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Introduction: Cardiomyopathy due to myocardial iron deposition is the leading cause of death in transfusion- dependent beta-thalassemia major (β-TM) patients. Although cardiac T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used for the early detection of cardiac iron level before the onset of symptoms associated with iron overload, this expensive method is not widely available in many hospitals. Frontal QRS-T angle is a novel marker of myocardial repolarization and is associated with adverse cardiac outcomes. We aimed to investigate the relationship between cardiac iron load and f(QRS-T) angle in patients with β-TM., Methods: The study included 95 β-TM patients. Cardiac T2* values under 20 were considered to indicate cardiac iron overload. The patients were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of cardiac involvement. Laboratory and electrocardiography parameters, including frontal plane QRS-T angle, were compared between the two groups., Results: Cardiac involvement was detected in 33 (34%) patients. Multivariate analysis showed that frontal QRS-T angle independently predicted cardiac involvement (p < 0.001). An f(QRS-T) angle of ≥ 24.5° had a sensitivity of 78.8% and a specificity of 79% in detecting the presence of cardiac involvement. In addition, a negative correlation was found between cardiac T2* MRI value and f(QRS-T) angle., Conclusions: A widening f(QRS-T) angle could be considered a surrogate marker of MRI T2* to detect cardiac iron overload. Therefore, calculating the f(QRS-T) angle in thalassemia patients is an inexpensive and simple method for detecting the presence of cardiac involvement, especially when cardiac T2* values cannot be determined or monitored., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflict of interest. However, the authors are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the short and long-term effects of carotid artery stenting (CAS) procedure on blood pressure (BP) through ambulatory BP monitoring., Methods: One hundred fifty three patients who underwent CAS for primary or secondary protection from December 2010 to September 2013 were enrolled to our study. The BP levels of total of 123 patients were monitored for 1 year. Thereafter, the pre-procedure levels of BP were compared with BP levels at the 24-hour and the first year intervals after the procedure., Results: Systolic and diastolic BP levels at the 24-hour and the first year intervals after CAS were significantly lower than the pre-procedure BP levels. The mean 24-hour systolic BP was 113 ± 13 mmHg and diastolic BP was 63 ± 8 mmHg, both of which were significantly lower (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001 respectively), while the pre-procedure mean systolic BP was 133 ± 10 mmHg and the mean diastolic BP was 75 ± 9 mmHg. Moreover, the mean first-year systolic BP was 125 ± 10 mmHg with a decline of 8 ± 8 mmHg and mean diastolic BP was 71 ± 8 mmHg with a decline of 4 ± 7 mmHg, both of which were again significantly lower compared to the pre-procedure levels (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001 respectively)., Conclusions: The results of our study suggested that systolic and diastolic BP levels diminished after CAS. Additionally, BP reduction continued even 1 year after the CAS.