The wolf in sheep's clothing: vasovagal syncope in acute aortic dissection.

BACKGROUND: The presentation of acute aortic dissection can pose a challenge for emergency physicians, as it may occur without pain. Atypical presentations can lead to significant delays in diagnosis and increased mortality rates. CASE DESCRIPTION: Our case illustrates that isolated painless syncope can be a rare presenting symptom of acute aortic dissection type A. What is unique about our case is the limited extension of the dissection tear and the availability of Holter monitoring during the syncopal episode. CONCLUSION: This constellation provides insight into the pathophysiological mechanism of the syncope in this patient. Mechanisms of syncope related to acute aortic dissection are diverse. We show that vasovagal activation not related to pain can be the underlying mechanism of syncope in acute aortic dissection type A. Although excessive vasovagal tone in the setting of aortic dissection has been hypothesized in the past, it has never been as clearly illustrated as in the present case. This also highlights the challenge in risk stratification of syncope in the emergency department.

A four-leaf clover story.

We report a rare case of quadriscuspid aortic valve in a 28-year-old healthy man admitted to hospital after a resuscitated cardiac arrest.

Cardiovascular risk assessment in people living with HIV compared to the general population.

AIMS: We prospectively assessed and compared the accuracy of cardiovascular risk scores in people living with HIV (PLWH) and individuals from the general population. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation Score 2 (SCORE2), the Pooled Cohort Equations (PCE), and the HIV-specific Data Collection on Adverse events of Anti-HIV Drugs (D:A:D) score were calculated in participants free from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) between 2003 and 2009. In total, 6373 [mean age, 40.6 years (SD, 9.9)] PLWH from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS) and 5403 [52.8 years (SD, 10.7)] individuals from the CoLaus|PsyCoLaus study were eligible for analysis. We tested discrimination and calibration, and the value of adding HIV-specific factors to scores using the net reclassification improvement (NRI). During mean follow-ups of 13.5 (SD, 4.1) in SHCS and 9.9 (SD, 2.3) years in CoLaus|PsyCoLaus study, 533 (8.4%) and 374 (6.9%) people developed an incident ASCVD, respectively. This translated into age-adjusted incidence rates of 12.9 and 7.5 per 1000 person-year, respectively. In SHCS, SCORE2, PCE, and D:A:D presented comparable discriminative capacities [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.745 (95% confidence interval, CI, 0.723-0.767), 0.757 (95% CI, 0.736-0.777), and 0.763 (95% CI, 0.743-0.783)]. Adding HIV-specific variables (CD4 nadir and abacavir exposure) to SCORE2 and PCE resulted in an NRI of -0.1% (95% CI, -1.24 to 1, P = 0.83) and of 2.7% (95% CI, 0.3-5.1, P = 0.03), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PLWH present a two-fold higher rate of incident ASCVD compared to individuals from the general population. SCORE2 and PCE, which are clinically easier to use (reduced set of variables without adding HIV-specific factors), are valid to predict ASCVD in PLWH.

Comparison of Swiss and European risk algorithms for cardiovascular prevention in Switzerland.

BACKGROUND: In Switzerland, two distinct algorithms are recommended for cardiovascular prevention: (a) Arbeitsgruppe Lipide und Atherosklerose (AGLA); and (b) European Society of Cardiology (ESC). We validated and determined which algorithm better predicts incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and assessed statin eligibility in Switzerland. DESIGN: A prospective population-based cohort. METHODS: We employed longitudinal data of the CoLaus study involving 6733 individuals, aged 35-75 years, with a 10-year follow-up. Using discrimination and calibration, we evaluated the predictive performance of the AGLA and ESC algorithms for the prediction of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. RESULTS: From the 6733 initial participants, 5529 were analysed with complete baseline and follow-up data. Mean age (SD) was 52.4 (10.6) years and 54% were women. During an average follow-up (SD) of 10.2 years (1.7), 370 (6.7%) participants developed an incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The sensitivity of AGLA and ESC algorithms to predict atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease was 51.6% (95% confidence interval (CI) 46.4-56.8) and 58.6% (53.4-63.7), respectively. Discrimination and calibration were similar between the AGLA and ESC algorithms, with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values of 0.78 (95% CI 0.76-0.80) and 0.79 (0.76-0.81), and Brier scores of 0.059 and 0.041, respectively. Among 370 individuals developing incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, only 278 (75%) were eligible for statin therapy at baseline, including 210 (57%) according to both algorithms, 4 (1%) to AGLA only and 64 (17%) to ESC only. CONCLUSION: AGLA and ESC algorithms presented similar accuracy to predict atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in Switzerland. A quarter of adults developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease were not identified by preventive algorithms to be eligible for statin therapy.