Background: CT- coronary calcium score, is one of the most studied and widely available modalities in cardiovascular medicine. Coronary artery calcium score (CACS) is an established predictor of coronary artery disease. The 'standard of care' diagnostic modality to measure CACS is ECG-gated Cardiac Multi-Detector Computed Tomography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been adopted to support patients with acute severe cardiac or pulmonary failure that is potentially reversible and unresponsive to conventional management. Mesenteric ischemia (MI) can present as a life-threatening complication in patients receiving veno-arterial echocardiogram (ECHO) support. Due to the nature and acuity of these conditions, determining adequate perfusion upon surgical intervention is challenging for the operating surgeon, especially in cardiogenic shock (CS) patients on ECMO support persenting low arterial pulsatility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is implemented as rescue therapy in COVID-19 related acute distress respiratory syndrome (ARDS) and refractory hypoxemia. Google Trends (GT) is an ongoing-developing web kit providing feedback on specific population's interests. This study uses GT to analyze the United States (US) general population interest in ECMO as COVD-19/ARDS salvage therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aim: Cardiogenic shock (CS) withholds a significantly high mortality rate between 40% and 60% despite advances in diagnosis and medical/surgical intervention. To date, machine learning (ML) is being implemented to integrate numerous data to optimize early diagnostic predictions and suggest clinical courses. This systematic review summarizes the area under the curve (AUC) receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) accuracy for the early prediction of CS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPercutaneous biventricular assist devices (BiVAD) are a recently developed treatment option for severe cardiogenic shock. This systematic review sought to identify indications and outcomes of patients placed on percutaneous BiVAD support. An electronic search was performed to identify all appropriate studies utilizing a percutaneous BiVAD configuration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) is a common adverse event after continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) implantation. We sought to evaluate patterns of GIB development and related outcomes in CF-LVAD recipients. An electronic search was performed to identify all articles related to GIB in the setting of CF-LVAD implantation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of patients undergoing SynCardia total artificial heart (TAH) and biventricular HeartWare ventricular assist device (Bi-HVAD) support for biventricular heart failure (HF).
Methods: Electronic search was performed to identify all relevant studies detailing patients who underwent biventricular assist device implantation using Bi-HVAD devices and those who underwent TAH placement for biventricular HF. Twelve studies including 512 patients in the TAH group versus 38 patients in the Bi-HVAD group were pooled for meta-analysis.
Background And Aim Of The Study: Ventricular septal defect (VSD) following myocardial infarction (MI) is a relatively infrequent complication with high mortality. We sought to investigate the effect of concomitant coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) on outcomes following post-MI VSD repair.
Methods: Electronic search was performed to identify all relevant studies published from 2000 to 2018.
Background: Left ventricular assist device (LVAD)-associated endocarditis remains poorly studied, especially in newer continuous-flow LVADs (CF-LVADs). The aim of this review was to assess outcomes of patients with LVAD-associated endocarditis, as stratified by CF-LVAD and pulsatile LVAD (P-LVAD) use as well as by different interventions and pathogen types.
Methods: An electronic search was performed to identify studies in the English literature on LVAD-associated endocarditis.
Infection remains the Achilles heel of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) therapy. However, an optimal antimicrobial surgical infection prophylaxis (SIP) regimen has not been established. This study evaluated the efficacy of a single-drug SIP compared to a multi-drug SIP on clinical outcomes in patients undergoing continuous-flow LVAD (CF-LVAD) and pulsatile LVAD (P-LVAD) implantation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Saphenous vein grafts (SVG) are a commonly used conduit for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and can be harvested by either an open or endoscopic technique. Our goal was to evaluate long-term angiographic and clinical outcomes of open compared to endoscopic SVG harvest for CABG.
Methods: Electronic search was performed to identify all studies in the English literature that compared open and endoscopic SVG harvesting for CABG with at least one year of follow-up.
Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) withdrawal with ventricular recovery represents the optimal outcome for patients previously implanted with an LVAD. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the patient outcomes of device withdrawal via minimally invasive pump decommissioning as compared with reoperation for pump explantation. An electronic search was performed to identify all studies in the English literature assessing LVAD withdrawal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the outcomes of concomitant mitral valve surgery for significant preexisting mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients undergoing continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) implantation. Electronic search was performed to identify all studies in the English literature examining concurrent mitral valve surgery in patients with CF-LVAD implantation. Identified articles were systematically assessed for inclusion and exclusion criteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Transplant coronary artery vasculopathy (TCAV) is the major cause of late allograft failure and death in heart transplant recipients. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the outcomes of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) as compared to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery in the management of TCAV. Our secondary objective was to compare the use and outcomes of drug eluting stents (DES) as compared to bare metal stents (BMS) in this patient population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Long-term efficacy of heart retransplantation (RTx) for end-stage cardiac allograft failure remains unclear given the limited worldwide experience and is an important question to elucidate given the shortage of donor organs. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the outcomes of RTx in patients with cardiac allograft failure.
Methods: Electronic search was performed to identify all studies in the English literature assessing RTx for cardiac allograft failure.