Usefulness of multimodality imaging approach in the diagnosis of mechanical prosthetic valve dysfunction

Background Although the long-term outcome of mechanical mitral and aortic prosthetic valve (M-PV, Ao-PV), PV dysfunction (PVD) remains a very serious complication associated with high morbidity and mortality. Thrombosis/pannus and paravalvular leak are the 2 main mechanisms of PVD. The diagnosis of PVD, based on clinical presentation may be challenging, but it is essential for referring the patient to the optimal treatment (clinical follow-up, thrombolysis, surgery). An integrated multimodality imaging approach, comprising several parameters by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and fluoroscopy (F), is mandatory to pursue the correct therapeutic pathway. Purpose This study aims to evaluate the incremental diagnostic value of combined TTE+F over each imaging modality alone in symptomatic pts with Ao-PV or M-PV and high suspicion of PVD. Methods 387 consecutive pts (63\ub111y, 213 Ao-PV, 173 M-PV) suspected for PVD, symptomatic for dyspnea, embolic events, fever or haemolysis were enrolled. All patients were imaged by TTE and F within 2 days after the admission to the hospital. TTE was defined positive for PVD in presence of intra/para-prosthetic regurgitation or high transprosthetic gradient (>20mmHg in Ao-PV, >8mmHg in M-PV) together with altered Doppler parameters (for Ao-PV: DVI <0.25, AT>95ms; for M-PV: Peak Mitral Velocity>2m/sec, VTIPrMV/VTILVO>2.5, PHT>130ms). F was defined positive for PVD when leaflet/s restriction occurs. PVD was confirmed by transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) or positive response of thrombolysis (T), or surgical inspection (S). Results PVD was found in 46% (99/213) of Ao-PV and in 53% (91/173) of M-PV at TOE/T/S. Sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), negative predictive value (NPV), positive predictive value (PPV) and diagnostic accuracy (ACC) for TTE, F and combined TTE+F are reported in Table. The integration of TTE+F data significantly improved ACC both for Ao-PV and M-PV. At ROC analysis, the combined model of TTE+F showed the highest AUC for the detection of PVD compared with TTE and F alone (Figure). Table 1. Comparison of diagnostic accuracy between TTE, F, and TTE+F TTE-Ao-PV (n=211) F-Ao_PV (n=204) TTE+F-Ao-PV (n=202) TTE-M-PV (n=172) F-M-PV (n=158) TTE+F-M-PV (n=157) SE / SP / NPV / PPV / ACC (%) 86 / 89 / 88 / 88 / 88 59 / 99 / 72 / 98 / 79 94 / 88 / 94 / 88 / 91 74 / 90 / 75 / 89 / 81 49 / 96 / 60 / 93 / 70 81 / 86 / 78 / 88 / 83 Figure 1. ROC curves Conclusions In patients with clinical suspicion of PVD, TTE and F are both valid tools to evaluate the PV performance. However, the combined model of TTE+F had a significant incremental value over TTE or F alone to diagnose the presence of PVD. This multimodality imaging approach allows to overcome several weaknesses of the TTE or F alone and consequently provides a prompt recognition of PVD even though TOE remains the gold standard to diagnose paravalvular Leak and non-obstructive thrombosis

