Should the host reaction to anisakiasis influence the treatment? Different clinical presentations in two cases

Gastrointestinal anisakiasis is a parasitic infection occurring in people that consume raw or inadequately cooked fish or squid. It is frequently characterized by severe epigastric pain, nausea and vom iting caused by the penetration of the larvae into the gastric wall. Acute gastric anisakiasis with severe chest discomfort is rarely report ed in Italy. On the other hand, gastro-allergic anisakiasis with rash, urticaria and isolated angioedema or anaphylaxis is a clinical entity that has been described only recently. Also, if patients usually develop symptoms within 12 hours after raw seafood ingestion, not always endoscopic exploration can promptly identify the Anisakis larvae. Moreover, some authors consider the prevailing allergic reaction as a natural and effective defense against the parasitic attack. We report two cases of peculiar manifestations of anisakiasis in both acute and chronic forms (severe chest discomfort and anaphylactoid reaction)

Rationale and design of the dual-energy computed tomography for ischemia determination compared to “gold standard” non-invasive and invasive techniques (DECIDE-Gold) : a multicenter international efficacy diagnostic study of rest-stress dual-energy computed tomography angiography with perfusion

Background: Dual-energy CT (DECT) has potential to improve myocardial perfusion for physiologic assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD). Diagnostic performance of rest-stress DECT perfusion (DECTP) is unknown. Objective: DECIDE-Gold is a prospective multicenter study to evaluate the accuracy of DECT to detect hemodynamic (HD) significant CAD, as compared to fractional flow reserve (FFR) as a reference standard. Methods: Eligible participants are subjects with symptoms of CAD referred for invasive coronary angiography (ICA). Participants will undergo DECTP, which will be performed by pharmacological stress, and participants will subsequently proceed to ICA and FFR. HD-significant CAD will be defined as FFR\ua0 64\ua00.80. In those undergoing myocardial stress imaging (MPI) by positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, ischemia will be graded by % ischemic myocardium. Blinded core laboratory interpretation will be performed for CCTA, DECTP, MPI, ICA, and FFR. Results: Primary endpoint is accuracy of DECTP to detect 651 HD-significant stenosis at the subject level when compared to FFR. Secondary and tertiary endpoints are accuracies of combinations of DECTP at the subject and vessel levels compared to FFR and MPI. Conclusion: DECIDE-Gold will determine the performance of DECTP for diagnosing ischemia

Correction to: CT and MR imaging prior to transcatheter aortic valve implantation: standardisation of scanning protocols, measurements and reporting—a consensus document by the European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology (ESCR)

The original version of this article, published on 05 September 2019, unfortunately contained a mistake. The image of “Jena Valve” in Table 3 was incorrect

P2396Stress computed tomographic perfusion improve diagnostic accuracy of coronary computed tomographic angiography in intermediate to high risk patients for coronary artery disease

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Levosimendan improves exercise performance in patients with advanced chronic heart failure

