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Stories can be a powerful method of exploring complexity, and the factors affecting everyday physical activity within a modern urban setting are nothing if not complex. The first part of our How Do You Move? study focused on the communication of physical activity guidelines to under-served communities. A key finding was that adults especially wanted physical activity messages to come from 'everyday people, people like us'. This finding also reflects a wider move to use more relatable imagery in health promotion campaigns. Using a portrait vignette approach to create monologues, we set out to explore the experiences of people from diverse backgrounds living in Bristol, all of whom took part in varied leisure time physical activities but would also be considered to lead 'normal' lives. We aim to demonstrate that stories of such 'experts by experience' can contribute to how physical activity is perceived and elucidate the complex interplay of barriers and enablers in everyday experiences of physical activity., Competing Interests: Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed. Charlie Foster’s input was made while he was fully employed at the University of Bristol. He now works for Vhi Healthcare., (Copyright: © 2023 Trinder-Widdess Z et al.)

Aims: Children and young people with diabetes (CYPD) from socio-economically deprived and/or ethnic minority groups tend to have poorer glucose control and greater risk of diabetes-related complications. In this systematic review of qualitative evidence (qualitative evidence synthesis, QES), we aimed to explore the experiences and views of clinical encounters in diabetes care from the perspectives of CYPD and their family/carers from underserved communities and healthcare professionals in diabetes care., Methods: We searched 6 databases to March 2022 with extensive search terms, and used a thematic synthesis following methods of Thomas and Harden., Results: We identified 7 studies and described 11 descriptive themes based on primary and secondary constructs. From these, three "analytical themes" were developed. (1) "Alienation of CYPD" relates to their social identity and interaction with peers, family and health service practitioners in the context of diabetes self- and family/carer management and is impacted by communication in the clinical encounter. (2) "Empowerment of CYPD and family/carers" explores families' understanding of risks and consequences of diabetes and taking responsibility for self- and family/carer management in the context of their socio-cultural background. (3) "Integration of diabetes (into self and family)" focuses on the ability to integrate diabetes self-management into the daily lives of CYPD and family/carers beyond the clinical consultation., Conclusions: The analytical themes are interdependent and provide a conceptual framework from which to explore and strengthen the therapeutic alliance in clinical encounters and to foster greater concordance with treatment plans. Communicating the biomedical aspects of managing diabetes in the clinical encounter is important, but should be balanced with addressing socio-emotional factors important to CYPD and family/carers., (© 2023 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Diabetes UK.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: The BMJ has judged that there are no disqualifying financial ties to commercial companies. The authors declare the following other interests: We acknowledge the support of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West), which funded previous research undertaken by the authors in this field. Further details of The BMJ policy on financial interests is here: https://www.bmj.com/sites/default/files/attachments/resources/2016/03/16-current-bmj-education-coi-form.pdf.

Aims: With numerous and continuing attempts at adapting diabetes self-management support programmes to better account for underserved populations, its important that the lessons being learned are understood and shared. The work we present here reviews the latest evidence and best practice in designing and embedding culturally and socially sensitive, self-management support programmes., Methods: We explored the literature with regard to four key design considerations of diabetes self-management support programmes: Composition - the design and content of written materials and digital tools and interfaces; Structure - the combination of individual and group sessions, their frequency, and the overall duration of programmes; Facilitators - the combination of individuals used to deliver the programme; and Context - the influence and mitigation of a range of individual, socio-cultural, and environmental factors., Results: We found useful and recent examples of design innovation within a variety of countries and models of health care delivery including Brazil, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States of America. Within Composition we confirmed the importance of retaining best practice in creating readily understood written information and intuitive digital interfaces; Structure the need to offer group, individual, and remote learning options in programmes of flexible duration and frequency; Facilitators where the benefits of using culturally concordant peers and community-based providers were described; and finally in Context the need to integrate self-management support programmes within existing health systems, and tailor their various constituent elements according to the language, resources, and beliefs of individuals and their communities., Conclusions: A number of design principles across the four design considerations were identified that together offer a promising means of creating the next generation of self-management support programme more readily accessible for underserved communities. Ultimately, we recommend that the precise configuration should be co-produced by all relevant service and patient stakeholders and its delivery embedded in local health systems., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Background: A steep rise in the use of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) for the management of symptomatic severe aortic stenosis occurred. Minimalist TAVI procedures and streamlined patient pathways within experienced Heart Valve Centres are designed to overcome the challenges of ever-increasing procedural volume., Aims: The 2022 European TAVI Pathway Survey aims to describe contemporary TAVI practice across Europe., Materials and Methods: Between October and December 2022, TAVI operators from 32 European countries were invited to complete an online questionnaire regarding their current practice., Results: Responses were available from 147 TAVI centres in 26 countries. In 2021, the participating centres performed a total number of 27,223 TAVI procedures, with a mean of 185 TAVI cases per centre (median 138; IQR 77-194). Treatment strategies are usually (87%) discussed at a dedicated Heart Team meeting. Transfemoral TAVI is performed with local anaesthesia only (33%), with associated conscious sedation (60%), or under general anaesthesia (7%). Primary vascular access is percutaneous transfemoral (99%) with secondary radial access (52%). After uncomplicated TAVI, patients are transferred to a high-, medium-, or low-care unit in 28%, 52%, and 20% of cases, respectively. Time to discharge is day 1 (12%), day 2 (31%), day 3 (29%), or day 4 or more (28%)., Conclusion: Reported adoption of minimalist TAVI techniques is common among European TAVI centres, but rates of next-day discharge remain low. This survey highlights the significant progress made in refining TAVI treatment and pathways in recent years and identifies possible areas for further improvement., Competing Interests: DM: consultant for Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Microport. TR: proctor and advisor for JenaValve, speaker’s honoraria from Edwards Lifesciences, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and JenaValve. JW: institutional grant from Medtronic and speaker’s honoraria (also to the institution) from Boston Scientific and Sinomed. SO: consulting fees from Medtronic and Edwards, speaker’s honoraria from Philips and World Medical, and research grant (PI21/00949) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Instituto de Salud Carlos III). LL: proctoring and consulting honoraria for Abbott, Edwards, and Medtronic. DB: proctoring and consulting honoraria for Abbott, Edwards, and Medtronic. NM: institutional research grant support from Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Biotronik, Medtronic, Daiichi Sankyo, Astra Zeneca, and PulseCath BV; and consultancy fees from Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Biotronik, Medtronic, Daiichi Sankyo, Abiomed, Amgen, JenaValve, Anteris, and PulseCath BV. MG: Boston Scientific—research and travel grants, speaker’s honoraria, proctor, and advisory board member; Medtronic—research and travel grants, speaker’s honoraria, proctor, advisory board member; Abbott—speaker’s honoraria and travel grants; and Edwards Lifesciences—speakers honoraria and travel grants. BP: speaker’s fees from Edwards Lifesciences, Abbott, and Medtronic and consulting fees from Anteris and Microport. ODB: institutional research grants and consulting fees from Abbott, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer JS declared a past co-authorship with the author ODB to the handling editor., (© 2023 Rosseel, Mylotte, Cosyns, Vanhaverbeke, Zweiker, Teles, Angerås, Neylon, Rudolph, Wykrzykowska, Patterson, Costa, Ojeda, Tzikas, Abras, Leroux, Van Belle, Tchétché, Bleiziffer, Swaans, Parma, Blackman, Van Mieghem, Grygier, Redwood, Prendergast, Van Camp and De Backer.)

