<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Introduction: We aimed to present a case of acute coronary syndrome with unexpected etiology complicated by syncope and arrhythmias, confirmed by imagistic examinations as cardiac parasitosis. Cardiac parasitic diseases are rare diseases, whose diagnosis and therapy should be adapted to each case. Imaging techniques allow precise diagnosis of cardiac echinococcosis, providing essential structural details on the damage degree of heart structures, allowing optimization of complex treatment in these cases. Case presentation: A 67-year old, obese and diabetic woman presented with cardiac syncope, arrhythmias and acute chest pain. Imagistic examinations excluded intracoronary thrombosis and confirmed a severe structural damage of myocardial tissue, consisting in replacement of the myocardial structure by many cysts caused by parasitic infestation with echinococcus multilocularis and echinoccocus granulosus originating from the liver. CT scan confirmed severe distruction of the left ventricular myocardium by policysts, that led to thinning of inferior and apical left ventricle wall without any possibility of surgical excision. Therefore a specific chemotherapy with albendazole was initiated. Follow up at 2 months indicated a favorable evolution, with serological decrease of echinococcal antibodies and reduction of cysts volume. Conclusion: In cases of angina and arrhythmias with non-atherosclerotic etiology, imaging techniques can diagnose the anatomopathological substrate of the disease and represent a valuable tool for the follow up.</p></abstract>

Introduction: We aimed to present a case of acute coronary syndrome with unexpected etiology complicated by syncope and arrhythmias, confirmed by imagistic examinations as cardiac parasitosis. Cardiac parasitic diseases are rare diseases, whose diagnosis and therapy should be adapted to each case. Imaging techniques allow precise diagnosis of cardiac echinococcosis, providing essential structural details on the damage degree of heart structures, allowing optimization of complex treatment in these cases. Case presentation: A 67-year old, obese and diabetic woman presented with cardiac syncope, arrhythmias and acute chest pain. Imagistic examinations excluded intracoronary thrombosis and confirmed a severe structural damage of myocardial tissue, consisting in replacement of the myocardial structure by many cysts caused by parasitic infestation with echinococcus multilocularis and echinoccocus granulosus originating from the liver. CT scan confirmed severe distruction of the left ventricular myocardium by policysts, that led to thinning of inferior and apical left ventricle wall without any possibility of surgical excision. Therefore a specific chemotherapy with albendazole was initiated. Follow up at 2 months indicated a favorable evolution, with serological decrease of echinococcal antibodies and reduction of cysts volume. Conclusion: In cases of angina and arrhythmias with non-atherosclerotic etiology, imaging techniques can diagnose the anatomopathological substrate of the disease and represent a valuable tool for the follow up.

An unusual case of cardiac syncope and acute coronary syndrome – a case report

University Of Medicine and Pharmacy of Tîrgu Mures, Department of Internal Medicine

Cardiomed Medical Center, Tîrgu Mures, Romania

Acta Marisiensis - Seria Medica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Introduction: We aimed to present a case of acute coronary syndrome with unexpected etiology complicated by syncope and arrhythmias, confirmed by imagistic...

An unusual case of cardiac syncope and acute coronary syndrome – a case report

Published Online: Jan 27, 2015

Page range: 285 - 287

Received: Dec 04, 2014

Accepted: Dec 22, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/amma-2015-0011

Keywords
cysts, syncope, echinococcosis, angina, Cardio CT scan

© by Monica Chitu

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

An unusual case of cardiac syncope and acute coronary syndrome – a case report

Published Online: Jan 27, 2015

Page range: 285 - 287

Received: Dec 04, 2014

Accepted: Dec 22, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/amma-2015-0011

Keywordscysts, syncope, echinococcosis, angina, Cardio CT scan

© by Monica Chitu

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
cysts, syncope, echinococcosis, angina, Cardio CT scan