Predisposing Risk Factors Affecting Reversibility of Left Ventricular Diastolic Filling Pattern in Patients with Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Purpose: Improvement of left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction (DD) is known to be a good prognostic factor in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (EF). In the present study, we investigated the predisposing risk factors affecting the reversibility of LV diastolic filling pattern (DFP) in patients with preserved EF.

Materials And Methods: A total of 600 patients with pseudonormal LVDFP and preserved EF who underwent follow-up echocardiography were enrolled between 2011 and 2020.

Impact of chronic kidney disease on clinical outcomes in patients with Stage B progressive aortic regurgitation (mild to moderate and moderate grades).

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a significant comorbidity in patients with heart failure and valvular heart disease. Renal impairment is not well evaluated in the patients with Stage B progressive aortic regurgitation (AR) (mild to moderate and moderate grades in this study), for estimating outcome.

Hypothesis: We sought to investigate the prognostic factor, especially CKD, in the patients with progressive AR.

Clinical impact of guideline-based practice and patients' adherence in uncontrolled hypertension.

Background: Chronic diseases like hypertension need comprehensive lifetime management. This study assessed clinical and patient-reported outcomes and compared them by treatment patterns and adherence at 6 months among uncontrolled hypertensive patients in Korea.

Methods: This prospective, observational study was conducted at 16 major hospitals where uncontrolled hypertensive patients receiving anti-hypertension medications (systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg) were enrolled during 2015 to 2016 and studied for the following 6 months.

Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome with intracardiac atypical linear-shaped and floating thrombus presenting as embolic cerebral infarction.

Knowledge of the multi-organ involvement in hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is important for the diagnosis and care of patients with this condition, even in cases with atypical presentation. This report aims to describe cerebral embolic infarction and intracardiac atypical linear-shaped thrombus in a patient with idiopathic HES and to discuss the approach of appropriate diagnosis and timely interventional management. A 55-year-old man presented with general weakness, including left-sided weakness, mild cognitive dysfunction, and mild exertional dyspnea for about 2 weeks.

Automated Algorithm Using Pre-Intervention Fractional Flow Reserve Pullback Curve to Predict Post-Intervention Physiological Results.

Objectives: This study sought to develop an automated algorithm using pre-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) fractional flow reserve (FFR) pullback recordings to predict post-PCI physiological results in the pre-PCI phase.

Background: Both FFR and percent FFR increase measured after PCI showed incremental prognostic implications. However, there is no current method to predict post-PCI physiological results using physiological assessment in the pre-PCI phase.

Prognostic Implications of Post-Intervention Resting Pd/Pa and Fractional Flow Reserve in Patients With Stent Implantation.

Objectives: This study sought to investigate the prognostic implications of post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) nonhyperemic pressure ratios compared with that of post-PCI fractional flow reserve (FFR).

Background: FFR measured after PCI has been shown to possess prognostic implications. However, the prognostic value of post-PCI nonhyperemic pressure ratios has not yet been clarified.

Role of Post-Stent Physiological Assessment in a Risk Prediction Model After Coronary Stent Implantation.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop a risk model incorporating clinical, angiographic, and physiological parameters to predict future clinical events after drug-eluting stent implantation.

Background: Prognostic factors after coronary stenting have not been comprehensively investigated.

Methods: A risk model to predict target vessel failure (TVF) at 2 years was developed from 2,200 patients who underwent second-generation drug-eluting stent implantation and post-stent fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurement.

Diagnostic Agreement of Quantitative Flow Ratio With Fractional Flow Reserve and Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio.

Background Quantitative flow ratio ( QFR ) has a high diagnostic accuracy in assessing functional stenoses relevance, as judged by fractional flow reserve ( FFR ). However, its diagnostic performance has not been thoroughly evaluated using instantaneous wave-free ratio ( iFR ) or coronary flow reserve as the reference standard. This study sought to evaluate the diagnostic performance of QFR using other reference standards beyond FFR .

Prevotella brain abscess in a healthy young patient with a patent foramen ovale.

Brain abscesses are frequently caused by poly-microbial conditions. Comparatively, brain abscesses caused by Prevotella species are very rare. Right-to-left cardiac shunting due to a patent foramen ovale may predispose patients to infection.

Clinical Relevance of Poststent Fractional Flow Reserve After Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation.

Background: The prognostic value of poststent fractional flow reserve (FFR) has not been clearly defined in patients with drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. This study sought to evaluate the association between FFR and clinical outcomes after DES implantation with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) assistance.

Methods: A total of 115 lesions (107 patients) with FFR measurement after IVUS-assisted DES implantation were enrolled.

Clinical implications of T-wave inversion in an asymptomatic population undergoing annual medical screening (from the Korean Air Forces Electrocardiogram Screening).

This study aimed to determine prevalence, differentiate underlying causes, and identify the benign group in subjects with asymptomatic T-wave inversion (TWI). We retrospectively read 12-lead electrocardiograms from 3,929 consecutive asymptomatic men in the air force (3,929 participants, mean age 39.3 ± 8.

Diagnostic value of coronary CT angiography in comparison with invasive coronary angiography and intravascular ultrasound in patients with intermediate coronary artery stenosis: results from the prospective multicentre FIGURE-OUT (Functional Imaging criteria for GUiding REview of invasive coronary angiOgraphy, intravascular Ultrasound, and coronary computed Tomographic angiography) study.

Aims: The anatomical criteria for the diagnosis of ischaemia referenced by fractional flow reserve (FFR) from non-invasive coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA), invasive coronary angiography (ICA), and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) have not been evaluated contemporarily in a large-scale study. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of CCTA compared with ICA and IVUS in patients with intermediate coronary stenosis.