AIMS: Cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) provides parameters such as peak VO2 and ventilation/CO2 production (VE/VCO2) slope, which are strong prognostic predictors in patients with stable advanced chronic heart failure (ADHF). The study aim was to evaluate the effects of the inodilator levosimendan on CPET in patients with ADHF under stable clinical conditions. METHODS AND RESULTS: We enrolled patients with ADHF (peak VO2\u2009<\u200912\u2009mL/min/kg) in a double-blind, placebo-controlled protocol. Patients were randomly assigned to i.v. infusion of placebo (500\u2009mL 5% glucose; n\u2009=\u200919) or levosimendan (in 500\u2009mL 5% glucose; n\u2009=\u200923). Before and 24\u2009h after the end of the infusion, patients underwent determination of New York Heart Association class, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), haemoglobin, serum creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen levels, as well as CPET, standard spirometry, and alveolar capillary gas diffusion. BNP showed no change with placebo (1042\u2009\ub1\u2009811 to 1043\u2009\ub1\u2009867\u2009pg/mL), but it was decreased with levosimendan (1163\u2009\ub1\u2009897 to 509\u2009\ub1\u2009543\u2009pg/mL, P\u2009<\u20090.001). No changes were observed for haemoglobin, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen in either group. With levosimendan, a minor improvement was observed in spirometry measurements, but not in alveolar capillary gas diffusion. Peak VO2 showed a small, non-significant increase with placebo (9.5\u2009\ub1\u20091.7 to 10.0\u2009\ub1\u20092.1\u2009mL/kg/min, P\u2009=\u20090.12), and a greater increase with levosimendan (9.8\u2009\ub1\u20091.7 to 11.0\u2009\ub1\u20091.9\u2009mL/kg/min, P\u2009<\u20090.005). The VE/VCO2 slope showed no change (44.0\u2009\ub1\u200911 vs. 43.4\u2009\ub1\u200910.3, P\u2009=\u20090.44), and a decrease (41.9\u2009\ub1\u200910 vs. 36.6\u2009\ub1\u20096.4, P\u2009<\u20090.001) in the placebo and in the levosimendan group, respectively. CONCLUSION: Levosimendan treatment significantly improves peak VO2 and reduces VE/VCO2 slope and BNP in patients with ADHF

Strategies for radiation dose reduction in nuclear cardiology and cardiac computed tomography imaging: a report from the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), the Cardiovascular Committee of European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), and the European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology (ESCR).

Cardiolog

Application of AI in cardiovascular multimodality imaging

Technical advances in artificial intelligence (AI) in cardiac imaging are rapidly improving the reproducibility of this approach and the possibility to reduce time necessary to generate a report. In cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) the main application of AI in clinical practice is focused on detection of stenosis, characterization of coronary plaques, and detection of myocardial ischemia. In cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) the application of AI is focused on post-processing and particularly on the segmentation of cardiac chambers during late gadolinium enhancement. In echocardiography, the application of AI is focused on segmentation of cardiac chambers and is helpful for valvular function and wall motion abnormalities. The common thread represented by all of these techniques aims to shorten the time of interpretation without loss of information compared to the standard approach. In this review we provide an overview of AI applications in multimodality cardiac imaging

Diagnosis of obstructive coronary artery disease using computed tomography angiography in patients with stable chest pain depending on clinical probability and in clinically important subgroups: meta-analysis of individual patient data

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) should be performed in patients with any clinical probability of coronary artery disease (CAD), and whether the diagnostic performance differs between subgroups of patients. DESIGN: Prospectively designed meta-analysis of individual patient data from prospective diagnostic accuracy studies. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, and Web of Science for published studies. Unpublished studies were identified via direct contact with participating investigators. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES: Prospective diagnostic accuracy studies that compared coronary CTA with coronary angiography as the reference standard, using at least a 50% diameter reduction as a cutoff value for obstructive CAD. All patients needed to have a clinical indication for coronary angiography due to suspected CAD, and both tests had to be performed in all patients. Results had to be provided using 2×2 or 3×2 cross tabulations for the comparison of CTA with coronary angiography. Primary outcomes were the positive and negative predictive values of CTA as a function of clinical pretest probability of obstructive CAD, analysed by a generalised linear mixed model; calculations were performed including and excluding non-diagnostic CTA results. The no-treat/treat threshold model was used to determine the range of appropriate pretest probabilities for CTA. The threshold model was based on obtained post-test probabilities of less than 15% in case of negative CTA and above 50% in case of positive CTA. Sex, angina pectoris type, age, and number of computed tomography detector rows were used as clinical variables to analyse the diagnostic performance in relevant subgroups. RESULTS: Individual patient data from 5332 patients from 65 prospective diagnostic accuracy studies were retrieved. For a pretest probability range of 7-67%, the treat threshold of more than 50% and the no-treat threshold of less than 15% post-test probability were obtained using CTA. At a pretest probability of 7%, the positive predictive value of CTA was 50.9% (95% confidence interval 43.3% to 57.7%) and the negative predictive value of CTA was 97.8% (96.4% to 98.7%); corresponding values at a pretest probability of 67% were 82.7% (78.3% to 86.2%) and 85.0% (80.2% to 88.9%), respectively. The overall sensitivity of CTA was 95.2% (92.6% to 96.9%) and the specificity was 79.2% (74.9% to 82.9%). CTA using more than 64 detector rows was associated with a higher empirical sensitivity than CTA using up to 64 rows (93.4% v 86.5%, P=0.002) and specificity (84.4% v 72.6%, P<0.001). The area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve for CTA was 0.897 (0.889 to 0.906), and the diagnostic performance of CTA was slightly lower in women than in with men (area under the curve 0.874 (0.858 to 0.890) v 0.907 (0.897 to 0.916), P<0.001). The diagnostic performance of CTA was slightly lower in patients older than 75 (0.864 (0.834 to 0.894), P=0.018 v all other age groups) and was not significantly influenced by angina pectoris type (typical angina 0.895 (0.873 to 0.917), atypical angina 0.898 (0.884 to 0.913), non-anginal chest pain 0.884 (0.870 to 0.899), other chest discomfort 0.915 (0.897 to 0.934)). CONCLUSIONS: In a no-treat/treat threshold model, the diagnosis of obstructive CAD using coronary CTA in patients with stable chest pain was most accurate when the clinical pretest probability was between 7% and 67%. Performance of CTA was not influenced by the angina pectoris type and was slightly higher in men and lower in older patients. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42012002780

