Risk prediction in patients with classical low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis undergoing surgical intervention.

Introduction: Classical low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis (LFLG-AS) is an advanced stage of aortic stenosis, which has a poor prognosis with medical treatment and a high operative mortality after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). There is currently a paucity of information regarding the current prognosis of classical LFLG-AS patients undergoing SAVR and the lack of a reliable risk assessment tool for this particular subset of AS patients. The present study aims to assess mortality predictors in a population of classical LFLG-AS patients undergoing SAVR.

Multimodality imaging methods and systemic biomarkers in classical low-flow low-gradient aortic stenosis: Key findings for risk stratification.

Objectives: The aim of the present study is to assess multimodality imaging findings according to systemic biomarkers, high-sensitivity troponin I (hsTnI) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, in low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis (LFLG-AS).

Background: Elevated levels of BNP and hsTnI have been related with poor prognosis in patients with LFLG-AS.

Methods: Prospective study with LFLG-AS patients that underwent hsTnI, BNP, coronary angiography, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with T1 mapping, echocardiogram and dobutamine stress echocardiogram.

Postoperative myocardial fibrosis assessment in aortic valvular heart diseases-a cardiovascular magnetic resonance study.

Aims: Left ventricular remodelling occurs during the chronic course of aortic regurgitation (AR) and aortic stenosis (AS), leading to myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis. Several studies have shown that extracellular volume fraction (ECV) and indexed extracellular volume (iECV) are important surrogate markers of diffuse myocardial fibrosis (MF). Postoperative data on these cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) extracellular expansion parameters for either AS or AR are scarce.

Clinical Profile and 30-Day Outcomes of Patients with Bicuspid Aortic Valve Undergoing Aortic Valve and/or Aorta Surgery.

Background: The bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) affects 0.5 to 2% of the population and is associated with valve and aortic alterations. There is a lack of studies on the profile of these patients in the Brazilian population.

Transcatheter Valve-in-Valve Procedures for Bioprosthetic Valve Dysfunction in Patients With Rheumatic vs. Non-Rheumatic Valvular Heart Disease.

Bioprosthetic heart valve has limited durability and lower long-term performance especially in rheumatic heart disease (RHD) patients that are often subject to multiple redo operations. Minimally invasive procedures, such as transcatheter valve-in-valve (ViV) implantation, may offer an attractive alternative, although data is lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes in rheumatic vs.

Heyde's Syndrome: Therapeutic Strategies and Long-Term Follow-Up.

Background: Heyde's syndrome is the association of severe aortic stenosis with episodes of gastrointestinal bleeding due to angiodysplastic lesion. Little is known about the factors associated with new episodes of bleeding and long-term outcomes. Furthermore, most data are restricted to case reports and small case series.

Rheumatic Myocarditis: A Poorly Recognized Etiology of Left Ventricular Dysfunction in Valvular Heart Disease Patients.

Heart failure occurs in ~10% of patients with acute rheumatic fever (RF), and several studies have shown that cardiac decompensation in RF results primarily from valvular disease and is not due to primary myocarditis. However, the literature on this topic is scarce, and a recent case series has shown that recurrent RF can cause ventricular dysfunction even in the absence of valvular heart disease. The present study evaluated the clinical, laboratory and imaging characteristics of 25 consecutive patients with a clinical diagnosis of myocarditis confirmed by 18F-FDG PET/CT or gallium-67 cardiac scintigraphy and RF reactivation according to the revised Jones Criteria.

COVID-19 myocarditis: a case report.

A male patient with flu-like symptoms and tomography and laboratory diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome. He developed acute cardiac dysfunction during admission and was submitted to a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging examination, which confirmed acute myocarditis, indicating cardiac involvement by coronavirus disease 2019. A review and discussion about coronavirus disease 2019-related cardiac manifestations are reported, focusing on the imaging findings to make diagnosis.

Myocardial Fibrosis in Classical Low-Flow, Low-Gradient Aortic Stenosis.

Background Few data exist on the degree of interstitial myocardial fibrosis in patients with classical low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis (LFLG-AS) and its association with left ventricular flow reserve (FR) on dobutamine stress echocardiography. This study sought to evaluate the diffuse interstitial fibrosis measured by T1 mapping cardiac magnetic resonance technique in LFLG-AS patients with and without FR. Methods Prospective study including 65 consecutive patients (41 LFLG-AS [mean age, 67.

Closed- and open-state models of human skeletal muscle sodium channel.

Voltage-gated sodium channels play important roles in human physiology. However, their complexity hinders the understanding of their physiology and pathology at atomic level. We took advantage of the structural reports of similar channels obtained by cryo-EM (EeNav1.

EuroSCORE II and STS as mortality predictors in patients undergoing TAVI.

Introduction: the EuroSCORE II and STS are the most used scores for surgical risk stratification and indication of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). However, its role as a tool for mortality prediction in patients undergoing TAVI is still unclear.

Objective: to evaluate the performance of the EuroSCORE II and STS as predictors of in-hospital and 30-day mortality in patients undergoing TAVI.

Heart Transplant in Patients with Predominantly Rheumatic Valvular Heart Disease.

Background And Aim Of The Study: International records indicate that only 2.6% of patients with heart transplants have valvular heart disease. The study aim was to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical profile of patients with valvular heart disease undergoing heart transplantation.

Patient Management with Metallic Valve Prosthesis during Pregnancy and Postpartum Period.

Prosthetic thrombosis is a rare complication, but it has high mortality and morbidity. Young women of childbearing age that have prosthetic heart valves are at increased risk of thrombosis during pregnancy due to changes in coagulation factors. Anticoagulation with adequate control and frequent follow-up if pregnancy occurs must be performed in order to prevent complications related to anticoagulant use.

Atenolol blunts blood pressure increase during dynamic resistance exercise in hypertensives.

Aims: This study was conducted to determine whether atenolol was able to decrease BP level and mitigate BP increase during dynamic resistance exercise performed at three different intensities in hypertensives.

Methods: Ten essential hypertensives (systolic/diastolic BP between 140/90 and 160/105mmHg) were blindly studied after 6 weeks of placebo and atenolol. In each phase, volunteers executed, in a random order, three protocols of knee-extension exercises to fatigue: (i) one set at 100% of 1RM; (ii) three sets at 80% of 1RM; and (iii) three sets at 40% of 1RM.