Takayasu's Arteritis Presenting as Heart Failure in a 19-Year-Old Female.

This report presents the case of this atypical presentation of a rare disease in a 19-year-old female with cardiomyopathy and hypertension. Investigation revealed renovascular stenosis, infarcts, and active vasculitis pathognomonic for Takayasu arteritis (TA). Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated mild pericardial inflammation and epicardial edema. Vasculitis-induced renovascular secondary hypertension resulted in myocardial dysfunction, which recovered with treatment of hypertension and TA. (Level of Difficulty: Beginner.).

Predicted heart mass is the optimal metric for size match in heart transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Donor-recipient size match is traditionally assessed by body weight. We assessed the ability of 5 size match metrics-predicted heart mass (PHM), weight, height, body mass index (BMI) and body surface area (BSA)-to predict 1-year mortality after heart transplant and to assess the effect of size match on donor heart turn down for size. METHODS: The study cohort comprised 19,168 adult heart transplant recipients in the United Network for Organ Sharing registry between 2007 and 2016. Each size match metric was divided into 7 equally sized groups using the donor-recipient ratio for each metric. Single and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models for mortality 1 year after transplant were constructed. RESULTS: Recipients in the severely (donor-recipient PHM ratio 0.54-0.86) undersized group for PHM experienced increased mortality, with a hazard ratio of 1.34 (95% confidence interval, 1.13-1.59; p < 0.001). There was no increased risk of death at 1 year if donors were undersized for weight, height, BMI, or BSA. We found that 32% of heart offers turned down for donor size would be acceptable using a PHM threshold of 0.86 or greater and that 14% of offers accepted (most of which are female donor to male recipient) were below this threshold. CONCLUSIONS: PHM is the optimal donor-recipient size match metric for prediction of mortality after heart transplant. Many offers turned down for donor size were above the threshold for adequacy of size match by PHM identified, and thus, the use of PHM could improve donor heart utilization and post-transplant survival.

Relation of Intensity of Statin Therapy and Outcomes After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Statin therapy is associated with improved survival in patients at high risk for cardiovascular mortality, but the impact of statin therapy in patients treated with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is unknown. We reviewed 294 consecutive cases of TAVR performed at a single tertiary care medical center. We defined high-intensity statin therapy as atorvastatin 40 to 80 mg/day or rosuvastatin 20 to 40 mg/day. Study outcomes included post-TAVR adverse events, 30-day mortality, and overall survival. At the time of TAVR, 14% (n = 41) were on high-intensity statin therapy, 59% (n = 173) were on low- or moderate-intensity statin therapy, and 27% (n = 80) were not on statin therapy. There was no association between statin therapy and the rate of post-TAVR stroke, myocardial infarction, acute kidney injury, in-hospital mortality, or 30-day mortality. At 2 years, 83% of patients in the high-intensity statin group were alive, 70% in the low/moderate-intensity statin group were alive, and 57% in the no statin group were alive (log-rank p = 0.016). In a risk-adjusted model, high-intensity statin therapy was associated with a 64% reduction in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 0.36, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.90, p = 0.029) compared with no statin therapy. In conclusion, statin therapy is associated with improved overall survival after TAVR in a dose-dependent manner.

Association between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Lung Health from Young Adulthood to Middle Age.

RATIONALE: Beyond the risks of smoking, there are limited data on factors associated with change in lung function over time. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether cardiorespiratory fitness was longitudinally associated with preservation of lung health. METHODS: Prospective data were collected from 3,332 participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study aged 18-30 in 1985 who underwent treadmill exercise testing at baseline visit, and 2,735 participants with a second treadmill test 20 years later. The association between cardiorespiratory fitness and covariate adjusted decline in lung function was evaluated. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Higher baseline fitness was associated with less decline in lung function. When adjusted for age, height, race-sex group, peak lung function, and years from peak lung function, each additional minute of treadmill duration was associated with 1.00 ml/yr less decline in FEV1 (P < 0.001) and 1.55 ml/yr less decline in FVC (P < 0.001). Greater decline in fitness was associated with greater annual decline in lung function. Each 1-minute decline in treadmill duration between baseline and Year 20 was associated with 2.54 ml/yr greater decline in FEV1 (P < 0.001) and 3.27 ml/yr greater decline in FVC (P < 0.001). Both sustaining higher and achieving relatively increased levels of fitness over 20 years were associated with preservation of lung health. CONCLUSIONS: Greater cardiopulmonary fitness in young adulthood, less decline in fitness from young adulthood to middle age, and achieving increased fitness from young adulthood to middle age are associated with less decline in lung health over time. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 00005130).

Frailty Status and Outcomes After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

Frailty is a syndrome of older adults associated with increased morbidity and mortality. We aimed to assess the impact of frailty status on outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). We reviewed all 191 patients who underwent a modified Fried frailty assessment before TAVI between February 2012 and September 2015 at a single academic medical center, and we assessed the impact of preoperative frailty status on morbidity, mortality, and health care utilization after TAVI. Frailty, pre-frailty, and nonfrailty were present in 33% (n = 64), 37% (n = 70), and 30% (n = 57) of patients, respectively. Slowness (75% vs 54%, p = 0.003) and low physical activity (55% vs 31%, p = 0.001) were more common in women than men. With increasing frailty status, the proportion of women increased (35% nonfrail, 44% pre-frail, and 66% frail, p = 0.002) and stature decreased (1.68 ± 0.11 m nonfrail, 1.66 ± 0.11 m pre-frail, 1.62 ± 0.12 m frail, p = 0.028). There was no difference in post-TAVI 30-day mortality, stroke, major vascular injury, major or life-threatening bleeding, respiratory failure, mean hospital length of stay, 30-day hospital re-admission, or overall survival between groups. The rate of discharge to a rehabilitation facility increased with increasing frailty status (14% nonfrail, 22% pre-frail, and 39% frail, p = 0.005). Frailty was independently associated with discharge to a rehabilitation facility (odds ratio 4.80, 95% confidence interval 1.66 to 13.85, p = 0.004). In conclusion, the safety of TAVI is not affected by frailty status, but patients with frailty are less likely to be discharged directly home after TAVI.