The Importance of Being Aware of Intrinsic Methods' Limitation in Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Determination to Correctly Identify Cardiovascular Risk: Is Direct Determination Obtained with the Roche System Systematically Overestimating LDL in Very High-Risk Patients with Triglycerides Concentration of Less than 2.25 mmol/L?

Background: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a strong cardiovascular risk factor, but the methods used to correctly determine it are is still questioned. The aim of this study was to compare the direct determination of LDL-C levels, obtained with the Roche cobas c system, with LDL-C values calculated through Sampson's and Friedewald's equations in very high-risk patients with triglycerides concentrations of less than 2.25 mmol/L (<200 mg/dL).

Multi-Modality Imaging Approach to a rare form of Biventricular Ring-Shaped Constrictive Pericarditis.

A 48-year-old man with AIDS/HIV and a previous history of tuberculous pericarditis 25 years earlier was admitted to our department of infectious diseases because of P. carinii pneumonia. A CT (computed tomography) scan described diffuse pericardial thickening with extensive pericardial calcifications on both ventricles.

Large Serpiginous Thrombus Crossing a Patent Foramen Ovale.

Transesophageal iconic image of a large serpiginous thrombus crossing a patent foramen ovale.

Reverse Remodeling and Functional Improvement of Left Ventricle in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure Treated with Sacubitril/Valsartan: Comparison between Non-Ischemic and Ischemic Etiology.

Sacubitril/valsartan (SV) has been demonstrated to reduce cardiovascular mortality, hospitalization for heart failure and to induce reverse ventricular remodeling. The present study was designed to confirm the effects of SV in a selected population of patients with HFrEF and to evaluate the different responses between patients with an ischemic or a non-ischemic etiology. A total of 79 patients with indication of SV were recruited prospectively during a timelapse of 4 years.

Role of three-dimensional echocardiography in structural complications after acute myocardial infarction.

Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) is a unique cardiovascular imaging modality in terms of: ability to provide realistic anatomical views of cardiac structures in the beating heart and possibility to visualize cardiac structures from any desired perspective. Therefore, 3DE is emerging as an accurate imaging modality for a prompt diagnosis and detailed anatomical description of structural complications (SC) of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We report 3 emblematic cases which show how both the transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal (TEE) 3D imaging can provide precise anatomic information useful to address management of SC in AMI patients: (1) detailed assessment of size, location, and morphology of an apical ventricular septal defect (VSD) obtained with 3DTTE was pivotal in referring the patient to percutaneous closure of it; (2) size and location of a complex inferior VSD with irregular margins advised against percutaneous closure; and (3) 3DTEE assisted surgeons to choose between reparative or replacement surgery for an acute mitral regurgitation due to complete papillary muscle rupture.

Comprehensive analysis of left ventricular geometry and function by three-dimensional echocardiography in healthy adults.

Background: Recent European Association of Echocardiography and American Society of Echocardiography guidelines on three-dimensional echocardiography state that normal values of left ventricular (LV) parameters for age and body size remain to be established.

Methods: In 226 consecutive healthy subjects (125 women; age range, 18-76 years), comprehensive three-dimensional echocardiographic analyses of LV parameters were performed, and values were compared with those obtained by conventional echocardiography.

Results: Upper reference values (mean+ 2 SDs) for three-dimensional LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes were 85 and 34 mL/m(2) in men and 72 and 28 mL/m(2) in women, respectively.

Right atrial size and function assessed with three-dimensional and speckle-tracking echocardiography in 200 healthy volunteers.

Aims: Right atrial (RA) size predicts the outcome in some pathological conditions but reference values for RA volumes and myocardial function remain to be defined. Thus, we used two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) and three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) to define normative reference values of RA volumes and function.

Methods And Results: Two hundreds healthy volunteers (43 ± 15 years, range 18-75; 44% men) underwent two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) to obtain RA volumes and longitudinal strain (LS) of RA wall using 2D-STE, and 3DE to measure maximal (Vmax), minimal, and preA volumes to calculate total, passive, and active emptying volumes (TotEV, PassEV, and ActEV) and emptying fractions (TotEF, PassEF, and ActEF).

Density of intimal smooth muscle cells in the coronary arteries of Bolivians.

Objective: To test an equation that uses measurements of fibroplastic intimal thickening and foam cell infiltrates, precursors for necrotic cores of atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries, to compute anticipated amounts of atheronecrosis. Data from New Orleans, La, and La Paz, Bolivia, afforded the opportunity to test the precision of the equation by comparing findings in separate populations.

Methods: Coronary arteries retrieved at autopsy in La Paz, Bolivia, were processed into hematoxylin-eosin-stained paraffin sections along with a parallel series in New Orleans.

[The "WunderBar"--a project for reducing drug abuse in the psychiatric hospital].

A major reason for the patients' increasing drug abuse is inactivity and tediousness. The psychiatric hospital reacts primarily with repression but then tries more constructive measures: a special room, a sort of bar and disco for young people is created allowing all sorts of leisure activities and informal meetings. The target population of young patients is successfully engaged, they help rising the "WonderBar" which seems to gain some importance to them, and in the hospital, the paralysing feelings of helplessness in front of the drug problems disappear.