Cardiology

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

INTRODUCTION: The main aim of this study was to investigate the impact of isolated coronary microvascular disease (CMD) as diagnosed via various modalities on prognosis. METHOD: A systematic literature review of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane library databases was conducted to identify relevant studies published up to March 2023. Included studies were required to measure coronary microvascular function and report outcomes in patients without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) or any other cardiac pathological characteristics...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Coronary slow flow (CSF) is a condition characterized by impaired blood flow rates in the coronary arteries. It can result in severe cardiovascular outcomes. There is not sufficient evidence regarding the certain etiology and reversibility of slow flow patterns and change in frame counts with long-term management. METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 48 patients with chronic coronary syndrome and CSF who underwent a second angiography. A corrected coronary frame rate (CFR) > 27 was defined as CSF...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) involves all organs of the body, of which the interaction with cardiovascular diseases is the most important. Numerous studies have reported that COVID-19 patients complicated with cardiovascular comorbidities (hypertension, coronary heart disease, chronic heart failure, cerebrovascular disease) are more likely to develop into critical illness and have higher mortality. Conversely, COVID-19 may also cause myocardial injury in patients through various pathological mechanisms such as direct virus attack on cardiomyocytes, overactivation of immune response, microthrombus formation, which may lead to fatal acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, acute worsening of chronic heart failure, etc...

INTRODUCTION: The management of patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) may differ according to patient age. The aim of this analysis was to describe patterns of aortic valve replacement (AVR) use in European countries stratified by age. METHODS: Procedure volume data for AVR, including surgical aortic valve replacement (sAVR) and transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), for the years 2015-2020 were obtained from national databases for twelve European countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland)...

BACKGROUND: Deep sternal wound/mediastinitis is a rare but feared complication in CABG (coronary artery bypass grafting) patients and seems to increase the risk of cardiac death, and is also associated with the risk of early internal mammary artery (IMA) graft obstruction. The pathological mechanism explaining the link between mediastinitis and IMA graft obstruction and the impact on mortality is complex, multifactorial and not fully investigated. Mediastinitis has been associated with increased concentrations of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and troponin T (TnT) at mid-term follow-up, representing persistent low-grade myocardial injury and impaired cardiac function...

Heart failure is a dynamic syndrome with changing clinical trajectories. This dynamics may be captured in several ways, including alterations in cardiac structure and function and by patient' clinical status. The meticulous and long-term follow-up, together with continuation of medical treatment or by applying interventional treatment procedures where possible and reasonable, is recommended to ensure that exacerbation or recurrence of HF symptoms or left ventricular dysfunction do not occur. In this sense, a registry-based longitudinal study by Frankestein and coworkers, published in this issue of Cardiology, gives an important contribution to better understanding of HF evolution...

INTRODUCTION: This meta-analysis brings comprehensive evaluation about still controversial association between the body mass index (BMI) and the outcomes of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS: PubMed/ScienceDirect databases were systematically searched for studies with baseline parameters, primary (heart failure (HF), cardiogenic shock, cardiac arrest, reinfarction, stroke, death, total in-hospital complications) and secondary outcomes (reinfarction, stroke, death, total major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE)) in relation to BMI strictly classified into four groups (Underweight (<18...

INTRODUCTION: N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) measurements are recommended in patients with acute dyspnea. We aimed to assess the prognostic merit of cTnT compared to NT-proBNP for 30-day readmission or death in patients hospitalized with acute dyspnea. METHODS: We measured cTnT and NT-proBNP within 24 hours in 314 patients hospitalized with acute dyspnea and adjudicated the cause of the index admission. Time to first event of readmission or death ≤30 days after hospital discharge was recorded and cTnT and NT-proBNP measurements were compared head-to-head...

INTRODUCTION: Frailty and atrial fibrillation (AF) are common aging problems and increasing globally. The association(s) between frailty and AF have been inconclusive. The purpose of this prospective population-based cohort was to investigate the associations between frailty and incident atrial fibrillation (AF) in older men and women. METHODS: In total 839 participants, women (n=458) and men (n=381), aged 61-74 years from the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study were included (March 1, 1998, to December 31, 2001)...

INTRODUCTION:  Sympathetic nervous system disorder promotes atrial fibrillation (AF), and neuropeptide Y (NPY) is an important neurotransmitter. This study aimed to explore the predictive value of plasma NPY in patients with AF. METHODS: Five hundred seventy-six patients were divided into the AF (including paroxysmal and persistent AF; 360) and sinus rhythm (SR) groups (216). NPY level was detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and NPY mRNA expression level was detected using q-PCR...

1. While the major causes of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease are known, clinical audits continue to show inadequate risk factor control, even in the highest risk subjects. 2. More effective risk estimation methods may help, and advances in this field are outlined. 3. There exist excellent Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention, but their very length and complexity may limit their use. Other factors inhibiting guideline implementation are explored. 4. While new medications continue to be developed, the real challenges to effective CVD prevention are societal and political...

BACKGROUND: Meteorological factors and air pollutants are believed to be associated with cardiovascular disease. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a major public health issue worldwide. Few studies have investigated the associations among meteorological factors, air pollutants and IHD daily hospital admissions in Lanzhou, China. METHODS: We conducted a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) on the basis of five years data, aiming at disentangling the impact of meteorological factors and air pollutants on IHD hospital admissions...

INTRODUCTION: The long-term evolution of clinical, echocardiographic and laboratory parameters of cardiac function in patients with chronic heart failure (HF) with either reduced (HFrEF) or mildly reduced (HFmrEF) left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is incompletely characterized. METHODS: We identified patients with chronic stable HF who presented at least twice to a university HF outpatient clinic between 1995 and 2021. Trajectories of NYHA functional class, LVEF, left ventricular internal enddiastolic diameter (LVIDD), NT-proBNP concentrations and HF treatment over ten years follow-up were analysed using fractional polynomials...

INTRODUCTION: Echocardiographic assessment of diastolic function during atrial fibrillation (AF) remains challenging due to the irregular cardiac cycle length. We sought to assess whether the index-beat method, the beat following two preceding cardiac cycles of equal duration, could provide a more reliable measurement of E/e' (mitral E wave/diastolic tissue Doppler velocity) than the conventional averaging of consecutive beats and hence facilitate the non-invasive estimation of elevated left atrial pressure (LAP) in patients with AF...

INTRODUCTION: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is associated with a high incidence of new silent brain infarcts (SBI) on postprocedural neuroimaging. A venous blood sample reflecting neuronal damage following TAVI, could help identify patients with potential SBI. We aimed to investigate if a biochemical marker of neuronal injury, neurofilament light chain (NFL), is elevated after TAVI. METHODS: In this observational study, NFL was measured in plasma from 31 patients before and after TAVI...

AIMS OF THE STUDY: Long-term complication rates in standard transvenous pacemakers are reported around 4-12% with a higher incidence in the elderly population. We report our experience in octogenarians undergoing leadless pacemaker implantation in two large-volume centres in Switzerland. METHODS: Consecutive patients undergoing leadless pacemaker implantation at two Swiss large volume centers (University Hospital Zurich, Zurich and Cardiocentro Ticino Institute, Lugano) between October 2015 and March 2020 were included in this retrospective analysis...