Cardiac angiosarcomas are rare malignant tumors, predominantly affecting the right heart with poor survival outcomes. The current mainstay of treatment consists of surgery with or without chemotherapy, but often yields limited results with local relapse or metastatic recurrence. This case report describes 2 patients with primary angiosarcoma located in the right atrium. One patient received neo-adjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy; both were scheduled for surgical resection. The course of disease is described followed by a comprehensive review of the literature.

Atrioventricular nodal conduction abnormalities are common after open heart surgery and more so during or after valve surgery. The incidence of atrioventricular (AV) block after tricuspid valve (TV) surgery is higher than what is observed following coronary artery bypass surgery or left sided valve interventions due to the proximity of the TV annulus to the AV node and hence requirements for cardiac pacing are high. However, the mechanical interference between pacing leads and TV leaflet mobility and coaptation can result in regurgitation rendering such an approach counterintuitive. We report a case of Micra Transcatheter pacing system (TPS) implant under direct visualization at the time of tricuspid valve surgery performed via a right mini-thoracotomy approach.

Takayasu’s arteritis (TA) is a disease of unknown etiology that causes chronic inflammation of the large blood vessels and usually involves the aorta and its branches. The inflammatory process initially leads to thickening of the arterial wall and may result in stenosis, occlusion, dilatation or aneurysm formation. Although TA occurs more commonly in certain regions such as Asia, it is a global disease. Currently, there is a dearth of information on this condition in African countries, including South Africa. Results: We have identified 50 patients meeting the ACR criteria for the diagnosis of TA. Data was drawn from the records of the Division of Rheumatology as well as the angiographic records of TA. This included patient demographics, mode of presentation, classification, co-morbidities, complications, clinical and laboratory features, radiological findings, drug therapy as well as outcomes. The cohort comprised 34 of mixed race, 12 black and 4 white patients. The mean age at diagnosis was 16-56 (28.2) years. The most common presention was hypertension, followed by CVA, heart failure, and syncope. Angiography revealed Type V (most of aorta) and Type I (aortic arch branches) lesions to be the most common and that stenosis was much more common than aneurysm formation. Two patients had concomitant antiphospholipid syndrome. Another two had concomitant internal jugular vein thrombosis. Six patients had significant mediastinal lymphadenopathy, only one of whom had TB. Corticosteroids and additional immunosuppressive therapy were used to control disease activity in most patients. Biological treatment was used in two patients. Surgical intervention consisted mainly of renal auto transplantation. Twelve percent of patients had repeated admissions, which included planned surgical intervention. We had two mortalities, both as a result of massive strokes. The mortality rate was 6%. Only 3 patients had active TB. Conclusion: The study revealed gender and age characteristics similar to previous studies, confirming that TA affects mainly young females. The mortality rate of 6% in this cohort is significantly lower than that of previous series. The unusual findings in this study were: Significant chest lymphadenopathy in 12% of the cases,the significantly lower percentage of active TB of only 6%, two cases of a rare finding of venous thrombosis as well as 2 cases of an uncommon finding in TA of antiphospholipid syndrome.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common cause of major congenital anomalies, and is the group of malformations that contributes the most for perinatal mortality. It represents an important health care issue and knowing its incidence and risk factors helps developing public and private care policies and clinical protocols. In this paper, researchers published a retrospective analysis from a tertiary hospital in Portugal regarding CHD. In this editorial, we analyze their findings and compare with other publications.

Congenital anomalies of coronary arteries (CAAS) are very rare and usually documented as an incidental finding during routine catheter or CT angiograms performed for other reasons. Their prevalence ranges from 0.2% to 1.3% based published series. The most common coronary artery anomaly is origination of the left circumflex coronary (LCX) artery from the proximal of right coronary artery (RCA) or right sinus of Valsalva. The second is separate origination of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) and LCX artery from the left sinus of Valsalva. Herein, we present three cases that the anomalous RCA arises from the mid of left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). The bifurcation lesions of first case was treated using two-stent strategies of DK culotte, excellent angiography results was observed. The last two cases were treated using simple provisional stenting strategy: one stent was deployed crossover the ostium of the anomalous coronary artery, final angiographic results were excellent. These cases are extremely rare. We bring forth them in an attempt to highlight their significance, and make cardiologist to understand what important the anomalies are, and the strategy how to treatment these bifurcation lesions.