A Risk Prediction Index for Amiodarone-Induced Thyrotoxicosis in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease

Amiodarone therapy in adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) is associated with a significant risk of amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT). We developed a risk index to identify those patients being considered for amiodarone treatment who are at high risk for AIT. We reviewed the health records of adults with CHD and assessed the association between potential clinical predictors and AIT. Significant predictors were included in multivariate analyses. The parameter estimates from multivariate analysis were subsequently used to develop a risk index. 169 adults met eligibility criteria and 23 developed AIT. The final model included age, cyanotic heart disease and BMI. The risk index developed identified 3 categories of risk. Their AIT likelihood ratios were: 0.37 for low risk (95% CI 0.15–0.92); 1.12 for medium risk (95% CI 0.65–1.91); and 3.47 for high risk (95% CI 1.7–7.11). The AIT predicted risk in our population was 5% for the low risk group, 15% for the medium risk group and 47% for the high risk group. Conclusions. We derived the first model to quantify the risk for developing AIT among adults with CHD. Before using it clinically to help selecting among alternative antiarrhythmic options, it needs validation in an independent population

Heart valve disease: investigation by cardiovascular magnetic resonance

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has become a valuable investigative tool in many areas of cardiac medicine. Its value in heart valve disease is less well appreciated however, particularly as echocardiography is a powerful and widely available technique in valve disease. This review highlights the added value that CMR can bring in valve disease, complementing echocardiography in many areas, but it has also become the first-line investigation in some, such as pulmonary valve disease and assessing the right ventricle. CMR has many advantages, including the ability to image in any plane, which allows full visualisation of valves and their inflow/outflow tracts, direct measurement of valve area (particularly for stenotic valves), and characterisation of the associated great vessel anatomy (e.g. the aortic root and arch in aortic valve disease). A particular strength is the ability to quantify flow, which allows accurate measurement of regurgitation, cardiac shunt volumes/ratios and differential flow volumes (e.g. left and right pulmonary arteries). Quantification of ventricular volumes and mass is vital for determining the impact of valve disease on the heart, and CMR is the 'Gold standard' for this. Limitations of the technique include partial volume effects due to image slice thickness, and a low ability to identify small, highly mobile objects (such as vegetations) due to the need to acquire images over several cardiac cycles. The review examines the advantages and disadvantages of each imaging aspect in detail, and considers how CMR can be used optimally for each valve lesion

Repaired tetralogy of Fallot: the roles of cardiovascular magnetic resonance in evaluating pathophysiology and for pulmonary valve replacement decision support

Surgical management of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) results in anatomic and functional abnormalities in the majority of patients. Although right ventricular volume load due to severe pulmonary regurgitation can be tolerated for many years, there is now evidence that the compensatory mechanisms of the right ventricular myocardium ultimately fail and that if the volume load is not eliminated or reduced by pulmonary valve replacement the dysfunction might be irreversible. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has evolved during the last 2 decades as the reference standard imaging modality to assess the anatomic and functional sequelae in patients with repaired TOF. This article reviews the pathophysiology of chronic right ventricular volume load after TOF repair and the risks and benefits of pulmonary valve replacement. The CMR techniques used to comprehensively evaluate the patient with repaired TOF are reviewed and the role of CMR in supporting clinical decisions regarding pulmonary valve replacement is discussed

Behavior study of the steel plate girder with a cellular honeycomb web

Based on the experimental test results of the authors, this investigation is concerned with the finite element analysis to examine and compare the load values and failure modes of the authors’ results. This research was conducted using the Abaqus software. The experimental work included the fabrication of twelve plate girders with honeycomb and flat web plate corrugation patterns, which were then tested under a single concentrated load at the midspan. According to the corrugation dimension or outer honeycomb web thickness, the honeycomb steel plate web girder is divided into three groups (60 mm, 80 mm and 100 mm). The specimens also involved plate girders with a flat web. The specimens were created with three lengths (600 mm, 1,200 mm and 1,800 mm). The Abaqus software was used in finite element models to simulate the concentrated load. The numerical results demonstrated that the 60 mm thick honeycomb web provides a greater load-bearing capacity and shear strength than other girders. The 20 mm honeycomb corrugation on the steel plate girder indicates the increased and improved shear resistance. The conclusion was that as the width of the corrugation increased, so did the steel web’s ultimate load and shear strength, resulting in a positive relationship between the critical shear buckling load of the web and the moment of inertia at the strong axis. When the dimension of the corrugation increases, the moment of inertia of the Y axis (Iy) decreases; thus, the plate girder will fail with a less critical buckling load (Pcr). Also, it can be concluded that as the steel plate thickness of the honeycomb web increases, the shear resistance increases as well. However, the spacing between the intermediate stiffener or the horizontal spacing of the web panel can enhance the shear resistance of honeycomb web girder if it was decreased due to increasing the action of tension field force that resists the diagonal tension developed at the web panel by the applied midspan concentrated force

Management principles in patients with COVID-19: Perspectives from a growing global experience with emphasis on cardiovascular surveillance

The COVID-19, due to SARS-CoV-2, has uncovered many real-world issues when it comes to healthcare management and has led to a widespread mortality. Observations thus far from the reports of COVID-19 have indicated that certain risk groups for example, those with pre-existing cardiovascular (CV) disease, hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and tobacco use are prone to disease development and specifically development of severe disease and possible fatality. It is increasingly evident that many CV conditions occur frequently. These include myopericarditis, acute coronary syndromes, thrombosis, arrhythmias, hypertension and heart failure. Many professional organisations and societies related to cardiology have produced guidelines or recommendations on most of the above-mentioned aspects. Given these rapid developments, the aims of this review manuscript were to summarise and integrate recent publications with newly developed guidelines and with the first-hand experience of frontline physicians and to yield a pragmatic insight and approach to CV complications of COVID-19. We emphasise on a strategic tier-based approach for initial assessment and management of COVID-19, and then delve into focused areas within CV domains, and additionally highlighting the role of point-of-care ultrasound especially lung ultrasound, echocardiography and electrocardiography, in the management of these patients. We hope this paper will serve as a useful tool in the CV management of COVID-19 for clinicians practicing in both developing and developed countries

Sleep-disordered breathing and excessive daytime sleepiness in patients with atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: An important consequence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). EDS often predicts a favorable response to treatment of SDB, although in the setting of cardiovascular disease, particularly heart failure, SDB and EDS do not reliably correlate. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is another highly prevalent condition strongly associated with SDB. We sought to assess the relationship between EDS and SDB in patients with AF. METHODS: We conducted a prospective study of 151 patients referred for direct current cardioversion for AF who also underwent sleep evaluation and nocturnal polysomnography. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was administered prior to polysomnography and considered positive if the score was ≥ 11. The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was tested for correlation with the ESS, with a cutoff of ≥ 5 events/h for the diagnosis of SDB. RESULTS: Among the study participants, mean age was 69.1 ± 11.7 years, mean BMI was 34.1 ± 8.4 kg/m(2), and 76% were men. The prevalence of SDB in this population was 81.4%, and 35% had EDS. The association between ESS score and AHI was low (R(2) = 0.014, P = .64). The sensitivity and specificity of the ESS for the detection of SDB in patients with AF were 32.2% and 54.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a high prevalence of SDB in this population with AF, most patients do not report EDS. Furthermore, EDS does not appear to correlate with severity of SDB or to accurately predict the presence of SDB. Further research is needed to determine whether EDS affects the natural history of AF or modifies the response to SDB treatment