bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
MitraClip therapy in patients with acute severe mitral regurgitation
Authors: Turyan Medvedovsky A , Tahiroglu I , Tonchev I , Planer D , Danenberg H.D , Beeri R , Shuvy M 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Background
There is a lack of data to support the optimal management of high-risk patients with acute severe mitral regurgitation (MR). The role of the MitraClip implantation in treatment of acute severe mitral regurgitation (MR) is undetermined.

Methods
We screened all patients who underwent MitraClip implantation at the Hadassah Medical Center between October 2015 and December 2019. We evaluated immediate, 30-day and 1-year outcomes after the procedure. We evaluated patients with severe MR due to ruptured cord because of degenerative disease and acute-on-chronic functional MR due to ischemic (after a recent myocardial infarction (MI)) or non-ischemic etiology (secondary to decompensated HF).

Results
From a cohort of 151 patients, who underwent MitraClip implantation in our center, we identified 35 patients (23.2%) with acute severe mitral regurgitation (4+) and decompensated refractory heart failure. Patients' mean age was 74.15 years, 66.9% - were males. One, 2, or 3 clips were implanted. Reduction of MR from 4+ to 1+ was achieved in 34 patients (66.7%). Twenty-eight patients (80%) had acute-on-chronic severe MR and refractory heart failure including 6 cases after recent MI, other 7 patients presented with heart failure and acute severe MR secondary to ruptured cord due to degenerative disease. After MitraClip implantation, reduction of MR severity was achieved in all patients. Seven patients were withdrawn from intravenous therapy and intra-aortic balloon pump 2–3 days after the procedure. Four patients died during hospitalization, three of them due to sepsis. 30-day follow-up showed improvement of NYHA functional class and a tendency toward improvement in left ventricle systolic function with signs of reverse remodeling. Nevertheless, we observed high 30-day and 1-year mortality rate (11.4 and 23.8% respectively).

Conclusions
MitraClip therapy could be an alternative option for treatment of patients with acute and acute-on-chronic severe MR of ischemic and non-ischemic etiology.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None
Early intervention or watchful waiting for asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Ullah W.U , Gowda S.G , Khan M.S.K , Sattar Y.S , Al-Khadra Y.A , Rashid M.R , Mohamed M.O.M , Alkhouli M.A , Kapadia S.K , Bagur R.B , Mamas M.A.M , Alraies M.C.A 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Background
The management of patients with severe but asymptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) is a challenge of daily practice. Evidence on early aortic valve replacement (AVR) versus symptom-driven approach is controversial.

Methods
Electronic databases were searched and articles comparing early-AVR with conservative management for severe asymptomatic AS were identified. The pooled unadjusted odds ratio (OR) was computed using a random-effects model.

Results
A total of 10 studies (observational=9, and randomized clinical trials=1) consisting of 5,291 patients were included. On a mean follow up duration of 4 years, the odds of early-AVR vs conservative management were in favour for early intervention in terms of cardiovascular mortality (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.13–0.53, p=0.0002, figure-1) and all-cause mortality (OR 0.27, 95% CI: 0.17–0.41, p≤00001). The number needed to treat (NNT) by performing early AVR (either SAVR or TAVR) to prevent one death secondary to either cardiovascular or all-cause was 8 (95% CI: 6–10), and 5 (95% CI, 4.2–5.4) respectively. The odds of all-cause mortality in a selected patient population undergoing surgical AVR (SAVR) (OR 0.17, 95% CI 0.10–0.29, p≤0.00001) or transcatheter AVR (TAVR) (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.31–0.64, p≤0.0001) were significantly lower compared to patients who were managed conservatively. A subgroup sensitivity analysis based on severe vs. very severe AS and early vs. symptom based AVR also mirrored the findings of overall results.

Conclusions
Patients with asymptomatic aortic valve stenosis have lower odds of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality when managed with early-AVR compared to conservative management.
Figure 1

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None
The usefulness of cardiac computed tomography in the diagnosis of perivalvular complications in patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis
Authors: Zatorska K , Hryniewiecki T , Zakrzewski D , Nieznanska M , Kusmierczyk M , Michalowska I 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Background and purpose of the study
Echocardiography remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). But in around 15% of cases, its results can be false negative due to the acoustic shadow of artificial valves. The aim of the study was compare cardiac computed tomography (CT) with other imaging modalities in the diagnosis of perivalvular complications in patients with PVE.

