The latest issue of CASE, ASE’s open access case reports journal, is available and includes, “Left Ventricular Intramyocardial Dissecting Hematoma,” by Junya Tanabe, MD, Koichi Okazaki, MD, Akihiro Endo, MD, and Kazuaki Tanabe, MD. Vincent L. Sorrell, MD, FASE, CASE Editor-in-Chief, said, “One of the many unique benefits of a digital, case-based journal is the ability to immediately inform healthcare providers of rarely reported deadly findings that may easily be misdiagnosed if not seen before. As the old but accurate adage goes: You can’t diagnose what you don’t know! Dr. Tanabe et al. provide us with an excellent report of a patient with an intramyocardial dissecting hematoma as a complication after an untreated myocardial infarction. The authors include a comprehensive approach to making these diagnoses with echocardiography and include a table with three criteria for the reader’s use. In addition to a discussion into the likely mechanistic explanation, they highlight the commonly misinterpreted diagnoses that may look like this deadly post-infarct complication (e.g., noncompaction, hypereosinophilic syndrome, pseudoaneurysm, or LV thrombus). This case is a wonderful reminder that we always need to expand our knowledge base, and reading case reports is certainly one way to do this.”
Additionally, this issue includes two more rare but deadly finding cases, cases on the complementary role of multimodal imaging, endocarditis, bedside learning with POCUS, congenital heart disease, the role of stress in clinical decision making, a right atrial epidermoid cyst, and the importance of nomenclature. The editorial from Dr. Sorrell, “Does Anyone Remember ‘Fingerprints on an X-ray?‘” is not only a fun read but also elucidates how the ways we should learn are not always obvious.
Visit the CASE Homepage to see the Author Spotlight – Rebecca Hahn, MD, FASE, shares her insights in this brief interview with Dr. Sorrell on her perspective about the new ASE guideline, Recommended Standards for the Performance of Transesophageal Echocardiographic Screening for Structural Heart Intervention.