Cardiology Research and Practice

Background: Fast progression of the transaortic mean gradient ( P mean ) is relevant for clinical decision making of valve replacement in patients with moderate and severe aortic stenosis (AS) patients. However, there is currently little knowledge regarding the determinants affecting progression of transvalvular gradient in AS patients. Methods: This monocentric retrospective study included consecutive patients presenting with at least two transthoracic echocardiography examinations covering a time interval of one year or more between April 2006 and February 2016 and diagnosed as moderate or severe aortic stenosis at the final echocardiographic examination...

Introduction: Congestive heart failure is a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality that results in a significant financial burden on healthcare expenditure. Though various strategies have been employed to reduce hospital readmissions, one valuable tool that remains greatly underutilized is the CardioMEMS ( Abbott ), a remote pulmonary artery pressure-monitoring system, which has been shown to help reduce heart failure rehospitalizations in the CHAMPION (CardioMEMS Heart Sensor Allows Monitoring of Pressure to Improve Outcomes in NYHA Class III Heart Failure Patients) trial...

Objectives: To identify optimal predefined criteria (OPC) for filters of the VisiTag™ module in the CARTO 3 system during pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). Methods: Thirty patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who experienced PVI first were enrolled. PVI was accomplished by using a Thermocool SmartTouch catheter. Ablation lesions were tagged automatically as soon as predefined criteria of the VisiTag™ module were met. OPC should be that ablation with the setting resulting in the conduction gap (CG) as few as possible, while contiguous encircling ablation line (CEAL) without the tag gap (TG) on the 3D anatomic model as much as possible...

Aims: The Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) Survey II was conducted between October 2015 and December 2016 and included data from 11088 CRT implantations from 42 countries. The survey's aim was to report on current European CRT practice. The aim of this study was to compare the Croatian national CRT practice with the European data. Methods: Five centres from Croatia recruited consecutive patients, in a 15-month period, who underwent CRT implantation, primary or an upgrade...

Background: It has been reported that harmonics of radial pulse is related to coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). It is still unclear whether or not the first harmonics of the radial pulse spectrum is an early independent predictor of silent coronary artery disease (SCAD) and adverse cardiac events (ACE). Objectives: To measure the risk of SCAD in patients with T2DM and also to survey whether or not an increment of the first harmonic ( C 1) of the radial pulse increases ACE...

As advances in medical technology arise and the availability of cancer treatment increases, an increased number of patients are receiving cancer treatment. Radiation therapy has evolved to become one of the cornerstones of treatment for various types of cancers. One of the long-term consequences of radiation therapy is radiation-induced coronary artery disease (RICAD). Although the pathophysiology of RICAD may be slightly different and more acute onset than the commonly seen "generic" coronary artery disease, it is common practice to treat RICAD in the same method as nonradiation-induced CAD...

Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) is a disorder of abnormal thickening of the myocardium that affects 0.2% of the population. HOCM is a frequently implicated cause of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young athletes. In this manner, this condition has the capacity for tremendous emotional, social, financial, and medical burdens for families and communities across the country. Multiple factors including genetics and hormonal elements are believed to play a role in the development of this cardiomyopathy...

Recent European Society of Cardiology and American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Guidelines did not recommend biomarker-guided therapy in the management of heart failure (HF) patients. Combination of echo- and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) may be an alternative approach in guiding ambulatory HF management. Our aim was to determine whether a therapy guided by echo markers of left ventricular filling pressure (LVFP), lung ultrasound (LUS) assessment of B-lines, and BNP improves outcomes of HF patients...

Background: The thrombolysis in myocardial infarction risk index (TRI) was developed to estimate prognosis at the initial contact of the healthcare provider in coronary artery disease patients without laboratory parameters. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship of the baseline TRI and contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods: A total of 963 consecutive STEMI diagnosed patients who underwent primary percutaneous intervention were included in the study...