Material and methods
The study included 35 consecutive patients with PVE. Thirty of them had an artificial aortic valve (17- mechanical valve, 13-biological valve), 7-mechanical mitral valve, and one patient was after biological pulmonary valve implantation. Three patients were after aortic and mitral valve replacement. Each patient underwent transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal (TEE) echocardiography. ECG-gated CT examinations were performed with a dual source CT system. All patients were qualified for surgical treatment. The assessment included the presence of vegetation, perivalvular abscess/pseudoaneurysm, inflammatory infiltration and prosthesis dehiscence.

Results
Intraoperative assessment revealed the presence of vegetations in 16 patients. The sensitivity of echocardiography (TTE+TEE) and CT examinations was 100% and 93% respectively. Twenty one abscesses/pseudoaneurysms were found intraoperatively. The sensitivity of echocardiography and CT examinations was 76% and 85%, respectively. The analysis of total TTE, TEE and CT findings showed that supplementing echocardiography with CT had increased the sensitivity of the method for detecting abscess/pseudoaneurysms to 95%. In a patient in whom no abscesse was found, inflammatory infiltration was diagnosed in echocardiography. Inflammatory infiltration was diagnosed intraoperatively in 13 patients. The sensitivity of echocardiography and CT was 69% in both examinations. The sensitivity of the combination TTE + TEE + CT was 92%. Perivalvular leakage was found intraoperatively in 17 patients. The sensitivity of echocardiography and CT for the diagnosis of this complication was 100% and 87%, respectively.

Conclusions
CT is better than echocardiography in diagnosing abscesses/pseudoaneurysms and has the same sensitivity in detecting inflammatory infiltration. Adding CT to echocardiography improves the sensitivity of these complications detection. CT is not superior to echocardiography in the diagnosis of vegetations and perivalvular leakage, but it can be a useful tool when echocardiography findings are inconclusive.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None
Diagnostic yield of Electroanatomic voltage mapping in guiding Endomyocardial biopsies; a comparison with an MRI-guided approach
Authors: Bergonti M , Dello Russo A , Gasperetti A , Catto V , Vettor G , Ribatti V , Dessanai M.A , Mustaq S , Conte E , Sommariva E , Andreini D , Basso C , Natale A , Tondo C , Casella M 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Background
Electroanatomic voltage mapping (EVM) is a promising modality for guiding Endomyocardial biopsies (EMB). Previous experiences on this techniques have reported safety and feasibility of this approach. These reports however, resulted limited by sample size or imperfect designs, preventing reliable comparisons of the effectiveness of this new methods with a conventional or a cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging guided approach.

Aim
We now report the largest cohort of patients undergoing EVM-guided EMB in order to show its diagnostic yield and comparing it with a cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) guided approach.

Methods
One-hundred and sixty-two consecutive patients undergoing EMB at our Institution from 2010 to 2019 were included. Pathological areas identified at EVM and CMR underwent EMB. According to EMB results, CMR and EVM sensitivity and specificity regarding the identification of pathological substrates of myocardium were evaluated.

Results
A gadolinium-enhanced CMR had been performed in 143 (88.9%) of the population and yielded pathological findings in 121 (85.8%) of such cases. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) was present in 94 (70%) of the patients, while EVM identified areas of low voltages in 61%. Right (73%), left (19%) or both ventricles (8%) underwent sampling. EVM proved to have similar sensitivity to CMR (74% vs. 77%; P=0.479), with non-significantly higher specificity (70% vs. 47% P=0.738). In 12 patients with EMB-proven cardiomyopathy, EVM identified pathological areas, which had been undetected at CMR evaluation (concordance rate 53.8%; k = 0.26). Sensitivity of pooled EVM and CMR was as high as 95%. Five cases (3,8%) of cardiomyopathies were undetected by both CMR and EVM. Complications rate was low (4,9%), mostly vascular access related, with no patients requiring urgent management.

