Aims: Inflammatory lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] and oxidized phospholipids (OxPLs) on lipoproteins convey residual cardiovascular disease risk. The LoDoCo2 (low-dose colchicine 2) trial showed that colchicine reduced the risk for cardiovascular events occurring on standard therapies in patients with chronic coronary disease (CCS). We explored the effects of colchicine on Lp(a) and oxidized lipoprotein associated risk in a LoDoCo2 biomarker subpopulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMitral annular abscesses are rare and can be caused by infective endocarditis. We present the case of a patient with an infected mitral prosthesis, with multiple suspected periprosthetic abscesses. However, perioperative inspection showed a supra-annular implanted prosthesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent landmark trials showed that colchicine provides a substantial benefit in reducing major cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease. Yet, its exact mechanism of action is still poorly understood. This study aimed to unravel the effect of colchicine on monocyte and neutrophil phenotype and function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur Heart J Imaging Methods Pract
April 2024
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is the standard of care in aortic stenosis with results comparable to surgical aortic valve replacement. However, paravalvular regurgitation (PVR) is more common after TAVR. With the alteration of devices and implantation techniques, the incidence of moderate or more PVR has declined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur Heart J Imaging Methods Pract
January 2024
In 2023, cardiovascular imaging has made significant advancements, in terms of technology, pathophysiology, and clinical application. In this review, the most recent research findings in the field of cardiovascular imaging are discussed. Artificial intelligence and large population cohorts, together with several technical improvements, have had a crucial impact on the technological advancements of echocardiography, cardiovascular magnetic resonance, computed tomography (CT), and nuclear medicine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoronary atherosclerosis remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The underlying pathophysiology includes a complex interplay of endothelial dysfunction, lipid accumulation and inflammatory pathways. Multiple structural and inflammatory features of the atherosclerotic lesions have become targets to identify high-risk lesions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Accurate risk stratification identifying patients with hypertension at risk of future cardiovascular disease in primary care would be desirable.
Aim: To investigate the association between elevated brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) on an electrocardiogram (ECG), and LVH on an echocardiogram and the development of cardiovascular events (CVEs), especially heart failure and all-cause mortality (ACM), in a primary care population with hypertension without symptoms of heart failure.
Design And Setting: A prospective cohort study in five Dutch general practices between 2010-2012 and 2020.
Background: Thoracic radiotherapy may damage the myocardium and arteries, increasing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Women with a high local breast cancer (BC) recurrence risk may receive an additional radiation boost to the tumor bed.
Objective: We aimed to evaluate the CVD risk and specifically ischemic heart disease (IHD) in BC patients treated with a radiation boost, and investigated whether this was modified by age.
Aims: To compare the novel 2D multi-velocity encoding (venc) and 4D flow acquisitions with the standard 2D flow acquisition for the assessment of paravalvular regurgitation (PVR) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR)-derived regurgitant fraction (RF).
Methods And Results: In this prospective study, patients underwent CMR 1 month after TAVR for the assessment of PVR, for which 2D multi-venc and 4D flow were used, in addition to standard 2D flow. Scatterplots and Bland-Altman plots were used to assess correlation and visualize agreement between techniques.
Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging
April 2024
Aims: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by vasculopathy, inflammation, and fibrosis, and carries one of the worst prognoses if patients also develop pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Although PAH is a known prognosticator, patients with SSc-PAH demonstrate disproportionately high mortality, presumably due to cardiac involvement. In this cross-sectional study, the relationship between cardiac involvement revealed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) and systemic microvascular disease severity measured with nailfold capillaromicroscopy (NCM) in patients with SSc-PAH is evaluated and compared with patients with idiopathic PAH (IPAH).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death globally. Inflammation is an important driver of CVD where tissue damage may lead to the formation of deadly thrombi. Therefore, antithrombotic drugs, such as platelet inhibitors, are crucial for secondary risk prevention in coronary artery disease (CAD) and peripheral artery disease (PAD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Despite optimal treatment, patients with chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) are at high risk of cardiovascular events, emphasizing the need for new treatment options. The Low-Dose Colchicine 2 (LoDoCo2) trial demonstrated that colchicine reduces cardiovascular risk in patients with chronic CAD. This analysis determines the efficacy of colchicine in patients with chronic CAD and DM as well as the effect of colchicine on the development of new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn increasing number of patients develop an atherothrombotic myocardial infarction (MI) in the absence of standard modifiable risk factors (SMuRFs). Monocytes and macrophages regulate the development of atherosclerosis, and monocytes can adopt a long-term hyperinflammatory phenotype by epigenetic reprogramming, which can contribute to atherogenesis (called "trained immunity"). We assessed circulating monocyte phenotype and function and specific histone marks associated with trained immunity in SMuRFless patients with MI and matched healthy controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Myval balloon-expandable (BE) valve has shown encouraging early clinical data in terms of safety and efficacy. Comparative data with other well-established contemporary valves are nonetheless still scarce. This study aims to compare the performance of the Myval BE valve with the Evolut self-expanding (SE) valve.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Cardiovasc Imaging
June 2023
Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging
July 2023
Aims: Paravalvular regurgitation (PVR) is a common complication after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) that poses an increased risk of rehospitalization for heart failure and mortality. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of haemodynamic indices to predict relevant PVR.
