Therapeutic progenitor cell application for tissue regeneration: Analyzing the impact of toll-like receptor signaling on c-kit cell migration following ischemia-reperfusion injury in vivo.

Objectives: Toll-like-receptor (TLR) mediated immune response has been shown to regulate myocardial damage following cardiac ischemia-reperfusion (IR). It has not been described conclusively so far whether migration of therapeutically applied progenitor cells following an IR event depends on TLR-signaling.

Methods: In vivo migratory capacity murine c-kit cells following IR injury was quantified by intravital fluorescence microscopy, utilizing the mouse cremaster muscle model and analyzing early (rolling) and late (adhesion) c-kit cell interaction with the local endothelium.

Percutaneous Dual-valve Intervention in a High-risk Patient with Severe Aortic and Mitral Stenosis.

Aortic stenosis is the most frequent and mitral stenosis is the least frequent native single-sided valve disease in Europe. Patients with the combination of severe symptomatic degenerative aortic and mitral stenosis are very rare. Guidelines for the treatment of heart valve diseases are clear for single-valve situations.

Streptococcus bovis infectious endocarditis and occult gastrointestinal neoplasia: experience with 25 consecutive patients treated surgically.

To assess the prevalence of gastrointestinal neoplasia in patients with Streptococcus bovis infectious endocarditis we performed a retrospective cohort analysis of all episodes of S. bovis infectious endocarditis treated at our institution between January 2000 through December 2014. Twenty-five patients were identified for this purpose.

Complete infarct-related artery revascularization in acute myocardial infarction patients. CORAMI Registry.

Introduction: There are still limited data on the occurrence of multiple stenotic lesions within the infarct-related artery (IRA) in acute myocardial infarction (MI), and there is no consensus on the optimal treatment of this patient subgroup, which varies between centers and operators.

Aim: To analyse the clinical efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) strategy of culprit lesion only in patients with myocardial infarction.

Material And Methods: Patients with acute MI with the presence of at least two significant lesions in the IRA - (1) the target culprit lesion which required immediate stenting (> 50-100% stenosis) and (2) a second distal critical lesion (70-90%) - were included in the registry.

(Tissue PET) Vascular metabolic imaging and peripheral plasma biomarkers in the evolution of chronic aortic dissections.

Aims: Despite adequate medical management, dissection of the descending aorta (type B) may develop complications, including aneurysmal progression and eventually rupture. Partial false lumen thrombosis has been identified as a marker of adverse evolution in chronic dissection. The aim of this study was to test the ability of complementary information, provided by (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and peripheral biomarkers, to add pathophysiological significance and a prognostic value to morphological data.

Resting heart rate and risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes in asymptomatic aortic stenosis: the SEAS study.

Background: An elevated resting heart rate (RHR) may be an early sign of cardiac failure, but its prognostic value during watchful waiting in asymptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) is largely unknown.

Methods: RHR was determined by annual ECGs in the Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis (SEAS) study of asymptomatic mild-to-moderate AS patients. Primary endpoint in this substudy was major cardiovascular events (MCEs) and secondary outcomes its individual components.

Usefulness of the electrocardiogram in predicting cardiovascular mortality in asymptomatic adults with aortic stenosis (from the Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis Study).

Hypertension and coronary heart disease are common in aortic stenosis (AS) and may impair prognosis for similar AS severity. Different changes in the electrocardiogram may be reflective of the separate impacts of AS, hypertension, and coronary heart disease, which could lead to enhanced risk stratification in AS. The aim of this study was therefore to examine if combining prognostically relevant electrocardiographic (ECG) findings improves prediction of cardiovascular mortality in asymptomatic AS.

Renal sympathetic denervation in patients with aortic dissection.

Background: We report on feasibility, safety, and mid-term outcomes of renal sympathetic denervation (RSD) in hypertensive patients after endovascular treatment for aortic dissection.

Methods: Six patients were subjected to RSD after receiving endovascular treatment for complicated aortic dissection. Between April 2011 and May 2012, RSD procedure was applied for persistent hypertension despite maximized antihypertensive drug therapy using the Symplicity® catheter system.

Asymptomatic blood cyst of the papillary muscle in an adult undergoing coronary bypass surgery.

Blood-filled cysts of larger size attached to the heart valves represent a very rare finding in adults. We report here a case of a blood-filled cyst attached to the papillary muscle, demonstrating the importance of multimodal preoperative diagnostic imaging combining both echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Bilateral tension pneumothoraces leading to cardiac arrest after coronary artery bypass surgery.

Bilateral pneumothoraces are a very rare event. In clinical settings, inadvertent incursion into the pleural space resulting from diagnostic or therapeutic medical interventions such as bilateral venipunctures or damage to the lung parenchyma due to high pressure ventilation may be causative. Bilateral pneumothoraces postcardiac surgery are rarely reported.

Transient ischaemic attack due to the lead of an implantable defibrillator in the left heart.

A frequently underdiagnosed complication of pacemaker and implantable cardioverter defibrillator lead implantation is the unintentional advancement of the leads into the systemic circulation. We report a case encountered in our clinic in a 70-year old man evaluated in a neighbouring clinic with symptoms of transient ischaemic attack with initially unclear aetiology. Posterior-anterior chest X-rays suggested that the lead was in the left heart.

Bartonella quintana endocarditis of the tricuspid and mitral valves.

Bartonella quintana is a gram-negative microorganism that can lead to culture-negative infective endocarditis (IE) in immunocompromised patients. Here, we present an exceptionally rare case of a 70-year-old male with Bartonella quintana-associated IE primarily limited to the tricuspid valve that spread to the mitral valve after tricuspid valve replacement. This was then complicated by infective spondylodiscitis of the thoracic vertebrae, ultimately resulting in death due to cardiac arrest.