Non-invasive intraventricular pressure differences estimated with cardiac MRI in subjects without heart failure and with heart failure with reduced and preserved ejection fraction.

Objective: Non-invasive assessment of left ventricular (LV) diastolic and systolic function is important to better understand physiological abnormalities in heart failure (HF). The spatiotemporal pattern of LV blood flow velocities during systole and diastole can be used to estimate intraventricular pressure differences (IVPDs). We aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of an MRI-based method to calculate systolic and diastolic IVPDs in subjects without heart failure (No-HF), and with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Optimal definitions for abdominal obesity and the metabolic syndrome in Andean Hispanics: the PREVENCION study.

Objective: We aimed to establish optimal definitions for abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) among Andean adults.

Research Design And Methods: Among 1,448 Andean adults, we assessed the relationship between waist circumference and subclinical vascular disease assessed by carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and manifest cardiovascular disease (M-CVD).

Results: Optimal waist circumference cutoffs to classify individuals with abnormal cIMT or M-CVD were >97 and >87 cm in men and women, respectively.