There are wide regional variations in outcome following resuscitated out of hospital cardiac arrest. These geographical differences appear to be due to hospital infrastructure and provider experience rather than baseline characteristics. It is proposed that post-arrest care be delivered in a systematic fashion by concentrating services in Cardiac Arrest Centres, with greater provider experience, 24-hour access to diagnostics, and specialist treatment to minimise the impact of ischaemia-reperfusion injury and treat the causative pathology. These cardiac arrest centres would provide access to targeted critical care, acute cardiac care, radiology services and appropriate neuro-prognostication. However implementation of cardiac arrest networks with specialist receiving hospitals is complex and requires alignment of pre-hospital care services with those delivered in hospital. Furthermore there are no randomised trial data currently supporting pre-hospital delivery to a Cardiac Arrest Centre and definitions are heterogeneous. In this review article, we propose a universal definition of a Cardiac Arrest Centre and review the current observational data evidence and the potential impact of the ARREST trial., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Crown Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: In the SCOPE I trial (Safety and Efficacy of the Symetis ACURATE Neo/TF Compared to the Edwards SAPIEN 3 Bioprosthesis), transcatheter aortic valve implantation with the self-expanding ACURATE neo (NEO) did not meet noninferiority compared with the balloon-expandable SAPIEN 3 (S3) device regarding a composite end point at 30 days due to higher rates of prosthetic valve regurgitation and acute kidney injury. Data on long-term durability of NEO are scarce. Here, we report whether early differences between NEO and S3 translate into differences in clinical outcomes or bioprosthetic valve failure 3 years after transcatheter aortic valve implantation., Methods: Patients with severe aortic stenosis were randomized to transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation with NEO or S3 at 20 European centers. Clinical outcomes at 3 years are compared using Cox proportional or Fine-Gray subdistribution hazard models by intention-to-treat. Bioprosthetic valve failure is reported for the valve-implant cohort., Results: Among 739 patients, 84 of 372 patients (24.3%) had died in the NEO and 85 of 367 (25%) in the S3 group at 3 years. Comparing NEO with S3, the 3-year rates of all-cause death (hazard ratio, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.73-1.33]), stroke (subhazard ratio, 1.04 [95% CI, 0.56-1.92]), and hospitalization for congestive heart failure (subhazard ratio, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.51-1.07]) were similar between the groups. Aortic valve reinterventions were required in 4 NEO and 3 S3 patients (subhazard ratio, 1.32 [95% CI, 0.30-5.85]). New York Heart Association functional class ≤II was observed in 84% (NEO) and 85% (S3), respectively. Mean gradients remained lower after NEO at 3 years (8 versus 12 mm Hg; P <0.001)., Conclusions: Early differences between NEO and S3 did not translate into significant differences in clinical outcomes or bioprosthetic valve failure throughout 3 years., Registration: URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov, Unique identifier: NCT03011346., Competing Interests: Disclosures Dr Lanz has received speaker fees from Edwards Lifesciences. Dr Möllmann has received speaker fees or is a proctor from Abbott, Biotronik, Boston Scientific, and Edwards Lifesciences. Dr Kim is a proctor for Boston Scientific and Abbott, and has received speaker fees from Boston Scientific, Abbott, and Edwards Lifesciences. Dr Linke is a consultant to Medtronic, Edwards, Boston Scientific, Abbott, Transverse Medical Inc, Astra Zeneca, and Claret Medical. He owns stock options from Emboline and Transverse Medical Inc, and has received speaker honoraria from Edwards, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Abbott, Astra Zeneca, Bayer, and Novartis. Dr Prendergast has received unrestricted research grants and speaker fees from Edwards Lifesciences. Dr Conzelmann reports personal fees from Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and Edwards Lifesciences. Dr Conradi is advisory board member for Abbott, Medtronic, JenaValve, and Neovasc, and has received personal honoraria from Boston Scientific, Edwards Lifesciences, NVT, and Microinterventions. Dr Stortecky reports grants from Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Abbott; and personal fees from BTG, Teleflex, and Boston Scientific. Dr Windecker reports research and educational grants to the institution from Abbott, Amgen, BMS, Bayer, Boston Scientific, Biotronik, Cardinal Health, CardioValve, CSL Behring, Daiichi Sankyo, Edwards Lifesciences, Johnson&Johnson, Medtronic, Querbet, Polares, Sanofi, Terumo, and Sinomed. Dr Windecker serves as unpaid member of the steering/excecutive group of trials funded by Abbott, Abiomed, Amgen, BMS, Boston Scientific, Biotronik, Cardiovalve, Edwards Lifesciences, MedAlliance, Medtronic, Polares, Sinomed, V-Wave and Xeltis, but has not received personal payments by any pharmaceutical company or device manufacturer. Dr Windecker is also member of the steering/excecutive committee group of several investigated-initiated trials that receive funding by industry without impact on his personal remuneration. Dr Pilgrim has received institutional research grants from Biotronik, Boston Scientific, and Edwards Lifesciences; speaker/consultancy fees from Biotronik, Boston Scientific, Abbott, Medtronic, and HighLife SAS. The other authors report no conflicts.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the National PReCePT Programme (NPP) in increasing use of magnesium sulfate (MgSO 4 ) in preterm births., Design: Before-and-after study., Setting: Maternity units (N=137) within NHS England and the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) in 2018., Participants: Babies born ≤30 weeks' gestation admitted to neonatal units in England., Interventions: The NPP was a quality improvement (QI) intervention including the PReCePT (Preventing Cerebral Palsy in Pre Term labour) QI toolkit and materials (preterm labour proforma, staff training presentations, parent leaflet, posters for the unit and learning log), regional AHSN-level support, and up to 90 hours funded backfill for a midwife 'champion' to lead implementation., Main Outcome Measures: MgSO 4 uptake post implementation was compared with pre-NPP implementation uptake. Implementation and lifetime costs were estimated., Results: Compared with pre-implementation estimates, the average MgSO 4 uptake for babies born ≤30 weeks' gestation, in 137 maternity units in England, increased by 6.3 percentage points (95% CI 2.6 to 10.0 percentage points) to 83.1% post implementation, accounting for unit size, maternal, baby and maternity unit factors, time trends, and AHSN. Further adjustment for early/late initiation of NPP activities increased the estimate to 9.5 percentage points (95% CI 4.3 to 14.7 percentage points). From a societal and lifetime perspective, the health gains and cost savings associated with the NPP effectiveness generated a net monetary benefit of £866 per preterm baby and the probability of the NPP being cost-effective was greater than 95%., Conclusion: This national QI programme was effective and cost-effective. National programmes delivered via coordinated regional clinical networks can accelerate uptake of evidence-based therapies in perinatal care., Competing Interests: Competing interests: GAF received grant funding from the NIHR and the British Heart Foundation and is a party to partnership agreements with industry partners as CEO of the Oxford Academic Health Science Network. He is chair of the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire Integrated Stroke Delivery Network, the Academic Health Science Network, the European Stroke Organisation Council of Fellows and the Academy of Medical Sciences Fellowship Sectional Committee 7. He is Director of the Cogentis and Accelerate companies and Non-Executive Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Picker Institute and Health Services Research UK, and the governing body of Green Templeton College, Oxford University. He is data monitoring committee member for the PREVENT-SVD study, trial steering group member for OPTIMAS, R4VaD, ATTEST-2 and SENIOR-RITA trials, grants review panel member for Pfizer/Bristol Myers Squibb, and round table member for the Bristol Myers Squibb/Price Waterhouse Cooper Life Sciences 2030 Cancer Moonshot and Astellas Company Conference. KT acted as expert witness to the High Court in England, called by the UK MHRA, defendant in a case on hormonal pregnancy tests and congenital anomalies in 2021/2022. All other authors in this manuscript have no conflict of interest to declare aside from funding from NIHR ARC West, AHSN, NHS England and Health Foundation. The authors declare that the study management group has no competing financial, professional or personal interests that might have influenced the study design or conduct., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) is an emerging therapeutic alternative for patients with secondary mitral regurgitation (MR). Outcomes of TMVR versus guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) have not been investigated for this population. This study aimed to compare clinical outcomes of patients with secondary MR undergoing TMVR versus GDMT alone., Methods: The CHOICE-MI registry (Choice of Optimal Transcatheter Treatment for Mitral Insufficiency) included patients with MR undergoing TMVR using dedicated devices. Patients with MR pathogeneses other than secondary MR were excluded. Patients treated with GDMT alone were derived from the control arm of the COAPT trial (Cardiovascular Outcomes Assessment of the MitraClip Percutaneous Therapy for Heart Failure Patients With Functional Mitral Regurgitation). We compared outcomes between the TMVR and GDMT groups, using propensity score matching to adjust for baseline differences., Results: After propensity score matching, 97 patient pairs undergoing TMVR (72.9±8.7 years; 60.8% men; transapical access, 91.8%) versus GDMT (73.1±11.0 years; 59.8% men) were compared. At 1 and 2 years, residual MR was ≤1+ in all patients of the TMVR group compared with 6.9% and 7.7%, respectively, in those receiving GDMT alone (both P <0.001). The 2-year rate of heart failure hospitalization was significantly lower in the TMVR group (32.8% versus 54.4%; hazard ratio, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.35-0.99]; P =0.04). Among survivors, a higher proportion of patients were in the New York Heart Association functional class I or II in the TMVR group at 1 year (78.2% versus 59.7%; P =0.03) and at 2 years (77.8% versus 53.2%; P =0.09). Two-year mortality was similar in the 2 groups (TMVR versus GDMT, 36.8% versus 40.8%; hazard ratio, 1.01 [95% CI, 0.62-1.64]; P =0.98)., Conclusions: In this observational comparison, over 2-year follow-up, TMVR using mostly transapical devices in patients with secondary MR was associated with significant reduction of MR, symptomatic improvement, less frequent hospitalizations for heart failure, and similar mortality compared with GDMT., Registration: URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT04688190 (CHOICE-MI) and NCT01626079 (COAPT)., Competing Interests: Disclosures Dr Ludwig reports travel compensation from Edwards; speaker honoraria from Abbott; and advisory fees from Bayer. Dr Conradi reports being on the advisory board at Abbott, Medtronic, and Boston Scientific and personal fees from Edwards. Dr Cohen reports research grant and consulting fees from Abbott, Edwards Lifesciences, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic AC; is a proctor at Abbott; and is a speaker at Abbott and General Electric Healthcare. Dr Scotti is a consultant for NeoChord. Dr Abraham reports research grant from the National Institutes of Health–National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (National Institutes of Health 1 UG3/UH3 HL140144-01, 08/01/18-07/31/22, LOFT-HF [Impact of Low Flow Nocturnal Oxygen Therapy on Hospital Readmission/Mortality in Patients With Heart Failure and Central Sleep Apnea]); consulting at Abbott, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Zoll; honoraria from Impulse Dynamics; and salary from V-Wave Medical. Dr Ben Ali reports grants from Medtronic and Edwards. Dr Kar reports grants and consulting from Abbott, Boston Scientific, Edwards, and 4TECH and stock at 4TECH. Dr Scott Lim reports grants from Abbott, Boston Scientific, Corvia, Edwards, Medtronic, Trisol, and V-Wave and is a consultant at Ancora, Philips, Valgen, and Venus. Dr Duncan is a consultant at Abbott, Edwards, and Medtronic. Dr Adamo reports personal fees from Edwards and Boston Scientific and grants and honoraria from Medtronic. Dr Muller is on the advisory board at Abbott, Medtronic, and Edwards. Dr Petronio is a consultant at Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Abbott. Dr Ruge is on the advisory board at Abbott and is a proctor at Abbott and Edwards. Dr Sondergaard reports grants and consulting at Edwards and Medtronic. Dr Adam reports grants and honoraria from Medtronic and personal fees from Boston Scientific and Edwards. Dr Dahle is a proctor/speaker at Abbott and Edwards. Dr Kempfert reports honoraria from Edwards, Medtronic, Abbott, and CryoLife. Dr Garatti is a proctor at Abbott. Dr Schmidt reports honoraria and travel support from Abbott and Cardiovalve. Dr Tang is a proctor/consultant at Medtronic; consultant/advisory board at Abbott; consultant at NeoChord; advisory board at JenaValve; and honoraria from Siemens and EastEnd Medical. Dr Redwood is a proctor at and reports personal fees from Edwards and is on the advisory board at Medtronic. Dr Taramasso is a consultant at Abbott, Edwards, Boston Scientific, Shenqi Medical, Simulands, Occlufit, MTEx, Medira, 4tech, and CoreMedic and reports personal fees from Cardiovalve. Dr Praz is a consultant at Edwards. Dr Fam is a consultant at Edwards, Abbott, and Cardiovalve. Dr Dumonteil is a consultant/proctor at Abbott, Boston Scientific, Edwards, and Medtronic. Dr von Bardeleben reports consulting/honoraria from Abbott, Edwards, and Medtronic and research grants to the university from Abbott and Edwards. Dr Rudolph reports honoraria from Abbott. Dr Reardon is a consultant at Medtronic, Boston, Abbott, and Gore (all funds to the department). Dr Metra reports personal fees from Actelion, Amgen, Livanova, Servier, Vifor Pharma as member of the Executive or Data Monitoring Committees of sponsored clinical trials, AstraZeneca, Abbott, Bayer, Boheringer Ingelhelm, and Edwards Therapeutics for participation to advisory boards and speeches at sponsored meetings. Dr Denti reports personal fees from Abbott and Edwards. Dr Mack reports being a co-Principal Investigator for the PARTNER trial (Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valve Trial; Edwards) and COAPT trial (Cardiovascular Outcomes Assessment of the MitraClip Percutaneous Therapy for Heart Failure Patients With Functional Mitral Regurgitation; Abbott) and is a study chair for the APOLLO trial (Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement With the Medtronic Intrepid TMVR System in Patients With Severe Symptomatic Mitral Regurgitation; Medtronic). Dr Hausleiter reports consulting fees, speaker honoraria, and research support to the institution from Abbott and Edwards. Dr Asch reports institutional contracts from Abbott, Neovasc, Ancora, Mitralign, Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Edwards Lifesciences, Biotronik, and Livanova. Dr Latib is on the advisory board at Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Philips, Edwards, and Abbott. Dr Lindenfeld reports grant support from AstraZeneca and consulting at Abbott, Alleviant, AstraZeneca, Cordio, CVRx, Edwards, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck, Medtronic, Vascular Dynamics, and V-Wave. Dr Modine is a consultant at Abbott, Edwards, and Medtronic. Dr Stone reports honoraria from Medtronic, Pulnovo, and Infraredx; is a consultant at Valfix, TherOx, Robocath, HeartFlow, Ablative Solutions, Vectorious, Miracor, Neovasc, Abiomed, Ancora, Elucid Bio, Occlutech, CorFlow, Apollo Therapeutics, Impulse Dynamics, Cardiomech, Gore, Amgen, Adona Medical, and Millennia Biopharma; and reports equity/options at Ancora, Cagent, Applied Therapeutics, Biostar family of funds, SpectraWave, Orchestra Biomed, Aria, Cardiac Success, Valfix, and Xenter. Dr Stone’s daughter is an employee at Medtronic. Dr Stone’s employer, Mount Sinai Hospital, receives research support from Abbott, Abiomed, Bioventrix, Cardiovascular Systems, Inc, Phillips, Biosense Webster, Shockwave, Vascular Dynamics, Pulnovo, and V-wave. Dr Granada is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Cardiovascular Research Foundation. The other authors report no conflicts.

