Myocardial fibrosis and ventricular ectopy in patients with non-ischemic systolic heart failure: results from the DANISH trial.

Patients with non-ischemic systolic heart failure (HF) have increased risk of sudden cardiovascular death (SCD). The initiation and substrate for ventricular arrhythmias remains poorly understood. Our purpose was to describe the relationship between cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and Holter recorded ventricular arrhythmic activity.

Atrial cardiomyopathy: Diagnosis, clinical implications and unresolved issues in anticoagulation therapy.

Atrial cardiomyopathy (AC) is an evolving pathophysiological entity that has expanded our understanding regarding the atrium and its role in arrhythmogenesis and cardiac thromboembolism. The pathological myocardium in AC promotes arrhythmogenesis through mechanical dysfunction (hypocontractility, fibrosis), adverse alterations of the endothelium and secretion of prothrombotic factors (IL-6, IL-8, TNF-a). 'Red flags', indicative of AC, can be recognized either non-invasively by electrocardiography, echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging or invasively by high-density electroanatomical mapping as low bipolar voltage areas of the affected myocardium.

Mitral Valve Prolapse and Mitral Annular Disjunction Arrhythmic Syndromes: Diagnosis, Risk Stratification and Management.

Although mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is usually considered a benign clinical condition, it has been linked with ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in patients with a certain "arrhythmic" phenotype, raising awareness and mandating a specific risk stratification protocol. Mitral annular disjunction (MAD) is considered a "red flag" in malignant MVP syndrome along with bileaflet myxomatous prolapse, female gender, negative or biphasic T waves in the inferior leads, fibrosis in the papillary muscles or inferobasal wall detected by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and complex arrhythmias of right bundle branch morphology. MAD seems to play a critical role in the chain of morphofunctional abnormalities which lead to increased mechanical stretch and subsequent fibrosis mainly in the papillary muscles, forming the vulnerable anatomic substrate prone to arrhythmogenesis, and associated with long-term severe ventricular arrhythmias.

Complex adult congenital heart disease on cross-sectional imaging: an introductory overview.

Congenital heart disease is the most common group of congenital pathology. Over the past few decades, advances in surgical treatment have resulted in a rising population of adult patients with repaired complex congenital heart disease. Although the quality of life has greatly improved, a significant proportion of morbidities encountered in clinical practice is now seen in adults rather than in children.

Simultaneous left atrium anatomy and scar segmentations via deep learning in multiview information with attention.

Three-dimensional late gadolinium enhanced (LGE) cardiac MR (CMR) of left atrial scar in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) has recently emerged as a promising technique to stratify patients, to guide ablation therapy and to predict treatment success. This requires a segmentation of the high intensity scar tissue and also a segmentation of the left atrium (LA) anatomy, the latter usually being derived from a separate bright-blood acquisition. Performing both segmentations automatically from a single 3D LGE CMR acquisition would eliminate the need for an additional acquisition and avoid subsequent registration issues.

Myocardial fibrosis and the effect of primary prophylactic defibrillator implantation in patients with non-ischemic systolic heart failure-DANISH-MRI.

Aims: Patients with non-ischemic systolic heart failure have an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Myocardial fibrosis, detected as late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), has been shown to predict all-cause mortality. We hypothesized that LGE can identify patients with non-ischemic heart failure who will benefit from ICD implantation.

External Aortic Root Support to Prevent Aortic Dilatation in Patients With Marfan Syndrome.

Background: Personalized external aortic root support (PEARS) was introduced in 2004 for prevention of aortic root dilatation in Marfan patients. The individual's aortic root is replicated by 3-dimensional printing. A polymer mesh sleeve is manufactured, which is implanted with the aim to support and stabilize the aortic wall.

Fully automatic segmentation and objective assessment of atrial scars for long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation patients using late gadolinium-enhanced MRI.

Purpose: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm disorder and causes considerable morbidity and mortality, resulting in a large public health burden that is increasing as the population ages. It is associated with atrial fibrosis, the amount and distribution of which can be used to stratify patients and to guide subsequent electrophysiology ablation treatment. Atrial fibrosis may be assessed noninvasively using late gadolinium-enhanced (LGE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) where scar tissue is visualized as a region of signal enhancement.

