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Background: The rate of cardiac device–related infective endocarditis (CDRIE) is increasing worldwide, but no detailed data are available for Poland. Aims: We aimed to evaluate clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic data of patients hospitalized due to CDRIE in 22 Polish referential cardiology centers from May 1, 2016 to May 1, 2017. Methods: Participating cardiology departments were asked to fill in a questionnaire that included data on the number of hospitalized patients, number and types of implanted cardiac electrotherapy devices, and number of infective endocarditis cases. We also collected clinical data and data regarding the management of patients with CDRIE. Results: Overall, 99 621 hospitalizations were reported. Infective endocarditis unrelated to cardiac device was the cause of 596 admissions (0.6%), and CDRIE, of 195 (0.2%). Pacemaker was implanted in 91 patients with CDRIE (47%); cardioverter‑defibrillator, in 51 (26%); cardiac resynchronization therapy‑defibrillator, in 48 (25%); and cardiac resynchronization therapy‑pacemaker, in 5 (2.5%). The most common symptoms were malaise (62%), fever/chills (61%), cough (21%), chest pain (19.5%), and inflammation of the device pocket (5.6%). Cultures were positive in 77.5% of patients. The cardiac device was removed in 91% of patients. The percutaneous approach was most common for cardiac device removal. All patients received antibiotic therapy, and 3 patients underwent a heart valve procedure. Transesophageal echocardiography was performed in 80% of patients. The most common complication was heart failure (25% of patients). Conclusions: The clinical profile, pathogen types, and management strategies in Polish patients with CDRIE are consistent with similar data from other European countries. Transesophageal echocardiography was performed less frequently than recommended. The removal rate in the Polish population is consistent with the general rates observed for interventional treatment in patients with CDRIE.

Background and objective Clopidogrel is frequently used as part of optimal dual antiplatelet therapy in high-bleeding risk patients with the acute coronary syndrome. The concentration of the inactive carboxylic acid metabolite of clopidogrel might be useful to evaluate the response to clopidogrel therapy. Therefore, we sought to correlate the inhibition of platelet aggregation with the plasma level of the inactive metabolite of clopidogrel in patients after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) and their associations with the most frequently studied genetic polymorphisms. For this purpose, the fast and simple HPLC method for determining the concentration of the inactive metabolite was developed. Methods The effect of CYP2C19, CYP3A4/5, ABCB1 and PON1 genes on the plasma inactive metabolite concentration of clopidogrel and the platelet aggregation was investigated in 155 patients before and after PCI. Results The concentration of the inactive metabolite of clopidogrel was not significantly different in the intermediate metabolizers (IM) of CYP2C19 compared with extensive metabolizers (EM) both before and after PCI, while inhibition of platelet aggregation was found to be significantly better in EM than in IM. The presence of the A allele at position 2677 in the ABCB1 gene was associated with a significantly lower concentration of inactive metabolite of clopidogrel before PCI. Conclusion The CYP2C19*2 allele was associated with decreased platelet reactivity during clopidogrel therapy before and after PCI. Simultaneous determination of platelet aggregation and concentration of the inactive clopidogrel metabolite may be useful in clinical practice to find the cause of adverse effects or insufficient treatment effect in patients chronically treated with clopidogrel.

Antiplatelet response to clopidogrel and its influence upon the risk of cardiovascular adverse events among patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been investigated fully. Two hundred eleven patients treated with aspirin and clopidogrel were included in the study. Immediately before PCI, residual platelet reactivity testing with impedance aggregometry assay and a single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping analysis targeting variants of CYP2C19, ABCB1, and PON1 genes was performed. After the index PCI, the patients were screened for cardiovascular events 6 months following bare-metal stent implantation or 12 months following drug-eluting stent implantation. High on-treatment platelet reactivity (HTPR) was observed in 19.43% individuals and low-TPR (LTPR) in 26.54%. In multivariate analysis, HTPR was significantly (p

