Publications by authors named "Silvio Vera-Vera"

Through these clinical cases, we present a new protocol of action, updated with the latest evidence on percutaneous pulmonary thrombectomy using dedicated catheters, for high-risk PE in pregnant women or during the early postpartum period.

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  • Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) is effective for treating calcified coronary lesions in patients with stable coronary disease, as shown in a study involving 426 patients across 26 centers in Spain.
  • The study found that IVL was successfully delivered in 99% of cases, achieving procedural success in 66% of patients and similar outcomes for both acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) groups.
  • The safety analysis showed a relatively low rate of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) at 30 days, with 3% overall (1% for CCS and 5% for ACS), indicating that IVL is both safe and effective in real-life clinical settings.
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In the 20th century, research focused on cholesterol and lipoproteins as the key mechanism in establishing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Given that some studies demonstrated subclinical atherosclerosis in subjects without conventional cardiovascular risk factors, the elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels alone cannot account for the entire burden of atherosclerosis. Hence, large-scale clinical trials demonstrated the operation of immune and inflammatory pathways in ASCVD.

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There has been suggestion that vitamin D may play a role in protection against severe infection with COVID-19, defined as the need of intensive care unit admission. In this article a potential mechanism involving angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is proposed.

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Coronary fistulas are not common in patients undergo coronary angiography. It is described, even less frequently, that coronary fistulas may be associated with giant aneurysms along their course. These cases classically are treated surgically.

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Introduction And Importance: Various artifacts mimicked aortic dissection, such as streak artifacts generated by high-attenuation material, high-contrast interfaces, cardiac motion, periaortic structures, aortic wall motion, and normal aortic sinuses, have been described in the literature. Most artifacts that simulate ascending aortic dissection occur frequently on conventional CT. Their position is predictable and is related to systolic aortic motion.

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Background: Since the last century, the electrocardiogram (ECG) remains the non-invasive test, that is, most easily accessible, feasible, and inexpensive for cardiology assessment. In past years, many novel ECG indexes and patterns have been published that allow for a more advanced evaluation of what is currently being done, especially based on subtle QRS changes and patterns.

Objective: The objective of the study was to provide an update on the evidence and clinical applications of these ECG subtle QRS changes and patterns associated with heart disease.

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  • The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) exists in two forms: a membrane-bound protein and a soluble version created through shedding, which can be measured in plasma.
  • ACE2 plays a significant role in heart health and is a predictor of mortality; it's also crucial for SARS-CoV-2 virus entry, suggesting its shedding could influence viral infection control.
  • Factors like pro-inflammatory cytokines enhance ACE2 shedding, and research indicates that vitamin D may help improve outcomes in COVID-19 by further promoting ACE2 shedding.
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Introduction And Objectives: Aortic self-expandable (SE) transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) devices are particularly useful for patients with aortic stenosis and small/tortuous vessels, small aortic annuli, or low coronary ostia. However, it is unclear whether the growing range of SE devices shows comparable hemodynamic and clinical outcomes. We aimed to determine the differential hemodynamic (residual valve area and regurgitation) and clinical outcomes of these devices in comparable scenarios.

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