Aims: To assess the incremental prognostic value of SYNTAX score II (SxSII) as compared to anatomical SYNTAX Score (SxS) and GRACE risk score in patients with acute coronary syndromes who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. Methods and results: SxSII and SxS were determined in 734 ACS patients. Patients were enrolled in the prospective Special Program University Medicine ACS and the COMFORTABLE AMI cohorts and later on stratified according to tertiles of SxSII (SxSIILow ≤21...

Image registration has been used for a wide variety of tasks within cardiovascular imaging. This study aims to provide an overview of the existing image registration methods to assist researchers and impart valuable resource for studying the existing methods or developing new methods and evaluation strategies for cardiac image registration. For the cardiac diagnosis and treatment strategy, image registration and fusion can provide complementary information to the physician by using the integrated image from these two modalities...

Background: In-stent restenosis (ISR) remains a common problem following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, the best treatment strategy remains uncertain. There is some controversy over the efficacy of drug-eluting balloons (DEBs) and second-generation drug-eluting stents (DESs) for treating ISR. Methods: A meta-analysis was used to compare the efficacy of the DEB and second-generation DES in the treatment of ISR. The primary endpoint is the incidence of target lesion revascularization (TLR)...

Introduction: Electrical cardioversion (ECV) is a short but painful procedure for treating cardiac dysrhythmias. There is a wide variation regarding the medication strategy to facilitate this procedure. Many different sedative techniques for ECV are described. Currently, the optimal medication strategy to prevent pain in ECV has yet to be established. The role for additional analgesic agents to prevent pain during the procedure remains controversial, and evidence is limited. Methods: We conducted a prospective multicenter study to determine the incidence of painful recall in ECV with propofol as a sole agent for sedation, in order to assess the indication for additional opioids...

Background: Routine ambulatory echocardiographic estimates of left ventricular (LV) filling pressures are not cost-effective and are occasionally fraught with anatomic, physiologic as well as logistical limitations. The use of implantable hemodynamic devices such as CardioMEMS Heart Failure (HF) System has been shown to reduce HF-related readmission rates by remote monitoring of LV filling pressures. Little is known about the correlation between CardioMEMS and echocardiography-derived estimates of central hemodynamics...

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1155/2016/4013843.].

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) describes any condition characterized by myocardial ischaemia and reduction in blood flow. The physiopathological process of ACS is the atherosclerosis where MIF operates as a major regulator of inflammation. The aim of this study was to assess the mRNA expression of MIF gene and its serum levels in the clinical manifestations of ACS and unrelated individuals age- and sex-matched with patients as the control group (CG). All samples were run using the conditions indicated in TaqMan Gene Expression Assay protocol...

Background: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is the most common complication among patients undergoing cardiac surgery. However, data on the economic burden and resource utilization associated with POAF in Asian population are limited. The present study aimed at estimating medical costs attributable to POAF after cardiac surgery in Thai population. Methods: We analysed data from claims database of patients who underwent valve replacement, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), or a combination of both procedures at a tertiary-care, academic hospital in Thailand...

Introduction: Soluble ST2 (sST2) is increased during acute myocardial infarction. The point of care test (POCT) for sST2 is currently available. The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of the sST2 POCT measurement for predicting adverse cardiac events during acute care of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Patients and Methods: This research used a cohort study design. Consecutive patients with STEMI were enrolled. Soluble ST2 level was measured from peripheral blood taken on admission with POCT...

Purpose: The purposes of this study are to assess the acute effects of iodixanol, an iso-osmolar contrast media, on pulmonary functions and to evaluate the body composition in order to find out its role in causing this deterioration. Methods: 35 male and 25 female patients undergoing diagnostic coronary angiography (CA) were enrolled in the study. Before CA, all patients' body compositions were evaluated by measuring their body mass indexes (BMIs) and waist-to-hip ratios (WHRs)...

Objective: Herein, we investigated the balance of thiol/disulfide, with the hypothesis that the balance between disulfides and thiols, which are natural antioxidants, might be disrupted in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia, which eventually leads to endothelial damage. Methods: In this study, we evaluated 51 patients diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia and 81 healthy subjects. Blood samples were taken from the patients after a minimum of 12 hours of fasting; samples were immediately centrifuged, stored in Eppendorf tubes, and preserved at -80°C...