IJC Heart & Vasculature

BACKGROUND: Owing to the minimally invasive nature of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), TAVR seems to be preferred in patients with cancer; however, related research on the clinical efficacy and safety of TAVR in patients with cancer and severe aortic stenosis is limited, and conclusions are controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients with cancer who underwent TAVR. METHOD AND RESULTS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the clinical outcomes in patients with and without cancer who underwent TAVR...

BACKGROUND: The role of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) parameters in evaluating the functional severity of coronary disease remains unclear. The aim of this study was to quantify the O2 -pulse morphology and investigate its relevance in predicting the functional severity of coronary stenosis, using Murray law-based quantitative flow ratio (μQFR) as the reference. METHODS: CPET and μQFR were analyzed in 138 patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD)...

BACKGROUND: Heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is common in the elderly (≥75 years) and associated with arterial stiffness. The mean age of HFpEF presentation is lower (40-55 years) in sub-Saharan Africa. No clinical study has been conducted on HFpEF in identifying and characterising this phenotype at a younger age, moreover in a South African black population where the risk of HFpEF is two times higher than in other ethnic groups. This study investigated the characteristics of HFpEF in a black South African population, the biochemical markers that predict HFpEF and cardiac structural changes in this HF phenotype...

BACKGROUND: Studies evaluating physical activity (PA) levels in individuals with Chagas disease (CD) are still scarce. The present study aimed to evaluate PA levels in CD individuals and examine their association with Chagas heart disease (ChHD). METHODS: We included patients with CD regularly followed in a reference center for treatment of infectious diseases. PA levels were assessed using the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)...

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. Data regarding the relationship between coronary artery disease (CAD) and AF is mixed. It is uncertain if AF directly increases the risk for future coronary events and if such patients are appropriately evaluated for CAD. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on hospitalized patients with NSTEMI and concurrent AF in 2019 using the National Inpatient Sample. In-hospital mortality, rates of diagnostic cardiac angiography, percutaneous coronary intervention, ventricular tachycardiac (VT), ventricular fibrillation (VF), cardiogenic shock, cardiac arrest, length of stay (LOS), and total hospitalization charges were studied...

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted Latin America (LATAM), significantly disrupting cardiovascular testing. This study evaluated cardiac procedure recovery in LATAM one year after the outbreak. METHODS: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) surveyed 669 centers in 107 countries worldwide, including 135 facilities in 19 LATAM countries, to assess cardiovascular procedure volumes in March 2019, April 2020, and April 2021, and changes in center practices and staffing conditions one year into the COVID-19 pandemic...

Heart failure is a root cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Due to the limited regenerative capacity of the heart following myocardial injury, stem cell-based therapies have been considered a hopeful approach for improving cardiac regeneration. In recent years, different kinds of cell products have been investigated regarding their potential to treat patients with heart failure. Despite special attention to cell therapy and its products, therapeutic efficacy has been disappointing, and clinical application is not affordable...

BACKGROUND: Recent studies investigating the effects of fish oil on shocks administered by ICDs in patients with ventricular tachycardias produced inconclusive results. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in lowering the risk of life-threatening VTs among individuals with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators. METHODS: We searched five databases, including Central, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus, for studies evaluating the efficacy of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for the prevention of ICD events for VT or VF, published up to December 1, 2023...

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular thrombus (LVT) is a significant complication in STEMI. Previous studies were conducted prior to modern timely percutaneous reperfusion networks. Current expert opinion suggests incidence in the current era has decreased. We conducted a systematic review and meta -analysis to better understand the incidence and diagnosis of LVT in patients with STEMI treated with timely percutaneous techniques as assessed by multimodality imaging. METHODS: Cochrane, EMBASE, LILACS, and MEDLINE were searched over the last 10 years only including studies using contemporary techniques...

AIMS: A substantial proportion of the patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have none of the of standard modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (SMuRFs): hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia and smoking. The aim of this analysis was to compare clinical outcomes after PCI according to the number of SMuRFs. METHODS: Patients with an indication for a PCI were stratified based upon the number of SMuRFs: 0, 1, 2 or 3-4. The primary outcome was target lesion failure (TLF), a composite of cardiac death, target vessel-related myocardial infarction or clinically driven target lesion revascularization at 1-year...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: In this study, we investigated clinical prediction factors of nonchronic total occlusion lesion (NCTOL) progression in patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesions. METHODS: In total, 450 patients with unstable angina (mean age = 57.1 ± 9.2 years) who underwent PCI for CTO lesions between January 2016 and December 2018 at Beijing Anzhen Hospital were enrolled in this study...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Transcatheter left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) has emerged as an alternative treatment for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) at high risk of thromboembolism, who cannot tolerate long-term oral anticoagulation (OAC). Questions persist regarding effectiveness and safety of this treatment and the optimal post-interventional antithrombotic regimen after LAAO. METHODS: We retrospectively gathered data from 428 patients who underwent percutaneous LAAO in 6 Italian high-volume centres, aimed at describing the real-world utilization, safety, and effectiveness of LAAO procedures, also assessing the clinical outcomes associated with different antithrombotic strategies...

BACKGROUND: Efficacy of balloon mitral valvuloplasty (BMV) in low gradient severe rheumatic mitral stenosis (MS) is not very well defined. This study was undertaken to evaluate the outcomes of BMV in low gradient severe rheumatic MS. METHODS: Severe MS was defined as mitral valve area < 1.5 cm2 . Low gradient was defined as mean diastolic trans -mitral gradient (MG) < 10 mmHg and low flow as stroke volume index < 35 ml/m2 on echocardiography...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: The potential of utilizing artificial intelligence with electrocardiography (ECG) for initial screening of aortic dissection (AD) is promising. However, achieving a high positive predictive rate (PPR) remains challenging. METHODS AND RESULTS: This retrospective analysis of a single-center, prospective cohort study (Shinken Database 2010-2017, N = 19,170) used digital 12-lead ECGs from initial patient visits. We assessed a convolutional neural network (CNN) model's performance for AD detection with eight-lead (I, II, and V1-6), single-lead, and double-lead (I, II) ECGs via five-fold cross-validation...

OBJECTIVE: Interactive patient education, referred to as Heart School (HS), is an important part of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) after myocardial infarction (MI), which has been associated with improved outcomes. Little is known about HS attendance among foreign-born patients. The aims were to assess; 1) HS attendance in foreign-born versus native-born patients, 2) the association between the provision of professional interpreters and HS attendance, and 3) secondary prevention goal attainment after MI based on HS attendance...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

INTRODUCTION: L-carnitine exerts protective effects, such as maintaining mitochondrial functions and decreasing reactive oxygen species, while acylcarnitine (AC) is linked to the development of heart failure and atherosclerosis. HYPOTHESIS: Serum carnitines play important pathophysiological roles in cardiovascular diseases. METHODS: Pre-operative biochemical data were obtained from 117 patients (71 men, average age 69.9 years) who underwent surgery for cardiovascular diseases...