Journal of cardiovascular medicine
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J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) · Jul 2017
ReviewObstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea and arrhythmias: new updates.
Obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea (OSAH) is a prevalent condition characterized by repetitive pharyngeal collapse during sleep, leading to hypoxemia, hypercapnia, and persistent inspiratory efforts against an occluded airway until arousal. Several studies demonstrated that OSAH exerts acute and chronic effects on the cardiovascular system. Thus, although being a respiratory problem, the most important consequences of OSAH are cardiovascular, among which there are arrhythmias. The purpose of this review is to systematically analyse what has been recently published about the relationship between OSAH and every cardiac arrhythmia separately. ⋯ Arrhythmias are frequent in OSAH. Treatment of OSAH may reduce some of them. An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and continuous positive airway pressure should be considered in some patients.
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J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) · Apr 2017
A simple echocardiographic score for the diagnosis of pulmonary vascular disease in heart failure.
A simple echocardiographic score was designed for diagnosing precapillary vs postcapillary pulmonary hypertension and for discriminating between isolated postcapillary pulmonary hypertension (Ipc-PH) and combined precapillary and postcapillary pulmonary hypertension (Cpc-PH). ⋯ A simple echocardiographic score helps in the differential diagnosis between precapillary and postcapillary pulmonary hypertension, and between Ipc-PH and Cpc-PH.
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J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) · Feb 2017
Clinical and echocardiographic predictors of long-term outcome of a large cohort of patients with bicuspid aortic valve.
Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) disease is the most common congenital cardiac malformation. The aim of the present article is to determine clinical and echocardiographic prognostic factors and provide a predictive model of outcome of a large cohort of patients with BAV. ⋯ At enrolment, history of hypertension, a wider aortic diameter, moderate-to-severe aortic regurgitation and aortic stenosis were independently correlated to combined end-point. Long-term follow-up showed low cardiovascular mortality (2.1%) and a high prevalence of cardiac surgery (21.6%).
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J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) · Jan 2017
ReviewTreatment of stroke with early imaging and revascularization: when to be aggressive?
Neuroimaging has a key role in the assessment and treatment of acute stroke. Cerebral computer tomography is the first step to differentiate hemorragic from ischemic stroke and to detect, in the latter, early signs representative of the lesion severity and predicting a possible hemorrhagic infarction after thrombolytic treatment. ⋯ Moreover, advanced neuroimaging may be of help in choosing the patients to be submitted to endovascular treatment when occlusion of an intracranial artery is documented, either after intravenous thrombolysis or as a primary approach. Here we describe the impact of neuroimaging in the decisional process in acute ischemic stroke, presenting the literature evidence on the topic, especially regarding the recent trials on endovascular treatment.