Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test in heart failure: A Sine qua non

A robust literature, over the last years, supports the indication of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Understanding exercise physiology is a crucial component of the critical evaluation of exercise intolerance. Shortness of breath and exercise limitation is often treated with an improper focus, partly because the pathophysiology is not well understood in the frame of the diagnostic spectrum of each subspecialty. A vital field and research area have been cardiopulmonary exercise test in heart failure with preserved/reduced ejection fraction, evaluation of heart failure patients as candidates for LVAD-Implantation, as well as for LVAD-Explantation and ultimately for heart transplantation. All the CPET variables provide synergistic prognostic discrimination. However, Peak VO2 serves as the most critical parameter for risk stratification and prediction of survival rate

"Broken Heart" and "Broken Brain": Which Connection?

The interconnections between brain and heart are increasingly recognized. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, also known as "broken heart syndrome", is characterized by a cardiovascular dysfunction provoked by an emotional or stressful situation. Similar events can trigger a neurological pathology called transient global amnesia. These conditions can occur simultaneously, although their precise connection is not well understood. We aim to present the case of a patient who experienced them and to review the relevant literature

Prognostic role of atrial fibrillation in acute coronary syndromes: a real-life, contemporary analysis

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Sex-Based Differences in Bleeding Risk After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention and Implications for the Academic Research Consortium High Bleeding Risk Criteria.

Background Female sex was not included among the high bleeding risk (HBR) criteria by the Academic Research Consortium (ARC) as it remains unclear whether it constitutes an HBR condition after percutaneous coronary intervention. We investigated whether female sex associates with HBR and assessed the performance of ARC HBR criteria separately in women and men. Methods and Results Among all consecutive patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention between 2009 and 2018, bleeding occurrences up to 1 year were prospectively collected and centrally adjudicated. All but one of the originally defined ARC HBR criteria were assessed, and the ARC HBR score generated accordingly. Among 16 821 patients, 25.6% were women. Compared with men, women were older and had lower creatinine clearance and hemoglobin values. After adjustment, female sex was independently associated with access-site (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.22-3.74; P=0.008) but not with overall or non-access-site 1-year Bleeding Academic Research Consortium 3 or 5 bleeding. This association remained consistent when the femoral but not the radial approach was chosen. The ARC HBR score discrimination, using the original criteria, was lower among women than men (c-index 0.644 versus 0.688; P=0.048), whereas a revised ARC HBR score, in which age, creatinine clearance, and hemoglobin were modeled as continuous rather than dichotomized variables, performed similarly in both sexes. Conclusions Female sex is an independent predictor for access-site bleeding but not for overall bleeding events at 1 year after percutaneous coronary intervention. The ARC HBR framework shows an overall good performance in both sexes, yet is lower in women than men, attributable to dichotomization of age, creatinine clearance, and hemoglobin values, which are differently distributed between sexes. Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02241291

New-onset pericardial effusion during transvenous lead extraction: incidence, causative mechanisms, and associated factors

PURPOSE ericardial effusion (PE) may occur during the lead extraction procedure (TLE). Little is known about the incidence, causes, and predictors of this complication. METHODS rom January 2009 to October 2016, TLE was attempted for 297 leads in 212 patients (age 69.3 ± 12.9 years, 169 male, BMI 27.2 ± 9.9 m²/kg, LVEF 43.4 ± 24.6%) for lead dysfunction (62.7%), upgrade (16.0%), infection (14.2%), or other (7.0%) indications. TLE was performed under general anesthesia with continuous invasive arterial blood pressure and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) monitoring. For lead removal, the mechanical approach was first attempted, followed by the laser-assisted technique when needed. Severity of PE was defined by the presence of hemodynamically significant PE > 10 mm at TEE. RESULTS linical success was achieved for 292 leads (98.3%). New-onset PE was observed in 14 patients (6.6%) [mild entity in 7 patients (3.3%) and severe in 7 (3.3%)]. In these latter patients, intra-procedural management included surgery (n = 3), pericardiocentesis (n = 2), or a conservative approach (n = 2). Right ventricular (RV) site lesions were treated with a simple fluid infusion. Laceration of the superior vena cava and other vessels resulted in rescue surgery. Lesions of the right atrial free wall (n = 1) and coronary sinus (n = 1) were treated with pericardiocentesis. NYHA III/IV, LVEF < 35%, renal impairment, right-sided implant, and ≥2 leads targeted for TLE were associated with new-onset PE. More than two factors identified a higher risk group (16.2%, 95% CI 6.2-32.0%, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS New-onset PE is common during TLE and is associated with specific factors. PE severity and subsequent patient management depend on the site of injury

