Silent severe aortic regurgitation due to blunt chest trauma: ignore it at your peril-a case report.

Background: Blunt chest trauma (BCT) presenting to the emergency department is common and may cause life-threatening cardiac complications. Whilst complications causing haemodynamic instability are generally detected promptly, others may present late with long-term consequences. We describe a rare, serious complication of BCT presenting five years after a road traffic accident (RTA).

Perceval sutureless bioprosthesis versus Perimount sutured bioprosthesis for aortic valve replacement in patients with aortic stenosis: a retrospective, propensity-matched study.

Background: Rapid-deployment aortic valve replacement (RDAVR) is an alternative to conventional AVR (cAVR) for aortic stenosis. Benefits include a reduction in operative times, facilitation of minimal access surgery and superior haemodynamics compared to conventional valves. However, further evidence is required to inform guidelines, preferably in the form of propensity-matched studies that include mid-term follow-up data.

Converging rapid deployment prostheses with minimal access surgery: analysis of early outcomes.

Background: Sutureless prostheses may have added benefit when combined with minimal access surgery, although this has not been fully assessed in the literature. This study aims to provide a comparative analysis of the Perceval valve comparing median sternotomy (MS) with mini-sternotomy (MIS).

Methods: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data was conducted for all isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR), using the Perceval valve, for severe aortic stenosis cases in the period 2014 to 2019.

The feasibility and clinical utility of myocardial contrast echocardiography in clinical practice: results from the incorporation of myocardial perfusion assessment into clinical testing with stress echocardiography study.

Background: This prospective study investigated whether the incorporation of myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) into a clinical stress echocardiography service reproduces the benefits of assessing myocardial perfusion proved previously in research studies.

Methods: MCE was performed during physiologic and pharmacologic clinical stress echocardiographic studies, and the value of myocardial perfusion to the reporting echocardiologists was categorized as of benefit (subclassified as incremental benefit over wall motion [WM] or greater confidence with WM) or of no added benefit. The presence and extent of inducible ischemia by WM and myocardial perfusion were documented and correlated with angiographic results in patients who underwent cardiac catheterization.

Clinical and prognostic value of stress echocardiography appropriateness criteria for evaluation of coronary artery disease in a tertiary referral centre.

Objective: Appropriateness criteria for stress echocardiography (SE) have been published to reduce the rate of inappropriate testing. We sought to investigate the clinical impact and prognostic value of these criteria.

Methods: 250 consecutive patients undergoing SE for evaluation of coronary artery disease were classified into appropriate, uncertain and inappropriate categories according to appropriateness criteria.

Clinical utility and prognostic value of appropriateness criteria in stress echocardiography for the evaluation of valvular heart disease.

We examined the prognostic value of stress echocardiography appropriateness criteria for evaluation of valvular heart disease in 100 consecutive patients. Of the studies, 49%, 36%, and 15% were classified as appropriate, uncertain, and inappropriate, respectively. Over a median of 12.

Prognostic value of cardiovascular magnetic resonance in patients with suspected arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

Background: Early recognition and accurate risk stratification are important in the management of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). Identification of predictors of outcome by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in patients undergoing evaluation for ARVC is limited. We investigated the predictive value of morphological abnormalities detected by CMR for major clinical events in patients with suspected ARVC.

Prognostic role of CMR in patients presenting with ventricular arrhythmias.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to explore whether fibrosis detected by late gadolinium enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance (LGE-CMR) is an independent predictor of hard cardiovascular events in patients presenting with ventricular arrhythmia.

Background: In patients at risk of sudden cardiac death, risk stratification for device therapy remains challenging.

Methods: A total of 373 consecutive patients with sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) (n = 204) or nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) (n = 169) underwent LGE-CMR.

Coronary artery bypass surgery with or without mitral valve annuloplasty in moderate functional ischemic mitral regurgitation: final results of the Randomized Ischemic Mitral Evaluation (RIME) trial.

Background: The role of mitral valve repair (MVR) during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with moderate ischemic mitral regurgitation (MR) is uncertain. We conducted a randomized, controlled trial to determine whether repairing the mitral valve during CABG may improve functional capacity and left ventricular reverse remodeling compared with CABG alone.

Methods And Results: Seventy-three patients referred for CABG with moderate ischemic MR and an ejection fraction >30% were randomized to receive CABG plus MVR (34 patients) or CABG only (39 patients).

Failing stentless aortic valves: redo aortic root replacement or valve in a valve?

Objectives: Reoperation for failing stentless aortic valve replacement is a technically demanding procedure that has traditionally been tackled in one of two ways: either root replacement or the more conservative option of implanting a stented valve within the valve. We sought to determine the relative operative risks, follow-up status and medium to long-term survival of these two methods.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of a single surgeon's experience of the two techniques over a 10-year period from 2000 to 2010.

Left ventricular remodeling and hypertrophy in patients with aortic stenosis: insights from cardiovascular magnetic resonance.

Background: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is the gold standard non-invasive method for determining left ventricular (LV) mass and volume but has not been used previously to characterise the LV remodeling response in aortic stenosis. We sought to investigate the degree and patterns of hypertrophy in aortic stenosis using CMR.

Methods: Patients with moderate or severe aortic stenosis, normal coronary arteries and no other significant valve lesions or cardiomyopathy were scanned by CMR with valve severity assessed by planimetry and velocity mapping.

Multimodality imaging in transcatheter aortic valve implantation and post-procedural aortic regurgitation: comparison among cardiovascular magnetic resonance, cardiac computed tomography, and echocardiography.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine imaging predictors of aortic regurgitation (AR) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and the agreement and reproducibility of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), cardiac computed tomography (CCT), and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in aortic root assessment.

Background: The optimal imaging strategy for planning TAVI is unclear with a paucity of comparative multimodality imaging data. The association between aortic root morphology and outcomes after TAVI also remains incompletely understood.

Midwall fibrosis is an independent predictor of mortality in patients with aortic stenosis.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to assess the prognostic significance of midwall and infarct patterns of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in aortic stenosis.

Background: Myocardial fibrosis occurs in aortic stenosis as part of the hypertrophic response. It can be detected by LGE, which is associated with an adverse prognosis in a range of other cardiac conditions.