Publications by authors named "Birgit Gerecke"
Background: Heart transplant recipients show a high risk of developing major depression with an increased risk of post-transplant morbidity and mortality. Heart transplant specialists and patients face unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, which have enormous clinical implications such as the increased risk of COVID-19 as well as visitor restrictions with social isolation during the post-transplant inpatient treatment.
Case Summary: We present a case of a 64-year-old woman with end-stage heart failure caused by non-compaction cardiomyopathy who received an orthotopic heart transplant (OHT) without any intra-operative complications.
Noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM) has gained increasing attention over the past twenty years, but in daily clinical practice NCCM is still rarely considered. So far, there are no generally accepted diagnostic criteria and some groups even refuse to acknowledge it as a distinct cardiomyopathy, and grade it as a variant of dilated cardiomyopathy or a morphological trait of different conditions. A wide range of morphological variants have been observed even in healthy persons, suggesting that pathologic remodeling and physiologic adaptation have to be differentiated in cases where this spongy myocardial pattern is encountered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Non-compaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM) is associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity. Knowledge regarding risk stratification, arrhythmogenesis, therapy, and prognosis is limited. The aim of this study was to analyse the outcome of patients suffering from NCCM and ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) focusing on a treatment with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy and catheter ablation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The aim of the study was to assess interobserver agreement (IOA) between 3 observers from 2 laboratories.
Background: IOA of left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) in adults has only been studied within single echocardiographic laboratories.
Methods: Echocardiographic recordings with and without LVHT were selected and anonymized.
Background: Aim of this study was to assess pathomorphologic findings (PATHO) in patients with echocardiographically (ECHO) diagnosed left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction.
Methods: ECHO-criteria for LVHT were: >3 trabeculations, moving synchronously with the compacted myocardium, and forming the noncompacted part of a two-layered myocardium. At autopsy, the hearts were investigated according to the pathologists' preferences.
Objective: This study evaluated if there are gender differences in the manifestation of tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC).
Background: TTC predominantly occurs in elderly females and mimics acute myocardial infarction (AMI) where men and women are known to have a different clinical profile.
Methods: 324 patients from 37 hospitals were prospectively included in a TTC registry.
Background: Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVNC) is a cardiac abnormality whose echocardiographic criteria are still controversial. Cooperation between echocardiographic laboratories may contribute to uniformly accepted criteria, as illustrated by the following pilot study.
Methods And Results: Echocardiograms proposed for inclusion into a registry were reviewed.
Background: Isolated non-compaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM) was first described in 1984. This disorder, a primary genetic cardiomyopathy, is now attracting increased attention.
Method: The current state of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, pathophysiology, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of NCCM are discussed on the basis of a review of selected literature as well as the authors' personal experience.