Predicting readmission for heart failure patients by echocardiographic assessment of elevated left atrial pressure.

Background: Pathophysiologically, an elevated left ventricular (LV) filling pressure is the major reason for heart failure (HF) readmission. The 2016 American Society of Echocardiography (ASE)/European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI) guidelines provide a simplified algorithm for the echocardiographic assessment of LV filling pressure; however, this algorithm is yet to be sufficiently validated.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively studied 139 consecutive patients with acute decompensated HF.

Critical anterior mediastinal hematoma without internal mammary artery injury caused by cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A case report.

Background: Massive anterior mediastinal hematoma due to chest compression during cardiopulmonary resuscitation is often caused by internal mammary artery injury. However, critical massive anterior mediastinal hematoma without damage to major blood vessels is extremely rare. We report a case of life-threatening anterior mediastinal hematoma without internal mammary artery injury during extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Rapidly progressive respiratory failure with multiple halo signs on computed tomography in a patient with primary cardiac angiosarcoma derived from the right atrium: a case report.

Background: Primary cardiac neoplasms are extremely rare, with an autopsy incidence of 0.0001-0.003%.

Prognostic factors for one-year mortality in patients with acute heart failure with and without chronic kidney disease: differential impact of beta-blocker and diuretic treatments.

The pathophysiology and treatment of acute decompensated heart failure (HF) in the presence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) remain ill defined. Here we compared the prognostic factors for 1-year mortality in patients with acute HF with and without CKD. We retrospectively studied 392 consecutive patients with acute decompensated HF.

Postprocedural Changes of Tricuspid Regurgitation After MitraClip Therapy for Mitral Regurgitation.

The effect of percutaneous mitral valve repair using the MitraClip system on tricuspid regurgitation (TR) has not been well investigated. We retrospectively analyzed 102 consecutive patients who underwent the successful MitraClip procedure, and who also had a preprocedural and 1-year follow-up transthoracic echocardiography. TR severity was graded by standard guideline-recommended criteria.

Considerations in cardio-oncology: Multiple mobile left-sided cardiac thrombi in chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy.

With advances in cancer chemotherapy, the importance of the new clinical discipline of cardio-oncology, which is concerned with the cardiac effects of chemotherapy, is increasing. Herein we describe the case of a 48-year-old woman with a history of breast cancer who presented with symptoms of heart failure due to chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy. Treatment for the patient's breast cancer had included surgery and chemotherapy with anthracyclines and trastuzumab.

Resolution of a warfarin and dabigatran-resistant left atrial appendage thrombus with apixaban.

The majority of embolisms associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) are from the left atrial appendage (LAA). To treat the existing thrombus, warfarin and novel anticoagulants have been used. However, there has been no clinical information regarding the difference of the effects of congealing the fibrinogenolysis system among these oral anticoagulants.

Evaluation of right atrial function using right atrial speckle tracking analysis in patients with pulmonary artery hypertension.

Background: In patients with pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH), right ventricular pressure overload eventually causes right heart failure (RHF), leading to a poor prognosis. Right atrial (RA) overload and RA dysfunction occur in patients with PAH-complicated RHF.

Objectives: We evaluated RA function using right atrial longitudinal strain (RALS) by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) and investigated the association between RALS and the severity of RHF in patients with pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) noninvasively.

Comparison of risk factors for acute worsening renal function in heart failure patients with and without preserved ejection fraction.

Objective: We compared the risk factors for acute worsening renal function (AWRF) in patients with acute decompensated heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) versus those with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Methods: We retrospectively studied 181 consecutive patients. AWRF was defined as a rise in serum creatinine of ≥0.

Comparison of the reliability of E/E' to estimate pulmonary capillary wedge pressure in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction versus those with reduced ejection fraction.

Accurate assessment of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) is essential for physicians to effectively manage patients with acute decompensated heart failure. The ratio of early transmittal velocity to tissue Doppler mitral annular early diastolic velocity (E/E') is used to estimate PCWP noninvasively in a wide range of cardiac patients. However, it remains contentious as to whether mitral E/E' is a reliable predictor of PCWP.

Successful Treatment of Severe Right-Sided Heart Failure Due to Postoperative Constrictive Pericarditis With Tolvaptan.

The prognosis of inoperative constrictive pericarditis is poor due to subsequent severe right-sided heart failure that is refractory to conventional medical treatment. This case report describes the long-term treatment with tolvaptan, a new selective vasopression V2-receptor antagonist, was remarkably effective for inoperative constrictive pericarditis. Despite that tolvaptan was approved for the treatment of hyponatremia in Europe and the United States, the indications and treatment duration of it are not yet well established clinically.

Usefulness of right ventricular tissue Doppler imaging for diagnosis of right ventricular myocardial infarction.

Background: Right ventricular myocardial infarction (RVMI) is a complication of acute inferior myocardial infarction and sometimes causes severe hemodynamic disturbance. It is therefore important to promptly detect RVMI and assess the severity of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) is a useful method to assess left ventricular function and RV function.

[Acute aortic dissection with left main coronary malperfusion treated with precedent stenting followed by a definitive surgery].

Coronary malperfusion due to acute aortic dissection (AAD) is a relatively rare, but fatal condition. We experienced a case of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with cardiogenic shock due to compression of the left main trunk (LMT) by a false lumen of an AAD. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to the LMT was firstly performed, followed by a definitive surgery under a stable hemodynamic condition.