Background: A quality improvement strategy (PReCePT) was used in a standard and enhanced format to scale up a clinical intervention (administering magnesium sulphate to women in preterm labour) across all maternity units in England to protect prematurely born infants from neurodevelopmental disabilities. Formal evaluations reported the effectiveness of the standard package alone in increasing the administration of magnesium sulphate. In this paper, we focus on the findings of the process evaluations, using normalisation process theory to explain how different implementation contexts generated the observed outcomes relating to normative and relational restructuring and sustainment., Methods: Interviews were conducted with key individuals in implementation of leadership positions nationally and locally. Interviews were analysed initially using the framework method. We then engaged recursively with NPT constructs to generate generalisable insights with pragmatic applicability in other settings., Results: In total, 72 interviews were conducted with good representation from units across England and staff from the National Academic Health Science Network. We found that all units irrespective of whether they received a standard or enhanced QI package were successful in the 'normative restructuring' of their setting to enable magnesium sulphate to be administered. This suggests that this implementation outcome is necessary to achieve improvements. However, it may not be sufficient to sustain the changes once additional resources have been withdrawn. Sustainment, our findings suggest, required 'relational restructuring' to accommodate altered workflows and facilitate the sharing of responsibilities and tasks in daily practice. Relational restructuring was more likely to have been achieved units receiving enhanced QI support but also happened in units with standard QI support, especially in those where perinatal team working was already well established., Conclusion: Unlike other large QI-focused spread-and-scale programmes which failed to show any impact on outcomes, the PReCePT programme in both the enhanced and standard support packages led to improvements in the uptake of magnesium sulphate. The findings suggest that QI programmes interact with the enabling factors, such as strong interprofessional team working, already present in the setting. A standard package with minimal support was therefore sufficient in settings with enabling factors, but enhanced support was required in units where these were absent., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Aim: The aim of the study was to explore practitioners' experiences and perspectives on continence training, in order to understand its relevance to practice and how take-up of, and engagement with, such training may be improved., Design: 27 qualitative interviews were conducted with nursing, medical and allied health practitioners in three hospitals., Methods: We analysed data thematically, both manually and with the aid of NVivo software. The research adheres to the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research checklist., Results: Practitioners asserted the likely benefits of evidence-based continence training, including more judicious use of products, reduction in associated infection, better patient skin care and more facilitative communication with patients. Practitioners also identified preferred methods of continence training, according to their role and workload. To ensure better take-up of, and engagement with, continence training, it must be authorized as essential and provided in ways that reflect professional preferences and pragmatic resource considerations., (© 2023 The Authors. Nursing Open published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Bleeding among populations undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting and among conservatively managed patients with acute coronary syndrome exposed to different dual antiplatelet therapy and triple therapy (i.e. dual antiplatelet therapy plus an anticoagulant) has not been previously quantified., Objectives: The objectives were to estimate hazard ratios for bleeding for different antiplatelet and triple therapy regimens, estimate resources and the associated costs of treating bleeding events, and to extend existing economic models of the cost-effectiveness of dual antiplatelet therapy., Design: The study was designed as three retrospective population-based cohort studies emulating target randomised controlled trials., Setting: The study was set in primary and secondary care in England from 2010 to 2017., Participants: Participants were patients aged ≥ 18 years undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting or emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (for acute coronary syndrome), or conservatively managed patients with acute coronary syndrome., Data Sources: Data were sourced from linked Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Hospital Episode Statistics., Interventions: Coronary artery bypass grafting and conservatively managed acute coronary syndrome: aspirin (reference) compared with aspirin and clopidogrel. Percutaneous coronary intervention: aspirin and clopidogrel (reference) compared with aspirin and prasugrel (ST elevation myocardial infarction only) or aspirin and ticagrelor., Main Outcome Measures: Primary outcome: any bleeding events up to 12 months after the index event. Secondary outcomes: major or minor bleeding, all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, mortality from bleeding, myocardial infarction, stroke, additional coronary intervention and major adverse cardiovascular events., Results: The incidence of any bleeding was 5% among coronary artery bypass graft patients, 10% among conservatively managed acute coronary syndrome patients and 9% among emergency percutaneous coronary intervention patients, compared with 18% among patients prescribed triple therapy. Among coronary artery bypass grafting and conservatively managed acute coronary syndrome patients, dual antiplatelet therapy, compared with aspirin, increased the hazards of any bleeding (coronary artery bypass grafting: hazard ratio 1.43, 95% confidence interval 1.21 to 1.69; conservatively-managed acute coronary syndrome: hazard ratio 1.72, 95% confidence interval 1.15 to 2.57) and major adverse cardiovascular events (coronary artery bypass grafting: hazard ratio 2.06, 95% confidence interval 1.23 to 3.46; conservatively-managed acute coronary syndrome: hazard ratio 1.57, 95% confidence interval 1.38 to 1.78). Among emergency percutaneous coronary intervention patients, dual antiplatelet therapy with ticagrelor, compared with dual antiplatelet therapy with clopidogrel, increased the hazard of any bleeding (hazard ratio 1.47, 95% confidence interval 1.19 to 1.82), but did not reduce the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (hazard ratio 1.06, 95% confidence interval 0.89 to 1.27). Among ST elevation myocardial infarction percutaneous coronary intervention patients, dual antiplatelet therapy with prasugrel, compared with dual antiplatelet therapy with clopidogrel, increased the hazard of any bleeding (hazard ratio 1.48, 95% confidence interval 1.02 to 2.12), but did not reduce the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (hazard ratio 1.10, 95% confidence interval 0.80 to 1.51). Health-care costs in the first year did not differ between dual antiplatelet therapy with clopidogrel and aspirin monotherapy among either coronary artery bypass grafting patients (mean difference £94, 95% confidence interval -£155 to £763) or conservatively managed acute coronary syndrome patients (mean difference £610, 95% confidence interval -£626 to £1516), but among emergency percutaneous coronary intervention patients were higher for those receiving dual antiplatelet therapy with ticagrelor than for those receiving dual antiplatelet therapy with clopidogrel, although for only patients on concurrent proton pump inhibitors (mean difference £1145, 95% confidence interval £269 to £2195)., Conclusions: This study suggests that more potent dual antiplatelet therapy may increase the risk of bleeding without reducing the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events. These results should be carefully considered by clinicians and decision-makers alongside randomised controlled trial evidence when making recommendations about dual antiplatelet therapy., Limitations: The estimates for bleeding and major adverse cardiovascular events may be biased from unmeasured confounding and the exclusion of an eligible subgroup of patients who could not be assigned an intervention. Because of these limitations, a formal cost-effectiveness analysis could not be conducted., Future Work: Future work should explore the feasibility of using other UK data sets of routinely collected data, less susceptible to bias, to estimate the benefit and harm of antiplatelet interventions., Trial Registration: This trial is registered as ISRCTN76607611., Funding: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment ; Vol. 27, No. 8. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Background: Transcatheter therapies are a recognized alternative intervention in patients with severe mitral regurgitation who are at high surgical risk. The purpose of this study was to characterize patients screened for transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR), establish the clinical and anatomic reasons for unsuitability, and determine clinical course and early outcomes., Methods: International multicentre registry was conducted of consecutive patients screened for TMVR at 12 centres in Europe, the United States, and Canada between April 2015 and September 2018. Patient-level retrospective data were collected for all patients screened., Results: From a total of 294 patients, 87 (30%) patients were suitable for and underwent TMVR, whereas 207 (70%) patients were unsuitable for TMVR. There was no difference in Society of Thoracic Surgeons predicted risk of mortality (6.3% ± 4.3% vs 6.7 ± 6.1%, P = 0.52) for mitral valve replacement between the groups. The most common reasons for TMVR unsuitability were mitral annular size outside therapeutic range (28%) and small predicted neo-LVOT (25%). Preprocedural multidetector computed tomographic demonstrated that patients unsuitable for TMVR had smaller predicted neo-left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) area (318 ±192 mm 2 vs 495 ± 202 mm 2 , P = 0.04). At 30 days, there was no difference in rates of rehospitalization (8% vs 8%, P = 0.21), stroke (1% vs 2%, P = 0.42), or mortality (4% vs 10%, P = 0.10), unadjusted for procedural risk, between unsuitable for TMVR and TMVR groups, respectively., Conclusions: Two-thirds of patients failed screening as anatomically unsuitable for TMVR. The findings of this study have important clinical implications, highlighting an unmet clinical need and provide a target for design innovation in future iterations of TMVR devices., (Copyright © 2023 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aims: Facilitated self-management support programmes have become central to the treatment of chronic diseases including diabetes. For many children and young people with diabetes (CYPD), the impact on glycated haemoglobin (HbA 1c ) and a range of self-management behaviours promised by these programmes remain unrealised. This warrants an appraisal of current thinking and the existing evidence to guide the development of programmes better targeted at this age group., Methods: Create a narrative review of systematic reviews produced in the last 3 years that have explored the impact on CYPD of the four key elements of self-management support programmes: education, instruction and advice including peer support; psychological counselling via a range of therapies; self-monitoring, including diaries and telemetric devices; and telecare, the technology-enabled follow-up and support by healthcare providers., Results: Games and gamification appear to offer a promising means of engaging and educating CYPD. Psychological interventions when delivered by trained practitioners, appear to improve HbA 1c and quality of life although effect sizes were small. Technology-enabled interactive diaries can increase the frequency of self-monitoring and reduce levels of HbA 1c . Telecare provided synchronously via telephone produced significant improvements in HbA 1c ., Conclusions: The cost-effective flexibility of increasing the reliance on technology is an attractive proposition; however, there are resource implications for digital connectivity in underserved populations. The need remains to improve the understanding of which elements of each component are most effective in a particular context, and how to optimise the influence and input of families, caregivers and peers., (© 2022 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Diabetes UK.)

