Echocardiographic features of left ventricular recess, cleft, diverticulum, and aneurysm: A systematic review.

A pouch protruding into the wall of the left ventricle (LV) may be either a recess, cleft, diverticulum, or aneurysm. Being aware of these anomalies is essential to make accurate diagnosis and guide management decisions. Standard multimodality imaging of the heart enables detailed characterizations of LV fissures and outpouchings.

COVID-19 and Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

Introduction: Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has recently and rapidly emerged and developed into a global pandemic. In SARS-CoV-2 patients with refractory respiratory failure, there may be a role for veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO) as a life-saving rescue intervention.

Methods: This review summarizes the evidence gathered until June 12, 2020; electronic databases were screened for pertinent reports on coronavirus and V-V ECMO.

Immunological and Hematological Response in COVID-19.

Introduction: Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has recently and rapidly emerged and developed into a global pandemic. Through the renin-angiotensin system, the virus may impact the lung circulation, but the expression on endothelium may conduct to its activation and further systemic damage. While precise mechanisms underlying these phenomena remain to be further clarified, the understanding of the disease, its clinical course, as well as its immunological and hematological implications is of paramount importance in this phase of the pandemic.

Incidence, Clinical Presentation, and Management of Myocarditis following mRNA-Based Covid-19 Vaccines: A Brief Report.

Background: Recent surveillance studies following nationwide mass vaccination are investigating rare complications such as myocarditis, pericarditis, and thromboembolic events related to mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines.

Summary: In the current report, we present an overview of the incidence, clinical presentation and management of post-mRNA vaccine myocarditis, and pericarditis in view of the currently available data. Our main focus is directed toward myocarditis.

A reappraisal of the sinus venosus defect.

Objectives: The phenotypic features and morphogenesis of the 'sinus venosus defect' remain controversial. The phenotypic features are anomalous systemic connections of 1 or more pulmonary veins that retain their left atrial connection, usually associated with a biatrial connection of the superior caval vein. Cases with these features, however, have not always been described as sinus venosus defects.

Sudden cardiac death in cardiomyopathies: acting upon "acceptable" risk in the personalized medicine era.

Patients with cardiomyopathies are confronted with the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) throughout their lifetime. Despite the fact that SCD is relatively rare, prognostic stratification is an integral part of physician-patient discussion, with the goal of risk modification and prevention. The current approach is based on a concept of "acceptable risk.

Unforeseen rupture of pseudoaneurysm of common carotid artery: An arduous anesthetic challenge.

Pseudoaneurysm of the common carotid artery (CCA) is exceptionally unstable and unpredictable; it mandates quick medical attention in order to circumvent neurologic sequelae or hemorrhage. Unanticipated rupture is extremely lethal and a potential provocation for the anesthesia caregiver. It is an arduous challenge for an anesthetist to establish emergency airway when a huge bleeding pseudoaneurysm is compressing and deviating the trachea, securing invasive lines in collapsing vessels, volume and vasopressor resuscitation in deteriorating hemodynamics in order to maintain cerebral perfusion without compromising other vital organs, arranging huge amount of blood and blood products in a short span of time, and transferring an exsanguinating patient for the rapid institution of cardiopulmonary bypass.

Evidence base for the management of women with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome.

According to the Global Burden of Disease study, in 2019, there were an estimated 275.2 million cases of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women worldwide. Although there was a decrease in the global age-standardised prevalence of CVD in women between 1990 and 2010 (-5.

Intraoperative Open Aortoscopy-A New Emerging Technique in Hybrid Aortic Arch Surgery.

Intraoperative open aortoscopy is a new emerging technique in hybrid aortic arch surgery using hybrid open stent grafts for frozen elephant trunk operation. It is performed on a detumescent open aortic arch during the period of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. It aids in operative planning and choice of open stent graft and confirms proper deployment and distal seal prior to resumption of circulation.

Ticagrelor Monotherapy After PCI in High-Risk Patients With Prior MI: A Prespecified TWILIGHT Substudy.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate if patients with prior myocardial infarction (MI) could benefit from ticagrelor monotherapy in terms of bleeding reduction without any compromise in ischemic event prevention.

