Cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator: a implant in a COVID-19 patient by an echo-guided axillary venous approach.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously revolutionized the management of patients who need an implanted cardiac implantable electronic device. We report, for the first time, a successful cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator implantation procedure in an 82-year-old man affected by COVID-19, recent myocardial infarction, second-degree 2:1 atrioventricular block and left bundle branch block.

Concealed structural heart disease discovered at cardiac magnetic resonance in patients with ventricular extrasystoles from ventricular outflow tract and apparently normal hearts.

Background: Outflow tract (OT) premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) are commonly found in clinical practice; in most cases, PVCs are benign and observed in structurally normal hearts, not requiring any therapeutic intervention. In this study, we therefore sought to evaluate with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) patients with PVC and apparently normal heart at echocardiographic examination, in order to identify possible substrates linked with higher prevalence of arrhythmias or structural heart disease.

Methods: Thirty-three consecutive patients with frequent PVCs originating from the ventricular OT (right and left) were enrolled in the study and assessed by echocardiography and CMR.

Exhaled Nitric Oxide and Exhaled Breath Temperature as Potential Biomarkers in Patients with Pulmonary Hypertension.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a progressive fatal disease thus, noninvasive prognostic tools are needed to follow these patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and exhaled breath temperature (EBT) values in patients with PH from different causes and to correlate them with respiratory functional data.

Methods: Twenty-four PH patients underwent spirometry, carbon monoxide diffusion (DLCO) test, transthoracic echocardiography, right-heart catheterization, and FeNO and EBT measurements.

Safety and feasibility of levosimendan administration in takotsubo cardiomyopathy: a case series.

Background: Levosimendan is a noncatecholamine inotrope that does not increase oxygen consumption, utilized for the treatment for acute heart failure with left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction. Its use in takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC), a disease that contraindicates the use of catecholamine inotropes, is not well known.

Methods: We prospectively analyzed 13 consecutive patients with TTC, low ejection fraction (EF) (<35%), and additional Mayo Clinic risk factors who were treated with i.