Süleymanoğlu, Muhammed; Rencüzoğulları, İbrahim; Karabağ, Yavuz; Çağdaş, Metin; Yesin, Mahmut; Gümüşdağ, Ayça; Çap, Murat; Gök, Murat; Yıldız, İbrahim
Cure, Erkan; Cumhur Cure, Medine
doi: 10.1007/s10554-020-01781-0pmid: 32067176
We read with great pleasure the interesting study evaluating “The relationship between atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and no-reflow in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention” by Süleymanoğlu M et al. The most important problem in the study was that they miscalculated their patients' AIP values. As a result of this miscalculation, all patients seemed to be at high cardiac risk. When calculating AIP, the unit of both triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels should be taken in mmol. In calculating the AIP value, Süleymanoğlu et al. used the units as mg/dl and found the median values as 0.50 (patients with noreflow, high cardiac risk) and 0.39 (patients without noreflow, high cardiac risk), respectively. When we calculate the estimated AIP by converting units to mmol, it is 0.15 (patients with noreflow, intermediate cardiac risk) and 0.03 (patients with noreflow, low cardiac risk), respectively. Interestingly, their patients' cholesterol levels such as total cholesterol, TG, low-density lipoprotein, and HDL were very lower than those of healthy individuals in their country. We believe that the authors should explain this situation.
Tian, Jingdu; Liu, Chuan; Yang, Yuanqi; Yu, Shiyong; Yang, Jie; Zhang, Jihang; Ding, Xiaohan; Zhang, Chen; Rao, Rongsheng; Zhao, Xiaohui; Huang, Lan
doi: 10.1007/s10554-020-01769-wpmid: 31953650
High-altitude (HA) exposure has been widely considered as a cardiac stress, and associated with altered cardiac function. However, the characteristics of cardiac responses to HA exposure are unclear. In total, 240 healthy men were enrolled and ascended to 4100 m by bus within 7 days. Standard echocardiography and color tissue Doppler imaging were performed at sea level and at 4100 m. In all subjects, HA exposure increased HR [65 (59, 71) vs. 72 (63, 80) beats/min, p < 0.001] but decreased the stroke volume index (SVi) [35.5 (30.5, 42.3) vs. 32.9 (27.4, 39.5) ml/m2, p < 0.001], leading to an unchanged cardiac index (CI). Moreover, baseline HR was negatively correlated with HA exposure-induced changes in HR (r = − 0.410, p < 0.001) and CI (r = − 0.314, p < 0.001). Following HA exposure, subjects with lowest tertile of baseline HR showed an increased HR [56 (53, 58) vs. 65 (58, 73) beats/min, p < 0.001], left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) [61.7 (56.5, 68.0) vs. 66.1 (60.7, 71.5) %, p = 0.004] and mitral S′ velocity [5.8 ± 1.4 vs. 6.5 ± 1.9 cm/s, p = 0.040]. However, subjects with highest tertile of baseline HR showed an unchanged HR, LVEF and mitral S′ velocity, but a decreased E′ velocity [9.2 ± 2.0 vs. 8.4 ± 1.8 cm/s, p = 0.003]. Our findings indicate that baseline HR at sea level could determine cardiac responses to HA exposure; these responses were characterized by enhanced LV function in subjects with a low baseline HR and by reduced LV myocardial velocity in early diastole in subjects with a high baseline HR.
Ledwoch, Jakob; Fellner, Carmen; Hoppmann, Petra; Thalmann, Ruth; Kossmann, Hans; Dommasch, Michael; Dirschinger, Ralf; Stundl, Anja; Laugwitz, Karl-Ludwig; Kupatt, Christian
doi: 10.1007/s10554-020-01771-2pmid:
doi: 10.1007/s10554-020-01782-zpmid: 32078095
Ledwoch and colleagues demonstrated in their article entitled “Impact of transcatheter mitral valve repair using MitraClip on right ventricular remodeling” that right ventricular function improved in most of the patients following MitraClip implantation whereas 20% of them experienced worsening of right ventricular function which associated with worse prognosis, despite the latter cohort achieved comparable improvement in the mitral regurgitation. Given most of the latter cohort had atrial fibrillation, aggressive catheter ablation to improve atrial fibrillation before or after MitraClip implantation might reverse left atrial function as well as improving biventricular function and long-term prognosis.
