The American journal of cardiology
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Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an increasingly used supportive measure for patients with refractory cardiogenic shock (CS). Despite its increasing use, there remain minimal data regarding which patients with refractory CS are most likely to benefit from ECMO. We retrospectively studied all patients (n = 123) who underwent initiation of ECMO for CS from February 2009 to September 2014 at a single center. ⋯ Patients with pulmonary embolism (odds ratio 8.0, 95% confidence interval 2.00 to 31.99; p = 0.01) and acute cardiomyopathy (odds ratio 7.5, 95% confidence interval 1.69 to 33.27; p = 0.01) had a higher rate of survival than acute myocardial infarction, chronic cardiomyopathy, and miscellaneous etiologies compared to postcardiotomy CS as a referent. In conclusion, survival after ECMO initiation differs based on underlying cause of CS. Survival may be lower in older patients and those with early evidence of persistent hypoperfusion after initiation of ECMO for CS.
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Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events are the leading cause of death in the United States and globally. Traditional global risk algorithms may miss 50% of patients who experience ASCVD events. Noninvasive ultrasound evaluation of the carotid and femoral arteries can identify subjects at high risk for ASCVD events. ⋯ Those identified as high risk by the lifetime risk algorithm included the most men and women who had plaques either femoral or carotid (59% and 55%) but had lower specificity because the proportion of subjects who actually had plaques in the high-risk group was lower (50% and 35%) than in those at high risk defined by the FRS algorithms. In conclusion, ultrasound evaluation of the carotid and femoral arteries can identify subjects at risk of ASCVD events missed by traditional risk-predicting algorithms. The large proportion of subjects with femoral plaque only supports the use of including both femoral and carotid arteries in ultrasound evaluation.
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A bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is often associated with dilation or aneurysm of the ascending aorta (AA) despite of absence of significant valve dysfunction. Bicuspid aortopathy and consequent aortic stiffness may adversely affect left ventricular (LV) diastolic function. This study aimed to investigate the impact of global and regional aortic mechanical function on LV diastolic function in subjects with BAV. ⋯ Correlations between e' velocity and parameters of aortic stiffness were stronger in subjects with BAV than those in controls. Multiple regression analysis revealed that augmentation index normalized for a heart rate of 75 beats/min was an independent determinant of e' velocity (β = -0.24, p = 0.044) and E/e' (β = 0.30, p = 0.018) in subjects with BAV even after controlling for confounding factors. LV diastolic function is closely related to aortic phenotype and mechanical alteration in subjects with BAV.
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Comparative Study
Quantitative Evaluation of Mitral Regurgitation Secondary to Mitral Valve Prolapse by Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Echocardiography.
The present prospective study was designed to evaluate the accuracy of quantitative assessment of mitral regurgitant fraction (MRF) by echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) in the modern era using as reference method the blinded multiparametric integrative assessment of mitral regurgitation (MR) severity. 2-Dimensional (2D) and 3-dimensional (3D) MRF by echocardiography (2D echo MRF and 3D echo MRF) were obtained by measuring the difference in left ventricular (LV) total stroke volume (obtained from either 2D or 3D acquisition) and aortic forward stroke volume normalized to LV total stroke volume. MRF was calculated by cMRI using either (1) (LV stroke volume - systolic aortic outflow volume by phase contrast)/LV stroke volume (cMRI MRF [volumetric]) or (2) (mitral inflow volume - systolic aortic outflow volume)/mitral inflow volume (cMRI MRF [phase contrast]). Six patients had 1 + MR, 6 patients had 2 + MR, 12 patients had 3 + MR, and 10 had 4 + MR. ⋯ The accuracy of MRF for the diagnosis of MR ≥3+ or 4+ was the highest with cMRI MRF (volumetric) (area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve [AUC] = 0.98), followed by 3D echo MRF (AUC = 0.96), 2D echo MRF (AUC = 0.90), and cMRI MRF (phase contrast; AUC = 0.83). In conclusion, MRF by cMRI (volumetric method) and 3D echo MRF had the highest diagnostic value to detect significant MR, whereas the diagnostic value of 2D echo MRF and cMRI MRF (phase contrast) was lower. Hence, the present study suggests that both cMRI (volumetric method) and 3D echo represent best approaches for calculating MRF.
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Natriuretic peptides are often elevated in congenital heart disease (CHD); however, the clinical impact on mortality is unclear. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prognostic value of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in the prediction of all-cause mortality in adults with different CHD. In this prospective longitudinal mortality study, we evaluated NT-proBNP in 1,242 blood samples from 646 outpatient adults with stable CHD (mean age 35 ± 12 years; 345 women). ⋯ There was only 1% mortality among 388 patients with at least 1 NT-proBNP value ≤220 pg/ml compared with 41% mortality among 54 patients with at least 1 NT-proBNP value >1,548 pg/ml. Even the first (baseline) measurements of NT-proBNP were strongly associated with a high risk of death (log10 NT-proBNP had hazard ratio 7, p <0.0001). In conclusion, NT-proBNP assessment is a useful and simple tool for the prediction of mortality in long-term follow-up of adults with CHD.