Computed Tomography in Infectious Endocarditis.

Imaging is one of the cornerstones in diagnosis and management of infective endocarditis, underlined by recent guidelines. Echocardiography is the first-line imaging technique, however, computed tomography (CT) has a class I recommendation in native and prosthetic valve endocarditis to detect valvular lesions in case of possible endocarditis and to detect paravalvular and periprosthetic complications in case of inconclusive echocardiography. Echocardiography has a higher diagnostic accuracy than CT in detecting valvular lesions, but not for diagnosing paravalvular lesions where CT is superior.

Exercise electrocardiography for pre-test assessment of the likelihood of coronary artery disease.

Objectives: To develop a tool including exercise electrocardiography (ExECG) for patient-specific clinical likelihood estimation of patients with suspected obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: An ExECG-weighted clinical likelihood (ExECG-CL) model was developed in a training cohort of patients with suspected obstructive CAD undergoing ExECG. Next, the ExECG-CL model was applied in a CAD validation cohort undergoing ExECG and clinically driven invasive coronary angiography and a prognosis validation cohort and compared with the risk factor-weighted clinical likelihood (RF-CL) model for obstructive CAD discrimination and prognostication, respectively.

The impact of the multidisciplinary Endocarditis Team on the management of infective endocarditis.

Background: In their latest guidelines for infective endocarditis (IE) (2015), the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) introduced the implementation of the Endocarditis Team (ET) to facilitate the management of IE. This study presents our experiences and the diagnostic and therapeutic impact of the ET on the management of IE.

Methods: From 2016-2020, data of all patients with suspected IE referred to the ET were prospectively collected.

Gender Differences in Patients With Stable Chest Pain.

This study sought to investigate gender differences in clinical presentation, presence, and extent of coronary artery disease (CAD), and all-cause mortality in patients with stable chest pain who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). Patients who visited the fast-track outpatient clinic of the Erasmus Medical Center and underwent CCTA were analyzed. Clinical characteristics of chest pain, CAD on CCTA, coronary artery calcium scores, and survival were collected retrospectively and compared between men and women.

Prognostic Value of Subclinical Coronary Artery Disease in Atrial Fibrillation Patients Identified by Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography.

Identifying coronary artery disease (CAD) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients improves risk stratification and defines clinical management. However, the value of screening for subclinical CAD with cardiac CT in AF patients is unknown. Between 2011 and 2015, 94 consecutive patients without known or suspected CAD (66 (57-73) years, 68% male), who were referred for AF evaluation, underwent a noncontrast-enhanced coronary calcium scan and a coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) at our center.