Echocardiographic reference ranges for normal left ventricular 2D strain: results from the EACVI NORRE study.

Aims: To obtain the normal ranges for 2D echocardiographic (2DE) measurements of left ventricular (LV) strain from a large group of healthy volunteers accounting for age and gender.

Methods And Results: A total of 549 (mean age: 45.6 ± 13.

Prevalence of optimal valve morphology for MitraClip in patients with mitral regurgitation.

Aims: To evaluate how often patients with moderate-to-severe or severe mitral regurgitation (MR) meet the anatomical criteria for MitraClip implant and to examine the role of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) for this task.

Methods And Results: From February to June 2015, all patients undergoing a TTE in nine Spanish hospitals were prospectively included. Patients with moderate-to-severe and severe mitral regurgitation were selected for analysis.

Appropriateness criteria for the use of cardiovascular imaging in heart valve disease in adults: a European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging report of literature review and current practice.

Heart valve disease is common and a major indication for imaging. Echocardiography is the first-line imaging technique for diagnosis, assessment, and serial surveillance. However, other modalities, notably cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography, are used if echocardiographic imaging is suboptimal or to obtain complementary information, particularly to aid risk assessment in individual patients.

Current practice in identifying and treating cardiovascular risk, with a focus on residual risk associated with atherogenic dyslipidaemia.

A panel of European experts on lipids and cardiovascular disease discussed clinical approaches to managing cardiovascular risk in clinical practice, including residual cardiovascular risk associated with lipid abnormalities, such as atherogenic dyslipidaemia (AD). A simplified definition of AD was proposed to enhance understanding of this condition, its prevalence, and its impact on cardiovascular risk. Atherogenic dyslipidaemia can be defined by high fasting triglyceride levels (≥2.

Diabetes and male sex are key risk factor correlates of the extent of coronary artery calcification: A Euro-CCAD study.

Background And Aims: Although much has been written about the conventional cardiovascular risk factor correlates of the extent of coronary artery calcification (CAC), few studies have been carried out on symptomatic patients. This paper assesses the potential ability of risk factors to associate with an increasing CAC score.

Methods: From the European Calcific Coronary Artery Disease (Euro-CCAD) cohort, we retrospectively investigated 6309 symptomatic patients, 62% male, from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the USA.

Frequency, Mechanism and Severity of Mitral Regurgitation: Are There any Differences Between Primary and Secondary Mitral Regurgitation?

Background And Aim Of The Study: Although mitral regurgitation (MR) is a well-recognized prognosis factor, its true prevalence is probably underestimated and its etiology and mechanisms have not been sufficiently explored. The study aim was to evaluate the burden of MR, focusing attention on its frequency, severity, etiology, mechanism, and other associated conditions.

Methods: Between February and June 2015, a total of 39,855 consecutive echocardiographic studies was performed at nine tertiary hospitals, and were prospectively included in the study.

Lipid-lowering efficacy and safety of alirocumab in patients with or without diabetes: A sub-analysis of ODYSSEY COMBO II.

Aim: This sub-analysis of the ODYSSEY COMBO II study compared the effects of alirocumab, a proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor, in high cardiovascular risk patients with or without diabetes mellitus (DM) receiving maximally tolerated statin therapy.

Methods: COMBO II was a 104-week, double-blind study (n = 720) enrolling patients with documented atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and baseline LDL-C ≥70 mg/dL (1.8 mmol/L), and patients without documented ASCVD at high cardiovascular risk with LDL-C ≥100 mg/dL (2.

Tetrahydropyranodiquinolin-8-amines as new, non hepatotoxic, antioxidant, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors for Alzheimer's disease therapy.

Herein we report an efficient two step synthesis and biological assessment of 12 racemic tetrahydropyranodiquinolin-8-amines derivatives as antioxidant, cholinesterase inhibitors and non-hepatotoxic agents. Based on the results of the primary screening, we identified 7-(3-methoxyphenyl)-9,10,11,12-tetrahydro-7H-pyrano[2,3-b:5,6-h']diquinolin-8-amine (2h) as a particularly interesting non-hepatotoxic compound that shows moderate antioxidant activity (1.83 equiv Trolox in the ORAC assay), a non competitive inhibition of hAChE (IC = 0.

Frailty predicts major bleeding within 30days in elderly patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Objective: Bleeding in ACS patients is an independent marker of adverse outcomes. Its prognostic impact is even worse in elderly population. Current bleeding risk scores include chronological age but do not consider biologic vulnerability.

Gender and age effects on risk factor-based prediction of coronary artery calcium in symptomatic patients: A Euro-CCAD study.

Background And Aims: The influence of gender and age on risk factor prediction of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in symptomatic patients is unclear.

Methods: From the European Calcific Coronary Artery Disease (EURO-CCAD) cohort, we retrospectively investigated 6309 symptomatic patients, 62% male, from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and USA. All of them underwent risk factor assessment and CT scanning for CAC scoring.

Recommendations for the imaging assessment of prosthetic heart valves: a report from the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging endorsed by the Chinese Society of Echocardiography, the Inter-American Society of Echocardiography, and the Brazilian Department of Cardiovascular Imaging.

Prosthetic heart valve (PHV) dysfunction is rare but potentially life-threatening. Although often challenging, establishing the exact cause of PHV dysfunction is essential to determine the appropriate treatment strategy. In clinical practice, a comprehensive approach that integrates several parameters of valve morphology and function assessed with 2D/3D transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography is a key to appropriately detect and quantitate PHV dysfunction.

Potent anticholinesterasic and neuroprotective pyranotacrines as inhibitors of beta-amyloid aggregation, oxidative stress and tau-phosphorylation for Alzheimer's disease.