Aims: This study aimed to compare outcomes after transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) and mitral valve transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (M-TEER) for the treatment of secondary mitral regurgitation (SMR)., Methods and Results: The CHOICE-MI registry included 262 patients with SMR treated with TMVR between 2014 and 2022. The EuroSMR registry included 1065 patients with SMR treated with M-TEER between 2014 and 2019. Propensity score (PS) matching was performed for 12 demographic, clinical and echocardiographic parameters. Echocardiographic, functional and clinical outcomes out to 1 year were compared in the matched cohorts. After PS matching, 235 TMVR patients (75.5 years [70.0, 80.0], 60.2% male, EuroSCORE II 6.3% [interquartile range 3.8, 12.4]) were compared to 411 M-TEER patients (76.7 years [70.1, 80.5], 59.0% male, EuroSCORE II 6.7% [3.9, 12.4]). All-cause mortality was 6.8% after TMVR and 3.8% after M-TEER at 30 days (p = 0.11), and 25.8% after TMVR and 18.9% after M-TEER at 1 year (p = 0.056). No differences in mortality after 1 year were found between both groups in a 30-day landmark analysis (TMVR: 20.4%, M-TEER: 15.8%, p = 0.21). Compared to M-TEER, TMVR resulted in more effective mitral regurgitation (MR) reduction (residual MR ≤1+ at discharge for TMVR vs. M-TEER: 95.8% vs. 68.8%, p < 0.001), and superior symptomatic improvement (New York Heart Association class ≤II at 1 year: 77.8% vs. 64.3%, p = 0.015)., Conclusion: In this PS-matched comparison between TMVR and M-TEER in patients with severe SMR, TMVR was associated with superior reduction of MR and superior symptomatic improvement. While post-procedural mortality tended to be higher after TMVR, no significant differences in mortality were found beyond 30 days., (© 2023 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)

Indications for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) have expanded in many countries to include patients with aortic stenosis who are at low surgical risk, and a similar expansion to this cohort is anticipated elsewhere in the world, together with an increase in the proportion of patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) morphology as the age of the patients being treated decreases. To date, patients with BAV have been excluded from major randomized trials of TAVI owing to anatomical considerations. As a consequence, BAV has been a relative contraindication to the use of TAVI in international guidelines. Although clinical experience and observational data are accumulating, BAV presents numerous anatomical challenges for successful TAVI, despite advances in device design. Furthermore, in those with BAV, substantial geographical variation exists in patient characteristics, clinical approach and procedural strategy. Therefore, in this Roadmap article, we summarize the existing evidence and provide consensus recommendations from an international group of experts on the application of TAVI in patients with BAV in advance of the anticipated growth in the use of this procedure in this challenging cohort of patients., (© 2022. Springer Nature Limited.)

Uni-dimensional Doppler echocardiography data provide the mainstay of quantative assessment of aortic stenosis, with the transvalvular pressure drop a key indicator of haemodynamic burden. Sophisticated methods of obtaining velocity data, combined with improved computational analysis, are facilitating increasingly robust and reproducible measurement. Imaging modalities which permit acquisition of three-dimensional blood velocity vector fields enable angle-independent valve interrogation and calculation of enhanced measures of the transvalvular pressure drop. This manuscript clarifies the fundamental principles of physics that underpin the evaluation of aortic stenosis and explores modern techniques that may provide more accurate means to grade aortic stenosis and inform appropriate management., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Introduction: Conventional aortic root and valve-sparing root replacement surgery are two current surgical treatments for aortic dilatation syndromes. This review article aims to review the current literature surrounding these two established techniques., Areas Covered: This review article will address the current indications for valve-sparing root replacement surgery, technical considerations in surgical planning and a comparison of clinical outcomes between these two surgical techniques., Expert Opinion: Valve-sparing root replacement surgery is a safe and established treatment for aortic syndromes. Valve-sparing surgery procedure avoids the inherent risk of prosthetic valve dysfunction and prosthesis infection by preserving the native aortic valve compared to conventional aortic root surgery. This has been demonstrated in various observational studies and should be considered in clinically and anatomically appropriate patients. Other technical considerations, such as reimplantation versus remodeling technique and aortic cusp repair in select patients, may impact in short-term procedural and long-term clinical success with valve-sparing surgery.