Temporal trends and long term follow-up of implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy for secondary prevention: A 15-year single-centre experience

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine overall and aetiology-related incidence of secondary prevention ICD implantation over the last 15years in Canton Ticino and to assess clinical outcome according to time period of implantation. METHODS AND RESULTS Consecutive patients treated by implantation of an ICD for secondary prevention from 2000 to 2015 were included in the current study and compared between 5-year cohorts (2000/2004; 2005/2009; 2010/2015). Yearly implantation rate, changing in clinical presentation over years and events during follow-up were evaluated. One-hundred fifty six patients were included. ICD implantation rate increased from 2.1 in 2000-2005 to 5.1 in 2010-2015, respectively (p 0.001). There was an increase in the proportion of non-ischaemic patients and of ventricular tachycardia (VT) as presenting rhythm. No differences in appropriate ICD interventions were observed according to aetiology, presenting arrhythmia or type of device. Reverse remodelling was observed more often in non-ischaemic patients, without any influence on the occurrence of appropriate interventions. Previous myocardial infarction (MI), atrial fibrillation (AF), NYHA class 2-3 and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)<35% were predictors of appropriate therapies during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Rate of implants for secondary prevention indication has almost doubled during the last 15years. Importantly, there has been a progressive increase of non-ischaemic patients receiving an ICD, and of VT as presenting rhythm. Patients had an overall good survival and a relatively low incidence of appropriate therapies. Improvement of ejection fraction did not correlate with risk reduction of ventricular arrhythmias

Validation of high bleeding risk criteria and definition as proposed by the academic research consortium for high bleeding risk.

AIMS To validate the set of clinical and biochemical criteria proposed by consensus by the Academic Research Consortium (ARC) for High Bleeding Risk (HBR) for the identification of HBR patients. These criteria were categorized into major and minor, if expected to carry in isolation, respectively, ≥4% and <4% Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) 3 or 5 bleeding risk within 1-year after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). High bleeding risk patients are those meeting at least 1 major or 2 minor criteria. METHODS AND RESULTS All patients undergoing PCI at Bern University Hospital, between February 2009 and September 2018 were prospectively entered into the Bern PCI Registry (NCT02241291). Age, haemoglobin, platelet count, creatinine, and use of oral anticoagulation were prospectively collected, while the remaining HBR criteria except for planned surgery were retrospectively adjudicated. A total of 16 580 participants with complete ARC-HBR criteria were included. After assigning 1 point to each major and 0.5 point to each minor criterion, we observed for every 0.5 score increase a step-wise augmentation of BARC 3 or 5 bleeding rates at 1 year ranging from 1.90% among patients fulfilling no criterion, through 4.01%, 5.98%, 7.42%, 8.60%, 12.21%, 12.29%, and 17.64%. All major and five out of six minor criteria, conferred in isolation a risk for BARC 3 or 5 bleeding at 1 year exceeding 4% at the upper limit of the 95% confidence intervals. CONCLUSION All major and the majority of minor ARC-HBR criteria identify in isolation patients at HBR

Gene flow and simulation of transgene dispersal from hybrid poplar plantations

• Gene flow is a primary determinant of potential ecological impacts of transgenic trees. However, gene flow is a complex process that must be assessed in the context of realistic genetic, management, and environmental conditions. • We measured gene flow from hybrid poplar plantations using morphological and genetic markers, and developed a spatially explicit landscape model to simulate pollination, dispersal, establishment, and mortality in the context of historical and projected disturbance and land- use regimes. • Most pollination and seed establishment occurred within 450 m of the source, with a very long tail. Modeled transgene flow was highly context-dependent, strongly influenced by the competitive effects of transgenes, transgenic fertility, plantation rotation length, disturbance regime, and spatial and temporal variation in selection. The use of linked infertility genes even if imperfect, substantially reduced transgene flow in a wide range of modeled scenarios. The significance of seed and vegetative dispersal was highly dependent on plantation size. • Our empirical and modeling studies suggest that transgene spread can be spatially exten- sive. However, the amount of spread is highly dependent on ecological and management context, and can be greatly limited or prevented by management or mitigation genes such as those that cause sexual infertilit