Inhalable cardiac targeting peptide modified nanomedicine prevents pressure overload heart failure in male mice.

Heart failure causes considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. Clinically applied drugs for the treatment of heart failure are still severely limited by poor delivery efficiency to the heart and off-target consumption. Inspired by the high heart delivery efficiency of inhaled drugs, we present an inhalable cardiac-targeting peptide (CTP)-modified calcium phosphate (CaP) nanoparticle for the delivery of TP-10, a selective inhibitor of PDE10A.

Effect of left bundle branch pacing on right ventricular function: A 3-dimensional echocardiography study.

Background: The effect of left bundle branch pacing (LBBP) on right ventricular (RV) function is not well known, and there is conflicting evidence regarding whether cardiac resynchronization therapy improves RV function.

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the effect of LBBP on RV function and to evaluate the response of RV dysfunction (RVD) to LBBP.

Methods: Sixty-five LBBP candidates were prospectively included in the study and underwent echocardiography at baseline and 6-month follow-up.

Three-dimensional echocardiography reveals early mitral valve alterations in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy genetic mutation carriers.

Background: The mitral valve undergoes structural modifications in response to cardiac functional changes, often predating cardiac decompensation and overt clinical signs. Our study assessed the potential of mitral valve morphological changes as early indicators for detecting carriers of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)-associated gene mutations.

Methods: We studied 505 participants: 189 without the pathogenic gene mutations and left ventricular hypertrophy (G-/LVH-), 149 carriers without LV hypertrophy (G+/LVH-), and 167 manifest HCM patients (G+/LVH+).

ESCRT-III Component CHMP4C Attenuates Cardiac Hypertrophy by Targeting the Endo-Lysosomal Degradation of EGFR.

Background: Cardiac hypertrophy and subsequent heart failure impose a considerable burden on public health worldwide. Impaired protein degradation, especially endo-lysosome-mediated degradation of membrane proteins, is associated with cardiac hypertrophy progression. CHMP4C (charged multivesicular body protein 4C), a critical constituent of multivesicular bodies, is involved in cellular trafficking and signaling.

Gene-echocardiography: refining genotype-phenotype correlations in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Aims: This study aims to clarify the association between hypertrophic patterns and genetic variants in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients, contributing to the advancement of personalized management strategies for HCM.

Methods And Results: A comprehensive evaluation of genetic mutations was conducted in 392 HCM-affected families using Whole Exome Sequencing. Concurrently, relevant echocardiographic data from these individuals were collected.

Secondary leaflet tethering in patients with severe degenerative mitral regurgitation and its association with the severity of mitral regurgitation.

Background: The purpose of the study was to determine the association between vena contracta area (VCA) and secondary leaflet tethering among mitral valve prolapse (MVP) patients, and thus to further identify and characterize an MVP with pathological leaflet tethering (MVPt+) phenotype.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated 94 consecutive MVP patients with significant mitral regurgitation (MR) and 21 healthy controls. MVPt+ group was defined as tenting volume index (TVi) > .

Evaluation of Right Ventricular Myocardial Mechanics by 2- and 3-Dimensional Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography in Patients With an Ischemic or Non-ischemic Etiology of End-Stage Heart Failure.

Background: The aims of our study were (1) to assess the right ventricular (RV) myocardial mechanics by two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) in patients with an ischemic or non-ischemic etiology of end-stage heart failure (HF) and (2) to explore which RV index evaluated by 2D- and 3D-STE was the most powerful indicator for identifying the ischemic and non-ischemic etiologies of end-stage HF.

Methods: A total of 96 patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 30% were enrolled in our study: 42 patients (mean age, 52 ± 10 years; 9.5% female) with ischemic cardiomyopathy and 54 patients (mean age, 46 ± 14 years; 16.

3-Dimensional Versus 2-Dimensional STE for Right Ventricular Myocardial Fibrosis in Patients With End-Stage Heart Failure.

Background: Longitudinal strain of the right ventricular (RV) free wall (RVFWLS) assessed by 2-dimensional (2D) speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) has been recently demonstrated to correlate with the extent of RV myocardial fibrosis (MF). However, the value of 3-dimensional (3D) STE-derived strain parameters in predicting RV MF has not been investigated in patients with end-stage heart failure (HF).

Objectives: This study aimed to determine which RV strain parameter assessed by 2D-STE and 3D-STE was the most reliable parameter for predicting RV MF in patients with end-stage HF against histological confirmation of MF.

Impaired left atrial function in clinically well heart transplant patients.

Left atrial (LA) enlargement is present in the majority of adult heart transplant (HT) recipients. We used speckle-tracking echocardiography to investigate whether LA phasic function in HT patients is altered and explored its relationship to HT-related clinical variables. This study evaluated LA function in 112 clinically well HT patients and 40 healthy controls.

Diagnostic value of myocardial strain using two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography in acute cardiac allograft rejection: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D STE) has been demonstrated to have certain diagnostic utility in heart transplantation (HTX) patients with acute cardiac allograft rejection (ACAR). The aim of the systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the diagnostic value of common strain parameters for ACAR in HTX patients.

Methods: After conducting a database search, we selected studies evaluating left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS), circumferential strain (CS), radial strain (RS), and free wall right ventricular longitudinal strain (RV FW) in rejection group vs rejection-free group.

Multimodality imaging of a left atrial calcified amorphous tumor.

A cardiac calcified amorphous tumor (CAT) is an extremely rare non-neoplastic cardiac mass composed of calcium nodules in an amorphous background of fibrin materials. Herein, we report a case of CAT in the left atrium of an asymptomatic 72-year-old man who underwent multimodality imaging and successful resection of the CAT. Results of the present case suggest that multimodality imaging plays an important role in detecting cardiac CAT, determining the treatment plan and serial follow-ups for the patients after the treatment.

Pseudoaneurysm of the non-coronary sinus of Valsalva: A rare complication of percutaneous coronary intervention.

Pseudoaneurysm of the non-coronary sinus of Valsalva is an exceptionally rare but potentially fatal complication of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). Here, we report a case of a 53-year-old man with pseudoaneurysm of the non-coronary sinus of Valsalva following PCI who presented with recurrent chest pain and was treated successfully by closure of the orifice of the pseudoaneurysm and coronary artery bypass grafting.