Microembolization during carotid artery stenting in patients with high-risk, lipid-rich plaque: A randomized trial of proximal versus distal cerebral protection

Objectives: The goal of this study was to compare the rate of cerebral microembolization during carotid artery stenting (CAS) with proximal versus distal cerebral protection in patients with high-risk, lipid-rich plaque. Background: Cerebral protection with filters partially reduces the cerebral embolization rate during CAS. Proximal protection has been introduced to further decrease embolization risk. Methods: Fifty-three consecutive patients with carotid artery stenosis and lipid-rich plaque were randomized to undergo CAS with proximal protection (MO.MA system, n = 26) or distal protection with a filter (FilterWire EZ, n = 27). Microembolic signals (MES) were assessed by using transcranial Doppler during: 1) lesion wiring; 2) pre-dilation; 3) stent crossing; 4) stent deployment; 5) stent dilation; and 6) device retrieval/deflation. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was conducted before CAS, after 48 h, and after 30 days. Results: Patients in the MO.MA group had higher percentage diameter stenosis (89 \ub1 6% vs. 86 \ub1 5%, p = 0.027) and rate of ulcerated plaque (35% vs. 7.4%; p = 0.019). Compared with use of the FilterWire EZ, MO.MA significantly reduced mean MES counts (p < 0.0001) during lesion crossing (mean 18 [interquartile range (IQR): 11 to 30] vs. 2 [IQR: 0 to 4]), stent crossing (23 [IQR: 11 to 34] vs. 0 [IQR: 0 to 1]), stent deployment (30 [IQR: 9 to 35] vs. 0 [IQR: 0 to 1]), stent dilation (16 [IQR: 8 to 30] vs. 0 [IQR: 0 to 1]), and total MES (93 [IQR: 59 to 136] vs. 16 [IQR: 7 to 36]). The number of patients with MES was higher with the FilterWire EZ versus MO.MA in phases 3 to 5 (100% vs. 27%; p < 0.0001). By multivariate analysis, the type of brain protection was the only independent predictor of total MES number. No significant difference was found in the number of patients with new post-CAS embolic lesion in the MO.MA group (2 of 14, 14%) as compared with the FilterWire EZ group (9 of 21, 42.8%). Conclusions: In patients with high-risk, lipid-rich plaque undergoing CAS, MO.MA led to significantly lower microembolization as assessed by using MES counts. (Carotid Stenting in Patients With High Risk Carotid Stenosis ["Soft Plaque"] [MOMA]; NCT01274676) \ua9 2011 American College of Cardiology Foundation

Multimodality imaging: Bird’s eye view from The European Society of Cardiology Congress 2015 London, August 29-September 2, 2015

Cardiolog