The international journal of cardiovascular imaging
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Mar 2014
Multicenter StudyPredictors of change in carotid atherosclerotic plaque inflammation and burden as measured by 18-FDG-PET and MRI, respectively, in the dal-PLAQUE study.
Baseline predictors of response to treatment of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) with respect to vascular inflammation and atherosclerotic plaque burden are poorly understood. From post hoc analysis of the dal-PLAQUE study (NCT00655473), 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (18-FDG-PET) imaging and carotid black blood magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used to track changes in these vascular parameters. Baseline demographics, imaging, and biomarkers were collected/measured in 130 patients with CHD or CHD risk-equivalents, and imaging follow-up at 6 months (PET) and 24 months (MRI) was performed. ⋯ Mean WT and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) activity at baseline, and age, were independently associated with change in WA over 24 months. For TVA changes; mean WA and PAI-1 activity at baseline, age, and female gender were independent predictors. These findings may help determine patients most suitable for clinical trials employing plaque inflammation or burden changes as endpoints.
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Mar 2014
Clinical and echocardiographic evaluation of mitral valve aneurysms: a retrospective, single center study.
Mitral valve aneurysms (MVAs) are rarely encountered in echocardiography laboratories. Although they are commonly associated with endocarditis of the aortic valve, various mechanisms have been suggested for the etiopathogenesis of MVAs associated with non-infectious conditions. 5,887 patients who underwent transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) between 2007 and 2012 were evaluated retrospectively for MVA. Mitral valve aneurysm is defined as a localized saccular bulging of the mitral leaflet towards the left atrium with systolic expansion and diastolic collapse. ⋯ Two patients died from septic shock, one in the postoperative period and the other one prior to surgery. Although MVAs occur during the course of aortic valve endocarditis and, in particular, due to aortic regurgitation jet, it should be borne in mind that they may develop as an isolated valvular pathology and may be misdiagnosed as chordal rupture, other cardiac masses, or vegetation. Thus, MVAs may not be so infrequent as they are thought; they may justify to be considered in the differential diagnosis of masses seen on the mitral valve on echocardiographic examination.