Zagatina, Angela; Zhuravskaya, Nadezhda; Shmatov, Dmitry; Ciampi, Quirino; Carpeggiani, Clara; Picano, Eugenio; ,
doi: 10.1007/s10554-020-01789-6pmid: 32036487
Current guidelines recommend the use of exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) in patients with unexplained dyspnoea. SE was recently reshaped with the ABCDE protocol: A for asynergy, B for B-lines (4-site simplified scan), C for contractile reserve based on force, D for Doppler-based coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) in left anterior descending coronary artery; and E for EKG-based heart rate reserve (HRR, defined as peak/rest HR < 1.62). Aim of the study was to define the ESE response in patients with dyspnoea as the main symptom. From the initial population of patients referred in 2018 in a single center for semi-supine ESE, we selected two groups (without history of previous myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization) on the basis of the main presenting symptom: dyspnoea (Group 1, n = 100, 62 men, 63 ± 10 years) or chest pain (Group 2, n = 100, 58 men, age 61 ± 8 years). All underwent ESE with ABCDE protocol. Success rate was 100% for steps A, B, C, E, and 88% for step D. Positivity for A criterion occurred in 56 patients of Group 1 and 24 of Group 2 (p < 0.0001). B-lines positivity (stress > rest for ≥ 2 points) occurred in 40 patients of Group 1 and 28 of Group 2 (p = 0.07). LVCR positivity (< 2.0) occurred in 60 patients of Group 1 and 42 of Group 2 (p < 0.05). A reduced CFVR occurred in 56 of Group 1 and 22 of Group 2 (p < 0.0001). A blunted HRR was present in 44 patients of Group 1 and 22 of Group 2 (p < 0.001). In conclusion, in patients with unexplained dyspnoea, SE with ABCDE protocol is useful to document the cardiac origin of dyspnoea with a comprehensive assessment focused not only on ischemia (A) but also pulmonary congestion (B), myocardial scar or necrosis (C), coronary microvascular dysfunction (D) or chronotropic incompetence (E).
Leitman, Marina; Efrati, Shai; Fuchs, Shmuel; Hadanny, Amir; Vered, Zvi
doi: 10.1007/s10554-020-01773-0pmid: 31953651
Hyperbaric oxygenation therapy is successfully implemented for the treatment of several disorders. Data on the effect of hyperbaric oxygenation on echocardiographic parameters in asymptomatic patients is limited. The current study sought to evaluate the effect of hyperbaric oxygenation therapy on echocardiographic parameters in asymptomatic patients. Thirty-one consecutive patients underwent a 60-sessions course of hyperbaric oxygenation therapy in an attempt to improve cognitive impairment. In all subjects, echocardiography examination was performed before and after a course of hyperbaric oxygenation therapy. Conventional and speckle tracking imaging parameters were calculated and analyzed. The mean age was 70 ± 9.5 years, 28 [90%] were males. History of coronary artery disease was present in 12 [39%]. 94% suffered from hypertension, 42% had diabetes mellitus. Baseline wall motion abnormalities were found in eight patients, however, global ejection fraction was within normal limits. During the study, ejection fraction [EF], increased from 60.71 ± 6.02 to 62.29 ± 5.19%, p = 0.02. Left ventricular end systolic volume [LVESV], decreased from 38.08 ± 13.30 to 35.39 ± 13.32 ml, p = 0.01. Myocardial performance index [MPi] improved, from 0.29 ± 0.07 to 0.26 ± 0.08, p = 0.03. Left ventricular [LV] global longitudinal strain increased from − 19.31 ± 3.17% to − 20.16 ± 3.34%, p = 0.036 due to improvement in regional strain in the apical and antero-septal segments. Twist increased from 18.32 ± 6.61° to 23.12 ± 6.35° p = 0.01, due to improvement in the apical rotation, from 11.76 ± 4.40° to 16.10 ± 5.56°, p = 0.004. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy appears to improve left ventricular function, especially in the apical segments, and is associated with better cardiac performance. If our results are confirmed in further studies, HBOT can be used in many patients with heart failure and systolic dysfunction.
