Early Multinational Experience of Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Replacement for Treating Severe Tricuspid Regurgitation.

Objectives: The aim of this registry was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of transcatheter tricuspid valve implantation (TTVI) in patients with extreme surgical risk.

Background: Isolated tricuspid regurgitation (TR) surgery is associated with high in-hospital mortality.

Methods: Thirty consecutive patients (mean age 75 ± 10 years; 56% women) from 10 institutions, with symptomatic functional TR, had institutional and notified body approval for compassionate use of the GATE TTVI system.

Post-Market Clinical Follow-Up With the Patent Foramen Ovale Closure Device IrisFIT (Lifetech) in Patients With Stroke, Transient Ischemic Attack, or Other Thromboembolic Events.

Background: A patent foramen ovale (PFO) has been associated with embolic strokes and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). Catheter closure of PFO is effective in preventing recurrent events. Residual shunts and procedure or device related complications can occur, including atrial fibrillation and thrombus formation.

Permanent Pacemaker Lead Insertion Connected to an External Pacemaker Generator for Temporary Pacing After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

Background: Outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) have been demonstrated to be at least equivalent in the short term compared to surgical valve implantation (SAVI). However, Conduction abnormalities are more common after TAVI than SAVI and the need for permanent pacemaker implantation is more common after TAVI with the currently commercially available self-expanding valves than after SAVI. Temporary pacemaker implantation may be associated with inability to ambulate, lead migration or perforation and infection.

The IrisFIT Patent Foramen Ovale Closure Device in Patients With History of Cryptogenic Embolization.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess safety, efficacy, and clinical outcome of the IrisFIT PFO Closure System (Lifetech Scientific) for transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) in patients with a history of cryptogenic stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), or peripheral embolization.

Patients And Methods: We report the results of 60 consecutive patients undergoing PFO closure with the IrisFIT occluder for secondary prevention of paradoxical embolization. All cases were analyzed for periprocedural and device-related adverse events up to 12 months after implantation.

Acute Stroke Interventions Performed by Cardiologists: Initial Experience in a Single Center.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the technical and clinical success of acute stroke interventions performed in our interventional cardiology center.

Background: Dedicated interventional stroke centers remain limited. Interventional cardiologists have established networks of catheterization laboratories and the necessary infrastructure to provide around the clock interventional therapy.

A case of mislabeled textbooks: misnomer of the traditional "bicaval" view.

Since the early beginning of the transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) era, standardized tomographic views describing cardiac key structures have been provided. They have become the basis of TEE and have not been modified for decades. During our recent structural interventional cases, it has come to our attention that the structure frequently labeled "inferior vena cava" in textbooks and journal articles illustrating the bicaval TEE view is, in fact, the coronary sinus.

Intraoperative Defibrillation Testing Should Not Be Generally Abandoned for All ICD Procedures-A Multicenter Study on 4,572 Consecutive Patients.

 The ongoing technical advances in development of new implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) systems led some investigators to question the routine use of intraoperative defibrillation testing (DT). Therefore, we evaluated retrospectively in a multicenter study effectiveness, safety, and usefulness of intraoperative DT on unbiased large patient population.  Data from 4,572 consecutive patients undergoing any ICD intervention were retrospectively analyzed.

True First-Line Local-Anesthesia Only Protocol for Transfemoral TAVI.

Aims: To evaluate the safety and feasibility of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) via femoral access under local anesthesia only (without concomitant sedation) as the initial strategy.

Methods And Results: Patients undergoing planned transfemoral TAVI without routine general anesthesia between May 2005 and December 2013 were identified. Baseline characteristics, procedural outcomes, and a 30-day clinical follow-up were obtained.

Transcatheter mitral valve repair with the MitraClip(®) can be performed without general anesthesia and without conscious sedation.

Background: General anesthesia is known to be associated with an increased risk for complications, especially in elderly and multi-morbid patients, the primary target population of the MitraClip(®) technique. The aim is to assess whether general anesthesia and even conscious sedation can be avoided during the MitraClip(®) procedure.

