Splanchnic Nerve Block for Chronic Heart Failure.

Objectives: We hypothesized that splanchnic nerve blockade (SNB) would attenuate increased exercise-induced cardiac filling pressures in patients with chronic HF.

Background: Chronic heart failure (HF) is characterized by limited exercise capacity driven in part by an excessive elevation of cardiac filling pressures.

Methods: This is a prospective, open-label, single-arm interventional study in chronic HF patients.

Valve-in-Ring Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement After Left Ventricular Assist Device Therapy.

Aortic regurgitation after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is a well-described problem that decreases the clinical effectiveness of LVAD therapy and may eventually prompt consideration of aortic valve replacement once the regurgitation becomes severe. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement is an attractive, less invasive option compared with surgical aortic valve replacement in these patients. We report a valve-in-ring transcatheter aortic valve replacement for a patient with severe aortic regurgitation associated with LVAD destination therapy.

Association of Renin-Angiotensin Inhibitor Treatment With Mortality and Heart Failure Readmission in Patients With Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Importance: Data are lacking on the effect of a renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitor prescribed after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Treatment with a RAS inhibitor may reverse left ventricular remodeling and improve function.

Objective: To investigate the association of prescription of a RAS inhibitor and outcomes after TAVR.

Asymptomatic Severe Aortic Valve Stenosis-When to Intervene: a Review of the Literature, Current Trials, and Guidelines.

Purpose Of Review: The optimal treatment for asymptomatic patients with severe aortic valve stenosis (AS) is not clearly known. Here, we review the available data on the management of such patients.

Recent Findings: Half of patients with severe AS are asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis, and are at risk for adverse events, including sudden cardiac death.

Challenges in Aortic Valve Stenosis: Low-Flow States Diagnosis, Management, and a Review of the Current Literature.

Purpose Of Review: We will describe and define the current diagnosis, management, and potential therapy for low-flow aortic stenosis (AS) states, as well as summarize the available evidence underlying these recommendations.

Recent Findings: Low-flow aortic stenosis syndromes have worse prognoses than traditionally defined normal flow severe aortic stenosis. In this setting, aortic valve replacement is the only therapy that improves outcomes.

Platypnea-Orthodeoxia Syndrome: To Shunt or Not to Shunt, That is the Question.

Platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome is a rare disease defined by dyspnea and deoxygenation, induced by an upright position, and relieved by recumbency. Causes include shunting through a patent foramen ovale and pulmonary arteriovenous malformations. A 79-year-old woman experienced 2 syncopal episodes at rest and presented at another hospital.

Resolution of severe hemolysis and paravalvular aortic regurgitation employing an Amplatzer Vascular Plug 4: the importance of detailed pre-procedural planning using CT angiography.

A 76-year-old woman presented with progressive heart failure and transfusion-dependent hemolytic anemia due to severe paravalvular aortic regurgitation 4 years after bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement. She was deemed not to be a candidate for redo cardiac surgery due to a porcelain aorta and multiple comorbid medical conditions. We describe the role of pre-procedure contrast-enhanced, ECG-gated computed tomographic angiography to characterize the anatomy of the paravalvular leak connection for appropriate occluder device selection leading to successful percutaneous closure and resolution of the paravalvular regurgitation and hemolytic anemia.

Comparison of aortic annulus size by transesophageal echocardiography and computed tomography angiography with direct surgical measurement.

This study sought to compare the accuracy of 2-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and computed tomography angiography (CTA) for noninvasive aortic annular sizing as required for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Direct intraoperative (OR) sizing is the gold standard for aortic annular measurement in surgical aortic valve replacement. Unlike surgical aortic valve replacement, TAVI requires noninvasive assessment of aortic annular dimensions for determining the size of prosthesis to be implanted and controversy exists regarding the best imaging technique for TAVI sizing.

Assessment of single-bolus contrast administration technique using hybrid dual-source ECG-gated thoracic and dual-source non-ECG-gated high-pitch abdominopelvic CT acquisitions for procedural planning before transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess vascular contrast opacification and homogeneity using single-bolus contrast administration with hybrid thoracic and abdominopelvic computed tomographic angiography in patients with severe aortic valve stenosis.

