Accuracy of mitral annular plane systolic excursion in diagnosing anthracycline-induced subclinical cardiotoxicity in patients with breast cancer - a retrospective cohort study.

Background: The mitral annular plane systolic excursion (MAPSE) is used to analyze the left ventricle longitudinal function. However, the accuracy of MAPSE in diagnosing oncological populations is unclear. In this study, we aimed to assess the accuracy of MAPSE in diagnosing subclinical cardiotoxicity in women with breast cancer undergoing anthracycline treatment.

Evaluation of myocardial work and exercise capacity in patients recovered from the severe form of COVID-19.

Background: The impact of COVID-19 goes beyond its acute form and can lead to the persistence of symptoms and the emergence of systemic disorders, defined as long-term COVID.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study that included patients over 18 years of age who recovered from the severe form of COVID-19 at least 60 days after their discharge. Patients and controls were enrolled to undergo transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) using a more sensitive tool, myocardial work, in combination with cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET).

New Incremental Model for Predicting Mortality in Pre-Capillary Pulmonary Hypertension.

Background: In pulmonary hypertension (PH), the identification of easily obtainable prognostic markers associated with right ventricular (RV) dysfunction and survival is needed.

Objective: To evaluate the association of red cell distribution width (RDW) with clinical, echocardiographic parameters and survival in patients with pre-capillary PH, with the development of a mortality prediction model.

Methods: Observational, longitudinal, and prospective study conducted from May 2019 to December 2022.

Position Statement on the Use of Myocardial Strain in Cardiology Routines by the Brazilian Society of Cardiology's Department Of Cardiovascular Imaging - 2023.

Central Illustration : Position Statement on the Use of Myocardial Strain in Cardiology Routines by the Brazilian Society of Cardiology's Department Of Cardiovascular Imaging - 2023 Proposal for including strain in the integrated diastolic function assessment algorithm, adapted from Nagueh et al.67 Am: mitral A-wave duration; Ap: reverse pulmonary A-wave duration; DD: diastolic dysfunction; LA: left atrium; LASr: LA strain reserve; LVGLS: left ventricular global longitudinal strain; TI: tricuspid insufficiency. Confirm concentric remodeling with LVGLS.

Morphological and functional cardiac alterations in children with congenital Zika syndrome and severe neurological deficits.

Introduction: Zika virus infection during pregnancy causes fetal microcephaly and brain damage. Congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) is characterized by systemic involvement with diffuse muscle impairment, a high frequency of arthrogryposis, and microphthalmia. Cardiac impairment in CZS has rarely been evaluated.

Hospital admission and mortality rates for non-COVID-19 respiratory diseases in Brazil's public health system during the covid-19 pandemic: a nationwide observational study.

Objective: To assess the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital admissions (HA), intra-hospital deaths (HD), and intra-hospital lethality rates (HL) related to respiratory diseases (RD) other than COVID-19 in Brazil.

Methods: This observational time-series study was conducted through comparative analyses of the HA, HD, and HL related to non-COVID-19 RD registered between March and December 2020 by the Brazilian Unified Public Health System on the DataSUS Tabnet platform, using as reference the values recorded in the same period of 2019 and those projected by linear regression methods for 2020, considering the period from 2015 to 2019. The adopted statistical significance level was 5% (p < 0.

Exercise training in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and permanent atrial fibrillation: A randomized clinical trial.

Background: Heart failure (HF) associated with atrial fibrillation increases patients' physical inactivity, worsening their clinical condition and mortality. Exercise training is safe and has clear benefits in HF. However, little is known about the effects of exercise training on patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction and permanent atrial fibrillation (HFAF).

A machine learning framework for the evaluation of myocardial rotation in patients with noncompaction cardiomyopathy.

Aims: Noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCC) is considered a genetic cardiomyopathy with unknown pathophysiological mechanisms. We propose to evaluate echocardiographic predictors for rigid body rotation (RBR) in NCC using a machine learning (ML) based model.

Methods And Results: Forty-nine outpatients with NCC diagnosis by echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging (21 men, 42.

Nicotinamide attenuates streptozotocin-induced diabetes complications and increases survival rate in rats: role of autonomic nervous system.

Background: To evaluate the effect of nicotinamide prior to streptozotocin-induced (STZ) diabetes in baroreflex sensitivity and cardiovascular autonomic modulation, and its association with hemodynamics and metabolic parameters.

Methods: Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into control (Cont) and STZ-induced diabetes (Diab). Half of the rats from each group received a single dose of nicotinamide (100 mg/Kg) before STZ injection (Cont+NicA and Diab+NicA).

Biventricular imaging markers to predict outcomes in non-compaction cardiomyopathy: a machine learning study.

Aims: Left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC) is a genetic heart disease, with heart failure, arrhythmias, and embolic events as main clinical manifestations. The goal of this study was to analyse a large set of echocardiographic (echo) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) parameters using machine learning (ML) techniques to find imaging predictors of clinical outcomes in a long-term follow-up of LVNC patients.

Methods And Results: Patients with echo and/or CMRI criteria of LVNC, followed from January 2011 to December 2017 in the heart failure section of a tertiary referral cardiologic hospital, were enrolled in a retrospective study.

Advances in the Treatment of Cardiac Amyloidosis.

Cardiac amyloidosis is associated with a high mortality rate, a long delay between the first signs and the diagnosis but a short interval between diagnosis and death. This scenario has changed recently due to improved disease awareness among doctors and significant progress in diagnosis thanks to multimodal imaging and a multidisciplinary approach. Therefore, during the last few years, we have had access to specific therapies for those patients.

Decreased glycolytic metabolism in non-compaction cardiomyopathy by 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography: new insights into pathophysiological mechanisms and clinical implications.

Aims: The pathophysiological mechanisms of left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC) remain controversial. This study performed combined 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose dynamic positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and 99mTc-sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) studies to evaluate myocardial glucose metabolism and perfusion in patients with LVNC and their clinical implications.

Methods And Results: Thirty patients (41 ± 12 years, 53% male) with LVNC, diagnosed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) criteria, and eight age-matched healthy controls (42 ± 12 years, 50% male) were prospectively recruited to undergo FDG-PET with measurement of the myocardial glucose uptake rate (MGU) and SPECT to investigate perfusion-metabolism patterns.

Noncompaction cardiomyopathy: a substrate for a thromboembolic event.

Background: Noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCC) is a rare genetic cardiomyopathy characterized by a thin, compacted epicardial layer and an extensive noncompacted endocardial layer. The clinical manifestations of this disease include ventricular arrhythmia, heart failure, and systemic thromboembolism.

Case Presentation: A 43-year-old male was anticoagulated by pulmonary thromboembolism for 1 year when he developed progressive dyspnea.

Left ventricular basal region involvement in noncompaction cardiomyopathy.

A previously healthy 16-year-old woman experienced progressive dyspnea on exertion. The echocardiogram and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging showed a significant increase in cardiac chambers, severe biventricular systolic dysfunction, and prominent ventricular trabeculations suggesting noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCC). The patient underwent heart transplantation 5 years after the NCC diagnosis, and the anatomopathological examination evidenced diffuse biventricular hypertrabeculation compromise, including the basal region of the biventricular wall.