Dyspnea in Post-Acute COVID-19: A Multi-Parametric Cardiopulmonary Evaluation.

Post-acute COVID-19 is characterized by the persistence of dyspnea, but the pathophysiology is unclear. We evaluated the prevalence of dyspnea during follow-up and factors at admission and follow-up associated with dyspnea persistence. After five months from discharge, 225 consecutive patients hospitalized for moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia were assessed clinically and by laboratory tests, echocardiography, six-minute walking test (6MWT), and pulmonary function tests.

Subclinical Myocardial Injury in Patients Recovered from COVID-19 Pneumonia: Predictors and Longitudinal Assessment.

(1) Background: Emerging data regarding patients recovered from COVID-19 are reported in the literature, but cardiac sequelae have not yet been clarified. To quickly detect any cardiac involvement at follow-up, the aims of the research were to identify: elements at admission predisposing subclinical myocardial injury at follow up; the relationship between subclinical myocardial injury and multiparametric evaluation at follow-up; and subclinical myocardial injury longitudinal evolution. (2) Methods and Results: A total of 229 consecutive patients hospitalised for moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia were initially enrolled, of which 225 were available for follow-up.

Value of Left Ventricular Indexed Ejection Time to Characterize the Severity of Aortic Stenosis.

Aims: The assessment of aortic stenosis (AS) severity is still challenging, especially in abnormal hemodynamic conditions. Left ventricular ejection time (LVET) has been historically related to AS severity, but it also depends on heart rate (HR) and systolic function. Our aim was to verify if correcting LVET (LVET index, LVETI) by its determinants is helpful for the assessment of AS severity, irrespective of hemodynamic conditions.

The pathogenesis, epidemiology and biomarkers of susceptibility of pulmonary fibrosis in COVID-19 survivors.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF), a pathological outcome of chronic and acute interstitial lung diseases associated to compromised wound healing, is a key component of the "post-acute COVID-19 syndrome" that may severely complicate patients' clinical course. Although inconclusive, available data suggest that more than a third of hospitalized COVID-19 patients develop lung fibrotic abnormalities after their discharge from hospital. The pathogenesis of PF in patients recovering from a severe acute case of COVID-19 is complex, and several hypotheses have been formulated to explain its development.

Feasibility and Role of Right Ventricular Stress Echocardiography in Adult Patients.

Background: The great technological advancements in the field of echocardiography have led to applications of stress echocardiography (SE) in almost all diagnostic fields of cardiology, from ischemic heart disease to valvular heart disease and diastolic function. However, the assessment of the right ventricle (RV) in general, and in particular in regard to the contractile reserve of the RV, is an area that has not been previously explored. We, therefore, propose a study to investigate the potential use of SE for the assessment of RV function in adult patients.

[Current clinical applications of three-dimensional echocardiography].

Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) represents one of the most innovative advances in cardiovascular imaging over the last 20 years. Recent technological developments have fueled the full implementation of 3DE in clinical practice and expanded its impact on patient diagnosis, management, and prognosis. One of the most important clinical applications of transthoracic 3DE has been the quantitation of cardiac chamber volumes and function.

The VALID-CRT risk score reliably predicts response and outcome of cardiac resynchronization therapy in a real-world population.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to confirm the value of the VALID-cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) risk score in predicting outcome and to assess its association with clinical response (CR) in an unselected real-world CRT population.

Methods And Results: The present analysis comprised all consecutive CRT patients (pts) enrolled in the CRT-MORE registry from 2011 to 2013. Pts were stratified into five groups (quintiles 1-5) according to the VALID-CRT risk predictor index applied to the CRT-MORE population.

Intervendor Consistency and Accuracy of Left Ventricular Volume Measurements Using Three-Dimensional Echocardiography.

Background: Intervendor consistency of left ventricular (LV) volume measurements using three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (3DTTE) has never been reported. Accordingly, we designed a prospective study to (1) compare head-to-head the accuracy of three three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) systems in measuring LV volumes and ejection fraction (EF) against cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR); (2) assess the intervendor variability of LV volumes and EF; and (3) compare the accuracy of fully automated versus semiautomated (i.e.

Early impairment in left ventricular longitudinal systolic function is associated with an increased risk of incident atrial fibrillation in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Aims: It is known that type 2 diabetic patients are at high risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the early echocardiographic determinants of AF vulnerability in this patient population remain poorly known.

Methods: We followed-up for 2years a sample of 180 consecutive outpatients with type 2 diabetes, who were free from AF and ischemic heart disease at baseline.

Prognostic Role of Right Ventricular Function in Patients With Heart Failure Undergoing Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy.

Background: Because 20% to 40% of patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) do not respond to it, identification of potential factors predicting response is a relevant research topic.

Hypothesis: There is a possible association between right ventricular function and response to CRT.

Methods: We analyzed 227 patients from the Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Modular Registry (CRT-MORE) who received CRT according to current guidelines from March to December 2013.

New speckle-tracking algorithm for right ventricular volume analysis from three-dimensional echocardiographic data sets: validation with cardiac magnetic resonance and comparison with the previous analysis tool.

Aims: (i) To validate a new software for right ventricular (RV) analysis by 3D echocardiography (3DE) against cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR); (ii) to assess the accuracy of different measurement approaches; and (iii) to explore any benefits vs. the previous software.

Methods And Results: We prospectively studied with 3DE and CMR 47 patients (14-82 years, 28 men) having a wide range of RV end-diastolic volumes (EDV 82-354 mL at CMR) and ejection fractions (EF 34-81%).