Cardiology Research

BACKGROUND: In mitral stenosis (MS), the combination of an increase in left atrium (LA) pressure and atrial inflammatory response is accompanied by increase in interstitial fibrosis of the atrial wall with disorganization of atrial muscle bundles, LA dysfunction and subsequently LA dilatation. We aimed to assess the effect of severe rheumatic MS on LA volumes and mechanics. METHODS: We enrolled 40 patients with pure severe rheumatic MS and sinus rhythm as a patient group and 30 healthy subjects as a control group...

BACKGROUND: During thoracoabdominal aortic surgery, the spinal cord is placed under ischemic conditions. Elevation of systemic blood pressure is thus recommended as a method of increasing the blood supply from collateral networks. This study examined the mechanisms by which noradrenaline administration increases spinal cord blood flow (SCBF) by elevating systemic blood pressure. METHODS: In beagles ( n = 7), the thoracoabdominal aorta and L2-L7 spinal cord segmental arteries (SAs) were exposed and a distal perfusion bypass was created to simulate clinical practice...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: From the Fukuoka University Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (FU-CCTA) registry, we present major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in hypertensive patients who have undergone CCTA, and the association between MACEs and the Gensini score of coronary arteries or the coronary artery calcification (CAC) score. METHODS: Of the patients who underwent CCTA for coronary artery disease (CAD) screening at Fukuoka University Hospital, 318 hypertensive patients who had at least one cardiovascular risk factor or suspected CAD were enrolled...

BACKGROUND: Shockwave intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) coronary system is a very useful new technology for de novo severely calcified coronary artery plaques before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The device uses a semi-compliant low-pressure balloon, integrated into a sterile catheter, to deliver by vaporizing fluid an expanding bubble that generates high-pressure ultrasonic energy by waves that create multiplane longitudinal micro-macro fractures in calcified plaques, which facilitate optimal stent placement and expansion, and luminal gain...

BACKGROUND: It is still very controversial whether the characteristics of pain in the acute myocardial infarction could be related to the culprit coronary artery. There are no data about associations of pain with the ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and left ventricular (LV) fibrotic segments. METHODS: Data from 328 participants who had STEMI and were included in the B and T Types of Lymphocytes Evaluation in Acute Myocardial Infarction (BATTLE-AMI) study were analyzed...

Transfemoral access has been established as the gold standard approach for the majority of patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). However, in cases with anatomical difficulties or severely diffused peripheral arterial disease, alternative vascular access may be considered such as the transaxillary approach. We present the case of a 92-year-old gentleman with exertional dyspnea due to severe symptomatic aortic stenosis and a history of peripheral femoro-femoral bypass surgery, coronary arterial bypass surgery and a permanent dual-chamber left-side implanted pacemaker...

BACKGROUND: The alterations in the endomysium and perimysium might cause compaction and gradual mechanical compression of cardiomyocytes resulting in their immobilization. This process finally leads to severe stiffening, so that the newly formed frame around individual cardiomyocytes and their clusters hinders normal diastole, and later systole. This phenomenon is referred to as immobilizing interstitial cardiac fibrosis (IICF). Deciphering the molecular and structural elements of myocardial changes is the key to understanding the pathogenetic foundations of heart failure development...

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia in the non-cardiac intensive care unit (ICU). However, data concerning AF incidence and predictors in such populations are scarce and controversial. The study aimed to investigate the contributing factors of new-onset AF in elderly patients within the medical intensive care setting. METHODS: Patients admitted to ICU during a 6-month period were prospectively studied. Patients admitted for short period postoperative monitoring and patients with chronic or paroxysmal AF were excluded...

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition impairs quality of life and prognosis of patients with cardiovascular disease. The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) is a screening tool developed for the nutritional assessment of older adults. However, usefulness of MNA for patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has not been fully investigated. METHODS: From March 2017 to September 2019, the MNA-short form (MNA-SF) and the MNA total score in patients undergoing phase II CR at the Juntendo University Hospital were evaluated...