Bi, Liangliang; Zhang, Huaxing; Han, Ruoling; Chen, Wei; Zhao, Na
doi: 10.1007/s10554-020-01777-wpmid: 32034566
This study compared the potential ability of multinomial echocardiographic parameters in early detection, prediction and combined diagnosis of antineoplastic-related cardiotoxicity. Male Balb/c mice were repeatedly administered with low doses of epirubicin (6 × 3 mg/kg; n = 20) to induce cardiac injury or with placebo as control (n = 10). Conventional and strain parameters as well as myocardial performance index (MPI) were analyzed at baseline, 1 day after the second, fourth and sixth cycle, and 12 days after completion of chemotherapy (as follow-up) by a high-resolution rodent ultrasound machine. After the experiment, serum cTnI levels were measured, and myocardial injury was evaluated by histological analyses. Thirteen mice developed cardiotoxicity after epirubicin exposure. Global longitudinal (GLS), radial strain (GRS) and longitudinal strain rate (LSR) were markedly decreased (all P ≤ 0.01) and MPI was increased (P ≤ 0.05) at the completion of treatment compared with baseline values. GLS expressed the best correlations with myocardial pathological injury, especially with collagen content (ρ = − 0.68, P < 0.01). Additionally, GLS and MPI were associated with serum cTnI levels. A > 9.5% decrease in GLS from baseline to the fourth cycle of chemotherapy could predict future cardiotoxicity (odds ratio = 0.331, P < 0.05). GLS (cutoff value, − 15.16%) combined with MPI (cutoff value, 0.64) could improve the accuracy of diagnosing cardiotoxicity (sensitivity, 92%; specificity, 87%). GLS was the only predictor of cardiotoxicity. GLS combined with MPI may provide a noninvasive and accurate method for the early detection of cardiotoxicity.
Showing 1 to 10 of 22 Articles
Because the phenomenon of no reflow has a poor prognosis in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients and the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) has been shown to be a strong predictor of coronary heart disease, we aimed to investigate the relationship between AIP and no-reflow in patients with acute STEMI who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A total of 763 consecutive STEMI patients (648 men; mean age 58 ± 12 years) who underwent primary PCI were recruited for this study. The patients were classified into a reflow group (n = 537) and a no-reflow group (n = 226) according to the postprocedural angiographic features of thrombolysis in the myocardial infarction flow of the infarct-related artery. The AIP value was significantly higher in the no-reflow group than in the reflow group [0.50 (0.38–0.65) vs. 0.39 (0.25–0.49) p < .001], and AIP was found to be an independent predictor of no-reflow development. The best cut-off value of AIP for predicting no-reflow was 0.54, with sensitivity of 46.02 and specificity of 84,73. In addition, the predictive power of AIP was greater than that of triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol based on a receiver operator curve comparison. The AIP was independently associated with no-reflow in patients with STEMI after primary PCI. This might be a superior indicator compared to traditional lipid profiles.
The potential of the MitraClip to prevent from right heart failure or to restore right ventricular (RV) function is still unclear. The aim of the present study was to analyze the impact of the MitraClip implantation on RV function and its association with clinical outcome. After MitraClip implantation patients underwent echocardiography follow-up scheduled between 3 and 6 months after the procedure in the present single-center registry. A total of 93 patients were included. Compared to baseline, RV function declined in 20%, was unchanged in 25% and improved in 55% of the patients. Factors associated with decline in RV performance were atrial fibrillation, decrease in left ventricular function and lack of reduction in pulmonary artery pressure. Patients who experienced worsening in RV function had a significantly lower survival after mean follow-up of 11 ± 7 months compared to those with preserved or improved RV function (15% vs. 83% vs. 83%; p log rank = 0.001). Furthermore, changes in TAPSE were found to be an independent predictor for all-cause mortality [HR 0.88 (0.77–0.99); p = 0.04]. The majority of patients suffering from severe MR benefited from MitraClip with respect to RV remodeling. However, 20% of the patients experienced a decline in RV function, which was associated with poor prognosis. Importantly, changes in RV function after MitraClip were identified as independent predictor for survival in contrast to baseline RV function and, therefore, should be implemented in follow-up routine for better outcome prediction.