Indicated school-based intervention to improve depressive symptoms among at risk Chilean adolescents: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Depression is a disabling condition affecting people of all ages, but generally starting during adolescence. Schools seem to be an excellent setting where preventive interventions may be delivered. This study aimed to test the effectiveness of an indicated school-based intervention to reduce depressive symptoms among at-risk adolescents from low-income families. Methods: A two-arm, parallel, randomized controlled trial was conducted in 11 secondary schools in vulnerable socioeconomic areas in Santiago, Chile. High-risk students in year 10 (2° Medio) were invited to a baseline assessment (n = 1048). Those who scored ≥10 (boys) and ≥15 (girls) in the BDI-II were invited to the trial (n = 376). A total of 342 students consented and were randomly allocated into an intervention or a control arm in a ratio of 2:1. The intervention consisted of 8 group sessions of 45 min each, based on cognitive-behavioural models and delivered by two trained psychologists in the schools. Primary (BDI-II) and secondary outcomes (measures of anxiety, automatic thoughts and problem-solving skills) were administered before and at 3 months post intervention. The primary outcome was the recovery rate, defined as the proportion of participants who scored in the BDI-II <10 (among boys) and <15 (among girls) at 3 months after completing the intervention. Results: There were 229 participants in the intervention group and 113 in the control group. At 3-month follow-up 81.4 % in the intervention and 81.7 % in the control group provided outcome data. The recovery rate was 10 % higher in the intervention (50.3 %) than in the control (40.2 %) group; with an adjusted OR = 1.62 (95 % CI: 0.95 to 2.77) (p = 0.08). No difference between groups was found in any of the secondary outcomes. Secondary analyses revealed an interaction between group and baseline BDI-II score. Conclusions: We found no clear evidence of the effectiveness of a brief, indicated school-based intervention based on cognitive-behavioural models on reducing depressive symptoms among Chilean adolescents from low-income families. More research is needed in order to find better solutions to prevent depression among adolescents

Corrigendum to &#8220;Contribution of central and peripheral factors at peak exercise in heart failure patients with progressive severity of exercise limitation.&#8221; [Int. J. Cardiol. 248 (2017) 252&#8211;256]

The affiliation of Stefania Paolillo was mentioned incorrectly in the original article and this has now been corrected. The authors would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused

Contribution of central and peripheral factors at peak exercise in heart failure patients with progressive severity of exercise limitation

Background A reduced cardiac output (CO) response during exercise is a major limiting factor in heart failure (HF). Oxygen consumption (VO2) is directly proportional to CO. Peripheral mechanisms via arteriovenous oxygen difference (\u394(a-v)O2) play a pivotal role in chronic HF. We hypothesized a weak correlation between peak VO2 and peak CO with a greater \u394(a-v)O2 variability in most severe HF. Methods We analyzed 278 HF patients (NYHA II\u2013III) who performed maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test with non-invasive CO measurement by inert gas rebreathing. Results Median peakVO2, CO and \u394(a-v)O2 were 0.96 (0.78\u20131.28) L/min, 6.3 (5.1\u20138.0) L/min and 16.0 (14.2\u201318.0) mL/100 mL respectively, with a linear relationship between VO2 and CO: CO = 5.3 7 VO2 + 1.13 (r2 = 0.705, p < 0.001). Patients were grouped according to exercise limitation. Group 1 (101 patients) peakVO2 < 50% pred: peakVO2 0.80 (0.67\u20130.94) L/min, peakCO 5.6 (4.7\u20136.5) L/min, peak\u394(a-v)O2 14.8 (12.9\u201317.1) mL/100 mL. Group 2 (89 patients) peakVO2 65 50\u2013<65% pred: peakVO2 1.02 (0.84\u20131.29) L/min, peakCO 6.4 (5.1\u20138.0) L/min, peak\u394(a-v)O2 16.7 (15.0\u201318.5) mL/100 mL. Group 3 (88 patients) peakVO2 65 65% pred: peakVO2 1.28 (0.93\u20131.66) L/min, peakCO 8.0 (6.2\u20139.7) L/min, peak\u394(a-v)O2 16.8 (14.6\u201318.3) mL/100 mL. A peakVO2 and peakCO linear relationship was observed in Group 1 (r2 = 0.381, p < 0.001), Group 2 (r2 = 0.756, p < 0.001) and Group 3 (r2 = 0.744, p < 0.001). Conclusions With worsening HF we observed a progressive reduction of peak CO and peak VO2. However in most compromised patients also peripheral mechanisms play a role as indicated by reduced \u394(a-v)O2