Prosthesis-patient mismatch after transcatheter aortic valve replacement: prevalence and medium term prognostic impact.

Prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) occurs when the effective orifice area of the prosthesis is too small in relation to the patient's body surface area. There are few data available on the frequency and prognostic impact of PPM after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Our aim was to determine the prevalence of PPM and to investigate its association with medium-term clinical course of patients undergoing TAVI.

Criteria for the Management of Technological Assets in Cardiovascular Imaging.

Adequate, updated and functional technology is essential in cardiology. In Spain, the economic scenario has strongly impacted technology renewal programs and obsolescence is a growing problem. The current report attempts to describe the current situation and the conditions that must concur to update, replace or adopt new technologies in the field of cardiology.

Atrioventricular Conduction Changes After CoreValve Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

Introduction And Objectives: Conduction disturbances often occur after CoreValve transcatheter aortic valve implantation. The aim was to analyze which cardiac conduction changes occur in patients with aortic stenosis treated with this type of prosthesis.

Methods: A total of 181 patients with severe aortic stenosis treated with this prosthesis and studied by electrocardiography between April 2008 and December 2013 were selected.

Optical coherence tomography evaluation of late strut coverage patterns between first-generation drug-eluting stents and everolimus-eluting stent.

Objectives: To compare strut coverage patterns between everolimus-eluting stent (EES) and first-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) at more than 12 months after successful implantation, using optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Background: No sufficient OCT data has been reported comparing late strut coverage patterns between EES and first-generation DES. The favorable late results after EES implantation could be related to lower rates of uncovered and malapposed struts.

Usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography during implantation of the CoreValve percutaneous aortic prosthesis: influence of the learning curve.

Background And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography during the implantation of the CoreValve percutaneous aortic prosthesis and the influence of the learning curve in its indications.

Methods: From April 2008 to January 2010, 53 patients were treated for symptomatic severe aortic stenosis with a CoreValve percutaneous aortic prosthesis. Transesophageal echocardiography was performed during the procedure for two reasons: if a discrepancy between the measures of the aortic annulus arose before the implantation and to provide visualization if a complication occurred during the procedure.

Measurement of aortic valve annulus using different cardiac imaging techniques in transcatheter aortic valve implantation: agreement with finally implanted prosthesis size.

Aims: To compare the measurements of the aortic annulus obtained with various imaging techniques in patients with severe aortic stenosis scheduled for transcatheter aortic valve implantation, and to determine the grade of agreement between the predicted size of the prosthesis for each technique, and the size of the finally implanted valve.

Methods And Results: The aortic annulus was measured in 40 patients treated by transcatheter aortic valve implantation (CoreValve aortic valve) with transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), 64-slice tomography, and angiography. A large valve was implanted when annulus was >23 mm and a small one if it was ≤23 mm.

[Medical treatment of heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction].

Diastolic heart failure (i.e., heart failure with preserved systolic function) accounts for 30%-50% of all cases of heart failure.

[Clinical outcome and reversibility of systolic dysfunction in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy due to hypertension and chronic heart failure].

Introduction And Objectives: There is little information on the clinical and functional course of patients with heart failure secondary to dilated cardiomyopathy due to hypertension. The objectives of our study were to assess the clinical and functional course of these patients, and to identify possible predictors of prognosis.

Patients And Method: We evaluated a series of 49 patients with this condition diagnosed in our hospital from 1994 to 2003.

[Diagnosis and therapy for diastolic heart failure].

Diastolic heart failure (heart failure with preserved systolic function) causes 30% to 50% of all cases of heart failure, and its prognosis is almost as ominous as that of systolic heart failure. Currently, it is diagnosed when clinical criteria for heart failure are present and left ventricular ejection fraction is preserved (higher than 40% to 50%). However, determinations of brain natriuretic peptides may play an important role in the future.