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Background: Coronary disease is the main cause of death around the world. mHealth technology is considered attractive and promising to promote behavioural changes aimed at healthy lifestyle habits among coronary patients. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of an mHealth intervention regarding improved results in secondary prevention in patients after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or angina in terms of lifestyle, clinical variables and therapeutic compliance., Methods: Randomised clinical trial with 300 patients who underwent a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stent implant. They will be assigned to either the mHealth group, subject to a self-monitored educational intervention involving an internet application installed on their mobile phone or tablet, or to a control group receiving standard healthcare (150 patients in each arm). The primary outcome variables will be adherence to the Mediterranean diet, physical activity, smoking, therapeutic compliance, knowledge acquired, user-friendliness and satisfaction with the application. Measurements of blood pressure, heart rate, body weight, waist circumference (WC) and the 6-min walk test will be taken. Furthermore, the blood lipid profile, glucose and HbA1c will be evaluated. Clinical interview will be conducted, and validated questionnaires completed. The primary quantitative results will be compared using an analysis of covariance adjusted for age and sex. A multivariate analysis will be performed to examine the association of the intervention with lifestyle habits, the control of cardiovascular risk factors (CDRFs) and the results after the hospital discharge (major adverse events, treatment compliance and lifestyle)., Conclusions: The study will provide evidence about the effectiveness of an mHealth intervention at improving the lifestyle of the participants and could be offered to patients with coronary disease to complement existing services., Trial Registration: NCT05247606. [https://ClinicalTrials.gov]. 21/02/2022., Competing Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Aortic valve stenosis (AS) induces an alteration in hemodynamic conditions that are responsible for coronary microvasculature impairment. Relief of AS by transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is expected to improve the coronary artery hemodynamic. We aimed to assess the midterm effects of TAVI in coronary flow reserve (CFR) and myocardial resistance reserve (MRR) by a continuous intracoronary thermodilution technique. At-rest and hyperemic coronary flow was measured by a continuous thermodilution technique in 23 patients with AS and compared with that in 17 matched controls, and repeated 6 ± 3 months after TAVI in 11 of the patients with AS. In patients with AS, absolute coronary flow at rest was significantly greater, and absolute resistance at rest was significantly less, than in controls (p <0.01 for both), causing less CFR and MRR (1.73 ± 0.4 vs 2.85 ± 1.1, p <0.01 and 1.95 ± 0.4 vs 3.22 ± 1.4, p <0.01, respectively). TAVI implantation yielded a significant 35% increase in CFR (p >0.01) and a 39% increase in MRR (p <0.01) driven by absolute coronary flow at rest reduction (p = 0.03). In patients with AS, CFR and MRR determined by continuous thermodilution are significantly impaired. At 6-month follow-up, TAVI improves these indexes and partially relieves the pathophysiologic alterations, leading to a partial restoration of CFR and MRR., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previous studies showed conflicting results regarding the contribution of coronary collateral circulation (CCC) to myocardial perfusion and function in the setting of myocardial infarction (MI). In the primary angioplasty era, the role of CCC in these studies may have been influenced by the effect of early reperfusion. The true impact of CCC could be clarified by studying its effect on nonreperfused patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of CCC on myocardial viability of late presentation MI., Methods and Results: Between 2008 and 2019, we included 167 patients with a late presentation MI who had a complete angiographic occlusion in a major coronary artery in which myocardial viability of the culprit territory was assessed. Patients were divided according to the presence of angiographic early recruited CCC (ERCC) (Rentrop 2-3) or poor CCC (PCC) (Rentrop 0-1). A lower left ventricular ejection function (LVEF) at discharge (54.2 ± 9 vs. 47.9 ± 12; <0.01) and a more severe left ventricular wall motion abnormalities in the culprit territory were observed in PCC patients. The presence of ERCC was the main independent predictor of myocardial viability in late presentation MI (hazard ratio, 4.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.68-10.6; P < 0.001). At follow-up, wall motion score increased significantly (2.05 ± 0.16; P = 0.02) in patients with ERCC but not in PCC patients (0.07 ± 0.16; P = 0.4), and LVEF improvement was significantly higher in ERCC than in PCC patients (9.7 ± 2.6 vs. 3.8 ± 4.2; P = 0.02)., Conclusion: The presence of ERCC was the main independent predictor of myocardial viability in late presentation MI., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: It is important for health professionals to have tools available to assess patients' knowledge of lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors after they have suffered a coronary event and determine whether educational interventions are effective. This study aims to design and validate a scale to evaluate this knowledge., Methods: Four-phase instrument design: (A) Conceptual review. (B) Review by experts. (C) Pilot test-retest. (D) Psychometric validation of the final version of the questionnaire with 24 items. A panel of experts performed the content validity. The reliability of the scale was measured using Cronbach's alpha score and criterion validity was evaluated by comparing the total scores for knowledge obtained by the participants among the three education level groups. The construct and dimensional structure validity were assessed using exploratory factor analysis., Results: A total of 143 people participated, 30 in the pilot study and 113 (68% male, 60.2 ± 9 years) in the psychometric validation of version 3 of the scale. A Cronbach's alpha score of 0.887 was reached for this version. The factor analysis showed that the items were distributed into five factors that explained 57% of the variance. Significant differences were observed in the level of knowledge among the patients of the three levels of education (low, moderate and high) (99.20 ± 11.93, 105.92 ± 7.85, 109.78 ± 8.76 points, p = 0.003), as there was a negative correlation between age and knowledge level (r = -0.213, p = 0.024)., Conclusions: The scale presents psychometric properties that are evidence of its reliability and validity. The relationship demonstrated between the level of knowledge and age, sex and level of education shows the importance of emphasizing educational interventions for elderly people and those with a lower level of education.

