Evaluating the Clinical Utility of Left Ventricular Strains in Severe AS: A Pilot Study with Feature-Tracking Cardiac Magnetic Resonance.

Aortic valve stenosis (AS) is the most common degenerative valvular heart disease, significantly impacting the outcome. Current guidelines recommend valve replacement only for symptomatic patients, but advanced cardiovascular imaging, particularly cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), may refine these recommendations. Feature-tracking CMR (FT-CMR) effectively assesses left ventricular (LV) strain and shows promise in predicting major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), though data on AS are limited.

Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Liver Disease in Patients Undergoing Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography.

In this single-center cross-sectional study on patients undergoing coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA), we assessed the prognostic significance of metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), metabolic syndrome (MetS), and CCTA-derived parameters for predicting major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Over a mean follow-up of 26.9 months, 2038 patients were analyzed, with 361 (17.

Evaluation and implications of mitral regurgitation using cMRI in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Objective: Mitral regurgitation (MR) represents an important feature in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) due to left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction and mitral valve systolic anterior motion (SAM). Mitral valve anatomical variants associated with HCM also contribute to the severity of MR. The aim of this study is to evaluate MR severity and its correlation with different parameters in patients with HCM using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI).

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy and Left Atrial Remodeling: A Novel Insight?

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) restores ventricular dyssynchrony, improving left ventricle (LV) systolic function, symptoms, and outcome in patients with heart failure, systolic dysfunction, and prolonged QRS interval. The left atrium (LA) plays tremendous roles in maintaining cardiac function, being often inflicted in various cardiovascular diseases. LA remodeling implies structural-dilation, functional-altered phasic functions, and strain and electrical-atrial fibrillation remodeling.

Parkinson's disease and cardiovascular involvement: Edifying insights (Review).

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative illnesses, and is a major healthcare burden with prodigious consequences on life-quality, morbidity, and survival. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality worldwide and growing evidence frequently reports their co-existence with PD. Cardiac dysautonomia due to autonomic nervous system malfunction is the most prevalent type of cardiovascular manifestation in these patients, comprising orthostatic and postprandial hypotension, along with supine and postural hypertension.

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: A Comprehensive Review.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an inherited primary myocardial disease characterized by asymmetrical/symmetrical left ventricle (LV) hypertrophy, with or without LV outflow tract (LVOT) dynamic obstruction, and poor prognosis. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has emerged as a minimally invasive tool for patients with heart failure (HF) with decreased LV ejection fraction (LVEF) and prolonged QRS duration of over 120 ms with or without left bundle branch block (LBBB). Several HCM patients are at risk of developing LBBB because of disease progression or secondary to septal myomectomy, while others might develop HF with decreased LVEF, alleged end-stage/dilated HCM, especially those with thin myofilament mutations.

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Appraising Myocardial Strain and Biomechanics: A Current Overview.

Subclinical alterations in myocardial structure and function occur early during the natural disease course. In contrast, clinically overt signs and symptoms occur during late phases, being associated with worse outcomes. Identification of such subclinical changes is critical for timely diagnosis and accurate management.

Left atrial geometric and functional remodeling parameters measured by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and outcome prediction in patients with severe aortic stenosis.

Background: Emerging studies are beginning to describe the role of afflicted left atrium (LA) function and strain in cardiovascular diseases including aortic stenosis (AS), especially for risk stratification and outcome prediction. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is becoming increasingly useful in determining LA parameters; however, in patients with AS, this approach has not been applied yet.

Aims: This study sought to evaluate the role of CMR in characterizing LA geometry and function in patients with severe AS.

Characterization of left atrial geometry and function in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging study.

Objective: Left atrial (LA) remodelling is an interesting pathological aspect in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) which has not been yet fully understood. Also, a comprehensive evaluation of LA alterations in HCM is still lacking. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) can precisely characterize LA function and structure.

The Role of Circulating Collagen Turnover Biomarkers and Late Gadolinium Enhancement in Patients with Non-Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Myocardial scarring is a primary pathogenetic process in nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM) that is responsible for progressive cardiac remodeling and heart failure, severely impacting the survival of these patients. Although several collagen turnover biomarkers have been associated with myocardial fibrosis, their clinical utility is still limited. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) determined by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has become a feasible method to detect myocardial replacement fibrosis.

