Background: Miscarriage is a common experience, affecting 15% of recognized pregnancies, but societal ignorance and taboos often downplay the mental distress and personal impact following a miscarriage. Emerging stories on social media in which women express their miscarriage grief are breaking such taboos. Research in the area of online health communities is increasingly focused on studying how people share their health experiences on social media.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Trials comparing non-vitamin K oral anticoagulant (NOAC) versus antiplatelet-based strategies have shown a reduction of subclinical leaflet thrombosis at the cost of increased mortality and major-bleedings. NOACs were often combined with antiplatelet therapy.
Aims: The Rotterdam Edoxaban (REDOX) study aimed to evaluate the impact of edoxaban monotherapy on the incidence of hypo-attenuated leaflet thickening (HALT) and reduced leaflet motion (RLM) and to evaluate safety in terms of mortality, thromboembolic events and major bleeding.
New conduction disorders remain a frequent complication in current transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) era. Left bundle branch block (LBBB) occurs early in about 20-30 % of TAVR-patients, persists at 1 month in about 35-45 % of cases and will likely remain thereafter. Third-degree atrioventricular block (AV3B) affects approximately 15 % of patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) has emerged as a minimally invasive alternative to mitral valve surgery for patients at high or prohibitive operative risk. Prospective studies reported favourable outcomes in patients with annulus calcification (valve-in-mitral annulus calcification; ViMAC), failed annuloplasty ring (mitral valve-in-ring; MViR), and bioprosthetic mitral valve dysfunction (mitral valve-in-valve; MViV). Multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT)-derived 3D-modelling and simulations may provide complementary anatomical perspectives for TMVR planning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlternative splicing significantly enhances the diversity of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family, including the histamine H receptor (HR). This post-transcriptional modification generates multiple HR isoforms with potentially distinct pharmacological and physiological profiles. HR is primarily involved in the presynaptic inhibition of neurotransmitter release in the central nervous system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) serves a growing range of patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). TAVI has evolved to a streamlined procedure minimizing length of hospital stay.
Aims: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of an early discharge (ED) strategy after TAVI.
Introduction: Delays in the diagnosis and referral of aortic stenosis (AS) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have affected the haemodynamic status of AS patients. We aimed to compare clinical and haemodynamic characteristics of severe AS patients referred for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) or balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) before the pandemic versus two subsequent periods.
Methods: This study compared three 1‑year historical cohorts: a pre-COVID-19 group (PCOV), a 1st-year COVID-19 group (COV-Y1) and a 2nd-year COVID-19 group (COV-Y2).
Background: In the first report from the MitraBridge registry, MitraClip as a bridge to heart transplantation (HTx) proved to be at 1-year an effective treatment strategy for 119 patients with advanced heart failure (HF) who were potential candidates for HTx. We aimed to determine if benefits of MitraClip procedure as a bridge-to-transplant persist up to 2-years.
Methods: By the end of the enrollment period, a total of 153 advanced HF patients (median age 59 years, left ventricular ejection fraction 26.
Background Little is known about the impact of transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair on changes in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and the effect of an acute reduction in LVEF on prognosis. We aimed to assess changes in LVEF after transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair for both primary and secondary mitral regurgitation (PMR and SMR, respectively), identify rates and predictors of LVEF reduction, and estimate its impact on prognosis. Methods and Results In this international multicenter registry, patients with both PMR and SMR undergoing transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair were included.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Aortic valve calcification correlates with the severity of aortic valve stenosis and a high calcium score is associated with conduction disturbances and paravalvular leakage after transcatheter aortic valve replacement. The 3mensio Structural Heart is a semiautomated software package to facilitate aortic root analysis by multislice computed tomography.The aim of the contemporary study is to validate a semiautomated calcium quantification scoring tool with a conventional manual calcium quantification tool.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: 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.
Sex-specific thresholds of aortic valve calcification (AVC) correlate with aortic stenosis (AS) and may complement echocardiography to determine AS severity. Importantly, current guideline-recommended thresholds of AVC scores derived by multislice computed tomography do not distinguish between bicuspid and tricuspid aortic valves. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sex-specific differences in the amount of AVC in patients with severe AS and tricuspid (TAV) versus bicuspid (BAV) aortic valve morphologies, retrospectively evaluated by 2 tertiary care institutions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging
May 2023
Aims: To study sex-specific differences in the amount and distribution of aortic valve calcification (AVC) and to correlate the AVC load with paravalvular leakage (PVL) post-transcatheter aortic valve intervention (TAVI).
Methods And Results: This registry included 1801 patients undergoing TAVI with a Sapien3 or Evolut valve in two tertiary care institutions. Exclusion criteria encompassed prior aortic valve replacement, suboptimal multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) quality, and suboptimal transthoracic echocardiography images.
: Adolescent e-cigarette use has increased dramatically in recent years and is quickly becoming a serious public health issue. While studies have identified the influence of social norms on the use of traditional cigarettes, few have examined these factors in the context of e-cigarettes and other vaping devices. : The goal of this study was to examine social norms predictors of past 30-day e-cigarette use among high school students in 10 communities located in Minnesota.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTranscatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) has emerged as a minimally invasive alternative for treating patients suffering from mitral valve disease. The number of TMVR procedures is expected to rise as devices currently in clinical trials obtain approval for commercialization. Automating the planning of such interventions becomes, therefore, more relevant in an attempt to decrease inter-subject discrepancies and time spent in patient assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: New permanent pacemaker implantation (new-PPI) remains a compelling issue after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). Previous studies reported the relationship between a short MS length and the new-PPI post-TAVR with a self-expanding THV. However, this relationship has not been investigated in different currently available THV.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Multislice computed tomography (MSCT) may reveal hypo-attenuated leaflet thickening (HALT) and/or reduced leaflet motion (RELM) in approximately 15 % of patients after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). These supposedly thrombogenic phenomena may be associated with neurological events and increased transprosthetic gradients. It is unclear whether oral anticoagulant therapy -specifically a factor Xa inhibitor- could affect the incidence of HALT/RELM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is now an established treatment strategy for elderly patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) across the entire operative risk spectrum. Streamlined TAVR protocols along with reduced procedure time and expedited ambulation promote early hospital discharge. Selection of patients suitable for safe early discharge after TAVR might improve healthcare efficiency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Data on outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) using balloon-expandable valves (BEVs) or self-expandable valves (SEVs) as well as the impact of center valve preference on these outcomes are limited.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare outcomes of TAVR procedures using third-generation BEVs and SEVs stratified by center valve preference.
Methods: In a multicenter registry (n = 17), 13 centers exhibited valve preference (66.
Introduction: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has matured to the treatment of choice for most patients with aortic stenosis (AS). We sought to identify trends in patient and procedural characteristics, and clinical outcomes in all patients who underwent TAVI between 2005 and 2020.
Methods: A single-centre analysis was performed on 1500 consecutive patients who underwent TAVI, divided into three tertiles (T) of 500 patients treated between November 2005 and December 2014 (T1), January 2015 and May 2018 (T2) and June 2018 and April 2020 (T3).
Objectives: This study evaluated the incidence, management, and outcome of patients who experienced MitraClip (Abbott Vascular) failure secondary to loss of leaflet insertion (LLI), single leaflet detachment (SLD), or embolization.
Background: Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair with MitraClip is an established therapy for the treatment of mitral regurgitation (MR), but no data exist regarding the prevalence and outcome according to the mode of clip failure.
Methods: Between January 2009 and December 2020, we retrospectively screened 4,294 procedures of MitraClip performed in 19 centers.