Role of age and comorbidities in mortality of patients with infective endocarditis.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with IE in three groups of age and to assess the ability of age and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict mortality.

Methods: Prospective cohort study of all patients with IE included in the GAMES Spanish database between 2008 and 2015.Patients were stratified into three age groups:<65 years,65 to 80 years,and ≥ 80 years.

Mitral valve repair for ischemic mitral regurgitation using the Carpentier-McCarthy-Adams IMR ETlogix® ring: medium-term echocardiographic findings.

The aims of this study were to review the principles underlying use of the Carpentier-McCarthy-Adams IMR ETlogix® asymmetric annuloplasty ring for the treatment of chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation and to report medium-term clinical outcomes observed at our center. The in-hospital mortality rate was 2.8%.

Mutation in the alpha-cardiac actin gene associated with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, left ventricular non-compaction, and septal defects.

Aims: The E101K mutation in the alpha-cardiac actin gene (ACTC) has been associated with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). As prominent trabeculations were described in some carriers, we screened for the E101K mutation in our index patients with HCM, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), or left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC).

Methods And Results: Clinical, echocardiographic, and genetic screening by restriction fragment length polymorphism of the ACTC E101K mutation in 247 families with HCM, DCM, or LVNC.

Familial dilated cardiomyopathy and isolated left ventricular noncompaction associated with lamin A/C gene mutations.

LMNA mutations have been associated with familial or sporadic dilated cardiomyopathy (DC), with or without conduction system disease. We studied the LMNA gene in 67 consecutive patients with DC (18 had familial DC, 17 had possible familial DC, and 32 sporadic DC). From genomic DNA, coding regions of the LMNA gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction, studied by single-strand conformation polymorphism, and cycle sequenced.

[Familial dilated cardiomyopathy in patients transplanted for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy].

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence, clinical features, and pattern of inheritance of familial dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in heart transplant patients.

Patients And Method: Patients with idiopathic DCM who had undergone heart transplantation were invited to participate. Patients with alcohol abuse were excluded.

MRI of subendocardial perfusion deficits in isolated left ventricular noncompaction.

Ventricular noncompaction is a rare unclassified cardiomyopathy due to intrauterine arrest of compaction of the loose interwoven meshwork. It is characterized by markedly irregular endocardial surfaces with prominent trabeculations and intertrabecular recesses. Patients are asymptomatic or present with depressed ventricular function, ventricular arrhythmia, and systemic embolism.

Hemodynamic Comparison by Doppler Echocardiography of Valves in the Aortic Position: Value of the Continuity Equation to Assess Prosthetic Dysfunction.

In 281 patients, we used Doppler echocardiography to compare the hemodynamic performance of different aortic prosthetic valves at three postoperative stages and investigated the value of the continuity equation in diagnosing aortic prosthetic obstruction. A baseline study was performed in 163 patients, a 5 +/- 2-month follow-up study was performed in 103 patients, and a 15 +/- 5-month follow-up study was performed in 65 patients. From baseline to the second study, left ventricular diastolic diameter, heart rate, and maximum (MG) and mean Doppler-derived gradient (MeG) decreased significantly, and left ventricular shortening fraction, systolic blood pressure, stroke volume, and prosthetic valvular area (PVA) increased significantly.