New risk factors in determining long‑term mortality in patients undergoing TAVI: can the conventional risk scores be used as a long‑term mortality predictor?

Background: Surgical risk in patients after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is determined by conventional scoring systems. However, these risk scores were developed to predict surgical mortality. Due to their insufficient predictive ability in patients after TAVI, novel risk scores are needed to predict long‑term mortality in this population.

Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio but not neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio predicts high on-treatment platelet reactivity in clopidogrel-treated patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Objectives: Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), consisting of clopidogrel and aspirin, is the main-stay treatment of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). However, major adverse cardiovascular events may occur even in patients undergoing DAPT, and this has been related to the variable pharmacodynamic efficacy of these drugs, especially clopidogrel. Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are novel inflammatory markers for cardiovascular risk stratification, which may reflect an inflammatory state and thus high on-treatment platelet reactivity (HPR).

Does "smoker's paradox" exist in clopidogrel-treated Turkish patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Previously conducted studies revealed that smoking enhanced the efficacy of clopidogrel by increasing formation of the active metabolite (AM) from the prodrug through induction of the cytochrome CYP1A2. The expression of cytochrome enzymes depends on genotype and no data exists in literature conducted in Turkish patients comparing the clopidogrel responsiveness between active smokers and non-active smokers treated with clopidogrel. In this study, our aim was to investigate the clopidogrel responsiveness in clopidogrel-treated Turkish acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients according to their smoking status.

Impact of Severe Tricuspid Regurgitation on Accuracy of Echocardiographic Pulmonary Artery Systolic Pressure Estimation.

Introduction: Transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (DE) is recommended for screening and monitorization of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, some recent studies have suggested that Doppler echocardiographic pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) estimates may frequently be inaccurate. Some hemodynamic and echocardiographic factors are known to contribute to discordant results.