Impact of intensive versus nonintensive antithrombotic treatment on device-related thrombus after left atrial appendage closure.

Introduction And Objectives: The optimal antithrombotic therapy (AT) after left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is debated. We assessed the impact of intensive vs nonintensive AT on the incidence of device-related thrombus (DRT) based on whether the device implantation was classified as optimal or suboptimal.

Methods: This study included patients who underwent successful LAAC in 9 centers.

Outcomes After Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement According to Regurgitation Etiology.

Background: Whether transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) devices perform similarly with respect to the underlying mitral regurgitation (MR) etiology remains unknown. The aim of the present analysis was to assess outcomes of TMVR according to the MR underlying etiology among the CHoice of OptImal transCatheter trEatment for Mitral Insufficiency (CHOICE-MI) registry.

Methods: Of 746 patients, 229 patients (30.

Impact of Device Implant Depth After Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion.

Background: Device-related thrombus (DRT) remains one of the main concerns after left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO). Several risk factors have been proposed, but most cannot be modulated. A modifiable factor such as device implantation depth is a potential target to adjust the risk for DRT.

Clinical outcomes of transcatheter mitral valve replacement: two-year results of the CHOICE-MI Registry.

Background: Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) using dedicated devices is an alternative therapy for high-risk patients with symptomatic mitral regurgitation (MR).

Aims: This study aimed to assess the 2-year outcomes and predictors of mortality in patients undergoing TMVR from the multicentre CHOICE-MI Registry.

Methods: The CHOICE-MI Registry included consecutive patients with symptomatic MR treated with 11 different dedicated TMVR devices at 31 international centres.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Patients With Reduced Ejection Fraction and Nonsevere Aortic Stenosis.

Background: The potential benefit of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in patients with nonsevere aortic stenosis (AS) and heart failure is controversial. This study aimed to assess outcomes of patients with nonsevere low-gradient AS (LGAS) and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction undergoing TAVR or medical management.

Methods: Patients undergoing TAVR for LGAS and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (<50%) were included in a multinational registry.

Transcatheter valvular therapies in patients with left ventricular assist devices.

Aortic, mitral and tricuspid valve regurgitation are commonly encountered in patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs). These valvular heart conditions either develop prior to CF-LVAD implantation or are induced by the pump itself. They can all have significant detrimental effects on patients' survival and quality of life.

Novel Humanized Biosimulator to Predict Coronary Obstruction in High-Risk Valve-in-Valve Procedures.

We developed humanized biosimulator to predict the risk of coronary obstruction among high-risk patients undergoing valve-in-valve (ViV) procedures. In this case, based on unchanged instantaneous wave-free ratio values measured during a ViV simulation session, the procedure was performed safely in the patient the day afterward, without coronary artery issues and with good hemodynamic results. ().

Procedural simplification of left atrial appendage occlusion using the VersaCross connect system: First in-human experience.

Background: Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) has emerged over the last two decades as an efficient and safe alternative to oral anticoagulation for stroke prevention. However, LAAO remains challenging due to the variety of anatomies and the multiple steps required to complete the procedure.

Aims: We report the first series of in-human experience of the new all-in-one VersaCross Connect system designed to access the left atrium in conjunction with the delivery sheath for deployment of the WATCHMAN FLX device.

A novel anatomic classification to guide transcatheter aortic valve replacement for pure aortic regurgitation.

Background: The success of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in native aortic regurgitation (AR) is limited by the absence of calcified anchoring structures. We sought to evaluate transfemoral TAVR in patients with native AR using a novel aortic root imaging classification.

Methods: From March to November 2021, 81 patients with severe AR were prospectively enrolled in 2 cardiac centers in China.

Growth differentiation factor-15 as a biomarker of atherosclerotic coronary plaque: Value in people living with and without HIV.

Background: Increased rates of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and larger subclinical high-risk coronary plaques in coronary CT angiography have been observed in people living with HIV (PLWH) treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) compared to HIV-uninfected people. Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is a cytokine emerging as an optimal marker for CVD in the general population.

Methods: We cross-sectionally analyzed plasma of 95 PLWH on ART and 52 controls.

The Fontan Circulation: From Ideal to Failing Hemodynamics and Drug Therapies for Optimization.

Fontan palliation results in a hemodynamically complex circulation with multisystem consequences, which in the long term adversely affect many body processes. Systemic venous hypertension, nonpulsatile low-shear pulmonary blood flow, and low cardiac output are the 3 main characteristics of a Fontan circulation, leading to unavoidable slowly progressive failure. An appreciation of how the hemodynamics of a Fontan circulation change with time and relate to the various modes of Fontan circulatory failure is important.

Redo-Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Strategies When the First Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Fails.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is the standard of care for patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis at high or prohibitive surgical risk. The 2020 valvular heart disease guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association now include TAVR as a class I indication for patients aged 65-80 years and not at high or prohibitive risk. The longer life expectancy of this patient population raises the issue of TAVR valve durability and the management of bioprosthetic valve failure of TAVR valves.

Bicuspid Aortic Valve Stenosis: From Pathophysiological Mechanism, Imaging Diagnosis, to Clinical Treatment Methods.

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most frequent congenital anomaly and has a natural evolution toward aortic regurgitation or stenosis due to the asymmetrical valve function associated with an evolutive ascending aortopathy. Several BAV classifications exist describing the presence and number of raphe, amount and location of calcium, and the symmetry of the functional cusps. The impact of BAV morphology on transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) outcomes still remains little investigated.

Implementing Machine Learning in Interventional Cardiology: The Benefits Are Worth the Trouble.

Driven by recent innovations and technological progress, the increasing quality and amount of biomedical data coupled with the advances in computing power allowed for much progress in artificial intelligence (AI) approaches for health and biomedical research. In interventional cardiology, the hope is for AI to provide automated analysis and deeper interpretation of data from electrocardiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and electronic health records, among others. Furthermore, high-performance predictive models supporting decision-making hold the potential to improve safety, diagnostic and prognostic prediction in patients undergoing interventional cardiology procedures.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation: All Transfemoral? Update on Peripheral Vascular Access and Closure.

Transfemoral access remains the most widely used peripheral vascular approach for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Despite technical improvement and reduction in delivery sheath diameters of all TAVI platforms, 10-20% of patients remain not eligible to transfemoral TAVI due to peripheral artery disease. In this review, we aim at presenting an update of recent data concerning transfemoral access and percutaneous closure devices.