Herz
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Vascular access site complications after percutaneous transfemoral aortic valve implantation.
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a rapidly emerging treatment option for patients with aortic valve stenosis and high surgical risk. Different access routes have been proposed for TAVI including transapical, transsubclavian and transfemoral, with percutaneous transfemoral being the preferred because least invasive and nonsurgical. However, vascular access site complications due to the large-bore delivery catheters remain an important clinical issue, particularly with respect to the elderly patient collective typically considered for TAVI. In the study, the authors analyzed their 4-year TAVI experience with respect to vascular complications and their management in patients undergoing completely percutaneous transfemoral TAVI procedures. ⋯ Completely percutaneous TAVI has a high acute success rate with low intraprocedural and 30-day mortality. The patient collective appears to be prone to vascular complications which remain an important limitation of this novel technique. Although conservative or endovascular management is possible in the majority of cases, further technological developments are obliged to reduce the vascular complication rate.
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Myocarditis is the reason for sudden cardiac death in 5-22% of athletes < 35 years of age. Actually, parvovirus B19 and human herpes virus 6 are the most important pathogens. Clinical presentation of myocarditis is heterogeneous, with all courses between asymptomatic and fulminant reported. ⋯ Before restarting physical activity, a detailed examination is necessary and most of the patients will undergo another EMB. For prevention of myocarditis and sudden cardiac death it is recommended to stop elite sport for 4 weeks after an unspecific infection. Whether moderate sport can be started earlier is unclear.
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After hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, coronary artery anomalies of origin from the wrong sinus of Valsalva are the second most common cause of sudden death on the athletic field in the USA. Although the right coronary artery arising from the left coronary sinus (ARCA) is four times as common as the left coronary artery arising from the anterior sinus (ALCA), it is the latter that is by far the more common cause of sudden death with or shortly after vigorous physical activity. Of the four types of ALCA, the interarterial type, where the left coronary artery passes anteriorly between the aorta and the right ventricular outflow tract, is the only type that places the patient at risk of sudden death. ⋯ In asymptomatic young patients, a stress test, preferably with radioisotope myocardial perfusion imaging or stress echocardiogram, should be done and surgical correction performed in those with ischemia provoked in the appropriate myocardial region. Since there is evidence that in patients who have survived a potentially fatal event, it is rare to be able to provoke ischemia with equal or greater exercise than had precipitated the malignant arrhythmia, the decision to surgically correct an asymptomatic young patient, serendipitously found to have ALCA, who has a negative exercise test, is debatable. Any decision for surgery in such patients should be made only after a full discussion of the risks pro and con surgery with the patient and the patient's family.
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The majority of ventricular tachycardias (VTs) occurs in patients with structural heart disease, predominantly coronary heart disease. Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are first-line therapy in patients with VT and structural heart disease. In patients who receive an ICD after a spontaneous sustained VT, recurrent VT episodes or an electrical storm are major problems. ⋯ Thus, catheter ablation of sustained VT in the setting of structural heart disease can only be considered an adjunctive therapy which, in general, will require ICD therapy. Numerous "modern" mapping technologies have been developed, which have increased success rates of catheter ablation of VT in patients with and without structural heart disease. The aim of the present article is to review current three-dimensional mapping systems in comparison to conventional mapping and to describe a reasonable, tailored approach for the individual patient with VT.