Prognosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension patients with pericardial effusion before and after initiation of parenteral prostacyclin therapy.

Few studies have evaluated the effects of pulmonary arterial hypertension therapies on pericardial effusion. We evaluated hemodynamics, echocardiograms, and outcomes for 119 parenteral prostanoid-treated patients. We discovered an increased frequency of pericardial effusions posttreatment, and that a moderate-large pericardial effusion at initiation, but not at 1st follow-up, was significantly associated with mortality.

Covid-19, Lockdown and Self-Isolation: Evaluation of Deliberate Self-Harm Admissions.

COVID 19 is still presenting a clear and dynamic global threat. The United Kingdom remains one of the hardest hit countries from the pandemic. In January 2021 parliament announced that the UK will be entering a full national lockdown.

Alcohol Ablation of Extracardiac Thoracic Tumor.

This case illustrates a novel percutaneous treatment of a highly vascular thoracic tumor impinging on the left atrium and right pulmonary artery by delivery of coils and alcohol ablation via a circumflex coronary artery feeder branch. ().

Plaque modification of severely calcified coronary lesions via orbital atherectomy: Single-center observations from a complex Veterans Affairs cohort.

Background: Orbital atherectomy (OA) is a known alternative to other atherectomy devices. However, some complex patient demographics (eg, left ventricular ejection fraction <25%) were excluded from the first-in-human trial (ORBIT I) and the pivotal FDA device approval trial (ORBIT II) which evaluated the safety and efficacy of OA in severely calcified de novo coronary lesions. This single-operator cohort study aimed to examine the impact of OA on a real-world complex Veterans Affairs patient subset.

Left ventricular global longitudinal strain predicts mortality and heart failure admissions in African American patients.

Background: Several studies have demonstrated the importance of left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) as a reliable prognostic indicator in patients with heart failure (HF). These studies have included few African American (AA) patients, despite the growing prevalence and severity of HF in this patient population.

Hypothesis: LV GLS predicts long-term HF admission and all-cause mortality in AA patients with chronic HF on optimal guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT).

Downstream clinical consequences of stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance based on appropriate use criteria.

Background: Appropriate use criteria (AUC) have been developed by professional organizations as a response to the rising costs of imaging, with the goal of optimizing test-patient selection. Consequently, the AUC are now increasingly used by third-party-payers to assess reimbursement. However, these criteria were created by expert consensus and have not been systematically assessed for CMR.