Mitral Regurgitation Evaluation in Modern Echocardiography: Bridging Standard Techniques and Advanced Tools for Enhanced Assessment.

Mitral regurgitation (MR) is one of the most common valvular heart diseases worldwide. Echocardiography remains the first line and most effective imaging modality for the diagnosis of mitral valve (MV) pathology and quantitative assessment of MR. The advent of three-dimensional echocardiography has significantly enhanced the evaluation of MV anatomy and function.

Neuronal Progenitors Suffer Genotoxic Stress in the Clock Mutant .

The physiological role and the molecular architecture of the circadian clock in fully developed organisms are well established. Yet, we have a limited understanding of the function of the clock during ontogenesis. We have used a null mutant () of the clock gene () in to ask whether PER may play a role during normal brain development.

The Key Role of 3D TEE in Assessing the Morphology of Degenerative Mitral Valve Regurgitation.

Two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (2D TTE) and two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (2D TEE) are regarded as the main imaging techniques for the assessment of degenerative mitral valve regurgitation (DMVR). However, describing the complex morphology of DMVR with 2D TTE and 2D TEE remains at the very least challenging. Three-dimensional (3D) TEE is an ideal technique for illustrating the extremely variable morphology of DMVR, providing images of unparalleled quality in terms of anatomical detail.

Combined 41- gauge surgically induced macular detachment and free internal limiting membrane flap technique for management of refractory full-thickness macular hole.

Purpose: To report a case of anatomic closure and functional improvement in a patient affected by refractory full-thickness macular hole (FTMH) undergone a combined 41-gauge (g) surgically induced macular detachment and free internal limiting membrane (ILM) flap technique.

Methods: This is a retrospective case-report of a 70-years-olded woman affected by refractory FTMH who referred to Ophthalmology Unit of Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital, Piacenza (Italy) in April 2023. The patient underwent a combined 41-g surgically induced macular detachment and free ILM flap.

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Nature-based solutions can help reduce the impact of natural hazards: A global analysis of NBS case studies.

The knowledge derived from successful case studies can act as a driver for the implementation and upscaling of nature-based solutions (NBS). This work reviewed 547 case studies to gain an overview of NBS practices and their role in reducing the adverse impact of natural hazards and climate change. The majority (60 %) of case studies are situated in Europe compared with the rest of the world where they are poorly represented.

Multimodality Imaging Evaluation to Detect Subtle Right Ventricular Involvement in Patients with Acute Myocarditis and Preserved Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction.

Evaluation of the right ventricle (RV) in patients with acute myocarditis (MY) remains challenging with both 2D transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). We examined the incremental diagnostic value of CMR feature tracking (FT) to evaluate RV involvement in patients with myocarditis. We enrolled 54 patients with myocarditis and preserved left ventricle (LV) ejection fraction (EF).

The Role of Non-Invasive Multimodality Imaging in Chronic Coronary Syndrome: Anatomical and Functional Pathways.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide, with a high socioeconomic impact. Currently, various guidelines and recommendations have been published about chronic coronary syndromes (CCS). According to the recent European Society of Cardiology guidelines on chronic coronary syndrome, a multimodal imaging approach is strongly recommended in the evaluation of patients with suspected CAD.

Additional value of cardiac magnetic resonance feature tracking parameters for the evaluation of the arrhythmic risk in patients with mitral valve prolapse.

Objectives: The identification of patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) presenting high arrhythmic risk remains challenging. Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) feature tracking (FT) may improve risk stratification. We analyzed the role of CMR-FT parameters in relation to the incidence of complex ventricular arrhythmias (cVA) in patients with MVP and mitral annular disjunction (MAD).

Anatomical and Functional Outcomes after Endoresection and Adjuvant Ruthenium Brachytherapy for Uveal Melanoma: A Single-Center Experience.

Purpose: To evaluate the anatomical and functional outcomes of endoresection and adjuvant ruthenium (Ru)-106 brachytherapy for uveal melanoma (UM).

Methods: Retrospective case series of 15 UM patients (15 eyes) treated at our center (Careggi University Hospital, Florence).

Results: Six patients (40%) were male and nine were female (60%).

The Role of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in Patients with Mitral Regurgitation.