Background: Patients with history of MI who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remain at risk for recurrent ischemic events. The optimal antithrombotic strategy for this cohort remains debated.

Association of Sexual Intercourse With Sudden Cardiac Death in Young Individuals in the United Kingdom.

This case series assesses the cardiac conditions associated with sudden deaths during or immediately after sexual intercourse.

1-Year Outcomes of Blinded Physiological Assessment of Residual Ischemia After Successful PCI: DEFINE PCI Trial.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) target value of instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) that would best discriminate clinical events at 1 year in the DEFINE PCI (Physiologic Assessment of Coronary Stenosis Following PCI) study.

Background: The impact of residual ischemia detected by iFR post-PCI on clinical and symptom-related outcomes is unknown.

Methods: Blinded iFR pull back was performed after successful stent implantation in 500 patients.

Cardiac device implantation and device usage in Fabry and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Fabry disease (FD) is a treatable X-linked condition leading to progressive cardiac disease, arrhythmia and premature death. We aimed to increase awareness of the arrhythmogenicity of Fabry cardiomyopathy, by comparing device usage in patients with Fabry cardiomyopathy and sarcomeric HCM. All Fabry patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implanted in the UK over a 17 year period were included.

Atrial fibrillation in Middle Eastern Arabs and South Asians: a scoping review.

Most of the published literature on Atrial fibrillation (AF) originates from the northern hemisphere and mainly involves Caucasian patients, with limited studies in certain ethnicities and races. This scoping review was conducted to collect and summarize the pertinent evidence from the published scientific literature on AF in South Asians and Middle Eastern Arabs. MEDLINE, Embase and CENTRAL databases were included in our search.

Psychological Distress Amongst Medical Laboratory Professionals Involved in COVID-19-Related Duties: A Nationally Stratified Cross-Sectional Survey, Ghana.

To assess the prevalence and factors associated with psychological distress (PD) and Medical Laboratory Professionals (MLPs) involvement in COVID-19-related duties. This study adopted an online cross-sectional, nationally stratified survey among 473 MLPs using Google Form with a designated link; Depression, anxiety, and stress scale-21 (DASS-21) was used to measure depression, anxiety, and stress (secondary outcome). We employed generalized Negative Binomial (NBR) and Poisson regression analytical approach to our study outcomes.

Feasibility of early waking cardiac arrest patients whilst receiving therapeutic hypothermia: The therapeutic hypothermia and early waking (THAW) trial.

Aim: To determine the safety and feasibility of an early (12 h) waking and extubation protocol for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients receiving targeted temperature management (TTM).

Methods: This was a single-centre, prospective, non-randomised, observational, safety and feasibility pilot study which included successfully resuscitated OHCA patients, of presumed cardiac cause. Inclusion criteria were: OHCA patients aged over 18 years with a return of spontaneous circulation, who were going to receive TTM33 (TTM at 33 °C for 24 h and prevention of hyperthermia for 72 h) as part of their post cardiac arrest care.

Duration of Dual Antiplatelet Therapy for Patients at High Bleeding Risk Undergoing PCI.

Background: The optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) among patients at high bleeding risk (HBR) is unknown.

Objectives: The purpose of this analysis was to compare 1 vs 3 months of DAPT in HBR patients undergoing drug-eluting stent implantation.

Methods: The XIENCE Short DAPT program comprised 3 prospective, multicenter, single-arm studies of HBR patients treated with a short DAPT course followed by aspirin monotherapy after PCI with a cobalt-chromium everolimus-eluting stent.

Comparison of preoperative trans-thoracic echocardiography with intraoperative findings in patients with congenital heart disease undergoing surgery: a prospective observational study.

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy and safety of trans-thoracic echocardiography alone for indicating surgery by correlating preoperative trans-thoracic echocardiography with intra-operative findings in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) in a low resource, low volume center.

Methodology: The pre-operative trans-thoracic echocardiography and intra-operative findings of two hundred and fifty patients with CHD, undergoing surgery at the National Cardiothoracic Centre (NCTC), Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, from 2012 to 2017 were prospectively compared. Included in this prospective study, were all patients with CHD who had trans-thoracic echocardiography alone at the NCTC.