Background: The Watchman FLX is a device upgrade of the Watchman 2.5 that incorporates several design enhancements intended to simplify left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) and improve procedural outcomes. This study compares peri -procedural results of LAAO with Watchman FLX (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, Massachusetts) in centers with varying degrees of experience with the Watchman 2.5 and Watchman FLX., Methods: Prospective, multicenter, "real-world" registry including consecutive patients undergoing LAAO with the Watchman FLX at 26 Spanish sites (FLX-SPA registry). Implanting centers were classified according to the center's prior experience with the Watchman 2.5. A further division of centers according to whether or not they had performed ≤ 10 or > 10Watchman FLX implants was prespecified at the beginning of the study. Procedural outcomes of institutions stratified according to their experience with the Watchman 2.5 and FLX devices were compared., Results: 359 patients [mean age 75.5 (SD8.1), CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc 4.4 (SD1.4), HAS-BLED 3.8(SD0.9)] were included. Global success rate was 98.6%, successful LAAO with the first selected device size was achieved in 95.5% patients and the device was implanted at first attempt in 78.6% cases. There were only 9(2.5%) major peri -procedural complications. No differences in efficacy or safety results according to the centeŕs previous experience with Watchman 2.5 and procedural volume with Watchman FLX existed., Conclusions: The Watchman FLX attains high procedural success rates with complete LAA sealing in unselected, real-world patients, along with a low incidence of peri -procedural complications, regardless of operatoŕs experience with its previous device iteration or the number of Watchman FLX devices implanted., Competing Interests: 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., (© 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is the "gold standard" for assessing the physiological significance of coronary disease. In the last decade, several alternative adenosine-free indexes have been proposed in order to facilitate the dissemination of the functional evaluation of coronary stenosis. Our aim was to investigate whether radiographic contrast plus intracoronary nitroglycerin (cFFR-NTG) can predict functional assessment of coronary stenosis offering superior diagnostic agreement with FFR compared to non-hyperemic indexes and contrast mediated FFR (cFFR)., Methods: Three hundred twenty-nine lesions evaluated with pressure wire in 266 patients were prospectively included in this multicenter study., Results: The ROC curves for cFFR-NTG using an FFR≤0.80 showed a higher accuracy in predicting FFR (AUC=0.97) than resting Pd/Pa (AUC=0.90, P<0.01) and cFFR (AUC=0.93.5, P<0.01). A significant (P<0.01) strong correlation was found between FFR and the four analyzed indexes: Pd/Pa (r=0.78); iFR/RFR (r=0.73); cFFR(r=0.89) and cFFR-NTG (r=0.93). cFFR-NTG showed the closest agreement at Bland-Altman analysis. The cFFR-NTG cut off value >0.84 showed the highest negative predictive value (88%), specificity (91%), sensitivity (94%) and accuracy (92%) of the studied indexes., Conclusions: Submaximal hyperemic adenosine-free indexes are an efficient alternative to adenosine for the physiological assessment of epicardial coronary disease. The most accurate index in predicting the functional significance of coronary stenosis using FFR as reference was cFFR-NTG.

Coronary heart disease is one of the main causes of morbimortality around the world. Patients that survive a coronary event suffer a high risk of readmission, relapse and mortality, attributed to the sub-optimal control of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), which highlights the need to improve secondary prevention strategies aimed at improving their lifestyle and adherence to treatment. Through a randomized controlled clinical trial, this study aims to evaluate the effect of an intervention involving an online health application supported by a mobile telephone or tablet (mHealth) on lifestyle (diet, physical activity, and tobacco consumption) and treatment adherence among people with coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention. The sample will comprise 240 subjects (120 in each arm: intervention and usual care). They are assessed immediately and nine months after their hospital discharge about sociodemographic, clinical, CVRF, lifestyle, and treatment adherence characteristics. The educative intervention, involving a follow-up and self-monitoring, will be performed using an online mHealth tool consisting of an application for mobile phones and tablets. The quantitative primary outcomes from the two groups will be compared using an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) adjusted for age and gender. A multivariate analysis will be performed to examine the association of the intervention with lifestyle habits, the control of CVRFs, and outcomes after discharge in terms of the use of health services, emergency visits, cardiovascular events and readmissions.

