Conduction disturbances in Tako Tsubo cardiomyopathy: A cause or a consequence?

Tako-Tsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) is a reversible cardiomyopathy mimicking acute myocardial infarction characterized by a transient left ventricular (LV) apical ballooning without epicardial coronary artery disease [1]. Most remarkable is the complete reversibility of this cardiomyopathy resolving spontaneously within several weeks [1]. Conduction pathway disorders were rarely associated with TTC. We described two cases of TTC with conduction disorders persisting after improvement of left ventricular wall motion that finally motivated the implantation of pacemakers

Association of the PHACTR1/EDN1 genetic locus with spontaneous coronary artery dissection

Background: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an increasingly recognized cause of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) afflicting predominantly younger to middle-aged women. Observational studies have reported a high prevalence of extracoronary vascular anomalies, especially fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) and a low prevalence of coincidental cases of atherosclerosis. PHACTR1/EDN1 is a genetic risk locus for several vascular diseases, including FMD and coronary artery disease, with the putative causal noncoding variant at the rs9349379 locus acting as a potential enhancer for the endothelin-1 (EDN1) gene. Objectives: This study sought to test the association between the rs9349379 genotype and SCAD. Methods: Results from case control studies from France, United Kingdom, United States, and Australia were analyzed to test the association with SCAD risk, including age at first event, pregnancy-associated SCAD (P-SCAD), and recurrent SCAD. Results: The previously reported risk allele for FMD (rs9349379-A) was associated with a higher risk of SCAD in all studies. In a meta-analysis of 1,055 SCAD patients and 7,190 controls, the odds ratio (OR) was 1.67 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.50 to 1.86) per copy of rs9349379-A. In a subset of 491 SCAD patients, the OR estimate was found to be higher for the association with SCAD in patients without FMD (OR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.53 to 2.33) than in SCAD cases with FMD (OR: 1.60; 95% CI: 1.28 to 1.99). There was no effect of genotype on age at first event, P-SCAD, or recurrence. Conclusions: The first genetic risk factor for SCAD was identified in the largest study conducted to date for this condition. This genetic link may contribute to the clinical overlap between SCAD and FMD

Transmission measurements of multilayer interference filters developed for a full integration on Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor chips

International audienceWe present in this paper a method to measure the transmission spectra of optical filters composed of Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) compatible materials thin layers in order to be fully integrated on various types of CMOS image sensors (ambient light sensors, proximity detection, red green blue colour imaging, etc.). As the filters have to be deposited on top of a CMOS device, a good approach in order to evaluate with accuracy their response on chip is (i) to achieve the stacks on Siwafers (as it is the case for the CMOS sensor) (ii) then to perform a direct bonding of the structure on glass wafers (iii) in the end to remove the entire bulk silicon. In this way, we show the measured spectral responses of multilayer interference filters and can check particularly the agreement of the transmission peak with the theoretical calculations and its reproducibility wafer to wafer. It enables to optimize the filters optical designs and to demonstrate that the developed filters fulfill typical CMOS requirements of integration and reliability

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation: how old is too old?

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