Conclusion
EVM proved to be a promising tool for targeted-EMB due to its sensitivity and specificity in identifying myocardial pathological substrates. EVM demonstrated to have an accuracy similar to CMR. EVM and CMR together conferred EMB a positive predictive value of 89%.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None
The clinical atlas of cardiomyopathies: data from the prospective DZHK TORCH study
Authors: Sedaghat-Hamedani F , Trebing J , Kindermann A , Kayvanpour E , Tan K , Preussler S , Sluka S , Gi W.T , Dieterich C , Weitmann K , Eschenhagen T , Hoffmann W , Katus H.A , Meder B 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Introduction
Cardiomyopathies (CMPs) are leading causes of heart failure (HF) and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Comparative data of the multiple cardiomyopathy forms are largely missing. The TranslatiOnal Registry for CardiomyopatHies (TORCH) is the largest prospective multicentre CMP registry world-wide. Enrolled patients are comprehensively phenotyped by clinical examinations, state-of-the-art imaging, and molecular investigations. In this study, we present the baseline and 1-year follow-up data.

Methods
TORCH is a national, prospective, multicentre registry within the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) and includes 2300 patients with non-ischemic (primary and secondary) CMP from 20 centres. The minimum follow up was one year. The DZHK-wide harmonization of datasets and SOPs ensure a high level of data quality and comparability across different CMP forms.

Results
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) has the highest prevalence with 64% of all enrolled patients, followed by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) with 16%. At baseline, patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) were treated more often with ICD implantation and showed high rates of adequate ICD therapies (65.8%, p&lt;0.05 and 47.8%, p&lt;0.05, respectively). The prevalence of stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) was in multivariate analysis significantly higher (p&lt;0.05) in left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC, 14.9%), while atrial fibrillation was lower than in other cardiomyopathy forms. Patients with amyloidosis had the worst outcome (HR: 6; 95% CI: 2.5–14.5, P&lt;0.05) with annual mortality of &gt;15% and 12% receiving heart transplantation. In DCM, reverse remodelling with improvement of functional parameters and biomarkers was more often observed in idiopathic and inflammatory cases compared to familial ones. HCM patients had the most favourable outcome.

Conclusion and outlook
TORCH is the largest prospective study focusing on CMPs. We provided for the first time prospectively the clinical data of patients with diverse cardiomyopathies with outcome. Furthermore, comparing the different CMP forms on the clinical and molecular level will be an important step to enable translational research projects.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK)
Lymphocytic myocarditis: a genetically predisposed disease?
Authors: Artico J , Merlo M , Delcaro G , Cannata A , Gentile P , De Angelis G , Paldino A , Bussani R , Dal Ferro M , Sinagra G 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Background
Clinical presentation of myocarditis is extremely heterogeneous from asymptomatic to overt severe heart failure (HF). A complex interaction between pre-existing genetic background and inflammation might be responsible for this heterogeneity.

Purpose
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether positive genetic background for pathogenic cardiomyopathy-related variants might underlie a higher susceptibility to left ventricular dysfunction in patients with active lymphocytic myocarditis.

Methods
We prospectively performed genetic tests in 36 patients (46±15 years; 61% males; no relatives included) with biopsy-proven active lymphocytic myocarditis according to Dallas criteria and immunohistochemistry. Only pathogenic (P) or likely pathogenic (LP) variants were considered.

Results
After genetic test, 31% of patients (n=11) were carriers of P/LP truncating variants in structural Cardiomyopathy related genes: Titin (TTN, n=8, 73%), Desmoplakin (DSP, n=1), Filamin C (FLNC, n=1) and RNA binding protein 20 (RBM20, n=1). Among the 27 patients presenting with HF and LV dysfunction, the positive genetic yield was similar to the total cohort (n=9, 34%; 90% with TTN). Two out of six arrhythmic patients (30%) were carriers in arrhythmogenic genes (i.e. DSP and FLNC), whereas no patients with infarct-like presentation were carriers. During follow-up, 44% of patients (n=16) presented normal Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF). Carriers had a lower rate of LVEF normalization compared to non-carriers (18% vs 56%, respectively; p=0.035).