Subclinical leaflet thrombosis (LT) may occur following surgical and transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Computed tomography (CT) has become an established imaging modality to diagnose subclinical LT following bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement. Even so, there is a limited (but growing) experience in utilizing CT imaging for this indication. This review emphasizes a systematic approach to acquiring and analysing CT imaging for subclinical LT, highlighting evidence surrounding clinical sequelae of subclinical LT and anti-thrombotic implications following diagnosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest JL has received institutional core laboratory contracts with Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, Abbott, Boston Scientific, PI Cardia, and Conformal. PMH is a shareholder of Neumann Medical Ltd. RPG has received personal fees from Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and Abbott Vascular. The remaining authors have nothing to disclose in relation to this article., (Copyright © 2022 Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Transcatheter mitral valve replacement is a promising alternative to open-heart surgery in elderly patients. Patients with severe mitral annulus calcification (MAC) are a particularly high-risk population, where postprocedural complications can have catastrophic effects. Amongst these, obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract can lead to ventricular hypertrophic remodeling and subsequent heart failure, while subclinical valve thrombosis can result in early bioprosthetic valve failure., Methods: To elucidate the mechanisms of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction and valve thrombosis following valve-in-MAC procedures, we used image processing and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software to generate patient- and device-specific models based on preprocedural CT data. Personalized computer simulations were performed to predict the left ventricular haemodynamics after implantation in three patients with severe MAC., Results: The simulations have successfully captured the increased pressure gradient in the left ventricular outflow tract as a result of the partial obstruction due to the implanted valve. Regions of wall shear stress above the threshold value for platelet activation were also observed on the bioprosthetic frame as a result of the reduced outflow tract area, which led to increases in flow resistance and blood residence time inside the ventricle. Consistent with these findings, areas of slow recirculating flow and blood stasis formed near the valve frame, creating potential pro-thrombotic conditions., Discussion: This study provides insight into the relationship between size and shape of the outflow tract post-implantation, pressure gradients and pro-thrombotic flow metrics such as wall shear stress and blood residence time. Results show the potential of CFD modeling to bring key functional metrics into preprocedural assessment for a comprehensive evaluation of post-procedural risks beyond anatomical factors. Following further validation and extension to the atrial chamber, this approach can provide an in-depth analysis of the likelihood of valvular thrombosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Hill, Young, Prendergast, Redwood, Rajani and De Vecchi.)

Structural valvular interventions have skyrocketed in the past decade with new devices becoming available and indications for patients who would previously have been deemed inoperable. Furthermore, while echocardiography is the main imaging tool and the first line for patient screening, cardiac magnetic resonance and CT are now essential tools in pre-planning and post-procedural follow-up. This review aims to address imaging modalities and their scope in aortic, mitral and tricuspid structural valvular interventions, including multimodality imaging. Pulmonary valve procedures, which are mostly carried out in patients with congenital problems, are discussed. This article presents a guide on individualised imaging approcahes on each of the available interventional procedures., Competing Interests: Disclosure: JG is on the editorial board of Cardiac Failure Reivew; this did not influence peer review. In the last 36 months, PGM reports consulting fees from Perspectum Diagnostics. SR reports speaker fees from Edwards Lifesciences and is on Medtronic’s international advisory board. All other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2022, Radcliffe Cardiology.)

Background: The Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) is an advance care planning process designed to facilitate discussion and documentation of preferences for care in a medical emergency. Advance care planning is important in residential and nursing homes., Aim: To explore the views and experiences of GPs and care home staff of the role of ReSPECT in: (i) supporting, and documenting, conversations about care home residents' preferences for emergency care situations, and (ii) supporting decision-making in clinical emergencies., Setting/participants: Sixteen GPs providing clinical care for care home residents and 11 care home staff in the West of England., Methods: A qualitative research design using semi-structured interviews., Results: Participants' accounts described the ReSPECT process as facilitating person-centred conversations about residents' preferences for care in emergency situations. The creation of personalised scenarios supported residents to consider their preferences. However, using ReSPECT was complex, requiring interactional work to identify and incorporate resident or relative preferences. Subsequent translation of preferences into action during emergency situations also proved difficult in some cases. Care staff played an important role in facilitating and supporting ReSPECT conversations and in translating it into action., Conclusions: The ReSPECT process in care homes was positive for GPs and care home staff. We highlight challenges with the process, communication of preferences in emergency situations and the importance of balancing detail with clarity. This study highlights the potential for a multi-disciplinary approach engaging care staff more in the process., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society.)

A key challenge for qualitative methods in applied health research is the fast pace that can characterize the public health and health and care service landscape, where there is a need for research informed by immediate pragmatic questions and relevant findings are required quickly to inform decision-making. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the pace at which evidence was needed to inform urgent public health and healthcare decision-making. This required qualitative researchers to step up to the challenge of conducting research at speed whilst maintaining rigor and ensuring the findings are credible. This article illustrates how working with multidisciplinary, collaborative teams and the tailoring of qualitative methods to be more pragmatic and efficient can provide timely and credible results. Using time-limited case studies of applied qualitative health research drawn from the work of the Behavioral and Qualitative Science Team from the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West), we illustrate our collaborative and intensive pragmatic qualitative (CLIP-Q) approach. CLIP-Q involves (i) collaboration at all stages of the design, conduct and implementation of projects and, where possible, co-production with people with lived experience, (ii) an intensive team-based approach to data collection and analysis at pace, and (iii) pragmatic study design and efficient strategies at each stage of the research process. The case studies include projects conducted pre COVID-19 and during the first wave of the pandemic, where urgent evidence was required in weeks rather than months to inform rapid public health and healthcare decision making., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Horwood, Pithara, Lorenc, Kesten, Murphy, Turner, Farr, Banks, Redwood, Lambert, Donovan and NIHR ARC West Behavioural and Qualitative Science Team.)

Objectives: To describe hemodynamic effects of iVAC2L mechanical circulatory support (MCS)., Background: MCS is increasingly used in the context of high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The effect of the pulsatile iVAC2L MCS on left ventricular loading conditions and myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO 2 ) is unknown., Methods: This prospective single-arm two-center study included 29 patients who underwent high-risk PCI with iVAC2L MCS using simultaneous invasive pulmonary pressure monitoring and left ventricular pressure-volume analysis. Hemodynamic recordings were performed during steady state conditions with MCS off and on before and after PCI. Pressure-volume variations were analyzed to denote responders and non-responders., Results: The mean age was 74 (IQR: 70-81) years and the mean SYNTAX score was 31 ± 8.3. Left ventricular unloading with iVAC2L MCS was demonstrated in 22 out of 27 patients with complete PV studies. Patients with moderate or severe mitral regurgitation or presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) had higher filling pressures and volumes and were most responsive to iVAC2L unloading (9/10 patients with moderate or severe MR and 11/11 patients with ACS). Pulsatile MCS activation reduced MAP (-4%), SBP (-9%), ESP (-11%), ESV (-15%) and EDV (-4%) among responders but not among non-responders. Responders experienced significant reductions in afterload (Ea: -19%) with increases in stroke volume (+11%) and cardiac output (+11%)., Conclusions: Pulsatile iVAC2L MCS in patients with advanced coronary artery disease at high to prohibitive operative risk resulted in LV unloading and reduced myocardial oxygen consumption particularly in patients with ACS or significant MR with higher filling pressures at baseline., Clinical Trial Registration: NCT03200990., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr Van Mieghem is advisor and received research grant support from PulseCath B.V. He received institutional research grant support from Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Edwards Lifesciences, Daiichi Sankyo. Dr Bastos received personal fees from PulseCath BV. Dr Daemen received institutional grant/research support from Astra Zeneca, Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, ACIST Medical, Medtronic, Pie Medical, and ReCor medical, and consultancy and speaker fees from Abiomed, ACIST medical, Boston Scientific, ReCor Medical, PulseCath, Pie Medical, Siemens Health Care and Medtronic. Dr Schreuder is an employee of CD Leycom. Mr Malkin is an employee of PulseCath BV. The other authors report no conflicts., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Mitral annular calcification (MAC) is a common and challenging pathologic condition, especially in the context of an aging society. Surgical mitral valve intervention in patients with MAC is difficult, with varying approaches to the calcified annular anatomy, and the advent of transcatheter valve interventions has provided additional treatment options. Advanced imaging provides the foundation for heart team discussions and management decisions concerning individual patients. This review focuses on the prognosis of, preoperative planning for, and management strategies for patients with MAC., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures Dr Lucchese has been a consultant for and received speaker fees from Edwards Lifesciences, Cryolife, and Bard-DB. Dr Bapat has received speaker/consultancy fees and research grant support from Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Abbott. Dr Guerrero has received research grant support from Abbott Structural Heart and Edwards Lifesciences. Dr Redwood has received speaker fees from Edwards Lifesciences. Dr Prendergast has received unrestricted research and educational grants from Edwards Lifesciences; and has received speaker/consultancy fees from Abbott, Medtronic, Microport, Anteris, and Edwards Lifesciences. Dr Rajani has received speaker/consultancy fees from Siemens Healthineers, GE Healthcare, Medtronic, and Edwards Lifesciences. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Systems approaches aim to change the environments in which people live, through cross-sectoral working, by harnessing the complexity of the problem. This paper sought to identify: (1) the strategies which support the implementation of We Can Move (WCM), (2) the barriers to implementation, (3) key contextual factors that influence implementation and (4) impacts associated with WCM., Design: A multi-methods evaluation of WCM was completed between April 2019 and April 2021. Ripple Effects Mapping (REM) and semi-structured interviewers were used. Framework and content analysis were systematically applied to the dataset., Setting: WCM-a physical activity orientated systems approach being implemented in Gloucestershire, England., Participants: 31 stakeholder interviews and 25 stakeholders involved in 15 REM workshops., Results: A white-water rafting analogy was developed to present the main findings. The successful implementation of WCM required a facilitative, well-connected and knowledgeable guide (ie, the lead organisation), a crew (ie, wider stakeholders) who's vision and agenda aligned with WCM's purpose, and a flexible delivery approach that could respond to ever-changing nature of the river (ie, local and national circumstances). The context surrounding WCM further strengthened and hampered its implementation. Barriers included evaluative difficulties, a difference in stakeholder and organisational perspectives, misaligned expectations and understandings of WCM, and COVID-19 implications (COVID-19 also presented as a facilitative factor). WCM was said to strengthen cohesion and collaboration between partners, benefit other agendas and policies (eg, mental health, town planning, inequality), and improve physical activity opportunities and environments., Conclusions: This paper is one of the first to evaluate a systems approach to increasing physical activity. We highlight key strategies and contextual factors that influenced the implementation of WCM and demonstrate some of the wider benefits from such approaches. Further research and methodologies are required to build the evidence base surrounding systems approaches in Public Health., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

