A case report of reversible left ventricular dysfunction due to azathioprine hypersensitivity syndrome.

Background: Hypersensitivity reaction is a rare side effect during immunosuppressive treatment with azathioprine (AZA). Some cases of cardiac involvement have already been reported but causality is notoriously difficult to prove.

Case Summary: We present the case of a 68-year-old man with two episodes of reversible left ventricular (LV) dysfunction.

[Arrhythmias in thyroid dysfunction].

Thyroid dysfunction is associated with characteristic changes in heart rate and arrhythmias. Thyroid hormones act through genomic and non-genomic effects on myocytes and influence contractility, relaxation and action potential duration through a variety of mechanisms. Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia associated with thyroid dysfunction, it occurs in both euthyroidism and hyperthyroidism in clear association with T4 levels.

Impact of the 2022 pulmonary hypertension definition on haemodynamic classification and mortality in patients with aortic stenosis undergoing valve replacement.

Aims: With the 2022 pulmonary hypertension (PH) definition, the mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) threshold for any PH was lowered from ≥25 to >20 mmHg, and the pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) value to differentiate between isolated post-capillary PH (IpcPH) and combined pre- and post-capillary PH (CpcPH) was reduced from >3 Wood units (WU) to >2 WU. We assessed the impact of this change in the PH definition in aortic stenosis (AS) patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR).

Methods And Results: Severe AS patients ( = 503) undergoing pre-AVR cardiac heart catheterization were classified according to both the 2015 and 2022 definitions.

[Heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFpEF)].

Heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a common and very important disease entity because of its association with frequent repeat hospitalization and high mortality. Hallmarks of the underlying pathophysiology include a small left ventricular cavity due to concentric remodeling, impaired left ventricular compliance and left atrial dysfunction. This leads to an increase in left atrial and pulmonary pressure on exertion and in advanced stages of the disease already at rest with consecutive exertional dyspnea and exercise intolerance.

Screening for heart failure in patients with diabetes mellitus in tertiary care - A SwissDiab study.

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of heart failure (HF) in patients with diabetes in tertiary care, and the implementation of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i).

Methods: Between 28.09.

Pulmonary Congestion by Conventional Chest Radiography: Relationship With Hemodynamics and Mortality in Patients With Severe Aortic Stenosis.

Background: The relationship between chest radiograph (CXR) findings of pulmonary congestion and invasive hemodynamics and clinical outcomes in patients with cardiac diseases is unclear. We assessed the correlation between a CXR-based congestion score (RxCS) and the mean pulmonary artery wedge pressure (mPAWP) and the prognostic impact of RxCS and mPAWP in severe aortic stenosis (AS).

Methods: In 471 patients with severe AS undergoing right heart catheterization and upright CXR, the RxCS was calculated (6 items, maximum score: 10 points) independently by 2 radiologists (average value taken) blinded to clinical data.

Pleural effusion in severe aortic stenosis: marker of an adverse haemodynamic constellation and poor prognosis.

Aim: Pleural effusion (PE) is a common chest radiography (CXR) finding in patients with advanced cardiac disease. The pathophysiology and clinical value of PE in this setting are incompletely defined. We aimed to assess the haemodynamic correlates and prognostic impact of PE in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS).

Pulmonary and Systemic Hemodynamics in Patients with Hyperthyroidism.

Background: There is an association between hyperthyroidism and pulmonary hypertension. However, the prevalence of pulmonary hypertension in hyperthyroidism and the underlying mechanisms are incompletely defined.

Methods: Consecutive patients with severe hyperthyroidism, mostly due to Graves disease, were included in this single-center study.

ECG left ventricular hypertrophy in aortic stenosis: Relationship with cardiac structure, invasive hemodynamics, and long-term mortality.

Background: In aortic stenosis (AS), left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is the response to pressure overload and represents the substrate for a maladaptive cascade, the so-called AS-related cardiac damage. We hypothesized that in AS patients electrocardiogram (ECG) LVH not only predicts echocardiography LVH but also other noninvasive and invasive markers of cardiac damage and prognosis after aortic valve replacement (AVR).

