Patient Disposition and Clinical Outcome After Referral to a Dedicated TAVI Clinic.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is the standard of care for the majority of patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) at excessive-, high- and intermediate-surgical risk. A proportion of patients referred for TAVI do not undergo the procedure and proceed with an alternate treatment strategy. There is scarce data describing the final treatment allocation of such patients.

Degenerative Mitral Stenosis: From Pathophysiology to Challenging Interventional Treatment.

Mitral stenosis (MS) is characterized by obstruction of left ventricular inflow as a result of narrowing of the mitral valve orifice. Although its prevalence has declined over the last decade, especially in developed countries, it remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality.  The most often cause of MS worldwide is still postrheumatic mitral valve disease.

A severe penetrating cardiac injury in the absence of cardiac tamponade.

Penetrating cardiac injury is rare and frequently not survivable. Significant haemorrhage resulting in cardiac tamponade commonly ensues. Such cardiac tamponade is a clear clinical, radiological and sonographic indicator of significant underlying injury.

Brief hypoxia conditions monocytes to protect reperfused cardiocytes against cell death via the CD11b receptor.

Background: Traditionally leukocytes have been viewed as the mediators and effectors of cell injury after tissue ischemia and reperfusion through the indiscriminate release of toxic cytokines and oxygen free radicals. This can be detrimental to functioning of the transplanted heart when reperfused after implantation. Paradoxically, evidence now suggests that certain cytotoxic cytokines and even oxygen free radicals can be cytoprotective in smaller concentrations.