Temporal trends in infective endocarditis epidemiology from 2007 to 2013 in Olmsted County, MN.

Background: The aim of this study is to determine if there have been contemporary shifts in infective endocarditis (IE) epidemiology in our local population; an analysis of cases from 2007 to 2013 was conducted.

Methods: This is a population-based review of all adults (≥18 years) residing in Olmsted County, MN, with definite or possible IE using the Rochester Epidemiology Project from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2013.

Results: We identified 51 cases of IE in Olmsted County, MN, between 2007 and 2013.

Incidence of Infective Endocarditis Due to Viridans Group Streptococci Before and After the 2007 American Heart Association's Prevention Guidelines: An Extended Evaluation of the Olmsted County, Minnesota, Population and Nationwide Inpatient Sample.

Objective: To determine whether the incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) due to viridans group streptococci (VGS) increased after the publication of the 2007 American Heart Association (AHA) IE prevention guidelines.

Patients And Methods: We performed a population-based survey of all adults (18 years and older) residing in Olmsted County, Minnesota, from January 1, 1999, through December 31, 2013, to identify definite or possible cases of VGS-IE using the Rochester Epidemiology Project. The National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample hospital discharge database was examined to determine the number of VGS-IE cases in the United States between 2000 and 2011.

Association of Mitral Valve Prolapse With Infective Endocarditis Due to Viridans Group Streptococci.

Although patients with certain cardiac valve abnormalities have increased risk of infective endocarditis (IE), it is unknown whether these abnormalities are associated with specific pathogens in IE cases. We report a strong association between mitral valve prolapse and viridans group streptococcal IE in a population-based cohort from Olmsted County, Minnesota.

Combining body mass index with measures of central obesity in the assessment of mortality in subjects with coronary disease: role of "normal weight central obesity".

Objectives: This study sought to assess the mortality risk of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) based ona combination of body mass index (BMI) with measures of central obesity.

Background: In CAD patients, mortality has been reported to vary inversely with BMI (“obesity paradox”). In contrast,central obesity is directly associated with mortality.

Ablation of multi-wavelet re-entry: general principles and in silico analyses.

Aims: Catheter ablation strategies for treatment of cardiac arrhythmias are quite successful when targeting spatially constrained substrates. Complex, dynamic, and spatially varying substrates, however, pose a significant challenge for ablation, which delivers spatially fixed lesions. We describe tissue excitation using concepts of surface topology which provides a framework for addressing this challenge.

Incidence of infective endocarditis caused by viridans group streptococci before and after publication of the 2007 American Heart Association's endocarditis prevention guidelines.

Background: The American Heart Association published updated guidelines for infective endocarditis (IE) prevention in 2007 that markedly restricted the use of antibiotic prophylaxis in certain at-risk patients undergoing dental and other invasive procedures. The incidence of IE caused by viridans group streptococci (VGS) in the United States after publication of the 2007 American Heart Association guidelines has not been reported.

Methods And Results: We performed a population-based review of all definite or possible cases of VGS-IE using the Rochester Epidemiology Project of Olmsted County, Minnesota.

Effects of electrode size and spacing on the resolution of intracardiac electrograms.

Background: Electrogram fractionation can result when multiple groups of cardiac cells are excited asynchronously within the recording region of a mapping electrode. The spatial resolution of an electrode thus plays an important role in mapping complex rhythms.

Methods: We used a computational model, validated against experimental measurements in vitro, to determine how spatial resolution is affected by electrode diameter, electrode length, interelectrode distance (in the case of bipolar recordings), and height of the electrode above a dipole current source.

Electrogram fractionation: the relationship between spatiotemporal variation of tissue excitation and electrode spatial resolution.

Background: Fractionated electrograms are used by some as targets for ablation in atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. Fractionation has been demonstrated to result when there is repetitive or asynchronous activation of separate groups of cells within the recording region of a mapping electrode(s).

Methods And Results: Using a computer model, we generated tissue activation patterns with increasing spatiotemporal variation and calculated virtual electrograms from electrodes with decreasing resolution.

Saphenous vein graft aneurysm-an unusual cause of mediastinal mass.

We report the case of a 78-year-old man who was incidentally found to have a large, ovoid mass on a chest X-ray. Nineteen years before, he had undergone a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). A chest computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a 6.

Central obesity and survival in subjects with coronary artery disease: a systematic review of the literature and collaborative analysis with individual subject data.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the association of central (waist circumference [WC] and waist-hip ratio [WHR]) and total obesity (body mass index [BMI]) measures with mortality in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients.

Background: The question of which measure of obesity better predicts survival in patients with CAD is controversial.

Methods: We searched OVID/Medline, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and Web of Science from 1980 to 2008 and asked experts in the field for unpublished data meeting inclusion criteria, in which all subjects had: 1) CAD at baseline; 2) measures of WC or WHR; 3) mortality data; and 4) a minimum follow-up of 6 months.

Epidemiological trends of infective endocarditis: a population-based study in Olmsted County, Minnesota.

Objective: To provide a contemporary profile of epidemiological trends of infective endocarditis (IE) in Olmsted County, Minnesota.

Patients And Methods: This study consists of all definite or possible IE cases among adults in Olmsted County from January 1, 1970, through December 31, 2006. Cases were identified using resources of the Rochester Epidemiology Project.

Progression of preclinical diastolic dysfunction to the development of symptoms.

Background: Preclinical diastolic dysfunction (PDD) has been defined as subjects with normal systolic function, diastolic dysfunction but no symptoms of heart failure (HF). The clinical phenotype and natural history of the syndrome remains poorly defined. This study's objective was to determine the clinical phenotype and progression to HF in a group of patients with normal systolic function and moderate or severe diastolic dysfunction as determinate by Doppler criteria without any clinical diagnosis of HF according to the Framingham criteria or any symptoms of HF, specifically dyspnoea, oedema or fatigue at the time of echocardiography.

The role of natriuretic peptides in heart failure.

Heart failure is a clinical syndrome associated with progressive cardiac, vascular, and renal dysfunction. Regardless of the initial injury, investigations have demonstrated that neurohormones play an important role in the complex multiorgan and cellular adaptations. Natriuretic peptides play a key role in this process, antagonizing the actions of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, thus promoting vasodilatation and natriuresis.