Single center first year experience and outcomes with Impella 5.5 left ventricular assist device.

Background: The Impella 5.5® was approved by the FDA for use for mechanical circulatory support up to 14 days in late 2019 at limited centers in the United States. Our single center's experience with Impella 5.

Preventing driveline infection during left ventricular assist device support by the HeartMate 3: A survey-based study.

Purpose: Driveline infection (DLI) is a significant source of morbidity and mortality during left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support yet limited studies are available to describe the center-level prevalence, preventive practices, and their potential effectiveness.

Methods: We surveyed LVAD centers in the United States to determine program burden and preventive practices for DLI during HeartMate (HM) 3 support. An online, anonymous, question-based survey was sent to expert providers at implanting centers.

Reversible complete heart block in a patient with coronavirus disease 2019.

Patients infected with novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) can present with a variety of arrhythmias. We report an unusual case of reversible complete heart block (CHB) in the setting of acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A 23-year-old male with a history of Hodgkin's Lymphoma presented with dizziness and syncope.

Cardiac Myosin Activators in Systolic Heart Failure: More Friend than Foe?

Despite the rising prevalence of HF, new evidence-based novel therapies for patients with worsening HF remain lacking, e.g., safe inotropic therapies.

Serelaxin for the treatment of heart failure.

Outcomes for patients with acute heart failure remain suboptimal and treatments principally target improvement of symptoms. To date there has been no therapy approved for acute heart failure shown to improve mortality or readmission risk post-discharge. Serelaxin, a recombinant form of the naturally occurring polypeptide hormone relaxin, has demonstrated promise in preclinical and early clinical trials as a potentially novel therapy for acute heart failure.

The Concept of Functional Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Why Physiologic Lesion Assessment Is Integral to Coronary Angiography.

The gold standard for assessing the severity of coronary stenoses has been coronary angiography. However, multicenter randomized clinical trials have demonstrated that treatment decisions based on angiography alone do not guarantee benefit to patients. Fractional flow reserve provides physiologic lesion assessment of coronary stenoses.

Periprocedural myocardial injury in chronic total occlusion percutaneous interventions: a systematic cardiac biomarker evaluation study.

Objectives: This study sought to evaluate the incidence, correlates, and clinical implications of periprocedural myocardial injury (PMI) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of chronic total occlusions (CTO).

Background: The risk of PMI during CTO PCI may be underestimated because systematic cardiac biomarker measurement was not performed in published studies.

Methods: We retrospectively examined PMI among 325 consecutive CTO PCI performed at our institution between 2005 and 2012.

Clinical applications of advanced lipoprotein testing in diabetes mellitus.

Traditional lipid profiles often fail to fully explain the elevated cardiovascular risk of individuals with diabetes mellitus. Advanced lipoprotein testing offers a novel means to evaluate dyslipidemia and refine risk estimation. Numerous observational studies have demonstrated a characteristic pattern of elevated levels of small, dense LDL particles, out of proportion to traditional lipid levels, in patients with both diabetes mellitus and the metabolic syndrome.

Occlusion of a left internal mammary artery graft side branch during attempts to deliver an amplatzer vascular plug.

We present a case of angina in a patient with a left internal mammary artery graft that had a large side branch. Closure was attempted using an Amplatzer vascular plug but during attempts to position the device, the side-branch occluded, likely due to dissection, obviating the need for device deployment.