Objectives: We describe the first experience using calcification of anatomical landmarks to obviate the need for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) alignment aortography and secondary TAVI access., Background: TAVI alignment conventionally involves secondary femoral access for contrast aortography using a second catheter. Secondary femoral access accounts for up to 25% of all vascular complications. Heavily calcified aortic leaflets are often visible fluoroscopically and can act as markers for TAVI alignment., Methods: We considered 100 consecutive patients for transfemoral TAVI. The first group was considered for a conventional dual access technique and the subsequent group was considered for a single access technique. Relevant baseline, and procedural and outcome measures were recorded., Results: Baseline characteristics were comparable between groups. Balloon-expandable transcatheter heart valves (THV) were used in all cases. THV implantation was successful in 100% of cases with no procedural or in-hospital mortality. Procedural time and contrast use were lower in the single access group. There were no Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC)-2 major vascular complications with the single access technique., Conclusions: This is the first study describing the use of calcification of anatomical landmarks to obviate the need for secondary TAVI access. Notable observations included successful device implantation in all cases, no VARC-2 major vascular complications, comparable rates of paravalvular leak and permanent pacemaker requirement, shorter procedural times, and lower contrast use. Single access TAVI is a viable alternative technique to minimize vascular access, contrast use, and procedural duration in experienced centers and with selected patients, allowing successful device implantation and low complication rates while further streamlining TAVI workflow., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: To identify potential confounders and co-interventions systematically to optimise control of confounding for three non-randomized studies of interventions (NRSI) designed to quantify bleeding in populations exposed to different dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT)., Study Design and Setting: Systematic review, interviews, and surveys with clinicians. We searched Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, and the Cochrane Library to identify randomized-controlled trials and cohort studies of DAPT interventions. Two researchers independently screened citations, identified eligible studies and extracted data. We conducted individual semi-structured interviews with six cardiologists and six cardiac surgeons to elicit factors clinicians consider when they prescribe DAPT. We administered two online surveys for members of professional cardiology and cardiac surgery organisations., Results: We screened 2,544 records, identified 322 eligible studies, and extracted data from 47. We identified 10 co-interventions and 70 potential confounders: review 31 (91%); interviews 19 (56%); surveys 31 (91%). 16/34 (47%) were identified by all three methods while, 3/34 (9%) were picked up by one method only., Conclusion: The review identified the majority of factors, but the interviews identified hard-to-measure factors such as perceived patient adherence and local prescribing culture. The methods could, in principle, be widely applied when designing or reviewing non-randomized studies of interventions (NRSI)., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Health optimisation programmes are increasingly popular and aim to support patients to lose weight or stop smoking ahead of surgery, yet there is little published evidence about their impact. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of evaluating a programme introduced by a National Health Service (NHS) clinical commissioning group offering support to smokers/obese patients in an extra 3 months prior to the elective hip/knee surgery pathway., Methods: Feasibility study mapping routinely collected data sources, availability and completeness for 502 patients referred to the hip/knee pathway in February-July 2018., Results: Data collation across seven sources was complex. Data completeness for smoking and ethnicity was poor. While 37% (184) of patients were eligible for health optimisation, only 28% of this comparatively deprived patient group accepted referral to the support offered. Patients who accepted referral to support and completed the programme had a larger median reduction in BMI than those who did not accept referral (- 1.8 BMI points vs. - 0.5). Forty-nine per cent of patients who accepted support were subsequently referred to surgery, compared to 61% who did not accept referral to support., Conclusions: Use of routinely collected data to evaluate health optimisation programmes is feasible though demanding. Indications of the positive effects of health optimisation interventions from this study and existing literature suggest that the challenge of programme evaluation should be prioritised; longer-term evaluation of costs and outcomes is warranted to inform health optimisation policy development., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Aims: Transcatheter mitral valve implantation (TMVI) represents a novel treatment option for patients with mitral regurgitation (MR) unsuitable for established therapies. The CHOICE-MI registry aimed to investigate outcomes of patients undergoing screening for TMVI., Methods and Results: From May 2014 to March 2021, patients with MR considered suboptimal candidates for transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) and at high risk for mitral valve surgery underwent TMVI screening at 26 centres. Characteristics and outcomes were investigated for patients undergoing TMVI and for TMVI-ineligible patients referred to bailout-TEER, high-risk surgery or medical therapy (MT). The primary composite endpoint was all-cause mortality or heart failure hospitalization after 1 year. Among 746 patients included (78.5 years, interquartile range [IQR] 72.0-83.0, EuroSCORE II 4.7% [IQR 2.7-9.7]), 229 patients (30.7%) underwent TMVI with 10 different dedicated devices. At 1 year, residual MR ≤1+ was present in 95.2% and the primary endpoint occurred in 39.2% of patients treated with TMVI. In TMVI-ineligible patients (n = 517, 69.3%), rates of residual MR ≤1+ were 37.2%, 100.0% and 2.4% after bailout-TEER, high-risk surgery and MT, respectively. The primary endpoint at 1 year occurred in 28.8% of patients referred to bailout-TEER, in 42.9% of patients undergoing high-risk surgery and in 47.9% of patients remaining on MT., Conclusion: This registry included the largest number of patients treated with TMVI to date. TMVI with 10 dedicated devices resulted in predictable MR elimination and sustained functional improvement at 1 year. In TMVI-ineligible patients, bailout-TEER and high-risk surgery represented reasonable alternatives, while MT was associated with poor clinical and functional outcomes., (© 2022 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)

Transcatheter mitral therapies offer treatment options to selected patients who are unable to undergo open procedures due to prohibitive surgical risk. Data detailing the design and structure of transcatheter mitral services to ensure appropriate patient selection and tailored management strategies is lacking. We report our initial experience of developing and running a purpose-built transcatheter mitral service. The nature and number of referral sources, the multi-disciplinary make-up of the dedicated Mitral Heart Team and the use of integrative imaging assessment with incorporation of computational solutions are discussed. In addition, a summary of the clinical decision-making process is presented. This report sets out a framework from which future clinics can evolve to improve and streamline the delivery of transcatheter mitral therapies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Gill, Adams, Chehab, Allen, Hancock, Lamata, Lucchese, Prendergast, Redwood, Patterson and Rajani.)

