Preoperative Transcatheter Diagnosis of Right Atrial Hemangioma.

A 34-year-old man with unremarkable past medical history presents with night sweats and a recent diagnosis of intracardiac mass. The initial diagnostic workup did not provide a definitive diagnosis, so a cardiac biopsy under intracardiac echocardiography guidance was performed, revealing a hemangioma, which was then successfully resected. ().

Rate-Responsive Cardiac Pacing: Technological Solutions and Their Applications.

Modern cardiac pacemakers are equipped with a function that allows the heart rate to adapt to the current needs of the patient in situations of increased demand related to exercise and stress ("rate-response" function). This function may be based on a variety of mechanisms, such as a built-in accelerometer responding to increased chest movement or algorithms sensing metabolic demand for oxygen, analysis of intrathoracic impedance, and analysis of the heart rhythm (Q-T interval). The latest technologies in the field of rate-response functionality relate to the use of an accelerometer in leadless endocavitary pacemakers; in these devices, the accelerometer enables mapping of the mechanical wave of the heart's work cycle, enabling the pacemaker to correctly sense native impulses and stimulate the ventricles in synchrony with the cycles of atria and heart valves.

Intracardiac Echocardiography to Guide Watchman FLX Implantation: The ICE LAA Study.

Background: Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) is increasingly used to guide left atrial appendage closure (LAAC).

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of ICE-guided LAAC with the Watchman FLX device.

Methods: The ICE LAA (I Can See Left Atrial Appendage) study was a prospective, multicenter study with independent adjudication of echocardiographic data by a core laboratory and clinical events by a clinical events committee.

Case Report: Severe Aortic Valve Regurgitation and Pseudoaneurysm in Aortic Valve-Sparing Operation: The Usefulness of Multimodality Imaging in a Complex Clinical Scenario.

Failure of the native aortic valve and degenerative anatomy of ascending aorta in patients with previous Tirone-David operation may represent a clinical challenge, because sometimes the risk of reoperation is prohibitive. We described the case of a patient suffering from severe aortic valve regurgitation and pseudoaneurysm of the aortic arch, 6 years after cardiac surgery operation. The aim of this clinical case was to assess if the complex anatomy of aortic pseudoaneurysm and aortic root geometry can be accurately reproduced from contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan into a three-dimensional (3D) printed model.

Surgical redo versus transseptal or transapical transcatheter mitral valve-in-valve implantation for failed mitral valve bioprosthesis.

Background: Redo surgical mitral valve replacement (SMVR) is the current standard of care for patients with failed bioprosthetic mitral valve (MV). Transcatheter mitral valve-in-valve replacement (TMViV) is arising as an alternative to SMVR in high risk patients. We sought to evaluate procedural safety, early and mid-term outcomes of patients who underwent transseptal TMViV (TS-TMViV), transapical TMViV (TA-TMViV), or redo-SMVR.

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention during ST elevation myocardial infarction in prosthetic valve endocarditis: a case report.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) is still a condition with high mortality and morbidity, especially in the elderly, and in patients with prosthetic valves. The concept of "time-to-therapy" plays a key role for the prompt management of IE and related complications, and the currently available multimodality imaging may play a key role in this setting. Myocardial ischemia due to extrinsic coronary compression from an aortic abscess is an extremely rare condition where the optimal therapeutic strategy has not been defined yet.

Clinical outcome of patients with de novo coronary bifurcation lesions treated with the Tryton Side Branch Stent. The SAFE-TRY prospective multicenter single arm study.

Background: Coronary bifurcation lesions represent a difficult problem regularly confronting interventional cardiologist, in part due to the lack of dedicated device.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of the Tryton Side Branch Stent (Tryton Medical, Durham, NC, USA), a dedicated bare metal stent deployed in conjunction with a standard drug-eluting stent to treat bifurcation lesions.

Methods: The SAFE-TRY is a prospective single arm multicenter registry including patients with de novo bifurcation lesions in native coronary arteries and syntax score <32.