Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society
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Rapid ventricular pacing (RVP) is an established technique to temporarily reduce left ventricular output during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of RVP on microvascular tissue perfusion (MTP) in patients undergoing TAVI. ⋯ The study demonstrates a time-dependent effect of RVP on microflow, leading to 50 and 25 % of baseline at 8 and 18 s of RVP, respectively. In a substantial proportion of patients, RVP is associated with microcirculatory arrest and a delayed recovery of microflow. Although the impact of these findings on outcome is yet unclear, TAVI operators should be aware of the potentially adverse effects of even short periods of RVP.
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Yoga is a holistic mind-body intervention aimed at physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being. Several studies have shown that yoga and/or meditation can control risk factors for cardiovascular disease like hypertension, type II diabetes and insulin resistance, obesity, lipid profile, psychosocial stress and smoking. Some randomized studies suggest that yoga/meditation could retard or even regress early and advanced coronary atherosclerosis. ⋯ Another small study suggests that yoga may be helpful in prevention of atrial fibrillation. However, most studies have several limitations like lack of adequate controls, small sample size, inconsistencies in baseline and different methodologies, etc. and therefore large trials with improved methodologies are required to confirm these findings. However, in view of the existing knowledge and yoga being a cost-effective technique without side effects, it appears appropriate to incorporate yoga/meditation for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease.
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Review Case Reports
Compression, distortion and dislodgement of large caliber stents in congenital heart defects caused by cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a case series and review of the literature.
Stenting of vascular, extracardiac or lately intracardiac stenosis has become an established interventional treatment for a variety of problems in congenital or acquired heart disease. Most stent procedures are completed successfully and the long-term outcome is favorable in the majority of cases. Stent collapse or deformation is a well recognized entity in peripheral stents and can be attributed to insufficient radial force; it can also be attributed to excessive external forces, like deformation of stents in the right ventricular outflow tract, where external compression is combined with continuous movement caused by the beating heart. ⋯ In all patients, CPR was necessary during their clinical course for various reasons; after adequate CPR, including appropriate chest compression all patients survived the initial resuscitation phase. Clinical, echocardiographic as well as radiologic re-evaluation after resuscitation revealed significant stent distortion, compression, displacement or additional vascular injury. The possibility of mechanical deformation of large endovascular stents needs to be considered and recognized when performing CPR; if CPR is successful, immediate re-evaluation of the implanted stents--if possible by biplane fluoroscopy--seems mandatory.
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Multicenter Study
Overweight is associated with improved survival and outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation.
The aim of this study was to investigate the association of body mass index (BMI) with mortality and cardiovascular events in Chinese patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). ⋯ Obesity and overweight were not risk factors for 12-month mortality in Chinese AF patients. Overweight AF patients have better survival and outcomes than normal weight (BMI 18.5-24 kg/m(2)) and underweight patients.