Assessment of volume status in hospitalized patients with heart failure is a critically important diagnostic skill that clinicians utilize frequently. However, accurate assessment is challenging and there is often significant inter-provider disagreement. This review serves as an appraisal of current methods of volume assessment amongst different categories of evaluation including patient history, physical exam, laboratory analysis, imaging, and invasive procedures. Within each category, this review highlights methods that are particularly sensitive or specific, or those that carry impactful positive or negative likelihood ratios...

BACKGROUND: Warfarin is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for numerous clinical indications. The effectiveness of warfarin is highly dependent on the time-in-therapeutic range based on the international normalized ratio (INR) goal, which may be altered by changes in diet, alcohol intake, concomitant drugs, and travel, all of which are prevalent during the holidays. At this time, there are no published studies assessing the impact of holidays on INR in warfarin-users...

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) readmission continues to be a major health problem. Monitoring pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) and thoracic impedance (TI) are the two modalities utilized for early identification of decompensation in HF patients. We aimed to assess the correlation between these two modalities in patients who simultaneously had both the devices. METHODS: Patients with history of New York Heart Association class III systolic HF with a pre-implanted intracardiac defibrillator (ICD) capable of monitoring TI and pre-implanted CardioMEMs™ remote HF monitoring device were included...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

General anesthesia or procedural sedation may be required to ensure immobility, facilitate completion of the procedure, and ensure patient comfort during diagnostic or therapeutic procedures in the cardiac catheterization suite. Although propofol and dexmedetomidine are two of the more commonly chosen agents, concerns regarding their impact on inotropic, chronotropic or dromotropic function may limit their applicability based on underlying patient comorbid conditions. We present three patients with comorbid conditions involving pacemaker (natural or implanted) function or cardiac conduction which impacted the choice of agent for procedural sedation during procedures in the cardiac catheterization suite...

Beyond improving hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in adults with type 2 diabetes, glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) have been approved for reducing risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) or multiple CV risk factors. Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) also reduced the risk for the primary composite CV outcome in patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk for CV events. In the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and European Association of Study in Diabetes (EASD) consensus report 2022, there is the description "In people with established atherosclerotic CVD (ASCVD) or with a high risk for ASCVD, GLP-1RA were prioritized over SGLT2i"; however, the evidence supporting such statement is limited...

It is well known that the molecules of cardiospecific troponins T and I are localized in the troponin-tropomyosin complex of the cytoplasm of cardiac myocytes and, due to the specific localization, these cardiospecific troponins are widely used as diagnostic biomarkers of myocardial infarction. Cardiospecific troponins are released from the cytoplasm of cardiac myocytes as a result of irreversible cell damage (for example, ischemic necrosis of cardiomyocytes in myocardial infarction or apoptosis of cardiac myocytes in cardiomyopathies and heart failure) or reversible damage (for example, intense physical exertion, hypertension, the influence of stress factors, etc...

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerosis is a systemic disease that causes luminal narrowing. Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) also exhibit an increased risk of death from cardiovascular complications. This risk is the same for symptomatic or asymptomatic patients. Over a 5-year period, patients with PAD have a 20% chance of suffering from a stroke or myocardial infarction. Additionally, their mortality rate is 30%. This study aimed to assess the relationship between coronary artery disease (CAD) complexity using SYNTAX score and PAD complexity using Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus II (TASC II) score...

BACKGROUND: Chronic total occlusion (CTO) is an angiographic picture of total occlusion without blood flow which is estimated to have lasted at least 3 months. This study attempted to provide an overview of the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), soluble suppression tumorigenicity 2 (sST2), and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) as remodeling, inflammatory, and atherosclerotic markers, as well as changes in the angina severity in patients with CTO who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared to those without PCI...

Atrial fibrillation remains one of the most common conditions that clinical physicians encounter on a daily basis in the inpatient setting. This arrhythmia brings with it numerous complications if not treated properly and leads to intensive analysis of its primary etiology which is unique to every patient. In this case, we present a previously asymptomatic individual who presented to the hospital with respiratory complaints and was found to have a large lung mass, consistent with neuroendocrine lung cancer with direct compression of the left atrium leading to new-onset atrial fibrillation...