The latest issue of CASE is now available with intriguing reports, including “The Spectrum of Diagnostic Findings in Postcardiotomy Tamponade.” CASE Editor-in-Chief Vincent Sorrell, MD, FASE, remarked, “Every month, CASE reminds us
why it was started as a mechanism to add value to our clinical practice. This month’s issue was no different as Kamran et al. elegantly described carefully performed echocardiography including correlative CT scans and right heart hemodynamic data. These authors reported their findings on two patients to showcase the array of diagnostic modalities for localized postcardiotomy tamponade. Their first case example with focal RA collapse due to a localized hemorrhage is an impressive image that could very easily be overlooked. In my large, university clinical practice, this deadly pathologic finding is either missed entirely or identified late in its clinical course at least once every year. Reports such as this serve as educational tools to remind us of this post-operative complication and its variable clinical presentation. All individuals who interpret or acquire echo images should read this report to maintain a high index of suspicion so as not to miss this localized tamponade finding.”
This issue opens with the Interventional Echocardiography category, providing readers with a greater understanding of the symbiotic relationship between echo and percutaneous structural heart repairs. Reports include a successful edge-to-edge repair of an interscallop origin of MR, TEE to guide percutaneous mitral valve repair in three patients who were post mitral annuloplasty, and percutaneous mechanical circulatory support in a patient with a post-infarct ventricular septal rupture. A case in the Multimodality Imaging category includes a contrasting comparison between two unique LV apical pathologies with an emphasis on the value of complementary tomographic imaging. Congenital Heart Disease rounds out this issue, reporting on the unintended consequences of a patient who underwent surgery for an atrial septal defect and was found to have a persistent shunt.
In this final issue of 2024, Dr. Sorrell’s editorial describes the connection between echocardiography and crystals, the latter of which we can all appreciate for their embodiment of growth and change as we head into the new year.
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