Absolute Lymphocyte Count: a Predictor of Positive Serum PCR for Trypanosoma cruzi in Patients with Chagas Disease Undergoing Heart Transplantation.

Background: It is unknown whether lymphopenia is a risk factor for the reactivation of Chagas disease in heart transplantation (HTx), as recently described in the reactivation of cytomegalovirus in transplant patients.

Objective: To evaluate whether lymphopenia in the perioperative period of heart transplantation is related to early Trypanosoma cruzi parasitemia.

Methods: This observational, retrospective study analyzed a sample from January 2014 to January 2023).

Long Covid as an Indication for Heart Transplantation and Its Characteristics.

Background: The post-acute cardiovascular manifestations of COVID-19, known as long COVID, have yet to be comprehensively characterized. There is also an increased risk of heart failure in individuals without cardiovascular disease before SARS-CoV-2 infection. The literature lacks information regarding the characteristics of patients with long COVID who developed advanced heart failure refractory to guideline-directed medical therapy.

Home-based training program in patients with chronic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction: a randomized pilot study.

Objectives: We aimed to compare the effects of home-and center-based exercise training programs on functional capacity, inspiratory muscle strength, daily physical activity level, and quality of life (QoL) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) over a 12-week period.

Methods: This study included 23 patients with CHF (left ventricular ejection fraction 31±6%) randomized to a home-based (n=11) or center-based (n=12) program. Patients underwent 12 weeks of aerobic training (60%-70% heart rate reserve): walking for the home-based and supervised cycling for the center-based group, both combined with resistance training (50% of 1 maximum repetition).

COVID-19 in heart transplant patients: Case reports from Brazil.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic continues, with a late hyperinflammatory phase. The immunosuppressive therapy used in heart transplant patients, in theory, could reduce inflammation, thus benefitting patients with COVID-19. So far, however, there is still very little literature on this subject.

Ivabradine plus conventional treatment vs conventional treatment alone in reducing the mean heart rate in heart transplant recipients: A randomized clinical trial.

The absence of afferent nerves for heart rate (HR) regulation leaves the transplanted heart under the influence of its internal and hormonal control. The HR of heart transplantation (HTx) recipients varies from to 90-110 bpm, indicating a lack of vagal parasympathetic tone. We hypothesized that the reduction in mean HR using an If-channel antagonist (ivabradine) could be effective and safe in HTx recipients.

Benznidazole as Prophylaxis for Chagas Disease Infection Reactivation in Heart Transplant Patients: A Case Series in Brazil.

Background-Patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy (CC) have high mortality, and CC is a common indication for heart transplantation (HTx) in endemic countries. Chagas disease reactivation (CDR) is common after transplantation and is likely to cause adverse outcomes unless detected and treated appropriately. This study reviews our experiences with HTx among patients with CC, and the use of benznidazole (BZ) before transplantation.

VO2max-Based Physical Fitness Categories in a Brazilian Population with Supposed High Socioeconomic Status and without Structural Heart Disease.

Background: The most widely used data for cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) referrals are from the Cooper Clinic, which uses calculated maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) values.

Objective: To develop CRF values from cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) in a Brazilian population with high socioeconomic level and free of structural heart disease. VO2max testing results were compared with the Cooper Clinic and FRIEND Registry data.

Donor hypernatremia and smoking addiction contribute to primary graft failure in heart transplantation.

Introduction: Primary graft failure (PGF) is an important contributor to early mortality, accounting for 41% of deaths within the first 30 days after heart transplantation (HT). Donor hypernatremia has been associated with PGF development. However, controversial data exist regarding the impact of sodium deregulation in patient survival after HT.

Cardiorespiratory fitness data from 18,189 participants who underwent treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise testing in a Brazilian population.

Purpose: Cardiorespiratory fitness is inversely associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease, all-cause mortality, and mortality attributable to various cancers. It is often estimated indirectly using mathematical formulas for estimating oxygen uptake. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing, especially oxygen uptake, represents the "gold standard" for assessing exercise capacity.

Intragraft vasculitis and gene expression analysis: Association with acute rejection and prediction of mortality in long-term heart transplantation.

Introduction: Vasculitis entails heterogeneous origins; it starts with an inflammatory process that leads to small vessels' necrosis, hemorrhage, and ischemic lesion, and may further result in occlusion of the vascular lumen. Vasculitis' contribution to allograft rejection is still unclear. This study aims to investigate the incidence of vasculitis in the early stages of heart transplantation as well as to assess the intragraft genes' expression associated with vascular function and subsequently to verify the way in which it affects the outcome of the allograft.

[Isolated left ventricular noncompaction causing refractory heart failure].

Left ventricular noncompaction is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by excessive left ventricular trabeculation, deep intertrabecular recesses and a thin compacted layer due to the arrest of compaction of myocardial fibers during embryonic development. We report the case of a young patient with isolated left ventricular noncompaction, leading to refractory heart failure that required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation followed by emergency heart transplantation.

Myocardial protection with prophylactic oral metoprolol during coronary artery bypass grafting surgery: evaluation by troponin I.

Introduction: Biochemical markers of myocardial injury are frequently altered after cardiac surgery. So far there is no evidence whether oral beta-blockers may reduce myocardial injury after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Objective: To determine if oral administration of prophylactic metoprolol reduces the release of cardiac troponin I in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting, not complicated by new Q waves.

Summary of the II Brazilian Guideline update on Acute Heart Failure 2009/2011.

In the past two years we observed several changes in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach of patients with acute heart failure (acute HF), which led us to the need of performing a summary update of the II Brazilian Guidelines on Acute Heart Failure 2009. In the diagnostic evaluation, the diagnostic flowchart was simplified and the role of clinical assessment and echocardiography was enhanced. In the clinical-hemodynamic evaluation on admission, the hemodynamic echocardiography gained prominence as an aid to define this condition in patients with acute HF in the emergency room.

Vasculitides and eosinophils in endomyocardial biopsies as rejection predictors in heart transplantation.

Background: The clinical significance of vasculitides, ischemic lesions, Quilty effect and the presence of eosinophils in endomyocardial biopsies of heart transplantation recipients with mild rejection has yet to be established.

Objective: To verify whether these histological findings observed in endomyocardial biopsies (eosinophils, vasculitides, Quilty effect and ischemic lesions) are capable of predicting acute graft rejection.

Methods: A total of 1,012 consecutive endomyocardial biopsies were reevaluated; of these, 939 were classified as OR or 1R according to the Nomenclature of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation of 2005 and divided in two groups: (1) Predictive biopsies: those that preceded acute rejection; and (2) Nonpredictive biopsies: those that did not precede acute rejection.