Expert opinion on the creating and operating of the regional Pulmonary Embolism Response Teams (PERT). Polish PERT Initiative

Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) is a multidisciplinary team established to stratify riskand choose optimal treatment in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE). Established for thefirst time at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2013, PERT is based on a concept combining a RapidResponse Team and a Heart Team. The growing role of PERTs in making individual therapeutic decisionsis identified, especially in hemodynamically unstable patients with contraindications to thrombolysis orwith co-morbidities, as well as in patients with intermediate-high risk in whom a therapeutic decisionmay be difficult. The purpose of this document is to define the standards of PERT under Polish conditions,based on the experience of teams already operating in Poland, which formed an agreement calledthe Polish PERT Initiative. The goals of Polish PERT Initiative are: improving the treatment of patientswith PE at local, regional and national levels, gathering, assessing and sharing data on the effectivenessof PE treatment (including various types of catheter-directed therapy), education on optimal treatmentof PE, creating expert documents and supporting scientific research, as well as cooperation with othercommunities and scientific societies

An expert opinion of the Polish Cardiac Society Working Group on Pulmonary Circulation and the Polish Society for Rheumatology on the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension in patients with connective tissue disease

Systemic connective tissue diseases (CTDs) comprise a large group of diseases that are auto-immune in nature and characterized by the involvement of multiple systems and organs. Pul-monary hypertension (PH) of various etiologies may develop in the course of CTD, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), PH secondary to the lung disease, postcapillary PH in the course of left heart disease, and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). In addition, the different forms of PH may coexist with each other. Among patients with CTD, PAH occurs most commonly in those with systemic sclerosis, where it affects ap-proximately 8%–12% of patients. The prognosis in patients with untreated PAH is very poor. It is particularly important to identify the high-risk CTD-PAH population and to perform effi-cient and accurate diagnostics so that targeted therapy of the pulmonary arteries can be intro-duced. Echocardiography is used to screen for PH, but clinical and echocardiographic suspicion of PH always requires confirmation by right heart catheterization. Confirmation of PAH ena-bles the initiation of life-prolonging pharmacological treatment in this group of patients, which should be administered in referral centers. Drugs available for pharmacological management include endothelin receptor antagonists, phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, and prostacyclins

Characterization of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension : data from the polish registry of pulmonary hypertension (BNP-PL)

Current knowledge of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) epidemiology is based mainly on data from Western populations, and therefore we aimed to characterize a large group of Caucasian PAH adults of Central-Eastern European origin. We analyzed data of incident and prevalent PAH adults enrolled in a prospective national registry involving all Polish PAH centers. The estimated prevalence and annual incidence of PAH were 30.8/mln adults and 5.2/mln adults, respectively and they were the highest in females ≥65 years old. The most frequent type of PAH was idiopathic (n = 444; 46%) followed by PAH associated with congenital heart diseases (CHD-PAH, n = 356; 36.7%), and PAH associated with connective tissue disease (CTD-PAH, n = 132; 13.6%). At enrollment, most incident cases (71.9%) were at intermediate mortality risk and the prevalent cases had most of their risk factors in the intermediate or high risk range. The use of triple combination therapy was rare (4.7%). A high prevalence of PAH among older population confirms the changing demographics of PAH found in the Western countries. In contrast, we found: a female predominance across all age groups, a high proportion of patients with CHD-PAH as compared to patients with CTD-PAH and a low use of triple combination therapy

Lung transplantation in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: The opinion of the Polish Cardiac Society Working Group on Pulmonary Circulation

Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a rare but progressive disease that leads to death. Modern drug treatment slows the progression of the disease and prolongs patients’ lives, but often, even maximal treatment with parenteral prostacyclin does not prevent deterioration. In the case of inadequate clinical response to drug treatment, lung transplantation (LTx) should be considered. This article aims to analyze thoroughly indications to refer a patient for consultation with a transplant center, the optimal timing of listing for LTx, contraindications for the procedure, bridging techniques, as well as tests needed before and after transplantation. We outline the technique of the procedurę and evaluate psychological aspects of LTx