Background: Systems approaches are currently being advocated and implemented to address complex challenges in Public Health. These approaches work by bringing multi-sectoral stakeholders together to develop a collective understanding of the system, and then to identify places where they can leverage change across the system. Systems approaches are unpredictable, where cause-and-effect cannot always be disentangled, and unintended consequences - positive and negative - frequently arise. Evaluating such approaches is difficult and new methods are warranted., Methods: Ripple Effects Mapping (REM) is a qualitative method which can capture the wider impacts, and adaptive nature, of a systems approach. Using a case study example from the evaluation of a physical activity-orientated systems approach in Gloucestershire, we: a) introduce the adapted REM method; b) describe how REM was applied in the example; c) explain how REM outputs were analysed; d) provide examples of how REM outputs were used; and e) describe the strengths, limitations, and future uses of REM based on our reflections., Results: Ripple Effects Mapping is a participatory method that requires the active input of programme stakeholders in data gathering workshops. It produces visual outputs (i.e., maps) of the programme activities and impacts, which are mapped along a timeline to understand the temporal dimension of systems change efforts. The REM outputs from our example were created over several iterations, with data collected every 3-4 months, to build a picture of activities and impacts that have continued or ceased. Workshops took place both in person and online. An inductive content analysis was undertaken to describe and quantify the patterns within the REM outputs. Detailed guidance related to the preparation, delivery, and analysis of REM are included in this paper., Conclusion: REM may help to advance our understanding and evaluation of complex systems approaches, especially within the field of Public Health. We therefore invite other researchers, practitioners and policymakers to use REM and continuously evolve the method to enhance its application and practical utility., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Outcome following ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is thought to be worse in women than in age-matched men. We assessed whether such differences occur in the UK Pan-London dataset and if age, and particularly menopause, influences upon outcome., Methods: We undertook an observational cohort study of 26,799 STEMI patients (20,633 men, 6,166 women) between 2005-2015 at 8 centres across London, UK. Patient details were recorded at the time of the procedure into local databases using the British Cardiac Intervention Society (BCIS) PCI dataset. Primary outcome was all-cause mortality at a median follow-up of 4.1 years (IQR: 2.2-5.8 years)., Results: Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated a higher mortality rate in women versus men (15.6% men vs. 25.3% women, P<0.0001). Univariate Cox analysis revealed that female sex was a predictor of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.69 95% CI: 1.59-1.82). However, after multivariate adjustment, this effect of female sex diminished (HR: 1.05 95% CI: 0.90-1.25). In a sub-group analysis, we compared the sexes separated by age into the ≤55 and the >55 year olds. Age-stratified Cox analysis revealed that female sex was a univariate predictor of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.60 95% CI: 1.25-2.05) in the ≤55 group and in the >55 group (HR: 1.38 95% CI: 1.28-1.47). However, after regression adjustment incorporating the propensity score into a proportional hazard model as a covariate, whilst female sex was not a significant predictor of all-cause mortality in the ≤55 group it was a predictor in the >55 group. Moreover, whilst age did not influence outcome in <55 group, this effect in the >55 group was correlated with age., Conclusions: Overall women have a worse all-cause mortality following primary PCI for STEMI compared to men. However, this effect was driven predominantly by women >55 years of age since after adjusting for co-morbidities the risk in younger women did not differ significantly from that in men. These observations support the view that as women advance past the menopausal years their risk of further events following revascularization increases substantially and we suggest that routine assessment of hormonal status may improve clinical decision-making and ultimately outcome for women post-PCI., Competing Interests: None., (AJCD Copyright © 2021.)

Objectives: This study sought to determine if percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) prior to transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in patients with significant coronary artery disease would produce noninferior clinical results when compared with no PCI (control arm)., Background: PCI in patients undergoing TAVR is not without risk, and there are no randomized data to inform clinical practice., Methods: Patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis and significant coronary artery disease with Canadian Cardiovascular Society class ≤2 angina were randomly assigned to receive PCI or no PCI prior to TAVR. The primary endpoint was a composite of all-cause death or rehospitalization at 1 year. Noninferiority testing (prespecified margin of 7.5%) was performed in the intention-to-treat population., Results: At 17 centers, 235 patients underwent randomization. At 1 year, the primary composite endpoint occurred in 48 (41.5%) of the PCI arm and 47 (44.0%) of the no-PCI arm. The requirement for noninferiority was not met (difference: -2.5%; 1-sided upper 95% confidence limit: 8.5%; 1-sided noninferiority test P = 0.067). On analysis of the as-treated population, the difference was -3.7% (1-sided upper 95% confidence limit: 7.5%; P = 0.050). Mortality was 16 (13.4%) in the PCI arm and 14 (12.1%) in the no-PCI arm. At 1 year, there was no evidence of a difference in the rates of stroke, myocardial infarction, or acute kidney injury, with higher rates of any bleed in the PCI arm (P = 0.021)., Conclusions: Observed rates of death and rehospitalization at 1 year were similar between PCI and no PCI prior to TAVR; however, the noninferiority margin was not met, and PCI resulted in a higher incidence of bleeding. (Assessing the Effects of Stenting in Significant Coronary Artery Disease Prior to Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation; ISRCTN75836930)., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures The ACTIVATION trial was funded by Edwards Lifesciences and Boston Scientific. Drs Clayton and Dodd have received reimbursement from King’s College London as independent statisticians for performing statistical analysis. Dr Morice is the CEO of Cardiovascular European Research Center CTU. Dr Meneveau has received consulting fees, speaker fees, and project funding from Bayer HealthCare and BMS/Pfizer; has received speaker fees from AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim; and has received consulting fees from Abbott and Terumo. Dr Banning has received institutional grant support for an educational fellowship from Boston Scientific and has been partially funded by the NHS Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. Dr Thomas is an employee of Edwards Lifesciences. Dr Prendergast has received unrestricted educational and research grants from Edwards Lifesciences; has received speaker/consultancy fees from Edwards Lifesciences, Abbott, and Anteris. Dr Hildick-Smith has served as Proctor/Advisory to Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and Edwards. Dr Redwood has served as a proctor and received speaker fees from Edwards Lifesciences. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The REDUCER-I study is a prospective (with a retrospective component), open-label, multi-centre, international, post-market study, which collects long-term data of patients with refractory angina treated with the Reducer. Here we present the overall clinical outcomes of the first 228 patients enrolled., Aims: The aim of this study is to examine the safety and efficacy of the coronary sinus (CS) Reducer in improving angina severity and quality of life in patients suffering from angina pectoris, refractory to medical and interventional therapies., Methods: REDUCER-I is a multicentre, non-randomised observational study. Enrolled patients had refractory angina pectoris Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) class II-IV and were treated with Reducer implantation., Results: In the first 228 patients (81% male, 68.3±9.6 years), the procedural success rate was 99%, with only one adjudicated possible procedural or device-related MACE. Mean CCS class decreased from 2.8±0.6 at baseline, to 1.8±0.7 at two years. Improvement in ≥1 CCS class was observed in 82%, and in ≥2 CCS classes in 31% of patients at two years. At baseline, 70% of the cohort were reported to be in CCS class III-IV; this portion was reduced to 15% at follow-up. Additional measured parameters of functional class and quality of life were also improved., Conclusions: Interim results from the ongoing REDUCER-I study confirm the high safety profile of this therapy in patients suffering from refractory angina. The results also demonstrate sustained improvement in angina severity and in quality of life up to two years.

Objectives: To determine whether a permanent pacemaker (PPM) in situ can enhance survival after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), in a predominantly inoperable or high risk cohort., Background: New conduction disturbances are the most frequent complication of TAVI, often necessitating PPM implantation before hospital discharge., Methods: We performed an observational cohort analysis of the UK TAVI registry (2007-2015). Primary and secondary endpoints were 30-day post-discharge all-cause mortality and long-term survival, respectively., Results: Of 8,651 procedures, 6,815 complete datasets were analyzed. A PPM at hospital discharge, irrespective of when implantation occurred (PPM 1.68% [22/1309] vs. no PPM 1.47% [81/5506], odds ratio [OR] 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71-1.84; p = .58), or a PPM implanted peri- or post-TAVI only (PPM 1.44% [11/763] vs. no PPM 1.47% [81/5506], OR 0.98 [0.51-1.85]; p = .95) did not significantly reduce the primary endpoint. Patients with a PPM at discharge were older, male, had right bundle branch block at baseline, were more likely to have received a first-generation self-expandable prosthesis and had experienced more peri- and post-procedural complications including bailout valve-in-valve rescue, bleeding and acute kidney injury. A Cox proportional hazards model demonstrated significantly reduced long-term survival in all those with a PPM, irrespective of implantation timing (hazard ratio [HR] 1.14 [1.02-1.26]; p = .019) and those receiving a PPM only at the time of TAVI (HR 1.15 [1.02-1.31]; p = .032). The reasons underlying this observation warrant further investigation., Conclusions: A PPM did not confer a survival advantage in the first 30 days after hospital discharge following TAVI., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Introduction: Refractory angina (RA) is considered the end-stage of coronary artery disease, and often has no interventional treatment options. Coronary sinus Reducer (CSR) is a recent addition to the therapeutic arsenal, but its efficacy has only been evaluated on small populations. The RESOURCE registry provides further insights into this therapy., Methods: The RESOURCE is an observational, retrospective registry that includes 658 patients with RA from 20 centers in Europe, United Kingdom and Israel. Prespecified endpoints were the amelioration of anginal symptoms evaluated with the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) score, the rates of procedural success and complications, and MACEs as composite of all-cause mortality, acute coronary syndromes, and stroke., Results: At a median follow-up of 502 days (IQR 225-1091) after CSR implantation, 39.7% of patients improved by ≥2 CCS classes (primary endpoint), and 76% by ≥1 class. Procedural success was achieved in 96.7% of attempts, with 3% of procedures aborted mostly for unsuitable coronary sinus anatomy. Any complication occurred in 5.7% of procedures, but never required bailout surgery nor resulted in intra- or periprocedural death or myocardial infarction. One patient developed periprocedural stroke after inadvertent carotid artery puncture. At the last available follow-up, overall mortality and MACE were 10.4% and 14.6% respectively. At one, three and five years, mortality rate at Kaplan-Meier analysis was 4%, 13.7%, and 23.4% respectively., Conclusions: CSR implantation is safe and reduces angina in patients with refractory angina., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Heart failure is an inevitable end-stage consequence of significant valvular heart disease (VHD) that is left untreated and increasingly encountered in an ageing society. Recent advances in transcatheter procedures and improved outcomes after valve surgery mean that intervention can (and should) be considered in all patients - even the elderly and those with multiple comorbidities - at earlier stages of the natural history of primary VHD, before the onset of irreversible left ventricular dysfunction (and frequently before the onset of symptoms). All patients with known VHD should be monitored carefully in the setting of a heart valve clinic and those who meet guideline criteria for surgical or transcatheter intervention referred for intervention without delay. High quality evidence for the use of medical therapy in VHD is limited and achieving target doses in an elderly and comorbid population frequently challenging. Furthermore, determining whether the valve or ventricle is the principal disease driver is crucial (although the distinction is not always binary, and often unclear). Guideline-directed medical therapy remains the mainstay of treatment for secondary mitral regurgitation - although up to 50% of patients may fail to respond and should be considered for cardiac resynchronization, transcatheter or surgical valve intervention. Early and definitive management strategies are essential and should be overseen by a specialist Heart Team that includes a Heart Failure specialist. In this article, we provide an evidence-based summary of approaches to the medical treatment of VHD and clinical guidance for the best management of patients in situations where high quality evidence is lacking., (© 2021 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)