Left Atrial Geometry and Phasic Function Determined by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Are Independent Predictors for Outcome in Non-Ischaemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Left atrial (LA) geometry and phasic functions are frequently impaired in non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM). Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) can accurately measure LA function and geometry parameters. We sought to investigate their prognostic role in patients with NIDCM.

Advanced cardiovascular multimodal imaging and aortic stenosis.

Aortic valve stenosis has become the most common valvular heart disease on account of aging population and increasing life expectancy. Echocardiography is the primary diagnosis tool for this, but it still has many flaws. Therefore, advanced cardiovascular multimodal imaging techniques are continuously being developed in order to overcome these limitations.

Predictive ability of coronary computed tomography angiography parameters in patients suspected of obstructive coronary artery disease: a single-center cross-sectional study.

Objective: Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is becoming increasingly useful for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD). Coronary calcium score (CCS), epicardial fat volume (EFV), and number of coronary plaques (NoP) add important information for the risk stratification and prognosis prediction of these patients. However, evidence about their ability to predict obstructive CAD is limited.

Current advances in cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in systemic sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by inflammation, fibroproliferative vasculopathy, and progressive fibrosis. Cardiac involvement is common in SSc and may affect the myocardium, pericardium, heart valves, conduction system, as well as coronary arteries. However, it remains asymptomatic for a long time, which leads to delayed diagnosis and poor prognosis.

Cardiotoxicity in HER2-positive breast cancer patients.

Due to the recent advances in diagnosis and management of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, especially through novel HER2-targeted agents, cardiotoxicity becomes an emerging problem. Although chemotherapy significantly increases survival, the risk of cardiovascular disease development is high and still underestimated and could imply treatment discontinuation. Frequently, due to lack of rigorous diagnosis strategies, cardiotoxicity assessment is delayed, and, moreover, the efficacy of current therapy options in restoring heart function is questionable.

Aging influences pulmonary artery flow and stiffness in healthy individuals: non-invasive assessment using cardiac MRI.

Aim: To investigate age-related changes of the pulmonary artery (PA) using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) in healthy subjects.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on apparently healthy subjects who underwent PA velocity-encoded cMRI. cMRI was used to determine PA stiffness parameters such as PA elasticity, relative area change (PA-RAC) and pulse-wave velocity (PA-PWV), and PA flow parameters by subtracting simultaneous forward flow (FF) and backward flow (BF) velocity across the PA cross-section.

Left Ventricular Geometry and Replacement Fibrosis Detected by cMRI Are Associated with Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Nonischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

To investigate the relationship between left ventricular (LV) long-axis strain (LAS) and LV sphericity index (LVSI) and outcomes in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM) and myocardial replacement fibrosis confirmed by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI), we conducted a prospective study on 178 patients (48 ± 14.4 years; 25.2% women) with first NIDCM diagnosis.

Non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy and cardiac fibrosis.

Cardiac fibrosis is associated with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, increasing its morbidity and mortality. Cardiac fibroblast is the keystone of fibrogenesis, being activated by numerous cellular and humoral factors. Macrophages, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, mast cells, and endothelial cells stimulate fibrogenesis directly by activating cardiac fibroblasts and indirectly by synthetizing various profibrotic molecules.

Role of pentraxin-3 in risk assessment of patients with metabolic syndrome.

Background: Inflammation plays a major role in the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its progression. Recent studies have shown that pentraxin-3 (PTX-3), osteoprogerin (OPG), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) are key factors in MetS pathophysiology, but evidence for endorsing their clinical use is currently unclear and insufficient.

Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the association between the inflammatory biomarkers' levels and the severity of MetS.

Pentraxin-3 and endothelial dysfunction.

Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is involved in vascular inflammation and endothelial dysfunction through various mechanisms. Until now, most studies confirmed an important link between PTX3 and endothelial dysfunction and identified several pathogenetic pathways. PTX3 modulates inflammatory cells, thus stimulating vascular inflammation.