Coronary flow reserve (CFR) is a well-validated flow-based physiological parameter that has shown value in clinical risk stratification. CFR can be invasively assessed, classically by Doppler and, more recently, by thermodilution with saline boluses (CFR thermo-bolus ). Alternatively, continuous thermodilution is a novel operator-independent, highly-reproducible technique to invasively quantify maximum absolute coronary flow (AF). This study aimed to assess the feasibility of this method to quantify resting AF and to determine CFR (CFR Thermo-infusion) as compared with CFR thermo-bolus . Sixty-two consecutive patients with suspicion of coronary disease and absence of significant epicardial lesions were prospectively investigated. AF at maximal hyperemia (20 mL/min) and at lower infusion rates (6-8-10-12 mL/min) were systematically measured using a dedicated catheter and a temperature/pressure guidewire. The absence of baseline Pd/Pa decrease at 6 (0.15 ± 0.2%), 8 (0.17 ± 0.18%) and 10 mL/min (0.2 ± 0.12%) demonstrated absence of hyperemia at ≤10 mL/min (all p = NS). However, at 12 mL/min hyperemia was confirmed by a significant decrease in Pd/Pa (1.3 ± 1.5%, p <0.01) and increase in AF from 10 mL/min to 12 mL/min (31.4 ± 28.1 mL, p <0.05). All curve tracings at 10 mL/min (129/129, 100%) were adequate versus only (7/15, 53%) and (15/18, 17%) at 6 mL/min, and 8 mL/min, respectively, and this infusion-rate was considered to determine resting-AF. CFR Thermo-infusion was determined as the ratio of hyperemic-AF (20 mL/min) by resting-AF (10 mL/min). Mean CFR Thermo-infusion was 2.56 ± 0.9 and CFR thermo-bolus 2.49 ± 1. Both parameters showed a good correlation (r = 0.76; p <0.001) and intraclass agreement (ICC = 0.76; p <0.001).The continuous thermodilution method enables to quantify resting-AF providing a novel clinical tool to determine CRF. CFR Thermo-infusion shows a good correlation with CFR thermo-bolus . ., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interests 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., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Periprosthetic mitral valve regurgitation due to paravalvular leakage is one of the complications of valve replacement surgery. We report a series of eight patients with severe symptomatic periprosthetic mitral regurgitation in whom surgery could not be performed because of the high risk. All patients were assigned to percutaneous closure of periprosthetic mitral valve leaks using an Amplatzer duct occluder. The procedure was successful in five patients. A significant reduction in periprosthetic regurgitation and a clinical improvement were observed in four of the patients. The procedure was unsuccessful in three patients: in two due to interference with the prosthesis discs; in the other, because it was not possible to pass through the leak. One of these three patients died a few hours after the procedure due to severe stroke. Percutaneous closure of paravalvular leakage in patients at a high surgical risk is technically feasible and has an acceptable clinical success rate.

Background: Patients with chronic heart failure and pulmonary arterial hypertension are at risk of developing fatal right graft failure after transplantation, and there is no agreement about the limit of pulmonary vascular resistance for such risk., Purpose: To study what the impact is on the survival of a degree of pulmonary hypertension not considered to be an exclusion for orthotopic heart transplantation and to analyze the hemodynamic profile in the minor circuit after surgery., Patients and Methods: We studied a group of 69 patients consecutively transplanted and with followup of at least one year. Patients were classified in two groups depending on the hemodynamic factors previous to transplant: group A (without pulmonary hypertension, 22 patients) and group B (with pulmonary hypertension, 47 patients). After heart transplantation we analyzed the causes of mortality and the evolution hemodynamic profile in both groups., Results: In the group of patients with pulmonary hypertension there was an increase in perioperative mortality due to graft failure (p < 0.05), although at the end of the first year, the survival rate was similar in both groups. After heart transplantation, the level of pulmonary pressures dropped in the same group, but at the end of the first year, a 17% of the patients maintains some criteria of pulmonary hypertension., Conclusions: Our results confirm that degrees of pulmonary hypertension classically not considered as an exclusion for orthotopic heart transplantation were associated with an increase mortality by graft failure. The majority of survivors after heart transplantation normalize pulmonary pressures at one year of transplantation.