Quality of Life After Ministernotomy Versus Full Sternotomy Aortic Valve Replacement.

Quality of life and patient satisfaction after ministernotomy have never been compared to conventional full sternotomy in randomized trials. The QUALITY-AVR trial is a single-blind, single-center, independent, randomized clinical trial comparing ministernotomy to full sternotomy in patients with isolated severe aortic stenosis scheduled for elective aortic valve replacement. One hundred patients were randomized in a 1:1 computational fashion.

Quality of life, satisfaction and outcomes after ministernotomy versus full sternotomy isolated aortic valve replacement (QUALITY-AVR): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: During the last decade, the use of ministernotomy in cardiac surgery has increased. Quality of life and patient satisfaction after ministernotomy have never been compared to conventional full sternotomy in randomised trials. The aim of the study is to determine if this minimally invasive approach improves quality of life, satisfaction and clinical morbimortality outcomes.

Fibrillin 2 is upregulated in the ascending aorta of patients with bicuspid aortic valve.

Objectives: Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most prevalent congenital cardiac malformation, frequently associated with aortic dilatation (AD). The molecular mechanisms involved in AD and its aetiological link with BAV formation are poorly understood. Altered fibrillin-1 (FBN1) and metalloprotease-2, -9 (MMP2,9) protein activities have been suggested to be involved in BAV aortopathy.

Type 2 diabetes is associated with decreased PGC1α expression in epicardial adipose tissue of patients with coronary artery disease.

Background: Although recent studies indicate that epicardial adipose tissue expresses brown fat-like genes, such as PGC1α, UCP1 and PRDM16, the association of these genes with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) in coronary artery disease (CAD) remains unknown.

Methods: PGC1α, UCP1, and PRDM16 mRNAs expression levels were measured by real-time PCR in epicardial and thoracic subcutaneous adipose tissue from 44 CAD patients (22 with DM2 [CAD-DM2] and 22 without DM2 [CAD-NDM2]) and 23 non-CAD patients (NCAD).

Results: The CAD-DM2 patients had significantly lower PGC1α and UCP1 expression in epicardial adipose tissue than the CAD-NDM2 and NCAD patients.

Selection of reference genes for quantitative real time PCR (qPCR) assays in tissue from human ascending aorta.

Dilatation of the ascending aorta (AAD) is a prevalent aortopathy that occurs frequently associated with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), the most common human congenital cardiac malformation. The molecular mechanisms leading to AAD associated with BAV are still poorly understood. The search for differentially expressed genes in diseased tissue by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) is an invaluable tool to fill this gap.