Multicentric Atrial Strain COmparison between Two Different Modalities: MASCOT HIT Study

Two methods are currently available for left atrial (LA) strain measurement by speckle tracking echocardiography, with two different reference timings for starting the analysis: QRS (QRS-LASr) and P wave (P-LASr). The aim of MASCOT HIT study was to define which of the two was more reproducible, more feasible, and less time consuming. In 26 expert centers, LA strain was analyzed by two different echocardiographers (young vs senior) in a blinded fashion. The study population included: healthy subjects, patients with arterial hypertension or aortic stenosis (LA pressure overload, group 2) and patients with mitral regurgitation or heart failure (LA volume–pressure overload, group 3). Difference between the inter-correlation coefficient (ICC) by the two echocardiographers using the two techniques, feasibility and analysis time of both methods were analyzed. A total of 938 subjects were included: 309 controls, 333 patients in group 2, and 296 patients in group 3. The ICC was comparable between QRS-LASr (0.93) and P-LASr (0.90). The young echocardiographers calculated QRS-LASr in 90% of cases, the expert ones in 95%. The feasibility of P-LASr was 85% by young echocardiographers and 88% by senior ones. QRS-LASr young median time was 110 s (interquartile range, IR, 78-149) vs senior 110 s (IR 78-155); for P-LASr, 120 s (IR 80-165) and 120 s (IR 90-161), respectively. LA strain was feasible in the majority of patients with similar reproducibility for both methods. QRS complex guaranteed a slightly higher feasibility and a lower time wasting compared to the use of P wave as the reference

Treatment of distal left anterior descending artery perforation with fat embolization

Coronary perforation is a potentially fatal complication during percutaneous coronary intervention . Reports have shown that it occurs in 0.2 to 0.6% of all patients undergoing the procedures. Although the frequency of coronary perforation is low, it is a serious and potentially life-threatening situation that warrants prompt recognition and management. Here we present a case of distal coronary perforation, and review the management of coronary perforation in the current practice

An unusual complication of infective endocarditis treated by percutaneous intervention

Mycotic pseudoaneurysms (PA) are an infrequent complication of infective endocarditis (IE). However, due to advanced imaging modality and early therapy, this complication has been seen less frequently in the past few years. The reported incidence is 5%–15% of the patients, with the most common site being intracranial vessels (up to 65%), followed by abdominal and then peripheral vessels. We describe a young patient with a bicuspid aortic valve complicated by IE, who developed a giant mycotic PA. This was treated with a cover stent of the aneurysmal segment, which was complicated by distal stent migration and eventually managed with bypass surgery