An uncommon and challenging finding regarding the tricuspid valve: case report, clinical considerations, and practical management.

Background: The differential diagnosis of tricuspid masses remains challenging.

Case Summary: This case involves the incidental detection of a lesion with a non-solid appearance, exhibiting the characteristic 'finger-in-glove' and 'garland-like' morphology, resembling a blind-ended protrusion of the tricuspid leaflet. This presentation is consistent with a tricuspid valve aneurysm, without significant associated stenosis or regurgitation.

Moderate aortic stenosis in the dysfunctional ventricle: should it be treated?

Moderate aortic stenosis is associated with a worse prognosis than milder degrees. Pathophysiologically, this condition in a dysfunctional ventricle could lead to a further mechanism of haemodynamic worsening, so its treatment should lead to clinical advantages for the patient. The low risk of complications associated with percutaneous correction of aortic valve disease (transcatheter aortic valve implantation) should also be considered, which would seem to favour an interventional approach even in the aforementioned condition.

The Therapy and Management of Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: New Insights on Treatment.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a clinical syndrome characterised by the presence of diastolic dysfunction and elevated left ventricular filling pressure, in the setting of a left ventricular ejection fraction of at least 50%. Despite the epidemiological prevalence of HFpEF, a prompt diagnosis is challenging and many uncertainties exist. HFpEF is characterised by different phenotypes driven by various cardiac and non-cardiac comorbidities.

Corrigendum to: In pursuit of balance: RAASi and hyperkalemia treatment.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/eurheartjsupp/suad053.].

Heart Failure Preserved Ejection Fraction in Women: Insights Learned from Imaging.

While the prevalence of heart failure, in general, is similar in men and women, women experience a higher rate of HFpEF compared to HFrEF. Cardiovascular risk factors, parity, estrogen levels, cardiac physiology, and altered response to the immune system may be at the root of this difference. Studies have found that in response to increasing age and hypertension, women experience more concentric left ventricle remodeling, more ventricular and arterial stiffness, and less ventricular dilation compared to men, which predisposes women to developing more diastolic dysfunction.

In pursuit of balance: renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors and hyperkalaemia treatment.

Hyperkalaemia is a life-threatening condition leading to significant morbidity and mortality. It is common in heart failure (HF) patients due to the disease itself, which often co-exists with chronic kidney disease and diabetes mellitus, the fluctuations in renal function, and the use of some drugs [i.e.

Heart failure therapy: the fifth card.

The 2021 European Society of Cardiology guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure (HF) have abandoned the sequential approach for optimal drug therapy and propose four drug classes (enzyme inhibitors conversion agents, angiotensin receptor antagonists, beta-blockers, and sodium-glucose cotransporter inhibitors 2) to be initiated and titrated in all patients with an ejection fraction <35%. This new approach offers advantages such as rapid introduction and titration, better tolerability, and early instrumental re-evaluation. In the VICTORIA study, the molecule vericiguat, a soluble guanylate cyclase activator, was shown to reduce the composite outcome of death from cardiovascular causes and first hospitalization for HF in a high-risk population.

An Uncommon Case of Spontaneous Hemopericardium in a Patient Treated with Rivaroxaban.

We describe a case of an 88-year-old woman with a severe bluntly ematic pericardial effusion. Radiological and laboratory examinations excluded all the most common causes of hemopericardium, and the diagnosis of spontaneous hemopericardium associated with the treatment with rivaroxaban was made. This is the first case report describing a hemopericardium in a patient treated with rivaroxaban who did not take other herbal products or drugs that may significantly increase rivaroxaban blood levels.

Effect of Carvedilol, Ivabradine or their combination on exercise capacity in patients with Heart Failure (the CARVIVA HF trial).

Aim: Patients with heart failure (HF) have reduced exercise capacity. The beneficial effect of beta-blocker on prognosis is not matched by an impact on exercise capacity and quality of life. We performed a randomised open blinded endpoint study to assess the effect of heart rate reduction with carvedilol, ivabradine, and their combination on exercise capacity in HF patients receiving maximal dose of ACE inhibitor.

Effects of telmisartan added to Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors on mortality and morbidity in hemodialysis patients with chronic heart failure a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Objectives: the aim of this study was to determine whether telmisartan decreases all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in hemodialysis patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and impaired left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) when added to standard therapies with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.

Background: in hemodialysis patients, CHF is responsible for a high mortality rate, but presently very few data are available with regard to this population.

Methods: A 3-year randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial was performed involving 30 Italian clinics.

Heart rate as independent prognostic factor for mortality in normotensive hemodialysed patients.

Background: Several epidemiological studies have reported heart rate (HR) as a predictor of cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality in the general population. Aim of the present study was to investigate a possible relation between increased HR and mortality in normotensive end-stage renal disease (ERSD) patients.

Methods: Between 1997 and 2001 we recruited 407 normotensive ESRD patients (mean age 56.

Risk factors and underlying cardiovascular diseases in incident ESRD patients.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in dialysis patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and of CVD on admission to hemodialysis.

Methods: Data were collected in 31 Italian clinics belonging to a clinic network using a prospective database (EuCliD), the main purpose of which is the support of quality assurance.

Carvedilol increases two-year survivalin dialysis patients with dilated cardiomyopathy: a prospective, placebo-controlled trial.

Objectives: We sought to evaluate the effects of carvedilol on mortality and morbidity in dialysis patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Several lines of evidence support the concept that therapy with beta-blocking agents reduces morbidity and mortality in patients with congestive heart failure (HF), but the demonstration of such a survival benefit in dialysis patients with dilated cardiomyopathy is still lacking.

Methods: A total of 114 dialysis patients with dilated cardiomyopathy were randomized to receive either carvedilol or placebo in addition to standard therapy.

Sustained-release diltiazem reduces myocardial ischemic episodes in end-stage renal disease: a double-blind, randomized, crossover, placebo-controlled trial.

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis and suffering from coronary artery disease (CAD) often receive doses of calcium channel antagonists that are too low. This may be the result of physician's desire to avoid adverse side effects during hemodialysis. The aim of this study was the assessment of the safety and efficacy of incremental doses of diltiazem for the treatment of myocardial ischemia in ERSD patients with CAD to identify the optimal dose of the drug.

Pulsed Doppler tissue imaging in dystrophinopathic cardiomyopathy.

Cardiac dysfunction is a primary feature in patients and female carriers of Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). Conventional echocardiography and pulsed Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) were performed in 28 patients with BMD, in 20 female carriers, and in 38 control participants (20 men and 18 women). Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was lower in BMD patients (P <.