Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs
August 2025
Background: The systemic right ventricle (SRV) represents one of the most complex congenital heart diseases (CHD), involving two main anatomical presentations: D-looped transposition of the great arteries and congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries. Recent therapeutic advances have attempted to improve prognosis in adults with an SRV, but the impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has not been clearly established.
Methods: Adult patients aged >18 years with an SRV were prospectively enrolled in a multicentre cross-sectional study with recruitment across 13 CHD centres.
Ann Biol Clin (Paris)
August 2025
Parasitological examination of stools is a challenging analysis due to the diversity of parasites to be screened for, depending on the exposure context and patient background. Parasite detection is traditionally performed using direct wet mount and various concentration methods followed by microscopic reading, which requires expertise. The quotation of this analysis in the nomenclature of medical biology procedures has become obsolete due to the development of molecular biology techniques and epidemiological changes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStroke remains a leading global cause of mortality, with ischemic stroke as the most common subtype. Atrial fibrillation (AF) increases ischemic stroke risk due to thrombus formation in the left atrium (LA), particularly in the left atrial appendage (LAA). Traditional risk assessments, like the CHADS-VASc score, focus on clinical factors but often overlook LA morphology and hemodynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis manuscript proposes a novel implanter classification system for left atrial appendage (LAA) closure, aimed at overcoming the limitations of current anatomical classifications. By integrating essential anatomical and functional details, this new classification system strives to provide a comprehensive framework that is both user-friendly and effective in distinguishing between complex and standard LAA anatomies, facilitating a common language among implanters and imagers, and predicting procedural risks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Intestinal microsporidiosis caused by is an opportunistic infection that especially affects solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. Management revolves around tapering the immunosuppressive regimen and/or using a specific anti-microsporidia treatment, but only fumagillin has demonstrated efficacy for treatment of this infection. Since fumagillin has been commercially discontinued, nitazoxanide is increasingly being used in this indication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigates the diagnostic practices for mucormycosis among 30 French University Hospital mycology laboratories, in 2024. All laboratories perform both direct examination and culture, with fluorescent brighteners being the most commonly used method for direct examination. While 77 % of the participating laboratories routinely identify Mucorales to the species level, with 70 % having adopted Mucorales-specific quantitative PCR, primarily for the diagnosis of invasive fungal infections.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLeft atrial appendage occlusion devices (LAAO) are a feasible alternative for non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) patients at high risk of thromboembolic stroke and contraindication to antithrombotic therapies. However, optimal LAAO device configurations (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The real incidence of atrial arrhythmia (AA) after patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure and whether this complication can be prevented remain unknown. We assessed whether flecainide is effective to prevent AA during the first 3 months after PFO closure, and whether 6 months of treatment with flecainide is more effective than 3 months to prevent AA after PFO closure.
Methods: AFLOAT (Assessment of Flecainide to Lower the Patent Foramen Ovale Closure Risk of Atrial Fibrillation or Tachycardia Trial) is a prospective, multicentre, randomized, open-label, superiority trial with a blind evaluation of all the end points (PROBE [Prospective Randomized Open, Blinded End Point] design).
JACC Cardiovasc Interv
August 2024
Dientamoeba fragilis is a ubiquitous intestinal parasite with detection in the stools that has become increasingly frequent following the advent of PCR as a routine screening tool. However, the pathogenicity of this parasite is still much debated. In order to assess the potentially pathogenic nature of this protozoan, a retrospective case-control study was carried out between January and December 2020 on patients from Toulouse University Hospital, with the aim of evaluating the potential clinical effects and changes in laboratory parameters linked to the presence and load of D.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot remain at risk of life-threatening ventricular tachycardia related to slow-conducting anatomical isthmuses (SCAIs). Preventive ablation of SCAI identified by invasive electroanatomical mapping is increasingly performed. This study aimed to non-invasively identify SCAI using 3D late gadolinium enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance (3D-LGE-CMR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common human arrhythmia, forming thrombi mostly in the left atrial appendage (LAA). However, the relation between LAA morphology, blood patterns and clot formation is not yet fully understood. Furthermore, the impact of anatomical structures like the pulmonary veins (PVs) have not been thoroughly studied due to data acquisition difficulties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Advances in imaging have led to procedural optimization of left atrial appendage closure (LAAC). Contrast-free approaches, guided merely by echocardiography, have been established, however data on this topic remains scarce. In this analysis, we assessed contrast-free procedural results with the LAMBRE LAAC device.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Cardiopulmonary fitness in congenital heart disease (CHD) decreases faster than in the general population resulting in impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL). As the standard of care seems insufficient to encourage and maintain fitness, an early hybrid cardiac rehabilitation programme could improve HRQoL in CHD.
Methods: The QUALIREHAB multicentre, randomized, controlled trial evaluated and implemented a 12-week centre- and home-based hybrid cardiac rehabilitation programme, including multidisciplinary care and physical activity sessions.
Hormographiella aspergillata is a basidiomycete exceptionally involved in invasive fungal infections (IFI). We report a case of H. aspergillata pulmonary infection in a 30-year-old female in a context of pancytopenia and relapsed of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLancet Infect Dis
February 2024
First described in 1760 by the anatomist Morgagni, coarctation of the aorta (CoA) is a congenital heart defect characterized by narrowing the aorta, typically distal to the left subclavian artery. It accounts for approximately 5-8% of all congenital heart diseases, with an incidence estimated at 4 per 10,000 live births. In 1944, the Swedish surgeon Clarence Crafoord achieved the first successful surgical CoA repair by performing an aortic end-to-end anastomosis on two patients aged 12 and 27 years old.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiagnostics (Basel)
November 2023
Dermatophytosis is a superficial fungal infection with an ever-increasing number of patients. Culture-based mycology remains the most commonly used diagnosis, but it takes around four weeks to identify the causative agent. Therefore, routine clinical laboratories need rapid, high throughput, and accurate species-specific analytical methods for diagnosis and therapeutic management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCJC Pediatr Congenit Heart Dis
April 2023
Background: Data on long-term outcomes of the Ross operation in children and young adult patients are limited. The best pulmonary valve substitute for the right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction remains uncertain. This study aimed to assess the outcomes of right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction in the Ross operation in young patients using various pulmonary valve substitutes at a single institution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Efficacy of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, the malaria chemoprophylaxis used in pregnant women, and in children when combined with amodiaquine, is threatened by the accumulation of mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum dihydropteroate synthase (pfdhps) and dihydrofolate reductase (pfdhfr) genes. Data on the prevalence of resistant alleles in central Africa and the new pfdhps I431V mutation, particularly associated with other mutations to form the pfdhps vagKgs allele, are scarce. We explored the frequency and geographical distribution of pfdhps and pfdhfr mutations in central Africa in 2014-18, and assessed the evolutionary origin of the vagKgs allele.
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