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The assessment of anomalous coronary arteries (AAOCA) remains controversial without an optimal stress modality for ischemia. We evaluated the value of PET-CT myocardial perfusion imaging in these patients and subsequent management.AAOCA patients (n = 82) undergoing PET-CT from 2015 to 2021 were retrospectively chart reviewed. Multivariable analyses performed to assess relevant clinical and imaging factors associated with ischemia on PET and AAOCA surgery. Key characteristics include mean age 45 ± 20 years, 30 (37%) female, 45 (55%) with chest pain, 19 (23%) anomalous left main coronary artery, 58 (71%) anomalous right coronary artery, 26 (32%) with objective ischemia on PET-CT, and 37 (45%) who underwent AAOCA surgery. Adverse outcomes over mean follow-up of 2.2 ± 1.8 years included one death and two myocardial infarctions. Anomalous left main was independently associated with ischemia on PET-CT, odds ratio (95% confidence intervals) 4.15 (1.31-13.1), P = .006. Chest pain and ischemia on PET-CT were independently associated with and provided incremental prognostic value for surgery, odds ratio 9.73 (2.78-34.0), P .001 and 6.79 (1.99-23.2), P = .002, respectively.Ischemia on PET-CT occurred in a third of our cohort, identifying patients who may benefit from surgery. Larger studies are needed to evaluate the interplay between AAOCA, ischemia by PET and surgery.

The aim of this study was to report the outcomes of valve-in-valve (ViV) transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at 5 years.TAVR for degenerated surgical bioprostheses in patients at high risk for reoperative surgery is an important treatment option that may delay or obviate the need for surgical intervention; however, long-term outcomes of this procedure are unknown.The PARTNER (Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valves) 2 ViV and continued access registries prospectively enrolled patients with failed surgical bioprostheses at high risk for reoperation. Five-year clinical and echocardiographic follow-up data were obtained in 95.9% of patients.In 365 (96 registry and 269 continued access) patients, the mean age was 78.9 ± 10.2 years, the mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons predicted risk of surgical mortality score was 9.1 ± 4.7%, and New York Heart Association functional class was III or IV in 90.4%. At 5 years, the Kaplan-Meier rates of all-cause mortality and any stroke were 50.6% and 10.5%, respectively. Using Valve Academic Research Consortium 3 definitions, the incidence of structural valve deterioration, related hemodynamic valve deterioration, or bioprosthetic valve failure at 5 years was 6.6%. Aortic valve re-replacement was performed in 6.3% (n = 14), the majority of which was due to stenosis (n = 6) and combined aortic insufficiency/paravalvular regurgitation (n = 3). The mean gradient, Doppler velocity index, paravalvular regurgitation, and quality of life measured by Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire scores in survivors remained stable from 30 days postprocedure through 5 years.At the 5-year follow-up, TAVR for bioprosthetic aortic valve failure in high surgical risk patients was associated with sustained improvement in clinical and echocardiographic outcomes.

Although acute coronary syndromes remain crucial diagnoses of chest pain that cannot be missed, there are several other potentially fatal diagnoses that can manifest similarly. This case report applies the 2021 chest pain guidelines emphasizing the importance of considering alternative nonischemic but still serious presentations under the umbrella of chest pain. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.), Graphical abstract

Myocardial forms of infection and inflammation are highly heterogeneous in clinical course and presentation but associated with diagnostic and treatment uncertainty, high morbidity, mortality, and financial burden. Historically, these pathologies were diagnosed invasively with biopsy, surgical pathology, or explanted hearts. However, in the current era, the diagnosis has been aided by a variety of non-invasive imaging tools in the appropriate clinical presentation. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of the available imaging modalities for guiding the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of cardiac infection and inflammation.