Herein we describe the synthesis and in vitro biological evaluation of thirteen new, racemic, diversely functionalized 2-chloroquinolin-3-yl substituted PyranoTacrines (PTs) as multipotent tacrine analogues for Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapy. Among these compounds, 1-(5-amino-4-(2-chloro-7-methoxyquinolin-3-yl)-2-methyl-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-4H-pyrano [2,3-b]quinolin-3-yl)éthanone (9) and ethyl 5-amino-4-(2-chloroquinolin-3-yl)-2-methyl-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-4H-pyrano[2,3-b]quinoline-3-carboxylate (4) were found to be non-neurotoxic agents in human neuroblastoma SHSY5Y cells. Compounds 9 (IC50 = 0.

Frailty is a short-term prognostic marker in acute coronary syndrome of elderly patients.

Background: Frailty is a biological condition that reflects a state of decreased physiological reserve and vulnerability to stressors. The role of frailty in acute coronary syndrome patients has not been fully explored. Our study aims to assess the prevalence of frailty and its impact on in-hospital adverse outcomes of patients aged ⩾75 years admitted for acute coronary syndrome.

Effect of Coronary Atherosclerosis and Myocardial Ischemia on Plasma Levels of High-Sensitivity Troponin T and NT-proBNP in Patients With Stable Angina.

Objective: Circulating levels of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) and N terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) are predictors of prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). We aimed at evaluating the effect of coronary atherosclerosis and myocardial ischemia on cardiac release of hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP in patients with suspected CAD.

Approach And Results: Hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP were measured in 378 patients (60.

3D echocardiographic reference ranges for normal left ventricular volumes and strain: results from the EACVI NORRE study.

Aim: To obtain the normal ranges for 3D echocardiography (3DE) measurement of left ventricular (LV) volumes, function, and strain from a large group of healthy volunteers.

Methods And Results: A total of 440 (mean age: 45 ± 13 years) out of the 734 healthy subjects enrolled at 22 collaborating institutions of the Normal Reference Ranges for Echocardiography (NORRE) study had good-quality 3DE data sets that have been analysed with a vendor-independent software package allowing homogeneous measurements regardless of the echocardiographic machine used to acquire the data sets. Upper limits of LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes were larger in men (97 and 42 mL/m2) than in women (82 and 35 mL/m2; P < 0.

A review of the evidence on reducing macrovascular risk in patients with atherogenic dyslipidaemia: A report from an expert consensus meeting on the role of fenofibrate-statin combination therapy.

A meeting of European experts in cardiovascular (CV) disease and lipids was convened in Paris, France, on 10 November 2014 to discuss lipid profile, and in particular atherogenic dyslipidaemia (AD), and associated CV risk. Key points that were raised and discussed during the meeting are summarised in this paper, which also accounts for further discussion and agreement on these points by the group of experts. Elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) are commonly associated with a greater CV risk than low LDL-c levels, and are routinely managed with statins.

Normal reference values of left ventricular strain using three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography: results from a multicentre study.

Aims: Three-dimensional (3D) speckle tracking echocardiography (3DSTE) has been shown to be an accurate and reliable clinical tool for the evaluation of global and regional left ventricular (LV) function through strain analysis, but the absence of normal values has precluded its widespread use in clinical practice. The aim of this prospective multicentre study was to establish normal reference values of LV strain parameters using 3DSTE in a large healthy population.

Methods And Results: A total of 303 healthy subjects (156 males [51%], between 18 and 82 years of age, ejection fraction [EF] 61 ± 3%), stratified to provide approximately equal proportions of healthy subjects of 18-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, and >60 years of age, underwent 3DSTE.

An intelligent architecture based on Field Programmable Gate Arrays designed to detect moving objects by using Principal Component Analysis.

This paper presents a complete implementation of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) algorithm in Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices applied to high rate background segmentation of images. The classical sequential execution of different parts of the PCA algorithm has been parallelized. This parallelization has led to the specific development and implementation in hardware of the different stages of PCA, such as computation of the correlation matrix, matrix diagonalization using the Jacobi method and subspace projections of images.

Phenylpropanoid glycosides from Scrophularia scorodonia: in vitro anti-inflammatory activity.

Five phenylpropanoid glycosides isolated from Scrophularia scorodonia L. (Scrophulariaceae), namely angoroside A (1), angoroside C (2), angoroside D (3), acteoside (4) and isoacteoside (5), had been evaluated as potential inhibitors of some macrophage functions involved in the inflammatory process. These compounds have been tested in two experimental systems: ionophore-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages and human platelets serve as source of COX-1 and 5-LOX, and mouse peritoneal macrophages stimulated with E.

Lignan and phenylpropanoid glycosides from Phillyrea latifolia and their in vitro anti-inflammatory activity.

Three phenylpropanoid glycosides (salidroside, syringin and coniferin) and one lignan (phillyrin) isolated from the leaves of Phillyrea latifolia L. (Oleaceae) were tested for interactions with the cyclo-oxygenase and 5-lipoxygenase pathways of arachidonate metabolism in calcium-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages and human platelets, and for their effects on cell viability. These compounds are capable of exerting inhibitory actions on enzymes of the arachidonate cascade.

In vitro anti-inflammatory activity of iridoids and triterpenoid compounds isolated from Phillyrea latifolia L.

Two iridoids, oleuropeoside and ligustroside, and two triterpenoid compounds, oleanolic acid and ursolic acid, have been isolated from the leaves of Phillyrea latifolia L. (Oleaceae). These compounds were tested for interactions with the cyclooxygenase (COX) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) pathways of arachidonate metabolism in calcium ionophore-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages and human platelets, and for their effect on cell viability.