Conclusion
Positive genetic testing for cardiomyopathy-related-genes might be found in a non-negligible percentage of patients with biopsy-proven myocarditis, especially if presenting with heart failure and LV dysfunction. Compared to non-carriers, carriers of P/LP variants show lower likelihood of LVEF normalization during follow-up.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None
Myocardial work analysis in left ventricular non-compaction, and its association with cardiovascular outcomes
Authors: Anwer S , Heiniger P.S , Rebellius L , Schoenenberger-Berzins R , Kuzo N , Guastafierro F , Erhart L , Gregr P , Schmid D , Kindler C , Gruner C , Tanner F.C 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Introduction
Left ventricular (LV) non-compaction (LVNC) is a rare cardiomyopathy characterised by a two-layered LV myocardium with prominent trabeculae separated by deep recesses perfused from the LV cavity. Myocardial work analysis (MWA) is a novel echocardiographic method that calculates pressure-strain loops from longitudinal strain and bedside blood pressure measurement. Our study investigates the MWA features of LVNC patients and their association with outcomes.

Methods
We compared 40 LVNC with preserved LVEF (≥50%) (pEF-LVNC) and 40 LVNC patients with reduced LVEF (&lt;50%) (rEF-LVNC) to 40 healthy matched controls. GE EchoPAC® (Version 203) was used for echocardiographic analysis. A combined endpoint was defined as heart failure progression, sustained ventricular tachycardia, thromboembolic accidents, and atrial fibrillation.

Results
Clinical characteristics, conventional echocardiography, and strain analysis results are detailed in Table 1 and Figure 1. Myocardial work index was significantly reduced in rEF-LVNC (1088 [138–1211 mm.Hg%]) and pEF-LVNC (1394 [1138–1501 mm.Hg%]) in comparison to control (1827 [1758–1981 mm.Hg%]), but there was no difference between the two LVNC groups. Global constructive work (GCW) was significantly lower in rEF-LVNC (1094 [947–1281 mm.Hg%]) than in pEF-LVNC (1730 [1368–1691 mm.Hg%]) (p=0.001), while both LVNC groups were lower than control (2201 [1965–2406 mm.Hg%]) (pEF-LVNC p=0.001, rEF-LVNC p&lt;0.0001). Global wasted work (GWW) was significantly lower in rEF-LVNC (204 [181–231 mm.Hg%]) than in pEF-LVNC (154 [115–171 mm.Hg%], p&lt;0.0001) and control (61 [45–98 mm.Hg%], p&lt;0.0001). Global work efficiency (GWE) was significantly lower in rEF-LVNC (18.3 [15.4–19.6%], p=0.001 than in pEF-LVNC and control. In both pEF-LVNC and rEF-LVNC, impaired GWE and GCS were the parameters most significantly associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events as detailed in Figure 2.

Conclusion
MWA is a promising parameter for risk assessment of LVNC patients especially because it is less load-dependent and, unlike LVEF, incorporates left ventricular haemodynamics.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: Foundation. Main funding source(s): 2018 research grant from the Swiss Heart Foundation
Is alcohol septal ablation in women performed too late?
Authors: Batzner A , Aicha D , Seggewiss H 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Introduction
Alcohol septal ablation (PTSMA) was introduced as interventional alternative to surgical myectomy for symptomatic patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) 25 years ago. As gender differences in diagnosis and treatment of HOCM are still unclear we analyzed baseline characteristics and results of PTSMA in a large single center cohort with respect to gender.