A plethora of catheter-based strategies have been developed to treat mitral valve disease. Evolving 3-dimensional (3D) multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) technology can accurately reconstruct the mitral valve by means of 3-dimensional computational modeling (3DCM) to allow virtual implantation of catheter-based devices. 3D printing complements computational modeling and offers implanting physician teams the opportunity to evaluate devices in life-size replicas of patient-specific cardiac anatomy. MDCT-derived 3D computational and 3D-printed modeling provides unprecedented insights to facilitate hands-on procedural planning, device training, and retrospective procedural evaluation. This overview summarizes current concepts and provides insight into the application of MDCT-derived 3DCM and 3D printing for the planning of transcatheter mitral valve replacement and closure of paravalvular leaks. Additionally, future directions in the development of 3DCM will be discussed., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures Dr. Wang has served as a consultant for Edwards Lifesciences, Boston Scientific, and Materialise. Dr. Redwood has served as a proctor and consultant for Edwards Lifesciences. Dr. Popma has received institutional grants from Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Edwards Lifesciences, and Abbott; and is a member of the Medical Advisory Board of Edwards Lifesciences. Dr. Little has served as a consultant for Abbot Cardiovascular and Medtronic; and has received a research grant from Siemens Health. Dr. Pfeiffer has served as a consultant for LivaNova Inc.; and has served as a speaker and proctor for Edwards Lifesciences and Abbott Cardiovascular. Dr. Dahle has served as a proctor for Abbot Cardiovascular. Mrs. Minet is a former employee of Materialise NV. Dr. O’Neill has served as a consultant for Boston Scientific. Dr. Van Mieghem has received research grant support from Abbott, Boston Scientific, Edwards Lifesciences, and Medtronic; and has served as a consultant for Abbott, Boston Scientific, Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, Pie Medical, and Materialise NV. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyC) is a novel biomarker of myocardial injury, with a promising role in the triage and risk stratification of patients presenting with acute cardiac disease. In this study, we assess the weekly biological variation of cMyC, to examine its potential in monitoring chronic myocardial injury, and to suggest analytical quality specification for routine use of the test in clinical practice., Methods: Thirty healthy volunteers were included. Non-fasting samples were obtained once a week for ten consecutive weeks. Samples were tested in duplicate on the Erenna ® platform by EMD Millipore Corporation. Outlying measurements and subjects were identified and excluded systematically, and homogeneity of analytical and within-subject variances was achieved before calculating the biological variability (CV I and CV G ), reference change values (RCV) and index of individuality (II)., Results: Mean age was 38 (range, 21-64) years, and 16 participants were women (53%). The biological variation, RCV and II with 95% confidence interval (CI) were: CV A (%) 19.5 (17.8-21.6), CV I (%) 17.8 (14.8-21.0), CV G (%) 66.9 (50.4-109.9), RCV (%) 106.7 (96.6-120.1)/-51.6 (-54.6 to -49.1) and II 0.42 (0.29-0.56). There was a trend for women to have lower CV G. The calculated RCVs were comparable between genders., Conclusions: cMyC exhibits acceptable RCV and low II suggesting that it could be suitable for disease monitoring, risk stratification and prognostication if measured serially. Analytical quality specifications based on biological variation are similar to those for cardiac troponin and should be achievable at clinically relevant concentrations., (© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

Background: Patients who improve following cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) have left ventricular (LV) remodeling and improved cardiac output (CO). Effects on the systemic circulation are unknown., Objective: To explore the effects of CRT on aortic and pulmonary blood flow and systemic afterload., Methods: At CRT implant patients underwent a noninvasive assessment of central hemodynamics, including wave intensity analysis (n = 28). This was repeated at 6 months after CRT. A subsample (n = 11) underwent an invasive electrophysiological and hemodynamic assessment immediately following CRT. CRT response was defined as reduction in LV end-systolic volume ≥15% at 6 months., Results: In CRT responders (75% of those in the noninvasive arm), there was a significant increase in CO (from 3 ± 2 L/min to 4 ± 2 L/min, P = .002) and LV dP/dt max (from 846 ± 162 mm Hg/s to 958 ± 194 mm Hg/s, P = .001), immediately after CRT in those in the invasive arm. They demonstrated a significant increase in aortic forward compression wave (FCW) both acutely and at follow-up. The relative change in LV dP/dt max strongly correlated with changes in the aortic FCW ( R s 0.733, P = .025). CRT responders displayed a significant reduction in afterload, and a decrease in systemic vascular resistance and pulse wave velocity acutely; there was a significant decrease in acute pulmonary afterload measured by the pulmonary FCW and forward expansion wave., Conclusion: Improved cardiac function following CRT is attributable to a combination of changes in the cardiac and cardiovascular system. The relative importance of these 2 mechanisms may then be important for optimizing CRT., (© 2021 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Aims: Physical activity (PA) plays an important role in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD), functioning as a marker of disease progression and response to therapy. Real-world measurement of habitual PA is now possible through wearable activity monitors, however, their use in cardiovascular patients is not well described., Methods and Results: We performed a systematic review to summarize how wearable activity monitors have been used to measure PA in patients with CVD, with 11 464 patients included across 108 studies. Activity monitors were primarily used in the setting of cardiac rehabilitation (46, 43%). Most often, triaxial accelerometers (70, 65%) were instructed to be worn at the hip (58, 54%) for 7 days ( n  = 54, 50%). Thirty-nine different activity monitors were used, with a range of accelerometer specific settings for collection and reporting of activity data. Activity was reported most commonly as time spent in metabolic equivalent-defined activity levels (49, 45%), while non-wear time was defined in just 16 (15%) studies., Conclusion: The collecting, processing, and reporting of accelerometer-related outcomes were highly heterogeneous. Most validation studies are limited to healthy young adults, while the paucity of methodological information disclosed renders interpretation of results and cross-study comparison challenging. While accelerometers are promising tools to measure real-world PA, we highlight current challenges facing their use in elderly multimorbid cardiology patients. We suggest recommendations to guide investigators using these devices in cardiovascular research. Future work is required to determine optimal methodology and consensus-based development of meaningful outcomes using raw acceleration data., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)

Over the past decade, several transcatheter devices have been developed to address the treatment of severe mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients at high surgical risk, mainly aimed at repairing the native mitral valve (MV). MV repair devices have recently been shown to have high efficacy and safety. However, to replicate promising trial results, specific anatomical and pathophysiological criteria have to be met and operators need a high level of experience. As yet, the longer-term durability of transcatheter MV repair remains unknown. Transcatheter MV replacement (TMVR) might be a treatment option able to target various anatomies, reliably abolish MR, and foster ease of use with a standardised implantation protocol. This review presents upcoming TMVR devices and available data and discusses how TMVR might further advance the field of transcatheter treatment of MR., Competing Interests: Disclosure: JRC receives institutional research grants from and is a consultant for Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic and Abbott. AL is a consultant for Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic and Abbott. All other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2021, Radcliffe Cardiology.)

Background: Health optimisation programmes are an increasingly popular policy intervention that aim to support patients to lose weight or stop smoking ahead of surgery. There is little evidence about their impact and the experience of their use. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences and perspectives of commissioners, clinicians and patients involved in a locality's health optimisation programme in the United Kingdom. The programme alters access to elective orthopaedic surgery for patients who smoke or are obese (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m 2 ), diverting them to a 12-week programme of behavioural change interventions prior to assessment for surgical referral., Methods: A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews (n = 20) with National Health Service and Local Authority commissioners and planners, healthcare professionals, and patients using the pathway., Results: Health optimisation was broadly acceptable to professionals and patients in our sample and offered a chance to trigger both short term pre-surgical weight loss/smoking cessation and longer-term sustained changes to lifestyle intentions post-surgery. Communicating the nature and purpose of the programme to patients was challenging and consequently the quality of the explanation received and understanding gained by patients was generally low. Insight into the successful implementation of health optimisation for the hip and knee pathway, but failure in roll-out to other surgical specialities, suggests placement of health optimisation interventions into the 'usual waiting time' for surgical referral may be of greatest acceptability to professionals and patients., Conclusions: Patients and professionals supported the continuation of health optimisation in this context and recognised likely health and wellbeing benefits for a majority of patients. However, the clinicians' communication to patients about health optimisation needs to improve to prepare patients and optimise their engagement.