Blood Culture-negative Endocarditis Caused by : Whipple's endocarditis.

Case Description: A 67-year-old man was admitted with progressive heart failure due to blood culture-negative endocarditis of the aortic valve. Urgent aortic valve replacement was needed. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of samples of the explanted aortic valve revealed .

Incidental congenital coronary artery vascular fistulas in adults: Evaluation with adenosine-N-ammonia PET-CT.

Aim: To assess the functionality of congenital coronary artery fistulas (CAFs) using adenosine stress N-ammonia positron emission tomography computed tomography (PET-CT).

Methods: Congenital CAFs were incidentally detected during coronary angiography (CAG) procedures in 11 adult patients (six males and five females) with a mean age of 64.3 years (range 41-81).

Unilateral and multilateral congenital coronary-pulmonary fistulas in adults: clinical presentation, diagnostic modalities, and management with a brief review of the literature.

Background: Congenital coronary-pulmonary fistulas (CPFs) are commonly unilateral, but bilateral and multilateral fistulas may occur. In multilateral CPFs, the value of a multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) imaging technique as an adjuvant to coronary angiography (CAG) is eminent. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical presentation, diagnostic modalities, and management of coincidentally detected congenital CPFs.

Coronary artery disease in congenital single coronary artery in adults: A Dutch case series.

Aim: To assess the current diagnostic and therapeutic management and the clinical implications of congenital single coronary artery (SCA) in adults.

Methods: We identified 15 patients with a SCA detected from four Dutch angiography centers in the period between 2010 and 2013. Symptomatic patients who underwent routine diagnostic coronary angiography (CAG) for suspected coronary artery disease and who incidentally were found to have isolated SCA were analyzed.

Exercise-induced left bundle branch block: an infrequent phenomenon: Report of two cases.

Exercise-induced left bundle branch block (EI-LBBB) is infrequent phenomenon. We present two patients with angina pectoris who developed EI-LBBB during exercise tolerance test. The first patient with typical angina pectoris had significant obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) requiring percutaneous coronary intervention of multiple lesions including placement of drug eluting stents.

Personalized prediction of lifetime benefits with statin therapy for asymptomatic individuals: a modeling study.

Background: Physicians need to inform asymptomatic individuals about personalized outcomes of statin therapy for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, current prediction models focus on short-term outcomes and ignore the competing risk of death due to other causes. We aimed to predict the potential lifetime benefits with statin therapy, taking into account competing risks.

Apparent and internal validity of a Monte Carlo-Markov model for cardiovascular disease in a cohort follow-up study.

Objective: To determine the apparent and internal validity of the Rotterdam Ischemic heart disease & Stroke Computer (RISC) model, a Monte Carlo-Markov model, designed to evaluate the impact of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and their modification on life expectancy (LE) and cardiovascular disease-free LE (DFLE) in a general population (hereinafter, these will be referred to together as (DF)LE).

Methods: The model is based on data from the Rotterdam Study, a cohort follow-up study of 6871 subjects aged 55 years and older who visited the research center for risk factor assessment at baseline (1990-1993) and completed a follow-up visit 7 years later (original cohort). The transition probabilities and risk factor trends used in the RISC model were based on data from 3501 subjects (the study cohort).

Estrogen receptor alpha gene polymorphisms and risk of myocardial infarction.

Context: The role of estrogens in ischemic heart disease (IHD) is uncertain. Evidence suggests that genetic variations in the estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) gene may influence IHD risk, but the role of common sequence variations in the ESR1 gene is unclear.

Objective: To determine whether the ESR1 haplotype created by the c.

C-reactive protein predicts progression of atherosclerosis measured at various sites in the arterial tree: the Rotterdam Study.

Unlabelled: Background and Purpose- C-reactive protein (CRP) predicts myocardial infarction and stroke. Its role as a predictor of the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis is not yet known. We investigated whether CRP predicts progression of atherosclerosis measured at various sites in the arterial tree.