Role of age and comorbidities in mortality of patients with infective endocarditis.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with IE in three groups of age and to assess the ability of age and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict mortality.

Methods: Prospective cohort study of all patients with IE included in the GAMES Spanish database between 2008 and 2015.Patients were stratified into three age groups:<65 years,65 to 80 years,and ≥ 80 years.

Management of aortic valve dysfunction after transapical approach using the technique "valve after valve".

We report a case of a 77-year-old patient with severe aortic stenosis who underwent transapical aortic valve implantation with a 23-mm Edwards Sapien valve (Edwards Lifesciences Inc, Irvine CA). This procedure was complicated with the occurrence of an acute regurgitation due to entrapment of one of the leaflets that was successfully managed by valve after valve technique.

Coronary sinus aneurysm and left ventricular-coronary sinus fistula. Implantation of CRT device.

We describe a 72-year-old man referred for implantation of a cardiac resynchronization therapy device who had previously undergone repeated operations to replace the mitral valve. Retrograde venography of the coronary sinus (CS) to implant the left ventricular (LV) pacing lead revealed aneurysmal dilatation of the CS with LV-CS fistula that hindered-but did not prevent-complete implantation of the system.

Functional anatomy of aortic regurgitation. Role of transesophageal echocardiography in aortic valve-sparing surgery.

Introduction And Objectives: The aim was to evaluate the usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) for the preoperative functional anatomical assessment of patients with aortic regurgitation (AR) to identify those eligible for valve-sparing surgery (VSS).

Methods: We determined the accuracy and diagnostic value of TEE for identifying underlying lesions and mechanisms in 66 patients who underwent surgery for severe AR by comparing TEE findings with those obtained on surgical inspection. The usefulness of TEE for predicting the feasibility of VSS was determined.

Masson tumor as humeral artery aneurysm.

Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia (Masson's vegetant hemangioendothelioma) is a rare condition affecting the arteries. In the literature, we did not find any reference to this lesion involving the humeral artery. We present a case of asymptomatic humeral artery vascular tumor due to this abnormality.

Ventricular tachycardia in a man with spontaneous coronary artery dissection.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of acute ischemic coronary events. It is more prevalent in young women, particularly in the peripartum period. In men it is an extremely rare cause.