Needle versus cannula over needle for radial artery cannulation during transradial coronary angiography and interventions.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of radial artery cannulation with needle versus cannula over needle during transradial coronary angiography and intervention.

Methods: Five hundred patients scheduled to undergo transradial catheterization were randomized between the two methods. Primary endpoint of the study was the combined endpoint of switching to another access site due to inability of successful sheath insertion or switching to another method of cannulation (from needle to cannula over needle and vice versa).

Atrial fibrillation in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A turning point towards increased morbidity and mortality.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmic event in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The aim of this study was to identify the clinical impact and prognostic significance of AF on a large cohort of patients with HCM.

Methods: Echocardiographic and clinical correlates, risk factors for AF and thromboembolic stroke and the prognostic significance of AF were evaluated in 509 patients with an established diagnosis of HCM.

Acute Invasive Hemodynamic Effects of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Background: Aortic stenosis imposes a chronic pressure overload on the left ventricle, with attendant adaptations in hemodynamics, muscle mass and performance. The hemodynamic changes that occur during the initial 24 h following abrupt removal of the impediment to left ventricular outflow have not been previously examined.

Methods: A total of 52 patients with right heart catheterization was evaluated before, within 6 h and at 24 h after successful transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

Paravalvular aortic prosthetic valve leak closure: technical aspects of the percutaneous approach.

We describe the successful closure of an aortic paravalvular bioprosthetic valve leak with the simultaneous percutaneous deployment of two vascular plugs.

Differences in Clinical Presentation and Findings between Idiopathic Dilated and Ischaemic Cardiomyopathy in an Unselected Population of Heart Failure Patients.

We explored the differences in epidemiologic, clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic characteristics between idiopathic dilated (IDCM) and ischaemic cardiomyopathy (ICM).Consecutive patients with stable chronic heart failure evaluated at a tertiary cardiac centre were enrolled. Clinical examination, blood tests and echocardiographic study were performed.

Measurements of endothelin-1, C-reactive protein and fibrinogen plasma levels in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Objective: To assess plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1), C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen (FIB) levels in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and explore the potential association among them.

Methods: In 23 consecutive patients with AIS diagnosed clinically and confirmed by CT brain scan, we measured plasma levels of ET-1 by radioimmunoassay, and CRP and FIB on the first and fifth days after the onset of AIS and we compared them with the levels of ten healthy volunteers in the control group.

Results: The mean plasma levels of ET-1 in AIS patients on the first and fifth days were respectively 19.

In vivo comparative study of linear versus geometrically correct three-dimensional reconstruction of coronary arteries.

Although conventional linear 3-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of coronary arteries by intravascular ultrasound has been widely used for the assessment of plaque volume and progression; the volumetric error (VE) that is produced has not been adequately studied. Linear and geometrically correct 3D reconstruction was applied in 16 coronary arterial segments from 9 patients. Using geometrically correct reconstruction as reference, VE was assessed in 1-mm-long arterial slices.