Aims Valve surgery is indicated and can be life-saving in patients with infective endocarditis (IE). We evaluated the impact of hospital valvular surgery volume on utilization and outcomes of surgery for IE. Methods and results National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database was used for IE hospitalizations from 2008 to 2015. Hospitals were divided into quartiles based on valve surgery volume with quartile 1 (Q1) indicating lowest volume and quartile 4 (Q4) highest volume. Primary outcome was utilization of valve surgery in patients hospitalized with IE and secondary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and length of stay for IE patients undergoing valve surgery. Volume–outcome relationship was analysed both as categorical (quartiles) and continuous variable (restricted cubic splines). A total of 36 471 hospitalizations for IE were identified using the NIS database from 2008 to 2015 of which 17.33% underwent any valve surgery. Utilization rates of valve surgery for IE were significantly higher in Q4 hospitals (Q1: 6.73%; Q2: 10.39%; Q3: 14.91%; Q4: 2321%). Amongst the admissions for IE endocarditis undergoing valve surgery, there was no significant difference in in-hospital mortality when analysed as a categorical variable (as quartiles). However, when analysed as a continuous variable we note significant variation in outcomes across the Q4 hospitals, with highest volume centres having reduced mortality rates and length of stay. Conclusion Hospital valvular surgery volume has direct impact on utilization and outcomes of surgery for IE. Given rising rates of IE and ongoing intravenous drug pandemic, there is need for regionalization of care for IE patients and development of ‘endocarditis centres of excellence’ for improved patient outcomes.

Background: In the randomized phase 3 VALOR-HCM study (A Study to Evaluate Mavacamten in Adults With Symptomatic Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Who Are Eligible for Septal Reduction Therapy) of patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, mavacamten reduced the need for septal reduction therapy. Because mavacamten improves ventricular compliance, this sub-study examined the effects of treatment with this cardiac myosin inhibitor on diastolic function. Methods: Symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients on maximally tolerated medical therapy referred for septal reduction therapy were randomized 1:1 to mavacamten or placebo. At baseline and week 16, a resting and stress echocardiogram was performed with interpretation by a core laboratory. In this exploratory substudy, the principal end point was the change in parameters used to define the grade of diastolic function in patients treated with mavacamten and placebo. A related objective was to assess the proportion of patients with an improvement in diastolic function grade. A secondary aim was to assess for correlation between diastolic function parameters and the secondary end points from VALOR-HCM: New York Heart Association class, quality of life, and cardiac biomarkers. Results: Diastolic dysfunction grade was evaluable in 98 patients at baseline and week 16. Among patients treated with mavacamten, 29.4% (15 of 51) demonstrated improvement in diastolic function grade compared with 12.8% (6 of 47) patients with placebo ( P =0.05). Average E/e’ ratio decreased significantly in patients treated with mavacamten (−3.4±5.3) compared with placebo (0.57±3.5; P 2 ) also decreased significantly in patients who received mavacamten (−5.2±7.8) compared with placebo (−0.51±8.1; P =0.005). After adjustment for change in left ventricular outflow tract gradient and mitral regurgitation, mavacamten was significantly associated with a decrease in average E/e’ ratio and indexed left atrial volumes. Change in average E/e’ ratio was significantly correlated with the secondary end points from VALOR-HCM. Conclusions: In this exploratory substudy, after 16 weeks of therapy, mavacamten improved diastolic function, and this change correlated with improvement in clinical and biomarker end points. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT04349072.

Cardiovascular risk factors, biomarkers, and diseases are associated with poor prognosis in COVID-19 infections. Significant progress in artificial intelligence (AI) applied to cardiac imaging has recently been made. We assessed the utility of AI analytic software EchoGo in COVID-19 inpatients. Fifty consecutive COVID-19+ inpatients (age 66 ± 13 years, 22 women) who had echocardiography in 4/17/2020–8/5/2020 were analyzed with EchoGo software, with output correlated against standard echocardiography measurements. After adjustment for the APACHE-4 score, associations with clinical outcomes were assessed. Mean EchoGo outputs were left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) 121 ± 42 mL, end-systolic volume (LVESV) 53 ± 30 mL, ejection fraction (LVEF) 58 ± 11%, and global longitudinal strain (GLS) −16.1 ± 5.1%. Pearson correlation coefficients (p-value) with standard measurements were 0.810 (

International audience; Heart failure is a clinical syndrome with an increasing prevalence and incidence worldwide that impacts patients’ quality of life, morbidity, and mortality. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and cardiac resynchronization therapy are pillars of managing patients with HF and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Despite the advances in cardiac imaging, the assessment of patients needing cardiac implantable electronic devices relies essentially on the measure of left ventricular ejection fraction. However, multi-modality imaging can provide important information concerning the aetiology of heart failure, the extent and localization of myocardial scar, and the pathophysiological mechanisms of left ventricular conduction delay. This paper aims to highlight the main novelties and progress in the field of multi-modality imaging to identify patients who will benefit from cardiac resynchronization therapy and/or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. We also want to underscore the boundaries that prevent the application of imaging-derived parameters to patients who will benefit from cardiac implantable electronic devices and orient the choice of the device. Finally, we aim at providing some reflections for future research in this field. © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved.

