Recovery of left ventricular mechanics after transcatheter aortic valve implantation: effects of baseline ventricular function and postprocedural aortic regurgitation.

Background: Impaired left ventricular (LV) myocardial deformation is associated with adverse outcome in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the impact of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) on the recovery of myocardial mechanics and the influence of postprocedural aortic regurgitation (AR).

Methods: Speckle-tracking echocardiography was used to assess multidirectional myocardial deformation (longitudinal and circumferential strain) and rotational mechanics (apical rotation and twist) before and at midterm follow-up after TAVI.

Use of myocardial strain imaging by echocardiography for the early detection of cardiotoxicity in patients during and after cancer chemotherapy: a systematic review.

The literature exploring the utility of advanced echocardiographic techniques (such as deformation imaging) in the diagnosis and prognostication of patients receiving potentially cardiotoxic cancer therapy has involved relatively small trials in the research setting. In this systematic review of the current literature, we describe echocardiographic myocardial deformation parameters in 1,504 patients during or after cancer chemotherapy for 3 clinically-relevant scenarios. The systematic review was performed following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines using the EMBASE (1974 to November 2013) and MEDLINE (1946 to November 2013) databases.

Giant cell aortitis: a difficult diagnosis assessing risk for the development of aneurysms and dissections.

A significant location affected by giant cell (GC) arteritis is the ascending aorta, where aneurysms may develop and catastrophic ruptures and acute dissections can occur. Herein, we discuss three cases of GC aortitis discovered at pathological examination of surgically excised aortic aneurysmal tissue. There was no clinical suspicion of any underlying inflammatory process.

Quantitative troponin and death, cardiogenic shock, cardiac arrest and new heart failure in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE ACS): insights from the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events.

Background: The objective of this study was to determine if the extent of quantitative troponin elevation predicted mortality as well as in-hospital complications of cardiac arrest, new heart failure and cardiogenic shock.

Design: 16,318 patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE ACS) from the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) were included. The maximum 24 h troponin value as a multiple of the local laboratory upper limit of normal was used.

Cardiac angiosarcoma: a case report and review of the literature.

We present the case of a 36-year-old woman with widespread metastatic cardiac angiosarcoma to the lungs and the liver. She was treated with preoperative chemotherapy and underwent extensive surgical resection of the cardiac mass and is currently doing well. Analysis of the effectiveness of various treatment modalities from cases which have been reported has also been reviewed and discussed.

A Braunwald-Cutter valve: a mitral prosthesis at 33 years.

We present a case of a 76-year-old woman with a Braunwald-Cutter mitral caged-ball valve prosthesis excised after 33 years post implantation due to a paravalvular leak. The valve itself was intact and fully functional. We believe the longevity of this valve was due to the decreased flow velocities and the lower pressure in the mitral valve position.

Quantitative troponin elevation does not provide incremental prognostic value beyond comprehensive risk stratification in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether quantitative cardiac troponin (cTn) assessment can improve risk stratification in a spectrum of patients with non-ST-segment elevation (NSTE) acute coronary syndrome (ACS) using the validated Global Registry of Acute Cardiac Events (GRACE) risk model.

Methods: The Canadian ACS Registry II is a prospective, multicenter study that enrolled patients admitted to hospital with a suspected NSTE ACS within 24 hours of symptom onset. Of the total 2297 patients, those with elevated cTn (n = 1013) were further stratified into tertiles of cTn ranges.