Asymptomatic Severe and Moderate Aortic Stenosis:Time for Appraisal of Treatment Indications

Over the last decades, we have witnessed considerable improvements in diagnostics and risk stratification of patients with significant aortic stenosis (AS), paralleled by advances in operative and anesthetic techniques. In addition, accumulating evidence points to the potential benefit of early valve replacement in such patients prior to the onset of symptoms. In parallel, interventional randomized trials have proven the benefit of transcatheter aortic valve replacement in comparison to a surgical approach to valve replacement over a broad risk spectrum in symptomatic patients with AS. This article reviews contemporary management approaches and scrutinizes open questions regarding timing and mode of intervention in asymptomatic patients with severe AS. We also discuss the challenges surrounding the management of symptomatic patients with moderate AS as well as emerging dilemmas related to the concept of a life-long treatment strategy for patients with AS.</p

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention in a patient with right internal mammary artery graft originating from arteria lusoria dextra

Introduction Congenital anomalies of the aortic arch, although numerous and heterogeneous, occur in less than 1% of individuals at autopsies. Left aortic arch with an aberrant right subclavian artery, also called arteria lusoria dextra, is the most common anomaly of the aortic arch, occurring in 0.5-2.5% of individuals. Case Outline We report the case of a 48-year-old man suffering from acute inferoposterior-wall ST elevation myocardial infarction successfully treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Ten years ago, the patient had undergone coronary artery bypass graft surgery with the implantation of two arterial grafts - left and right internal mammary arteries on both left anterior descending and right coronary artery. After several attempts to canulate truncus brachiocephalicus, angiogram revealed the left aortic arch with the aberrant right subclavian artery. To our knowledge, this is the first described case of primary percutaneous coronary intervention via the aberrant right subclavian artery and right internal mammary artery graft with stent implantation in the infarct related lesion of the distal segment of right coronary artery. Subsequent 64-multidetector computed tomography confirmed the angiographic findings. Conclusion Early recognition of congenital anomalies of the aortic arch and its great vessels, even before coronary artery bypass graft surgery, could be crucial for the urgent and successful treatment of patients with life-threatening conditions, such as ST segment elevation myocardial infarction

The Amount of Weight Loss Six Months after Bariatric Surgery: It Makes a Difference

Background: Bariatric surgery, especially Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), has become the most frequently used therapy for morbid obesity. Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of surgically induced weight loss on cardiopulmonary function 6 months after the procedure, as well as the effect of such an intervention on well-known risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study on 66 morbidly obese patients (BMI ≥40 or ≥35 kg/m2 with present comorbidities), comparing their cardiopulmonary function prior to and 6 months after RYGB surgery. Results: The substantial amount of weight loss (29.80 ± 13.27 kg) after RYGB surgery was associated with significant reduction of comorbidities, especially diabetes and sedentary lifestyle (p = 0.005 and p = 0.002, respectively). Regarding functional capacity, there was significant increase in peak oxygen uptake (VO2 peak, p = 0.003), duration of exercise testing, metabolic equivalents (exercise time and METs, p &#x3c; 0.001), and in peak O2 pulse. These findings were particularly pronounced in a group of patients who had lost more than 18% of initial weight. Conclusions: Reduction of body weight after RYGB surgery is associated with significantly improved cardiorespiratory function 6 months after surgery, especially in patients who lost more than 18% of their initial body weight. In addition, substantial decreases in body weight were also associated with a reduction of cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, smoking, hypertriglyceridemia, and sedentary lifestyle

Contemporary Challenges of Regenerative Therapy in Patients with Ischemic and Non-Ischemic Heart Failure

It has now been almost 20 years since first clinical trials of stem cell therapy for heart repair were initiated. While initial preclinical data were promising and suggested that stem cells may be able to directly restore a diseased myocardium, this was never unequivocally confirmed in the clinical setting. Clinical trials of cell therapy did show the process to be feasible and safe. However, the clinical benefits of this treatment modality in patients with ischemic and non-ischemic heart failure have not been consistently confirmed. What is more, in the rapidly developing field of stem cell therapy in patients with heart failure, relevant questions regarding clinical trials&rsquo; protocol streamlining, optimal patient selection, stem cell type and dose, and the mode of cell delivery remain largely unanswered. Recently, novel approaches to myocardial regeneration, including the use of pluripotent and allogeneic stem cells and cell-free therapeutic approaches, have been proposed. Thus, in this review, we aim to outline current knowledge and highlight contemporary challenges and dilemmas in clinical aspects of stem cell and regenerative therapy in patients with chronic ischemic and non-ischemic heart failure

Application of adaptive activation unit based on injection-locked lasers in machine learning tasks

The expressiveness and learning capabilities of neural networks depend on the activation functions nonlinearity. We present a concept of photonic device with nonlinear transfer function which can be flexibly reconfigured to optimize the performance of different machine learning tasks, such as classification or time-series prediction