Catheter ablation vs electrophysiologically guided thoracoscopic surgical ablation in long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation: The CASA-AF Study.

Background: Catheter ablation (CA) outcomes for long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (LSPAF) remain suboptimal. Thoracoscopic surgical ablation (SA) provides an alternative approach in this difficult to treat cohort.

Objective: To compare electrophysiological (EP) guided thoracoscopic SA with percutaneous CA as the first-line strategy in the treatment of LSPAF.

Challenging Occam's Razor: An Unusual Combination of Sarcoidosis and Amyloidosis. The Value of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Infiltrative Cardiomyopathies.

We describe the case of a 66-year old woman with the extremely rare combination of sarcoidosis and amyloidosis (light chain) and the important role of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging to differentiate between these 2 infiltrative diseases. Myocardial characterization with T1 mapping can improve disease detection, especially in overlap cases, and possibly obviate the need for cardiac biopsy.

Anomalous drainage of isolated superior caval vein to the left atrium: the oldest reported unrepaired case.

Isolated right superior caval vein drainage into the left atrium is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly usually presenting with hypoxaemia and cyanosis. Surgical repair is the definitive treatment for this condition. In this report, we present the case of a 72-year-old patient with uncorrected anomalous drainage of a right superior caval vein into the left atrium, first diagnosed in the 1960s.

Rapid automatic segmentation of abnormal tissue in late gadolinium enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance images for improved management of long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm disorder. In order for late Gd enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance (LGE CMR) to ameliorate the AF management, the ready availability of the accurate enhancement segmentation is required. However, the computer-aided segmentation of enhancement in LGE CMR of AF is still an open question.

Myocardial gene expression alterations in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Aims: To assess cardiac gene expression in peripheral blood cells of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) and its relationship to echocardiographic left ventricular (LV) function.

Methods And Results: A complete echocardiographic study and blood sampling were performed in 65 consecutive stable IDCM patients with LV ejection fraction (LVEF) 31.76 +/- 10.

Central aortic stiffness in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy: relationship with neurohumoral activation.

Background: Increased aortic stiffness has been found in heart failure (HF), but the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between aortic stiffness and neurohumoral activation in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDC).

Methods And Results: We examined 101 patients with NIDC, New York Heart Association Class II-III, LVEF 33.

Proximal aortic stiffness is related to left ventricular function and exercise capacity in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Aims: Patients with heart failure (HF) show abnormal arterial stiffening.

Methods And Results: We examined 60 patients (52.1 +/- 12, 8 years) with non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDC), New York Heart Association II-III, in sinus rhythm, left ventricular ejection fraction 30.

Noncompaction myocardium imaging with multiple echocardiographic modalities.

Noncompaction myocardium of the left ventricle (LV) is a genetically heterogeneous congenital cardiomyopathy, that has only been described during the last two decades. Echocardiography plays a pivotal role as a first line diagnostic tool of this rare abnormality. The present case describes the imaging of the noncompacted myocardium using varying echocardiographic modalities.

Right atrial myxoma: echocardiographic appearance.

A 67-year-old asymptomatic male was admitted for evaluation of his arterial hypertension. The routine echocardiographic study revealed a large tumour in the dilated right atrium. The mass appeared to arise from the posterior wall of the right atrium.

NT-proBNP response to dobutamine stress echocardiography predicts left ventricular contractile reserve in dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and left ventricular (LV) inotropic reserve are major prognostic indexes in heart failure (HF).

Aims: To investigate the relationship between N-terminal-proBNP (NT-proBNP) changes in response to dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) and the LV inotropic reserve, in HF patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DC).

Methods: We studied 41 patients with DC, LVEF 31.

Relation of proximal aorta stiffness to left ventricular diastolic function in patients with end-stage renal disease.

Aim: We examined the relationship between proximal aortic stiffness and left ventricular (LV) diastolic function in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

Patients And Methods: We studied 99 patients with ESRD with preserved LV ejection fraction greater than 50% and 83 controls. We assessed the aorta stiffness by measuring the pulse wave velocity (PWV) in the proximal aorta (PWVr) using a novel echo application and in the descending aorta (PWVcf) using a foot-to-foot method.