Right ventricular performance in patients with heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction: the forgotten ventricle.

Right ventricular (RV) function is a major determinant of prognosis and adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF). It is largely unknown if HF with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF) patients have some special characteristics in RV function (RVF) that may distinguish them from HF with reduced or preserved ejection fraction (HFrEF or HFpEF) patients. Standard echocardiography was performed to estimate RVF [tricuspid annular systolic velocity (TDSV), plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), TAPSE to pulmonary artery systolic pressure (TAPSE/PASP) and RV myocardial performance index (MPI-TEI index)] in a cross-sectional study.

Ticagrelor versus clopidogrel in patients with STEMI treated with thrombolysis: the MIRTOS trial.

Aims: We aimed to demonstrate whether coronary microvascular function is improved after ticagrelor administration compared to clopidogrel administration in STEMI subjects undergoing thrombolysis.

Methods And Results: MIRTOS is a multicentre study of ticagrelor versus clopidogrel in STEMI subjects treated with fibrinolysis. We enrolled 335 patients <75 years old with STEMI eligible for thrombolysis, of whom 167 were randomised to receive clopidogrel and 168 to receive ticagrelor together with thrombolysis.

Right Ventricular Function and Sexual Function: Exploring Shadows in Male and Female Patients With Heart Failure.

Introduction: Sexual health plays an important role in heart failure (HF) patients, and the relationship between HF and sexual dysfunction is well established; however, the role of right ventricular function in sexual dysfunction has not been investigated sufficiently.

Aim: To investigate the potential association between right ventricular dysfunction and sexual dysfunction in both male and female patients with HF.

Methods: Patients with a clinical diagnosis of HF were evaluated in a cross-sectional study.

Treating Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction Related to Arterial Stiffness. Can we Kill Two Birds With One Stone?

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Arterial hypertension (AH), arterial stiffness (AS), older age, and female gender are the main determinants of HFpEF, but several cardiac or extra-cardiac pathologies are also possible causes. The combined ventricular-vascular stiffening (abnormal left atrium-left ventricle coupling related to AS) is the main contributor of the increased prevalence of HFpEF in elderly persons, particularly elderly women, and in younger persons with AH.