Lupus-Associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: A Success Story.

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a severe and potentially life-threatening complication of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Case Summary: We present the case of a young woman with dyspnea at rest, hospitalized with a suspected systemic lupus erythematosus flare. Right heart catheterization confirmed pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension with a low cardiac index.

Kartagener's syndrome with congenital heart defect.

Introduction: Kartagener's syndrome is a rare subset of primary ciliary dyskinesia, a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterised by chronic sinusitis, bronchiectasis, and . To our knowledge, the association of this syndrome with coarctation of the aorta (CoAo) and pulmonary hypertension (PH) has not been previously reported.

Case Description: We report the case of a 17-year-old female patient with and CoAo surgically corrected at two months of age.

The Placebo Effect in Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Trials: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Placebo-controlled studies are crucial in clinical trials, but the placebo effect can vary across conditions. We aimed to assess the placebo effect in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) trials. We conducted a systematic review and included randomized placebo-controlled trials investigating CTEPH interventions.

Role of myocardial microRNAs in the long-term ventricular remodelling of patients with aortic stenosis.

Aims: We hypothesize that miRs are key players in the dynamics of the hypertrophy phenotype in aortic stenosis (AS) patients. In our study, we aimed to identify the transcriptional patterns (protein-coding transcripts and miRs) from myocardial sample biopsies that could be associated with the absence of left ventricular (LV) mass regression after aortic valve replacement (AVR) in patients with severe AS and LV hypertrophy.

Methods And Results: We prospectively included 40 patients with severe AS, LV hypertrophy, and preserved ejection fraction undergoing AVR.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension: Navigating the pathways of progress in diagnosis, treatment, and patient care.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a form of precapillary pulmonary hypertension caused by a complex process of endothelial dysfunction and vascular remodeling. If left untreated, this progressive disease presents with symptoms of incapacitating fatigue causing marked loss of quality of life, eventually culminating in right ventricular failure and death. Patient management is complex and based on accurate diagnosis, risk stratification, and treatment initiation, with close monitoring of response and disease progression.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: A comprehensive review of pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment strategies.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is part of group 4 of the pulmonary hypertension (PH) classification and generally affects more than a third of patients referred to PH centers. It is a three-compartment disease involving proximal (lobar-to-segmental) and distal (subsegmental) pulmonary arteries that are obstructed by persistent fibrothrombotic material, and precapillary pulmonary arteries that can be affected as in pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is a rare complication of pulmonary embolism (PE), with an incidence of around 3% in PE survivors.

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension with Features of Venous Involvement: A Detective's Task.

Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD) and pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis are rare types of histopathological substrates within the spectrum of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) with a very poor prognosis. They are characterized by a widespread fibroproliferative process of the small caliber veins and/or capillaries with sparing of the larger veins, resulting in a pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension phenotype. Clinical presentation is unspecific and similar to other PAH etiologies.

Comparison of the accuracy of four diagnostic prediction rules for pulmonary embolism in patients admitted to the emergency department.

Introduction And Objectives: Ruling out pulmonary embolism (PE) through a combination of clinical assessment and D-dimer level can potentially avoid excessive use of computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA). We aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the standard approach based on the Wells and Geneva scores combined with a standard D-dimer cut-off (500 ng/ml), with three alternative strategies (age-adjusted and the YEARS and PEGeD algorithms) in patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) with suspected PE.

Methods: Consecutive outpatients admitted to the ED who underwent CTPA due to suspected PE were retrospectively assessed.

Coronary Artery Calcium Identified on Non-Gated Chest CT Scans: A Wasted Opportunity for Preventive Cardiological Care.

Background: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) evaluated on dedicated cardiac computed tomography (CT) is an independent predictor of cardiovascular events. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between CAC detected on non-gated standard chest CT and coronary lesions on coronary angiography (CAG) and determine its impact on prognosis.

Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent CAG due to acute coronary syndrome and had prior non-contrasted non-gated chest CT were included and retrospectively evaluated.

Chest pain in a patient with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Chest pain is a frequent symptom in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Left main coronary artery (LMCA) extrinsic compression from a pulmonary artery (PA) is an increasingly recognized cause of angina or complications, such as acute myocardial infarction, left ventricular dysfunction, arrythmia, and sudden death. We report the case of a 45-year-old patient with pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension (PH), a patent ductus arteriosus corrected surgically during adolescence, and chronic constrictive bronchiolitis.

Comparison of 5 acute pulmonary embolism mortality risk scores in patients with COVID-19.

Objective: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We aimed to explore the short-term outcomes among patients with acute PE and COVID-19 and to further determine and compare the performance of the different prognostic scores (PESI, sPESI, BOVA, FAST and ESC scores) for risk-stratification in this scenario.

Methods: Retrospective single-centre study of 85 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and PE admitted to the Emergency Department (ED).

Prognostic Accuracy of the Modified CHA2DS2-VASc Score in COVID-19 Patients Admitted to the Emergency Department Due to Clinical Worsening.

Introduction: Risk factors comprising the CHA2DS2VASc score are recognized as risk factors for venous thromboembolism and mortality in COVID-19 patients. A modified CHA2DS2VASc score (M-CHA2D2VASc), developed by changing gender criteria from female to male, has been proposed to predict in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic accuracy of M-CHA2D2VASc for adverse clinical outcomes and short-term mortality in COVID-19 patients admitted to the Emergency Department.

Pulmonary embolism and COVID-19: A comparative analysis of different diagnostic models performance.

Objective: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Several diagnostic prediction rules based on pretest probability and D-dimer have been validated in non-COVID patients, but it remains unclear if they can be safely applied in COVID-19 patients. We aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the standard approach based on Wells and Geneva scores combined with a standard D-dimer cut-off of 500 ng/mL with three alternative strategies (age-adjusted, YEARS and PEGeD algorithms) in COVID-19 patients.

Direct oral anticoagulants versus vitamin K antagonists in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Despite vitamin K antagonists (VKA) being the gold standard in the prevention of thromboembolic events in antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), non-vitamin K antagonists oral anticoagulants/direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have been used off-label.

Objective: We aimed to perform a systematic review comparing DOACs to VKA regarding prevention of thromboembolic events, occurrence of bleeding events and mortality in patients with APS.

Methods: An electronic database search was performed through MEDLINE, CENTRAL and Web of Science.

The heart failure specialists of tomorrow: a network for young cardiovascular scientists and clinicians.

The "Heart failure specialists of Tomorrow" (HoT) group gathers young researchers, physicians, basic scientists, nurses and many other professions under the auspices of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology. After its foundation in 2014, it has quickly grown to a large group of currently 925 members. Membership in this growing community offers many advantages during, before, and after the 'Heart Failure and World Congress on Acute Heart Failure'.