Publications by authors named "T Massardo"
Article Synopsis
- - The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted cardiovascular testing in Latin America (LATAM), with a study finding a 21% decrease in procedure volumes from pre-pandemic levels in April 2021, contrasting with zero change in the rest of the world.
- - Central America and Mexico experienced the largest reductions in procedures (47%), while healthcare centers in LATAM reported more staff layoffs and salary cuts than those in other regions.
- - The study highlighted the lasting effects of the pandemic on cardiovascular care and emphasized the need for mental health support for healthcare workers in LATAM, as nearly 50% reported excessive psychological stress.
Article Synopsis
- Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death in Latin America and the Caribbean, with men being slightly more at risk than women, and COVID-19 has negatively impacted cardiac diagnostics in the region.
- The availability of nuclear cardiology differs across LAC, with Argentina and Brazil having the most scanning technologies, including SPECT and PET, and advancements like CZT gamma cameras being introduced.
- Challenges to developing nuclear cardiology include high costs, maintenance issues, lack of training for healthcare professionals, and the need for collaboration among specialists to enhance the use of imaging modalities.
Introduction: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent condition which has a well-known association with ischemic cardiomyopathy, probably explained by an inflammatory mediator mechanism. Statins, besides reducing cholesterol production, have pleiotropic effects including anti-inflammatory activity. The goal was to evaluate the effect of statins as an addition to standard therapy on mood status, brain perfusion, and neurocognitive performance in MDD.
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- - The study aimed to assess cardiac mechanical synchrony using phase standard deviation (PSD) in patients who showed significant improvement, termed super-responders, after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) using gated MPI SPECT imaging.
- - Out of 158 subjects, 34 patients (22%) were identified as super-responders, demonstrating lower PSD values six months post-CRT compared to non-super-responders, indicating improved synchrony.
- - Key clinical characteristics linked to being a super-responder included not having a history of coronary artery disease (CAD) or diabetes, and having hypertension at baseline, highlighting important factors for predicting CRT success.
Background: Gated myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (GMPS) phase analysis is an important tool to investigate the physiology of left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony. We aimed to test the performance of GMPS LV function and phase analysis in different clinical settings and on a diverse population.
Methods: This is a post hoc analysis of a prospective, non-randomized, multinational, multicenter cohort study.