Materials And Methods: Combination electrocardiogram-gated thoracic and dual-source, high-pitch abdominopelvic computed tomographic angiography examinations of 50 patients with severe aortic stenosis between December 2013 and March 2014 were reviewed. Contrast administration was individualized to patient-specific physiology.

Treatment of mechanical aortic valve thrombosis with heparin and eptifibatide.

A 75-year old woman with a history of coronary disease status post 3-vessel coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) 8 years ago and a repeat one-vessel CABG 2 years ago in the setting of aortic valve replacement with a #19 mm St. Jude bileaflet mechanical valve for severe aortic stenosis presented with two to three weeks of progressive dyspnea and increasing substernal chest discomfort. Echocardiography revealed a gradient to 31 mmHg across her aortic valve, increased from a baseline of 13 mmHg five months previously.

Aortic subannular left ventricular aneurysm: a rare and surgically correctable cause of angina.

Aortic subannular left ventricular aneurysm is a rare form of cardiac pathology. We report a case, including noninvasive and intraoperative imaging, of this entity in a young woman presenting with angina. The patient underwent successful surgical repair and is now asymptomatic.

Thrombolytic therapy for thrombosis of continuous flow ventricular assist devices.

Background: Despite chronic systemic anticoagulation, advanced heart failure patients treated with a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) remain at risk for pump thrombosis. Pump thrombosis may initially be suspected in the setting of clinical and biochemical evidence for intravascular hemolysis, putatively related to shear stress on red blood cells propelled through a partially occluded pump. Limited data exist to guide management in these patients.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement: an update.

Aortic stenosis affects many people worldwide with a significant impact on morbidity and mortality with uncorrected, symptomatic aortic valve stenosis carrying mortality of 50% at one year. Degenerative calcific pathology, the most common cause of aortic stenosis, increases in prevalence with age; estimated prevalence of 5% in individuals over 75 years of age. Despite the malignant prognosis without valve replacement, many patients are not offered surgery due to advanced age and co-existing medical conditions; reported to be a third of symptomatic patients.

Invasive hemodynamic evaluation in patients with mechanical aortic valves.

Invasive hemodynamic evaluation in the patient with a mechanical aortic valve has in the past required transseptal or apical left ventricular puncture in order to obtain left ventricular pressure measurements. Over the last few years, several case reports have described the feasibility of using a coronary pressure-sensing guidewire to cross mechanical prosthetic aortic valves. In the current manuscript, we report four cases in which the use of a pressure-sensing guidewire was utilized for invasive hemodynamic diagnostic evaluation in patients with mechanical aortic valves.

Infective endocarditis: a comprehensive overview.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is an infection of a heart valve or other cardiac structure at a site of endothelial damage. The definition has been also expanded to include infected cardiac devices. A variety of organ systems may be adversely affected in patients with IE.

Coronary arteriovenous fistulae: the complexity of coronary artery-to-coronary sinus connections.

Coronary artery fistulae are a rare cardiovascular anomaly. Even less common are multiple fistulae involving more than 1 coronary artery. Herein we report the case of a 47-year-old woman who had fistulae from both the right coronary and left circumflex coronary arteries draining into the coronary sinus.

Management of patients with bicuspid aortic valve disease.

Our approach to the management of the patient with a bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) takes several factors into consideration. First, is the dysfunction of the valve due to aortic stenosis (AS), aortic regurgitation (AR), or a combination of stenosis and regurgitation, and what is the severity? Next, is there aortic dilation in any of the regions (sinuses of Valsalva, sinotubular junction, tubular ascending aorta, or transverse arch) discussed in this article. In general, we follow patients with a BAV and moderate valve dysfunction (AS or AR) with yearly surveillance transthoracic echocardiography for left ventricular function, jet velocity, gradient, and valve area with AS, whereas left ventricular (LV) function and LV dimensions are monitored for patients with AR.

Comparison of the frequency of coronary artery disease in alcohol-related versus non-alcohol-related endstage liver disease.

There are conflicting data as to the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) being assessed for liver transplantation (LT). The aims of this study were to compare the prevalence of CAD in patients with alcohol-related versus non-alcohol-related ESLD and to assess the diagnostic utility of dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) in predicting angiographically important CAD. Consecutive patients with ESLD being assessed for LT (n = 420, mean age 56 ± 8 years) were identified and divided into groups of those with alcohol-related ESLD (n = 125) and non-alcohol-related ESLD (n = 295).