International journal of cardiology
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Observational Study
Temporal trends of the prevalence and incidence of atrial fibrillation and stroke among Asian patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A nationwide population-based study.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) and stroke are common in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We aimed to determine the prevalence and incidence of AF and stroke in patients with HCM during a 10-year period. ⋯ The prevalence of AF in HCM patients gradually increased over 10 years. The annual risk of AF-associated stroke in HCM was over 1% even in younger patients and those with CHA2DS2-VASc score of 0 or 1 point, which provide evidence to support the prevention of stroke in HCM patients with AF.
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Meta Analysis
Pulmonary vasodilator therapies are of no benefit in pulmonary hypertension due to left heart disease: A meta-analysis.
Pulmonary hypertension complicating left heart disease (PH-LHD) is the most common cause of PH. Off-label use of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) medications for PH-LHD is prevalent, despite a lack of clinical data supporting their use. ⋯ The current meta-analysis demonstrated that there is no current evidence to support the widespread use of PAH therapy in PH-LHD. On the basis of a numerically increased risk of clinical harm, these agents should not be prescribed in this setting, unless further evidence of benefit arises in the future.
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Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious complication of cardiac surgery, even when renal replacement therapy (RRT) is not required. The existing risk models for cardiac surgery associated AKI are designed to predict AKI requiring RRT (RRT-AKI). The aim of this study is to validate three risk models for the prediction of RRT-dependent and non-RRT AKI after cardiac surgery. ⋯ The existing risk models are inadequate for predicting non-RRT AKI following cardiac surgery, both in terms of discrimination and calibration.
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Right heart failure remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. Multiple 2D echocardiography derived parameters are associated with right ventricular failure (RV failure), but none of them has been proven to be a reliable predictor to date. We hypothesized that novel 3D-echocardiography (3DE) based parameters are associated with RV failure and predict long term outcome in patients undergoing LVAD implantation. ⋯ 3D-echocardiography derived RV ejection fraction and RV free wall strain are associated with right ventricular failure and long term outcome in patients undergoing LVAD implantation. These parameters have the potential to be future predictors for right heart failure in LVAD surgery.
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In the summer of 2016, delegates from the German Respiratory Society, the German Society of Cardiology and the German Society of Pediatric Cardiology met in Cologne, Germany, to define consensus-based practice recommendations for the management of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). These recommendations were built on the 2015 European Pulmonary Hypertension guidelines and included new evidence, where available, and were last updated in the spring of 2018. ⋯ In part 2, the proposed ESC/ERS risk stratification strategy is discussed, together with a review of the recent validation studies from different European registries. Finally, in part 3, the working group of the Cologne Consensus Conference provides recommendations on how risk assessment may be implemented in routine clinical practice and may serve clinical decision making.