Methods And Results: In this prospective single-centre clinical trial, four haemodynamic indices of PVR measured during TAVR were assessed for their correlation with gold standard cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR)-derived regurgitant fraction (CMR-RF) at 1 month follow-up: diastolic delta (DD), heart rate-adjusted diastolic delta (HR-DD), aortic regurgitation index (ARI), and aortic regurgitation index ratio (ARI ratio).
Background: Low-dose colchicine significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with chronic coronary disease. An increase of non-cardiovascular death raised concerns about its safety. This study reports cause-specific mortality and baseline predictors of mortality in the Low-Dose Colchicine 2 (LoDoCo2) trial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Cardiovasc Imaging
April 2023
Purpose: Acute myocardial ischaemia triggers a non-specific inflammatory response of remote myocardium through the increase of plasma concentrations of acute-phase proteins, which causes myocardial oedema. As ticagrelor has been shown to significantly decrease circulating levels of several pro-inflammatory cytokines in patients after acute myocardial infarction with ST-elevation (STEMI), we sought to investigate a potential suppressive effect of ticagrelor over prasugrel on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) T1 and T2 values in remote myocardium.
Methods: Ninety STEMI patients were prospectively included and randomised to receive either ticagrelor or prasugrel maintenance treatment after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention.
Background: Mitral annular disjunction is the atrial displacement of the mural mitral valve leaflet hinge point within the atrioventricular junction. Said to be associated with malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death, its prevalence in the general population is not known.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of occurrence and extent of mitral annular disjunction in a large population cohort.
Clin Drug Investig
November 2022
Background And Objective: The Low-Dose Colchicine-2 (LoDoCo2) trial showed that 2-4 years exposure to colchicine 0.5 mg once daily reduced the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with chronic coronary artery disease. The potential effect of years-long exposure to colchicine on renal or liver function and creatine kinase (CK) has not been systematically evaluated and was investigated in this LoDoCo2 substudy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Occurrence of psychological distress in hypertensive patients could have a negative synergistic effect on future cardiovascular events (CVEs). The aim of this study was to determine the association between anxiety or depressive symptoms in elderly hypertensive primary care patients and the development of new CVEs and all-cause mortality.
Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in five Dutch general practices between June 2010 and January 2012.
Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is the most common valvular disease in the developed world with currently no effective pharmacological treatment available. CAVD results from a complex, multifactorial process, in which valvular inflammation and fibro-calcific remodelling lead to valve thickening and cardiac outflow obstruction. The exact underlying pathophysiology of CAVD is still not fully understood, yet the development of CAVD shows many similarities with the pathophysiology of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), such as coronary artery disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study aimed to determine whether lower values of feature-tracking cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR)-derived left atrial reservoir strain (LARS) and impaired left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) were associated with the presence of symptoms and long-term prognosis in patients with SSc.
Methods: A total of 100 patients {54 [interquartile range (IQR) 46-64] years, 42% male} with SSc who underwent CMR imaging at two tertiary referral centres were included. All patients underwent analysis of LARS and LV GLS using feature-tracking on CMR and were followed-up for the occurrence of all-cause mortality.
Introduction: Right ventricular (RV) function is of particular importance in systemic sclerosis (SSc), since common SSc complications, such as interstitial lung disease and pulmonary hypertension may affect RV afterload. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is the gold standard for measuring RV function. CMR-derived RV and right atrial (RA) strain is a promising tool to detect subtle changes in RV function, and might have incremental value, however, prognostic data is lacking.
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