Methods And Results: CCTA, ICA, IVUS, and FFR were performed in 181 coronary lesions with intermediate severity.

Familial occurrence of atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia in a mother and her son.

Atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT), caused by a reentry circuit involving fast and slow atrioventricular nodal pathways, is one of the most common types of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardias. While familial Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome has been well recognized, familial AVNRT has been rarely reported. We report a familial occurrence of AVNRT in a mother and her son, who were symptomatic and successfully treated with radiofrequency catheter ablation of slow pathway.

Clinical significance of induced atrial tachycardia after termination of longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation using a stepwise approach.

Introduction: The utility of inducibility test of atrial tachycardia (AT) in patients with longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation (AF; LPAF) is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the significance of induced AT and the impact of their ablation on the clinical outcome.

Methods: In 194 patients with LPAF (>1 year) who underwent catheter ablation (pulmonary vein isolation with substrate ablation), an inducibility test was performed after AF termination.

Late-onset postpneumonectomy empyema presenting as right-sided heart failure: extrinsic right atrial compression.

Although it is rare, the right atrium can be encroached on by abnormal mediastinal structures, including aortic aneurysms, carcinomas, hepatic cysts and diaphragmatic paralysis. Extrinsic compression of the right atrium causes significant hemodynamic compromise and can lead to fatal outcomes. We describe the case of a 66-year old man with a past history of pulmonary tuberculosis that had undergone right pneumonectomy 40 years previously.

Development of a coronary aneurysm at a sirolimus-eluting stent-implanted lesion in a patient with churg-strauss syndrome.

A coronary aneurysm (CA) can occur in sirolimus-eluting stent (SES)-implanted coronary lesions. Although several possible mechanisms have been suggested, the precise pathogenesis of a CA in SES-implanted lesions is still unknown. We report a patient with Churg-Strauss syndrome who underwent successful percutaneous coronary intervention with SES and then experienced a CA in an SES-implanted coronary lesion.

Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation in patients with chronic lung disease.

Background: Chronic lung disease (CLD) is one of the important underlying diseases of atrial fibrillation (AF). The outcomes after radiofrequency catheter ablation of AF in patients with CLD have not yet been reported. We investigated the electroanatomic alterations in pulmonary veins (PVs) in CLD patients with AF and assessed their effect on the outcomes of radiofrequency catheter ablation of AF.

Clinical significance of early recurrences of atrial tachycardia after atrial fibrillation ablation.

Background: atrial tachycardia (AT) commonly recurs within 3 months after radiofrequency catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). However, it remains unclear whether early recurrence of atrial tachycardia (ERAT) predicts late recurrence of AF or AT.

Methods: of 352 consecutive patients who underwent circumferential pulmonary vein isolation with or without linear ablation(s) for AF, 56 patients (15.

Role of residual potentials inside circumferential pulmonary veins ablation lines in the recurrence of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Background: Residual gaps due to incomplete ablation lines are known to be the most common cause of recurrent atrial fibrillation (AF) after catheter ablation. We hypothesized that any residual potentials at the junction of the left atrium and pulmonary vein (PV), inside the circumferential PV ablation (CPVA) lines, would contribute to the recurrence of AF or post-AF ablation atrial flutter (AFL); therefore, the elimination of these potentials increases AF-/AFL-free survival rates.

Methods And Results: One hundred and two patients with paroxysmal AF (PAF) were enrolled and prospectively randomized to a group with ablation of residual potentials as add-on therapy to CPVA + PV electrical isolation (PVI) (group 1, n = 49), or a group without ablation of the residual potentials (group 2, n = 53).

Safety and convenience of continuous warfarin strategy during the periprocedural period in patients who underwent catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Background: We investigated the efficiency and convenience of a continuous warfarinization (CW) strategy during the periprocedural period of radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) of atrial fibrillation (AF) in comparison with the classic strategy of switching to heparin (SH).

Methods And Results: We compared CW (n = 49) and SH (n = 55, 3 days before RFCA) in 104 patients who underwent RFCA of AF (77 males, 55 +/- 12 years old, paroxysmal AF: persistent AF = 63:41). During the procedure, the activated clotting time (ACT) was maintained between 350 and 400 seconds, and a requirement of H, postablation INR, and periprocedural complications were compared.

The effect and safety of the antithrombotic therapies in patients with atrial fibrillation and CHADS score 1.

Background: The revised ACC/AHA/ESC 2006 guideline recommends either aspirin or warfarin for the prevention of ischemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in CHADS(2) score 1. We hypothesized that warfarin is superior to aspirin therapy for the prevention of stroke without increasing bleeding complication in AF patients with CHADS(2) score 1.

Methods And Results: Among 1,502 patients (mean 62.

Clinical significance of complete conduction block of the left lateral isthmus and its relationship with anatomical variation of the vein of Marshall in patients with nonparoxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Background: The vein of Marshall (VOM), which exists along the left lateral isthmus (LLI), constitutes a muscular connection between the coronary sinus (CS) and the left atrium (LA). We hypothesized that anatomical variation of the VOM affects the bidirectional block of LLI and the clinical outcome in patients with nonparoxysmal atrial fibrillation (NPAF).

Methods: Among 73 patients with NPAF, 54 patients (47 male, 54.

Development of tricuspid regurgitation late after left-sided valve surgery: a single-center experience with long-term echocardiographic examinations.

Objectives: This study sought to investigate the incidence and identify the predictors of significant tricuspid regurgitation (TR) development long after left-sided valve surgery.

Methods: Of 615 patients who underwent surgery for left-sided valve disease between 1992 and 1995, 335 patients without significant TR who completed at least 5 years of clinical and echocardiographic follow-up were enrolled. Late significant TR development was assessed by echocardiography with a mean follow-up duration of 11.