Left ventricular global work index and prediction of cardiovascular mortality after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Introduction: Echocardiography is used for assessment of patients after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Global work index (GWI) integrates LV deformation throughout the cardiac cycle and LV afterload and may be advantageous for long-term follow-up.

Methods: We analysed 144 patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent TAVI and echocardiography within two weeks afterwards.

Three-dimensional Whole-Heart Cardiac MRI Sequence for Measuring Trabeculation in Left Ventricular Noncompaction.

Purpose: To compare three-dimensional (3D) whole-heart MRI with isotropic submillimeter resolution with standard two-dimensional (2D) cine MRI in measuring the bilayered myocardium in left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC).

Materials And Methods: Twenty-four patients with LVNC (mean age, 42 years ± 16 [SD]) were retrospectively enrolled between October 2011 and July 2020. Compacted myocardium (CM) and noncompacted myocardium (NCM) were measured in long axis (Petersen approach) and short axis (Jacquier approach) at 3D whole-heart and 2D cine MRI by two independent readers.

Biventricular Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy Associated with a Novel Heterozygous Early Truncating Variant.

Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a hereditary condition that can cause sudden cardiac death in young, frequently athletic individuals under the age of 35 due to malignant arrhythmias. Competitive and endurance exercise may hasten the onset and progression of ARVC, leading to right ventricular dysfunction and potentially fatal ventricular arrhythmias earlier in life. In this article, we present a novel, pathogenic, early truncating heterozygous variant in the gene that causes biventricular arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy and affects a family, of which the only member with the positive phenotype is a competitive endurance athlete.

When your patient clicks: a loud clicking sound as a key sign to the diagnosis.

A 19-year-old male patient was referred by his general practitioner with a new 'cardiac murmur'. For 1 week, he had been able to provoke a clicking sound, which was in time with his heart beat and originated from his chest. The physical examination and laboratory tests were normal.

Multiple changes of functional connectivity between sensorimotor areas in focal hand dystonia.

Background: Task-specific focal hand dystonia impairs the control of arm muscles during fine motor skills such as writing (writer's cramp (WC)). Functional imaging found abnormal task-related activation of sensorimotor areas in this disorder, but little is known on their functional connectivity (FC).

Methods: Resting-state fMRI and regions of interest (ROI)-voxel cross-correlation analyses were used for systematically analysing the FC between multiple ROIs within the cerebello-basal ganglia-thalamocortical network in 15 patients with right-sided WC and 15 healthy volunteers.

Risk factors for prolonged treatment and hospital readmission in 280 cases of negative-pressure wound therapy.

Background: There is evidence of certain beneficial effects and increasing understanding of the mechanisms of action of negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT). However, it is known that prolonged duration of NPWT is associated with increased bacterial growth and efforts should be made to decrease the duration of NPWT. It was the aim of this study to evaluate potential risk factors for the duration, from first application of NPWT to secondary wound closure and to identify factors that increase the rate of hospital readmission.

Therapy of acute and delayed spinal infections after spinal surgery treated with negative pressure wound therapy in adult patients.

We present the results of the treatment of infected primary or delayed spine wounds after spinal surgery using negative pressure wound therapy. In our institution (University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland) nine patients (three women and six men; mean age 68.6, range 43-87 years) were treated in the period between January to December 2011 for non-healing spinal wounds.