Changes in treatment of aortic valve diseases for acute and elective indications during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective single-center analysis from 2019 to 2020.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had an impact on the quality of healthcare services and led to many changes in the treatment of cardiac pathologies.

Objectives: To assess the differences in the clinical manifestations, management and outcomes of patients with aortic valve diseases (AVDs) treated invasively before and during the pandemic.

Material And Methods: This retrospective single-center study involved patients with AVDs treated by means of balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV), transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in 2019 and 2020.

Recognized and Potentially New Biomarkers-Their Role in Diagnosis and Prognosis of Cardiovascular Disease.

Atherosclerosis and its consequences are the leading cause of mortality in the world. For this reason, we have reviewed atherosclerosis biomarkers and selected the most promising ones for review. We focused mainly on biomarkers related to inflammation and oxidative stress, such as the highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2).