Transcatheter Bailout: An Important Option During Complex Aortic Surgery.

This report presents the case of a 66-year-old man with acute torrential aortic insufficiency after a Ross procedure 20 years earlier, a biologic aortic valve replacement 16 years earlier, and a transcatheter valve-in-valve 4 years earlier. He underwent third-time sternotomy, revealing that the pulmonary autograft was heavily calcified and frozen to the homograft. The previous transcatheter valve-in-valve was explanted.

Molecular convergence of risk variants for congenital heart defects leveraging a regulatory map of the human fetal heart.

Congenital heart defects (CHD) arise in part due to inherited genetic variants that alter genes and noncoding regulatory elements in the human genome. These variants are thought to act during fetal development to influence the formation of different heart structures. However, identifying the genes, pathways, and cell types that mediate these effects has been challenging due to the immense diversity of cell types involved in heart development as well as the superimposed complexities of interpreting noncoding sequences.

Temporal evolution of ascending aortic aneurysm wall stress predicts all-cause mortality.

Objectives: Diameter-based risk stratification for elective repair of ascending aortic aneurysm fails to prevent type A dissection in many patients. Aneurysm wall stresses may contribute to risk prediction; however, rates of wall stress change over time are poorly understood. Our objective was to examine aneurysm wall stress changes over 3-5 years and subsequent all-cause mortality.

Height and body surface area versus wall stress for stratification of mid-term outcomes in ascending aortic aneurysm.

Objectives: Current diameter-based guidelines for ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms (aTAA) do not consistently predict risk of dissection/rupture. ATAA wall stresses may enhance risk stratification independent of diameter. The relation of wall stresses and diameter indexed to height and body surface area (BSA) is unknown.