Value of perfusion-weighted MR imaging in the assessment of early cerebral alterations in neurologically asymptomatic HIV-1-positive and HCV-positive patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Asymptomatic central nervous system (CNS) involvement occurs in the early stage of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. It has been documented that the hepatitis C virus (HCV) can replicate in the CNS. The aim of the study was to evaluate early disturbances in cerebral microcirculation using magnetic resonance (MR) perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) in asymptomatic HIV-1-positive and HCV-positive patients, as well as to assess the correlation between PWI measurements and the clinical data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-six patients: 17 HIV-1-positive non-treated, 18 HIV-1-positive treated with combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), 7 HIV-1/HCV-positive non-treated, 14 HCV-positive before antiviral therapy and 18 control subjects were enrolled in the study. PWI was performed with a 1.5T MR unit using dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) method. Cerebral blood volume (CBV) measurements relative to cerebellum (rCBV) were evaluated in the posterior cingulated region (PCG), basal ganglia (BG), temporoparietal (TPC) and frontal cortices (FC), as well as in white matter of frontoparietal areas. Correlations of rCBV values with immunologic data and liver histology activity index (HAI) were analyzed. RESULTS: Significantly lower rCBV values were found in the right TPC and left FC as well as in PCG in HIV-1-positive naïve (p = 0.009; p = 0.020; p = 0.012), HIV-1 cART treated (p = 0.007; p = 0.009; p = 0.033), HIV-1/HCV-positive (p = 0.007; p = 0.027; p = 0.045) and HCV-positive patients (p = 0.010; p = 0.005; p = 0.045) compared to controls. HIV-1-positive cART treated and HIV-1/HCV-positive patients demonstrated lower rCBV values in the right FC (p = 0.009; p = 0.032, respectively) and the left TPC (p = 0.036; p = 0.005, respectively), while HCV-positive subjects revealed lower rCBV values in the left TPC region (p = 0.003). We found significantly elevated rCBV values in BG in HCV-positive patients (p = 0.0002; p<0.0001) compared to controls as well as to all HIV-1-positive subjects. There were no significant correlations of rCBV values and CD4 T cell count or HAI score. CONCLUSIONS: PWI examination enables the assessment of HIV-related as well as HCV-related early cerebral dysfunction in asymptomatic subjects. HCV-infected patients seem to reveal the most pronounced perfusion changes

Analysis of metabolic changes of brain in HIV-1 seropositive patients with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Background: Asymptomatic central nervous system involvement may occur in the early stages of the HIV infection. The aim of the study was to evaluate early brain metabolic changes by means of proton MR spectroscopy (H1MRS) in the HIV-1 seropositive patients without neurological deficits or significant abnormalities in the plain MR study. Material/Methods: The H1MRS examinations were performed with the use of a MR GE Signa 1,5T system. There were 39 subjects examined, aged 21 to 57 years (mean age 35 years) were examined, including 25 patients infected with HIV-1 and 14 healthy volunteers who constituted a control group. The examinations were performed using the Single Voxel Spectroscopy technique with the PRESS sequence, with following parameters: TR=1500 ms, TE=35 ms, number of acquisitions =128, time of acquisition =3 min. 43 sec. Voxels of 8 cm3 (20×20×20 mm) in size were located in the following 5 regions: posterior cingulate gyrus, grey matter of the frontal area, left basal ganglia, white matter of the left parietal area and white matter of the frontal area. The NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr, mI/Cr ratios in the defined regions of interest were statistically analyzed. Results: There was a statistically significant decrease (p<0.05) in the NAA/Cr ratios in the posterior cingulate area and white matter of the left parietal area in HIV-1 seropositive patients, as compared to the control group. Other metabolite ratios in all the above mentioned locations showed no statistically significant differences, as was also the case for NAA/Cr ratios in grey matter of the frontal area, left basal ganglia and white matter of the frontal area. Conclusions: The reduction of NAA/Cr values revealed in H1MRS studies suggests loss of neurons/neuronal activity in the posterior cingulate area and white matter of the left parietal area, in patients with HIV-1 at the stage before clinical manifestations of retroviral infection and structural changes in the plain MR study. This may reflect a direct neurotropic activity of HIV

Opinia ekspertów Sekcji Krążenia Płucnego Polskiego Towarzystwa Kardiologicznego oraz Polskiego Towarzystwa Reumatologicznego dotycząca diagnostyki i leczenia nadciśnienia płucnego u pacjentów z układowymi chorobami tkanki łącznej

Układowe choroby tkanki łącznej (CTD, connective tissue diseases) obejmują dużą grupę chorób, które cechują się zajęciem wielu układów i narządów, i mają charakter autoimmunologiczny. W przebiegu CTD może dochodzić do rozwoju nadciśnienia płucnego (PH, pulmonary hypertension) o różnej etiologii: tętnicze nadciśnienie płucne (PAH, pulmonary arterial hypertension), PH wtórne do chorób płuc, postkapilarne nadciśnienie płucne w przebiegu chorób lewej części serca oraz przewlekłe zakrzepowo-zatorowe nadciśnienie płucne (CTEPH, chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension). Ponadto poszczególne postaci PH mogą ze sobą współistnieć. U chorych z CTD, PAH występuje najczęściej w przebiegu twardziny układowej (SSc, systemic sclerosis), u ok. 8%–12% pacjentów. Rokowanie u pacjentów z nieleczonym PAH jest bardzo poważne, dlatego z uwagi na możliwość prowadzenia terapii celowanej na tętniczki płucne, szczególnie istotne jest wyodrębnienie populacji wysokiego ryzyka CTD-PAH oraz sprawna i precyzyjna diagnostyka. Badaniem przesiewowym w diagnostyce PH jest echokardiografia, jednak kliniczne i echokardiograficzne podejrzenie PH zawsze wymaga potwierdzenia cewnikowaniem prawego serca (RHC, right heart catheterisation). Potwierdzenie PAH umożliwia włączenie leczenia farmakologicznego, wydłużającego życie w tej grupie chorych, które powinno być stosowane w ośrodkach referencyjnych. W postępowaniu farmakologicznym dostępne są następujące grupy leków: antagoniści receptora endoteliny (ERA, endothelin receptor antagonists), inhibitory fosfodiesterazy 5 (PDE-5) oraz prostacykliny