Methods: In 279 patients with severe AS undergoing ECG, echocardiography, and cardiac catheterization before AVR, the Sokolow-Lyon index, the Cornell product, the Romhilt-Estes score, and the Peguero-Lo Presti score were assessed.

Gender-specific disease trajectories prior to the onset of COPD allow individualized screening and early intervention.

Background: Nation-wide hospitalization databases include diagnostic information at the level of an entire population over an extended period of time. Comorbidity network and early disease development can be unveiled. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an underdiagnosed condition for which it is crucial to identify early disease indicators.

Estimated glomerular filtration rate, haemodynamics, and mortality in patients with aortic stenosis.

Background: In aortic stenosis (AS), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is an important prognostic marker but its haemodynamic determinants are unknown. We investigated the correlation between eGFR and invasive haemodynamics and long-term mortality in AS patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR).

Methods: We studied 503 patients [median (interquartile range) age 76 (69-81) years] with AS [indexed aortic valve area .

Systemic blood pressure in severe aortic stenosis: Haemodynamic correlates and long-term prognostic impact.

Aims: Blood pressure (BP) targets in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) are controversial. This study sought to describe the haemodynamic profile and the clinical outcome of severe AS patients with low versus high central meaarterial pressure (MAP).

Methods And Results: Patients with severe AS (n = 477) underwent right and left heart catheterization prior to aortic valve replacement (AVR).

Budget Impact of Intravenous Iron Therapy with Ferric Carboxymaltose in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF) and Iron Deficiency in Switzerland.

Aims: A budget impact analysis compared treating patients with heart failure (HF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and iron deficiency (ID) in Switzerland with intravenous ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) or placebo.

Methods: Clinical data from four international randomized trials showed that FCM versus placebo treatment was associated with a reduced hospitalization rate due to HF. The budget impact of this was modelled over 1 year.

[Therapy of Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction: What's New in the 2021 Guidelines?].

Therapy of Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction: What's New in the 2021 Guidelines? The spectrum of treatment options for patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) has substantially expanded over the last years. The 2021 guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology propose a new treatment algorithm for patients with HFrEF and define the role of the currently available drugs, interventions and devices in this context. The new standard is a basic therapy consisting of four drugs with different mechanisms of action for all patients with HFrEF: an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, a betablocker, a mineralocorticoid antagonist, and a sodium glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor.

Wedge Pressure vs Left Ventricular End-Diastolic Pressure for Pulmonary Hypertension Classification and Prognostication in Severe Aortic Stenosis.

Background: Differentiation between precapillary and postcapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) classically relies on mean pulmonary artery wedge pressure (mPAWP). The left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) is proposed as an equivalent alternative. However, mPAWP and LVEDP may differ substantially.

Long-term follow-up of medically treated patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection: a prospective, Swiss single-centre cohort study.

Aims Of The Study: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an increasingly diagnosed cause of acute myocardial infarction. However, there is still a limited number of larger cohorts with long-term follow-up. We report on the largest Swiss single-centre cohort to date, with follow-up of up to 22 years.

Hemodynamics Prior to Valve Replacement for Severe Aortic Stenosis and Pulmonary Hypertension during Long-Term Follow-Up.

(1) Background: Pulmonary hypertension after aortic valve replacement (AVR; post-AVR PH) carries a poor prognosis. We assessed the pre-AVR hemodynamic characteristics of patients with versus without post-AVR PH. (2) Methods: We studied 205 patients (mean age 75 ± 10 years) with severe AS (indexed aortic valve area 0.

Effect of a strategy of comprehensive vasodilation versus usual care on health-related quality of life among patients with acute heart failure.

Aims: We aimed to assess the long-term effect of a strategy of comprehensive vasodilation versus usual care on health-related quality of life (HRQL) among patients with acute heart failure (AHF).

Methods And Results: Health-related quality of life was prospectively assessed by the generic 3-levelled EQ-5D and the disease-specific Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) among adult AHF patients enrolled in an international, multicentre, randomised, open-label blinded-end-point trial of a strategy that emphasized early intensive and sustained vasodilation using maximally tolerated doses of established oral and transdermal vasodilators according to systolic blood pressure. Changes in EQ-5D and KCCQ from admission to 180 day follow-up were individually compared between the intensive vasodilatation and the usual care group.