Methods: A total of 91 consecutive patients who underwent MitraClip(®) implantation [median 77 years, (IQR 72-83), 40 % female] were retrospectively analyzed.

"A bend in time": Shaping the sheath facilitates left atrial appendage closure.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of the "shape-the-sheath" method in left atrial appendage closure.

Background: LAA occlusion is often a difficult procedure, due to not just the learning curve but also the three-dimensional variable nature of the left atrial appendage. Multiple sheaths have been created for various takeoffs.

Devices in heart failure--the new revolution.

Heart failure is a growing epidemic, with more patients living longer and suffering from this disease. There is a growing segment of patients who have persistent symptoms despite pharmacologic therapy. In an era when transplants are rare, the need for devices and interventions that can assist ventricular function is paramount.

Use of EchoNavigator, a novel echocardiography-fluoroscopy overlay system, for transseptal puncture and left atrial appendage occlusion.

Structural heart disease requires a coordinated effort to join echocardiographic and fluoroscopic data. Various methods have been used, including echocardiography, CT, and MRI. We report on the use of EchoNavigator (Philips Inc.

Staurosporine and extracellular matrix proteins mediate the conversion of small cell lung carcinoma cells into a neuron-like phenotype.

Small cell lung carcinomas (SCLCs) represent highly aggressive tumors with an overall five-year survival rate in the range of 5 to 10%. Here, we show that four out of five SCLC cell lines reversibly develop a neuron-like phenotype on extracellular matrix constituents such as fibronectin, laminin or thrombospondin upon staurosporine treatment in an RGD/integrin-mediated manner. Neurite-like processes extend rapidly with an average speed of 10 µm per hour.

Antimicrobial responses of primary gingival cells to Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Background: Human beta-defensins (hBDs) and the C-C chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20) produced by gingival epithelial cells (GECs) and fibroblasts (HGFs) are antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that play an important role in innate immunity. The aim of this study was to determine the differential immune response of GECs and HGFs to the oral commensal Streptococcus gordonii (SG) and the pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis (PG).

Material And Methods: In addition to the analysis of gingival biopsies, primary GECs and HGFs were exposed to SG and/or PG, and expression of various AMPs and pro-inflammatory mediators was studied by real-time PCR and ELISA.

Skin tumor formation in human papillomavirus 8 transgenic mice is associated with a deregulation of oncogenic miRNAs and their tumor suppressive targets.

Background: Dysregulation of microRNA (miRNA) expression is regularly found in various types of cancer and contributes to tumorigenic processes. However, little is known about miRNA expression in non-melanoma skin cancer in which a pathogenic role of beta human papillomaviruses (HPV) is discussed. A carcinogenic potential of beta HPV8 could be demonstrated in a transgenic mouse model, expressing all early genes of HPV8 (HPV8-CER).

CDKN2BAS is associated with periodontitis in different European populations and is activated by bacterial infection.

Epidemiological studies have indicated a relationship between coronary heart disease (CHD) and periodontitis. Recently, CDKN2BAS was reported as a shared genetic risk factor of CHD and aggressive periodontitis (AgP), but the causative variant has remained unknown. To identify and validate risk variants in different European populations, we first explored 150 kb of the genetic region of CDKN2BAS including the adjacent genes CDKN2A and CDKN2B, covering 51 tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNPs) in AgP and chronic periodontitis (CP) in individuals of Dutch origin (n=313).

Phl p 5 resorption in human oral mucosa leads to dose-dependent and time-dependent allergen binding by oral mucosal Langerhans cells, attenuates their maturation, and enhances their migratory and TGF-beta1 and IL-10-producing properties.

Background: Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is safe and effective as treatment of allergic rhinitis and mild asthma. Oral mucosal Langerhans cells (oLCs) play a central role. However, little is known about allergen binding by oLCs during mucosal allergen resorption and its impact on oLC functions.