Experimental Devices Versus Hand-Sewn Anastomosis of the Aorta: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: To minimize complications associated with the construction of the hand-sewn aortic anastomosis, alternative experimental methods have been pursued. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of experimental anastomotic devices in relation to time and point of rupture of the anastomosis in comparison to the conventional technique.

Materials And Methods: An electronic search was performed using MEDLINE, Scopus, Science Direct, and Cochrane Library databases by two independent authors.

Triglycerides are related to left ventricular mass in hypertensive patients independently of other cardiometabolic risk factors: the effect of gender.

Given the inconsistent results on the prognostic significance of triglycerides (TGs), the purpose of the present study was to investigate the association of plasma TGs with left ventricular mass (LVM) in hypertensive patients. We studied 760 never treated, non diabetic, hypertensive patients. Τransthoracic echocardiography was performed and LVMI was calculated according to the Devereux formula, adjusted to body surface area.

External Validation of the PREMISE Score in the Athens Stroke Registry.

Background: A simple score was proposed recently for Predicting Early Mortality from Ischemic Stroke (PREMISE) derived from the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry. This score could be useful in clinical practice and research. However, its generalizability is uncertain, as it was validated internally only.

Α systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy of aortic anastomotic devices.

Objective: One of the factors contributing to complications related to open repair of the aorta is the construction of a hand-sewn anastomosis. Aortic anastomotic devices (AADs), such as the intraluminal ringed graft (IRG), and the anastomotic stenting technique have been developed to perform a sutureless and less complicated anastomosis. This study performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature reporting clinical use of AADs and aimed to assess, primarily, the effect of each device on 30-day overall and operation-related mortality and aortic cross-clamping time and, secondarily, the rate of successful two-sided application of the IRG device and the operation-related morbidity for each device.

Early vascular damage from smoking and alcohol in teenage years: the ALSPAC study.

Aims: To determine the impact of smoking and alcohol exposure during adolescence on arterial stiffness at 17 years.

Methods And Results: Smoking and alcohol use were assessed by questionnaires at 13, 15, and 17 years in 1266 participants (425 males and 841 females) from the ALSPAC study. Smoking status (smokers and non-smoker) and intensity ('high' ≥100, 'moderate' 20-99, and 'low or never' <20 cigarettes in lifetime) were ascertained.

Brain Natriuretic Peptide mediates the prognostic role of renal function toward 10-year cardiovascular mortality in patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome: the HHF study (2006-2016).

Background/introduction: Risk stratification in chronic heart failure (HF) remains a challenge. Renal function and B-natriuretic peptide (BNP) might confer predictive value towards long-term mortality in HF patients after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods: From May 2006 to March 2009, 1,000 consecutive patients who were hospitalized with ACS diagnosis were enrolled in the study.

Total arterial compliance, estimated by a novel method, is better related to left ventricular mass compared to aortic pulse wave velocity: The SAFAR study.

The investigation of the association between total arterial compliance (C)-estimated by a novel technique-with left ventricular mass (LVM) and hypertrophy (LVH). Our hypothesis was that C may be better related to LVM compared to the gold-standard regional aortic stiffness. Within the frame of the ongoing cross-sectional study "SAFAR," 226 subjects with established hypertension or with suspected hypertension underwent blood pressure (BP) assessment, carotid-to-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV), and echocardiographic measurement of LVM.

Vitamins in Heart Failure: Friend or Enemy?

Background: The failing heart is characterized by a depleted metabolic energy reserve and the upregulation of several molecular mechanisms leading to cardiac hypertrophy, inflammation, fibrosis, angiogenesis, and apoptosis. Dietary or non-dietary supplementation of vitamins could potentially benefit energy balance.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to evaluate all available information on vitamins supplementation in patients with chronic HF for possible beneficial effect on metabolic, inotropic, chronotropic and hemodynamic indices.

Comparison of prognostic risk scores after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the predictive ability of clinical risk scores (ACEF, EuroSCORE and EuroSCORE II) to angiographic (SYNTAX score) and combined risk scores (Global Risk Score and Clinical SXscore) towards cardiovascular death and/or major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) managed with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI).

Methods: A total of 685 patients successfully treated with pPCI were evaluated and the risk scores were calculated. The primary endpoint was the 2-year incidence of fatal cardiac events.

Cryoballoon ablation of atrial fibrillation: a practical and effective approach.