Objective Intrinsic risk of infection of cryopreserved allograft aortic root replacements remains poorly understood despite their long history of use. The objective of this study was to determine this intrinsic risk of allograft infection and its risk factors when allografts are implanted for both nonendocarditis indications and infective endocarditis. Methods From January 1987 to January 2017, 2042 patients received 2110 allograft aortic valves at a quaternary medical center, 1124 (53%) for nonendocarditis indications and 986 (47%) for endocarditis indications (670 [68%] prosthetic valve endocarditis). Staphylococcus aureus caused 193 of 949 cases of endocarditis (20%), 71 (7.3%) in persons who injected drugs. Periodic surveillance and cross-sectional follow-up achieved 85% of possible follow-up time. The primary end point was allograft infection in patients with nonendocarditis and endocarditis indications. Risk factors were identified by hazard function decomposition and machine learning. Results During follow-up, 30 allografts (26 explanted) became infected in patients in the nonendocarditis group and 49 (41 explanted) in patients with endocarditis. At 20 years, the probability of allograft infection was 5.6% in patients in the nonendocarditis group and 14% in patients with endocarditis. Risk factors for allograft infection in patients in the nonendocarditis group were younger patient age and older donor age. Risk factors for allograft infection in patients with endocarditis were earlier implant year, injection drug use, and younger age. In patients with endocarditis, 18% of allograft infections were caused by the original organism. Conclusions The low infection rates, both in patients without and with endocarditis, support continued use of allografts in the modern era, in particular for the treatment of invasive endocarditis of the aortic root.

Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is an increasingly recognized cause of heart failure. Given the expansion of noninvasive diagnosis withThis single-center retrospective cohort study included 351 consecutive patients who underwent a standardized imaging protocol withWe included 318 patients in the analysis (n = 86 patients +ATTR-CM; n = 232 patients -ATTR-CM). The median follow-up time was 20.1 months. During the study period, 67% of +ATTR-CM patients received tafamidis (median treatment duration, 17 months). The median H/CL ratio was 1.58 (interquartile range, 1.40-1.75). An H/CL ratio of more than 1.6 or less than 1.6 did not seem to have an impact on survival probability in +ATTR-CM patients (P = .30; hazard ratio, 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.31-1.41). Cardiac biomarkers were poorly correlated with H/CL (troponin T, RAt a large referral center, the intensity of

BACKGROUND: Moderate or worse paravalvular regurgitation (PVR) post transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is associated with increased mortality. The mechanisms by which this occurs are not fully understood. AIMS: The aim of this study was to determine the mechanism by which PVR leads to worse outcomes. METHODS: A total of 1,974 intermediate-risk patients who received TAVR in the PARTNER 2 trial and registries were grouped by PVR severity. Clinical and echocardiographic outcomes were compared. RESULTS: Overall 1,176 (60%) patients had none/trace, 680 (34%) had mild, and 118 (6%) had ≥moderate PVR. At two years, ≥moderate PVR patients had increased risks of all-cause (HR 2.33 [1.41-3.85], p-value=0.001) and cardiovascular death (HR 3.30 [1.74-6.28], p-value

Current expected normal echocardiographic measures of transcatheter heart valve (THV) function were derived from pooled cohorts of the randomized trials; however, THV function by flow state before or following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has not been previously reported.This study sought to assess the expected normal echocardiographic hemodynamics for the balloon-expandable THV grouped by stroke volume index (SVI).Patients with severe aortic stenosis enrolled in PARTNER (Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valves) 1 (high/extreme surgical risk), PARTNER 2 (intermediate surgical risk), or PARTNER 3 (low surgical risk) trials with complete core laboratory echocardiography were included. Patients were grouped by low-flow (SVIIn the entire population (N = 4,991), mean age was 81.8 years, 58% of patients were male, and 42% had low flow. Compared with patients with baseline SVIThis study demonstrates that flow affects THV hemodynamics and both baseline and follow-up SVI should be considered when predicting THV hemodynamics prior to TAVR, as well as assessing valve function following valve implantation.