Methods and results
Between 05/2000 and 06/2017 first PTSMA in our center was performed in 952 patients with symptomatic HOCM. We treated less 388 (40.8%) women and 564 (59.2%) men. All patients underwent clinical follow-up.
At the time of the intervention women were older (61.2±14.9 vs. 51.9±13.7 years; p&lt;0.0001) and suffered more often from NYHA grade III/IV dyspnea (80.9% vs. 68.1%; p&lt;0.0001), whereas angina pectoris was comparable in women (62.4%) and men (59.9%). Echocardiographic baseline gradients were comparable in women (rest 65.0±38.1 mmHg and Valsalva 106.2±45.7 mmHg) and men (rest 63.1±38.3 mmHg and Valsalva 103.6±42.8 mmHg). But, women had smaller diameters of the left atrium (44.3±6.9 vs. 47.2±6.5 mm; p&lt;0001), maximal septum thickness (20.4±3.9 vs. 21.4±4.5 mm; p&lt;0.01), and maximal thickness of the left ventricular posterior wall (12.7±2.8 vs. 13.5±2.9 mm; p&lt;0.0001).
In women, more septal branches (1.3±0.6 vs. 1.2±0.5; p&lt;0.05) had to be tested to identify the target septal branch. The amount of injected alcohol was comparable (2.0±0, 4 in women vs. 2.1±0.4 ml in men). The maximum CK increase was lower in women (826.0±489.6 vs. 903.4±543.0 U / l; p&lt;0.05). During hospital stay one woman and one man died, each (n.s.). The frequency of total AV blocks in the cathlab showed no significant difference between women (41.5%) and men (38.3%). Furthermore, the rate of permanent pacemaker implantation during hospital stay did not differ (12.1% in women vs. 9.4% in men).
Follow-up periods of all patients showed no significant difference between women (5.7±4.9 years) and men (6.2±5.0 years). Overall, 37 (9.5%) women died during this period compared to only 33 (5.9%) men (p&lt;0.05). But, cardiovascular causes of death were not significantly different between women (2.8%) and men (1.6%). Furthermore, the rates of surgical myectomy after failed PTSMA (1.3% in women vs. 2.3% in men), ICD implantation for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death according to current guidelines (4.1% in women vs. 5.9% in men) or pacemaker implantation (3.6% in women vs. 2.0% in men) showed no significant differences.

Summary
PTSMA in women with HOCM was performed at more advanced age with more pronounced symptoms compared to men. While there were no differences in acute outcomes, overall long-term mortality was higher in women without differences in cardiovascular mortality. Therefore, women may require more intensive diagnostic approaches in order not to miss the correct time for gradient reduction treatment.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None
Predictors of sudden cardiac death and ventricular tachyarrhythmias in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Authors: Rineiska N , Zakharava E , Komissarova S , Haidel I 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Background
Determining additional predictors that allow more accurate identification of patients who need primary prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD) and ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VT) in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is one of the most important tasks. High-risk patients can be more accurately identified using modern non-invasive research methods.

Purpose
Identification of new risk predictors for SCD and ventricular tachyarrhythmias based on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and T1-mapping in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Materials and methods
Clinical data of 98 HCM subjects (58 males and 40 females, median age 46.5 [35.2; 54.7] treated in our centre in the period between 2013 and 2017 have been studied. All patients underwent CMR with LGE and T1-mapping.

Results
According to the existing ESC-2014 scale, 45 (46%) of the 98 patients included in the study had a low risk, an intermediate risk was identified in 26 (26%) patients and a high risk of SCD in 27 (28%). During the follow-up period 16 episodes of sudden cardiac death were recorded. Of these, only 8 (50%) patients had a high risk on the ESC-2014 scale. High-risk patients show significantly greater myocardial fibrosis (Me 28.5%; [21.9; 44.1]) compared with patients with intermediate (Me 17.6% [8.0; 22.5]) and low risk of SCD (Me 11.7%; [5.8; 17.6]), p&lt;0.001. A threshold level of fibrosis volume associated with an adverse outcome was determined, which was 15% (based on determining the maximum rank of statistics). For patients with 15% fibrosis volume, the cumulative survival rate on the Kaplan-Mayer curve over the observation period was 96% (95% CI 88.6–100), while for patients with fibrosis volume ≥15% - 72.4% (95% CI 60.6–86.4). The study showed that in 15 (93.7%) patients out of 16 who had an adverse outcome, the volume of myocardial fibrosis was ≥15%. Episodes of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia were detected in 48 patients (48.7%) according to daily ECG monitoring. To identify patients with ventricular tachyarrhythmias by ROC analysis, the threshold value of extracellular myocardial volume was determined using CMR with LGE and T1 mapping, which was 32.5% (sensitivity 74% and specificity 86%). According to multivariate analysis, one of the independent predictors of ventricular tachyarrhythmias was the level of extracellular myocardial volume ≥32.5% (HR 1.2; 95% CI 1.03–1.4).

Conclusion
Predictors detected by CMR with LGE and T1 mapping can identify patients with HCM with a high risk of sudden cardiac death and ventricular tachyarrhythmias.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None