The 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study estimated that there were approximately 24.2 million people affected worldwide by degenerative mitral regurgitation (MR), resulting in 34,200 deaths. After aortic stenosis, MR is the most prevalent VHD in Europe and the second-most common VHD to pose indications for surgery in western countries.

Early Detection of Cardiotoxicity From Systemic and Radiation Therapy in Patients With Breast Cancer: Protocol for a Multi-Institutional Prospective Study.

Background: The incidence of breast cancer is rising worldwide. Recent advances in systemic and local treatments have significantly improved survival rates of patients having early breast cancer. In the last decade, great attention has been paid to the prevention and early detection of cardiotoxicity induced by breast cancer treatments.

Better Take a Second Look: The Fameless Face of Subacute Takotsubo Syndrome.

We have recently published in the journal the case of a 66-year-old female affected by typical Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) with apical ballooning, who presented important novel apical wall thickening despite normalization of left ventricular ejection fraction at a follow-up cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) 1 month after the acute event. In the absence of significant elevated edema-sensitive T2 values at CMR, this constellation was interpreted as apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, initially mimicked by TTS. However, a routine late follow-up echocardiography and CMR after 6 months showed complete resolution of apical wall thickening.

Lactobacillus jensenii mitral valve endocarditis: Case report, literature review and new perspectives.

is a facultative anaerobic Gram-positive rod usually found in the normal microbiota of the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tract. Frequently dismissed as a contaminant, it is implicated in several diseases. We describe a rare case of endocarditis caused by in an immunocompetent 40 year-old male patient with a history of mitral valve repair.

Management of submacular massive haemorrhage in age-related macular degeneration: comparison between subretinal transplant of human amniotic membrane and subretinal injection of tissue plasminogen activator.

Purpose: Macular neovascularization (MNV) can complicate age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and lead to severe visual acuity reduction. Massive submacular haemorrhage (SMH) is a sight-threatening complication of MNV and a challenge in the management of complications related to MNV in AMD since the effects of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment alone are insufficient. Here, we evaluate the different postoperative outcomes of patients affected by MNV complicated by SMH that underwent subretinal implant of human amniotic membrane (hAM) or subretinal injection of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA).

Multimodality Imaging of the Anatomy of Tricuspid Valve.

Even though the tricuspid valve is no longer "forgotten", it still remains poorly understood. In this review, we focus on some controversial and still unclear aspects of tricuspid anatomy as illustrated by noninvasive imaging techniques. In particular, we discuss the anatomical architecture of the so-called tricuspid annulus with its two components (i.

Morphology of Mitral Annular Disjunction in Mitral Valve Prolapse.

Mitral annular disjunction (MAD) is an abnormal insertion of the hinge line of the posterior mitral leaflet on the atrial wall: the mitral annulus shows a separation or "disjunction" between the leaflet-atrial wall junction and the crest of the left ventricle myocardium. This anomaly is often observed in patients with myxomatous mitral valve prolapse. The anatomical substrate of MAD remains unclear for the following reasons: (1) most studies are focused on the association between MAD and arrhythmias, rather than on pathomorphological aspects of MAD; and (2) the complex anatomic architecture of the posterior mitral annulus is often simply described as the posterior segment of a fibrous ring.

Emerging Single-Cell Technological Approaches to Investigate Chromatin Dynamics and Centromere Regulation in Human Health and Disease.

Epigenetic regulators play a crucial role in establishing and maintaining gene expression states. To date, the main efforts to study cellular heterogeneity have focused on elucidating the variable nature of the chromatin landscape. Specific chromatin organisation is fundamental for normal organogenesis and developmental homeostasis and can be affected by different environmental factors.

Nature-based solutions efficiency evaluation against natural hazards: Modelling methods, advantages and limitations.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) for hydro-meteorological risks (HMRs) reduction and management are becoming increasingly popular, but challenges such as the lack of well-recognised standard methodologies to evaluate their performance and upscale their implementation remain. We systematically evaluate the current state-of-the art on the models and tools that are utilised for the optimum allocation, design and efficiency evaluation of NBS for five HMRs (flooding, droughts, heatwaves, landslides, and storm surges and coastal erosion). We found that methods to assess the complex issue of NBS efficiency and cost-benefits analysis are still in the development stage and they have only been implemented through the methodologies developed for other purposes such as fluid dynamics models in micro and catchment scale contexts.