Systematic Aetiological Assessment of Myocarditis: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Myocarditis is commonly diagnosed in the intensive care cardiology unit (ICCU). No current recommendation nor guideline aids exist for aetiological assessments.

Methods: From September 2021 to October 2023, 84 patients with acute myocarditis underwent thorough and systematic serum and blood cell panel evaluations to determine the most common causes of myocarditis.

Critically ill patients with infective endocarditis, neurological complications and indication for cardiac surgery: a multicenter propensity-adjusted study.

Background: The benefit-risk balance and optimal timing of surgery for severe infective endocarditis (IE) with ischemic or hemorrhagic strokes is unknown. The study aim was to compare the neurological outcome between patients receiving surgery or not.

Methods: In a prospective register-based multicenter ICU study, patients were included if they met the following criteria: (i) left-sided IE with an indication for heart surgery; (ii) with cerebral complications documented by cerebral imaging before cardiac surgery; (iii) with Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score ≥ 3.

Impact of Valve Academic Research Consortium 3 (VARC-3) minor access site vascular complications in patients undergoing percutaneous transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of Valve Academic Research Consortium 3 minor access site vascular complications (VCs) in patients who underwent percutaneous transfemoral (TF) transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

Methods: This single-centre retrospective study included consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous TF-TAVI from 2009 to 2021. A propensity score-matched analysis was performed to compare early and long-term clinical results between patients with VC and without VC (nVC).

Brain imaging determinants of functional prognosis after severe endocarditis: a multicenter observational study.

Objective: We developed a detailed imaging phenotype of the cerebral complications in critically ill patients with infective endocarditis (IE) and determine whether any specific imaging pattern could impact prognostic information.

Methods: One hundred ninety-two patients admitted to the intensive care units of seven tertiary centers with severe, definite left IE and neurological complications were included. All underwent cerebral imaging few days after admission to define the types of lesions, their volumes, and their locations using voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM).

Bail-out therapy in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction due to calcified lesion causing stent underexpansion: Intravascular lithotripsy is in the lead.

A 52-year-old male was referred for an acute anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Coronary angiography revealed an acute left anterior descending artery occlusion. The patient was treated with a drug-eluting stent (DES).

OCT and CMR for the Diagnosis of Patients Presenting With MINOCA and Suspected Epicardial Causes.

Objectives: Among all patients presenting with myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA), epicardial causes may be suspected when there is a correlation between electrocardiogram (ECG) changes and regional wall motion abnormalities (WMAs). We evaluated the diagnostic yield of intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in this specific setting.

Background: OCT is able to identify different morphologic features of coronary plaques that are well known causes of MINOCA.

Guidance of the MitraClip procedure by 2D and 3D imaging.

Percutaneous edge-to-edge repair using MitraClip (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, USA) can be used to treat mitral regurgitation. However, real-time echocardiographic guidance is vital; and use of 3D transoesophageal echocardiography to guide the procedure has improved reproducibility, reliability and safety. This review describes the MitraClip device - which is composed of a steerable guide catheter (SGC) and a Clip Delivery System (CDS) - and the MitraClip procedure.

Planar cell polarity genes frizzled4 and frizzled6 exert patterning influence on arterial vessel morphogenesis.

Quantitative analysis of the vascular network anatomy is critical for the understanding of the vasculature structure and function. In this study, we have combined microcomputed tomography (microCT) and computational analysis to provide quantitative three-dimensional geometrical and topological characterization of the normal kidney vasculature, and to investigate how 2 core genes of the Wnt/planar cell polarity, Frizzled4 and Frizzled6, affect vascular network morphogenesis. Experiments were performed on frizzled4 (Fzd4-/-) and frizzled6 (Fzd6-/-) deleted mice and littermate controls (WT) perfused with a contrast medium after euthanasia and exsanguination.

Lethal Aorto-Right Ventricular Defect After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation in a Patient With Radiation-Induced Porcelain Aorta: Notes of Caution.

A 47-year-old man with severe radiation-induced aortic stenosis was rejected for cardiac surgery because of porcelain aorta. We successfully implanted an Edwards SAPIEN valve (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA), but the patient was readmitted 3 weeks later for heart failure with a continuous murmur on auscultation. Echocardiography showed a small defect between the aorta and the infundibulum of the right ventricle, which was also confirmed with aortography and computed tomography.

The use of Impella 2.5 in severe refractory cardiogenic shock complicating an acute myocardial infarction.

Objectives: To investigate the outcome of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated by refractory cardiogenic shock (CS) who underwent mechanical circulatory support with Impella 2.5.

Background: AMI complicated by CS remains a highly fatal condition.

Hypoxia preconditioned mesenchymal stem cells improve vascular and skeletal muscle fiber regeneration after ischemia through a Wnt4-dependent pathway.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are multipotent postnatal stem cells, involved in the treatment of ischemic vascular diseases. We investigate the ability of MSC, exposed to short-term hypoxic conditions, to participate in vascular and tissue regeneration in an in vivo model of hindlimb ischemia. Transplantation of hypoxic preconditioned murine MSC (HypMSC) enhanced skeletal muscle regeneration at day 7, improved blood flow and vascular formation compared to injected nonpreconditioned MSC (NormMSC).

Mapping 3-dimensional neovessel organization steps using micro-computed tomography in a murine model of hindlimb ischemia-brief report.

Objective: Studying the mechanisms of neovascularization and evaluating the effects of proangiogenic strategies require accurate analysis of the neovascular network. We sought to evaluate the contribution of the microcomputed tomography (mCT) providing high-resolution 3-dimensional (3D) structural data, to a better comprehension of the well-studied mouse hindlimb postischemic neovascularization.

Methods And Results: We showed a predominant arteriogenesis process in the thigh and a predominant angiogenesis-related process in the tibiofibular region, in response to ischemia during the first 15 days.