Burden of Mitral Regurgitation in Spain from 2016-2021: An Analysis by Aetiology and Sex.

: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the second most common valve disease in Europe, and differences between men and women have been described in relation to aetiology or management, which might impact the decision for intervention and patients' clinical and economic outcomes. Thus, the objective was to analyse the burden of MR in Spain by aetiology and sex, and the management of all patients suffering from MR being admitted to hospital between 2016-2021. : An analysis was carried out with the Ministry of Health's database, including all patients in public and subsidised hospitals and defining two groups, general MR and those patients undergoing Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge repair (TEER), using a descriptive analysis of patients' characteristics, use of resources, and outcomes; standardised rates were calculated and observed outcomes were described.

How to improve patient outcomes following TAVI in 2024? Recent advances.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has revolutionized the treatment of aortic stenosis, particularly among elderly patients. The world's first TAVI procedure was performed in 2002 by Professor Cribier. It was approved for clinical use in Europe in 2007, followed by approval in the United States in 2011.

Long-term outcomes of percutaneous tricuspid annuloplasty with Cardioband device.

Aims: Severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) has adverse effects on outcomes, with limited therapeutic options. We report the outcomes of patients undergoing percutaneous annuloplasty as a treatment of  ≥severe functional TR in a single centre.

Methods And Results: Prospective, single-arm, single-centre study that enrolled 24 consecutive patients with at least severe functional TR undergoing percutaneous annuloplasty with Cardioband system between 2019 and 2021.

Echocardiographic guidance in transcatheter structural cardiac interventions.

Catheter-based treatment of structural heart diseases (SHD) has seen tremendous advances in the past decades, thanks to the development of new devices and advances in imaging techniques. Today, we have an extensive armamentarium of imaging tools for preprocedural planning, intraprocedural guidance and follow-up of SHD. Intraprocedural guidance is based mainly on transoesophageal echocardiography; however, other imaging modalities are used as complementary or alternative techniques, each of them with its strengths and weaknesses.

Cardiovascular Oncology: The Need for a Multidisciplinary Approach.

Improved cancer survivorship has led to an increase in cardiovascular (CV) complications in the oncologic population, mainly associated with therapeutic regimens. Hence, cardio-oncology has grown toward unifying the cancer care process in which the best prevention, early detection, treatment, and CV surveillance are offered to patients. This multidisciplinary approach allows us to optimize and agree upon clinical decisions to enhance clinical outcomes.

Advanced cancer is also a heart failure syndrome: a hypothesis.

We present the hypothesis that advanced stage cancer is also a heart failure syndrome. It can develop independently of or in addition to cardiotoxic effects of anti-cancer therapies. This includes an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias.

Coronary microvascular dysfunction assessed by continuous intracoronary thermodilution: A comparative study with index of microvascular resistance.

Background: This study aimed to assess the correlation between the standard of care, the index of microvascular resistance (IMR) versus the novel microvascular resistance (R) and to determine the pathologic cut-off value in a selected population with suspected coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD).

Methods: One-hundred and twenty patients with high clinical suspicion of CMD due to ischemic symptoms in the absence of significant epicardial coronary lesions were prospectively included. Following a standardized systematic protocol, coronary flow reserve, IMR, fractional flow reserve, Q and R were measured in the left anterior descending coronary artery using a temperature/pressure sensor-tipped guidewire and a dedicated infusion catheter.

Malignant Left Atrial Appendage Morphology: Current Classification vs H-L System.

Introduction: In previous studies the risk of stroke recurrence has been associated with the left atrial appendage (LAA) morphology (non-chicken wing (NCW)), knowing those with a greater risk as malignant LAA. Recently, a simpler morphological classification has been suggested with two categories: Low-risk (LAA-L) and High-risk (LAA-H); which could be easier to apply and may correlate better with the risk of embolic stroke.

Methods: Retrospective analysis from a registry of patients with recurrent cardioembolic strokes despite appropriate anticoagulant therapy, in which LAA morphology was studied with cardiac CT scan.