Infective endocarditis in a tertiary referral hospital: long-term follow up.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Infective endocarditis (IE) is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. The aim of the present study was to assess the long-term survival of patients with IE, and to assess objectively the mortality in these patients by comparing their survival with that of an age- and gender-matched sample of the general population.

Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study of adults with IE, as determined by the modified Duke criteria, was admitted to a tertiary referral center between January 1998 and December 2007.

Long-term clinical results following stenting of the left main stem: insights from RESEARCH (Rapamycin-Eluting Stent Evaluated at Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital) and T-SEARCH (Taxus-Stent Evaluated at Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital) Registries.

Objectives: We investigated the long-term clinical outcomes and independent predictors of major cardiac events in unprotected left main coronary artery disease (ULMCA) patients treated by percutaneous coronary intervention with drug-eluting stent (DES).

Background: There is limited information on long-term (>3 years) outcomes after DES implantation for ULMCA. Furthermore, bifurcation angle and SYNTAX (Synergy between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery) score are emerging as parameters for patient risk stratification, and their prognostic implications have still to be elucidated.

Relationship between the logistic EuroSCORE and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk of Mortality score in patients implanted with the CoreValve ReValving system--a Bern-Rotterdam Study.

Background: Surgical risk scores, such as the logistic EuroSCORE (LES) and Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk of Mortality (STS) score, are commonly used to identify high-risk or "inoperable" patients for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). In Europe, the LES plays an important role in selecting patients for implantation with the Medtronic CoreValve System. What is less clear, however, is the role of the STS score of these patients and the relationship between the LES and STS.

Impact of sex on 3-year outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention using bare-metal and drug-eluting stents in previously untreated coronary artery disease: insights from the RESEARCH (Rapamycin-Eluting Stent Evaluated at Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital) and T-SEARCH (Taxus-Stent Evaluated at Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital) Registries.

Objectives: We investigated the impact of sex on outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stent (DES).

Background: Women have a higher risk of adverse outcomes after PCI than do men. However, long-term outcomes of women after contemporary PCI with DES have not been fully investigated.