cardiac emergencies: infective endocarditis, pericarditis, and myocarditis

Cardiac infections presenting as emergencies include complications of infective endocarditis, including congestive heart failure, chordae tendinae rupture, cardiac arrhythmias, and embolic phenomenon; acute pericarditis, including cardiac tamponade; and acute myocarditis presenting with malignant cardiac arrhythmias or congestive heart failure. Most of these emergent infectious disease manifestations of the cardiovascular system have a good prognosis if diagnosed early and managed appropriately. Newer diagnostic modalities and combined treatment guidelines are available from the European Society of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

Persistent ductus arteriosus in a 72-year-old woman with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and depression syndrome: a therapeutic and diagnostic problem

Treating the elderly is often problematic, especially when congenital heart disease is diagnosed. The aim of this study is to present the case of a 72-year old woman with depression syndrome, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and past cerebral stroke, in whom persistent ductus arteriosus Botalli was diagnosed. Due to exacerbation of the depressive syndrome, she did not give her consent to further diagnostics, possible interventional procedures and treatment with oral anticoagulants. After intermission of the therapy she was treated with dabigatran. The patient is still undergoing outpatient treatment and so far, no cerebrovascular episodes have been recorded.

To close or not to close: the very small patent ductus arteriosus

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) accounts for approximately 10% of all congenital heart diseases, with an incidence of at least 2-4 per 1000 term births. Closure of the large, hemodynamically significant PDA is established as the standard of care, and can be performed safely and effectively using either surgical or transcatheter methods. The appropriate management of the very small, hemodynamically insignificant PDA is less clear. Routine closure of such defects has been advocated to eliminate or reduce the risk of infective endocarditis (IE). However, the risk of IE in patients with a small PDA appears to be extremely low, and IE is treatable. Although closure of the small PDA is generally safe and technically successful, it is unknown whether this treatment truly improves the risk:benefit balance compared with observation. In this article, we review the published literature on the natural history and treatment outcomes in individuals with a PDA, the epidemiology and outcomes of IE, particularly in association with PDA, and the rationale and evidence for closure of the very small PDA.

Transcatheter coil embolization for patent ductus arteriosus in the elderly: report of a case and review of the published work

Patent ductus arteriosus is the third most common congenital cardiovascular anomaly, however, it is rarely found in the elderly. We describe a case of patent ductus arteriosus in a 72-year-old woman in whom patent ductus arteriosus was successfully managed by transcatheter coil embolization. The patient had been diagnosed with a heart murmur for the first time 1 year earlier at the age of 71. She was asymptomatic but a continuous murmur was heard. Cardiac catheterization revealed migration of a catheter from the main pulmonary artery into the descending aorta through a patent ductus arteriosus and a significant step-up of oxygen saturation in the main pulmonary artery with a pulmonary-to-systemic flow ratio of 1.68. Aortograms demonstrated a communication between the aorta and the pulmonary artery through a patent ductus arteriosus with a minimal diameter of 3.7 mm. Transcatheter coil embolization of the patent ductus arteriosus was successfully carried out with two 0.052-inch-diameter Gianturco coils. Doppler echocardiographic study confirmed no residual shunt in the main pulmonary artery after the procedure. Non-surgical transcatheter occlusion using coil embolization appears to be an effective and minimally invasive technique for treatment of patent ductus arteriosus in the elderly.