Medical management of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common arrhythmia in the general population, has had modest efficacy in controlling symptoms and restoring and maintaining sinus rhythm. Since the seminal observation in 1998 that pulmonary veins host the triggers of AF in the majority of cases, electrical isolation of all pulmonary veins constitutes the cornerstone of ablation in patients with symptomatic AF. However, due to the elaborate and tedious technique of the conventional point-by-point method with radiofrequency ablation guided by electroanatomical mapping, newer, more versatile single-shot techniques, such as cryoballoon ablation, have been sought and developed over recent years and are progressively prevailing.

Effect of left ventricular pacing mode and site on hemodynamic, torsional and strain indices.

Introduction: Several reports have indicated that left ventricular (LV) lead placement at an optimal pacing site is an important determinant of short- and long-term outcome. This study investigated the effect of pacing mode (atrioventricular [AV] or ventricular) and site (LV apical or lateral) outside the ischemic region on the LV hemodynamic, torsional and strain indices in the ischemic myocardium.

Methods: Experiments were conducted in anesthetized open-chest pigs (n = 15) 30 min after LAD ligation to investigate the hemodynamic effects of temporary epicardial AV and ventricular LV pacing at the LV apical (outside the ischemic region) or lateral wall.

Environment and cardiovascular disease: rationale of the Corinthia study.

Environmental factors constitute an important but underappreciated risk factor towards the development and progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Environmental exposure to variable pollutants is implicated in the derangement or propagation of adverse pathophysiological processes linked with atherosclerosis, including genetic, hemodynamic, metabolic, oxidative and inflammation parameters. However, no data exist on environmental pollution in rural or semi-rural areas.

Short term omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation induces favorable changes in right ventricle function and diastolic filling pressure in patients with chronic heart failure; A randomized clinical trial.

Introduction: Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega 3-PUFAs) seem to favorably affect cardiac hemodynamics and may benefit the clinical course of heart failure patients. The role of omega 3-PUFAs supplementation on the left and right ventricular function of patients with chronic compensated systolic heart failure, under optimal treatment, was studied.

Methods: 205 consecutive patients with chronic compensated heart failure, due to ischemic (IHF) or dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)-NYHA classification I-III, under optimal medical treatment, were enrolled.

Metabolic syndrome, independent of its components, affects adversely cardiovascular morbidity in essential hypertensives.

Background: The metabolic syndrome (MS) is widespread among hypertensive patients. However, the net impact of MS on major atherosclerotic events beyond the cardiovascular risk imposed by its individual components remains controversial in this group. We sought to assess both the independent and incremental prognostic role of MS for unfavorable cardiovascular events in a cohort of essential hypertensives.

Incidence and prognostic significance of new onset atrial fibrillation/flutter in acute pericarditis.

Objective: Data on the incidence of new onset atrial fibrillation and flutter (AF/f) in patients with acute pericarditis are limited. We sought to determine the incidence and prognostic significance of AF/f in this setting.

Methods: Between January 2006 and June 2014, consecutive new cases of acute pericarditis were included in two urban referral centres for pericardial diseases.

Arterial stiffness is increased in asymptomatic nondiabetic postmenopausal women with a polycystic ovary syndrome phenotype.

Objective: The metabolic dysfunction accompanying the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may increase the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although menopause per se may be an additional risk factor of CVD, the association between PCOS in postmenopausal women and cardiovascular risk has not been adequately investigated. We aimed to evaluate the effect of PCOS on markers of subclinical atherosclerosis in nondiabetic postmenopausal women.

A study of ERα PvuII polymorphism in female patients with acute stroke: no associations with disease severity and early outcome.

Several studies have examined the association of the PvuII polymorphism of the estrogen receptor alpha gene with the risk of stroke. Data linking the polymorphism with the severity and outcome of cerebrovascular disease are lacking. In this study, we evaluated 285 postmenopausal Caucasian patients suffering an acute stroke, hospitalized in two tertiary hospitals over a period of 2 years, and searched for associations between the PvuII polymorphism and the one-month outcome and the neurological severity on admission.

Acute and long-term hemodynamic effects of sesame oil consumption in hypertensive men.

The possible effects of sesame oil on hemodynamics are unknown. The aim of the study was to investigate the acute and long-term effects of sesame oil on hemodynamic responses in hypertensive men. The authors enrolled 30 hypertensive men in a two-phase study.

Long-Term BMI changes since adolescence and markers of early and advanced subclinical atherosclerosis.

Although long-term weight gain has been associated with cardiovascular risk and intima-media thickening (IMT), no sufficient data exist on possible associations of such weight changes with more advanced stages of subclinical atherosclerosis. Moreover, the value of self-reported weight changes, a more practical approach to assess long-term history in adiposity status, is still a matter of debate. In this longitudinal study, long-term changes in BMI and overweight status were assessed in 106 healthy young adults (age 40.