Stress echocardiography (stress echo), with use of both old and new ultrasonographic cardiac function imaging techniques, has nowadays become a widely available, safe and inexpensive diagnostic method. Cardiac stress, such as exercise or an inotropic agent, allows for dynamic assessment of a wide range of functional parameters describing ventricles, heart valves and pulmonary circulation. In addition to diagnosis of ischemic heart disease, stress echocardiography is also used in patients with acquired and congenital valvular defects, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy as well as diastolic and systolic heart failure. Physical exercise is the recommended stressor in patients with aortic and especially mitral valvular disease. Nevertheless, dobutamine stress echo is useful for the assessment of contractile and flow reserve in aortic stenosis with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Stress echo should always be performed by an appropriately trained cardiologist assisted by a nurse or another doctor, in the settings of an adequately equipped echocardiographic laboratory and with compliance to safety requirements. Moreover, continuous education of cardiologists performing stress echo is needed. Stress echocardiography (stress echo), with use of both old and new ultrasonographic cardiac function imaging techniques, has nowadays become a widely available, safe and inexpensive diagnostic method. Cardiac stress, such as exercise or an inotropic agent, allows for dynamic assessment of a wide range of functional parameters describing ventricles, heart valves and pulmonary circulation. In addition to diagnosis of ischemic heart disease, stress echocardiography is also used in patients with acquired and congenital valvular defects, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy as well as diastolic and systolic heart failure. Physical exercise is the recommended stressor in patients with aortic and especially mitral valvular disease. Nevertheless, dobutamine stress echo is useful for the assessment of contractile and flow reserve in aortic stenosis with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Stress echo should always be performed by an appropriately trained cardiologist assisted by a nurse or another doctor, in the settings of an adequately equipped echocardiographic laboratory and with compliance to safety requirements. Moreover, continuous education of cardiologists performing stress echo is needed.

Background: Stress echocardiography (SE) is widely used in Europe. No collective data have been available on the use of SE in Poland until now. Aim: To evaluate the number of SE investigations performed in Poland, their settings, complications, and results. Methods: In this retrospective survey, referral cardiology centres in Poland were asked to fill in a questionnaire regarding SE examinations performed from May 1, 2014 to May 1, 2015. Results: The study included data from 17 university hospitals and large community hospitals, which performed 4611 SE exa­minations, including 4408 tests in patients investigated for coronary artery disease (CAD) and 203 tests to evaluate valvular heart disease (VHD). To evaluate CAD, all centres performed dobutamine SE (100%), 10 centres performed pacing SE (58.8%), while cycle ergometer SE and treadmill SE were performed by six (35.3%) and five (29.4%) centres, respectively. Dipyridamole SE was performed in one centre. All evaluated centres (100%) performed SE to evaluate low-flow/low-gradient aortic stenosis, eight (47%) performed SE to evaluate asymptomatic aortic stenosis, and also eight (47%) performed SE to evaluate mitral regurgitation. The mean number of examinations per year was 271 per centre. Most centres performed more than 100 examinations per year (11 centres, 64.7%). We did not identify any cardiac death during SE examination in any of the centres. Myocardial infarction occurred in three (0.07%) patients. Non-sustained ventricular tachycardia occurred in 52 (1.1%) SE examinations. The rates of minor complications were low. SE to evaluate CAD was more commonly performed in the hospital settings using cycle ergometer (72.6%), treadmill (87.6%), and low-dose dobutamine (68.0%), while a dipyridamole test was more frequently employed in ambulatory patients (77.6%). No significant differences between the rates of examina­tions performed in the ambulatory and hospital settings were found for high-dose dobutamine and pacing SE. Examinations to evaluate VHD were significantly more frequently performed in the hospital settings. SE examinations accounted for more than one third of all stress tests performed in the surveyed centres over the study period. Conclusions: Stress echocardiography is a safe diagnostic method, and major complications are very rare. Despite European recommendations, SE examinations to evaluate CAD are performed less frequently than electrocardiographic exercise tests, although they already comprise a significant proportion of all stress tests. It seems reasonable to promote SE further for the evaluation of both CAD and VHD.

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is thought to be a risk factor for decompression illness (DCI). Catheter‐based closure procedure reduces the risk of DCI in selected scuba divers with PFO. Major complication of invasive approach are rare, minor, especially heart rhythm disturbances are reported relatively often. We describe a case of 41‐year‐old diver, who underwent PFO closure due to recurrent DCI events. Afterward, he experienced no DCI symptoms; however, he complained about feeling of the heart beating during a submersion. Arrhythmia should be considered as a life‐threatening for scuba diver, thus we performed underwater ECG monitoring and exclude the arrhythmia.