Impact of telemedicine on the management of heart failure patients during coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Aims: Chronic heart failure (HF) is a major comorbidity accounting for an increased severity and mortality related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To reduce the risk of COVID-19 in HF patients, telemedicine has been encouraged.

Methods And Results: During the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedical management with mainly over-the-phone appointments became a major strategy of follow-up of our HF clinic patients.

ProACS risk score: An early and simple score for risk stratification of patients with acute coronary syndromes.

Introduction: There are barriers to proper implementation of risk stratification scores in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), including their complexity. Our objective was to develop a simple score for risk stratification of all-cause in-hospital mortality in a population of patients with ACS.

Methods: The score was developed from a nationwide ACS registry.

Risk factor paradox in the occurrence of cardiac arrest in acute coronary syndrome patients.

Objective:: To compare patients without previously diagnosed cardiovascular risk factors) and patients with one or more risk factors admitted with acute coronary syndrome.

Methods:: This was a retrospective analysis of patients admitted with first episode of acute coronary syndrome without previous heart disease, who were included in a national acute coronary syndrome registry. The patients were divided according to the number of risk factors, as follows: 0 risk factor (G0), 1 or 2 risk factors (G1 - 2) and 3 or more risk factors (G ≥ 3).

Percutaneous closure of a giant left ventricular wall pseudoaneurysm: Anterograde approach with a double snare technique.

Left ventricular pseudoaneurysm is a rare complication of acute myocardial infarction, cardiac surgery, trauma or infection. Since surgical repair is associated with high morbidity and mortality, percutaneous closure has been described as an alternative. In this regard, we present a case in which a symptomatic large left ventricular pseudoaneurysm was treated by percutaneous closure due to the patient's high surgical risk, using a double snare technique.

External validation of the ProACS score for risk stratification of patients with acute coronary syndromes.

Introduction: The ProACS risk score is an early and simple risk stratification score developed for all-cause in-hospital mortality in acute coronary syndromes (ACS) from a Portuguese nationwide ACS registry. Our center only recently participated in the registry and was not included in the cohort used for developing the score. Our objective was to perform an external validation of this risk score for short- and long-term follow-up.

Percutaneous closure of a large ascending aortic pseudoaneurysm.

Pseudoaneurysm of the ascending aorta is a rare complication, usually after thoracic surgery or trauma. Since surgical repair is associated with very high morbidity and mortality, percutaneous closure has been described as an alternative. In this regard, we present a case in which a symptomatic large pseudoaneurysm of the ascending aorta was treated percutaneously due to the high surgical risk.