[Cardiac abnormalities associated with hyperthyroidism: clinical, structural and rhythmic study]. / Anomalies cardiaques associées à l'hyperthyroïdie : étude clinique, structurelle et rythmique.

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence and nature of cardiac complications associated with hyperthyroidism vary considerably in the literature depending on the population studied and the means of investigation used to detect them. The aim of this study was to determine the structural, functional, and rhythmic cardiac abnormalities associated with hyperthyroidism and to identify their risk factors. METHODS: It is a cross-sectional study conducted in thirty adult patients with overt or subclinical hyperthyroidism. Each patient underwent a clinical cardiovascular examination, a cardiac Doppler ultrasound, a pulmonary ultrasound and a 24-hours rhythm holter. The diagnosis of cardiothyreosis (thyrotoxic heart disease) was retained if an arrhythmia, heart failure (HF) and/or pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) were noted following the investigations carried out. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 44.8 ± 14.4 years. The sex ratio (M/F) was 0.3. Five patients (17%) had subclinical hyperthyroidism and 25 (83%) had overt hyperthyroidism. Thirteen patients (43%) had cardiothyreosis. It consisted of a rhythm disorder in three patients (10%), PAH in twelve patients (40%) and HF in eight patients (27%). An age over 50 years and toxic nodular etiology were associated with atrial fibrillation (AF), p = 0.041 and p = 0.004 respectively. Tachycardia and a higher number of atrial extrasystoles were associated with HF, p = 0.039 and p = 0.007 respectively. A lower TSH, tachycardia and a higher number of atrial extrasystoles were associated with the presence of PAH, p = 0.004, p = 0.011 and p = 0.007 respectively. CONCLUSION: Cardiac complications should be sought in all patients with hyperthyroidism, especially in elderly and tachycardic patients. Specialized investigations such as echocardiography or 24 hours rhythmic holter should be requested in these cases.

[Left ventricular hypertrophy in hemodialysis patient: Prevalence, electrocardiographic, echocardiographic study and associated risk factors]. / Hypertrophie ventriculaire gauche chez les hémodialysés : prévalence, étude électrique, échographique et facteurs de risque.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy is the most prevalent cardiac abnormality in hemodialysis patients. The diagnosis of this abnormality is possible by electrocardiogram and/or echocardiography. Our study aimed to assess the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy in hemodialysis patients and the accuracy of different electrocardiographic criteria. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional retrospective study including 60 hemodialysis patients between 2017 and 2018. A left ventricular mass index higher than 115g/m2 and 95g/m2 respectively in men and women defines echocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy. We assessed left ventricular hypertrophy prevalence, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve of fourteen different electrocardiographic criteria for identification of left ventricular hypertrophy. RESULTS: This was a cohort of 60 patients composed of 27 men and 33 women with a mean age 52.6±15,8years. Hypertension was the most common cardiovascular risk factor (82 %). The prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy at echography was 65 %. Prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy at electrocardiographic varied across the different criteria ranging from 5 % (R wave in DI) to 32 % (Perugia score). The highest left ventricular hypertrophy prevalence at electrocardiographic was found with the five following criteria: Perugia score (32 %), Peguero-Lo Presti index (28 %), Sokolow-Lyon index, Cornell index, Framingham-adjusted Cornell voltage (17 %). Sensitivity was ranged from 5 % (R in DI, Gubner-Ungerleider index, and product) to 41 % (Perugia score). The specificity of most criteria was ≥90 % except for the Perugia score (85 %). The sensitivity, specificity, postitive and negative productive values and left ventricular hypertrophy prevalence using the five most accurate criteria combined were respectively 48, 90, 70.28, 77.85 and 33 %. Hypertension, duration of HD, arteriovenous fistula, interdialytic weight gain, systolic blood pressure, hemoglobin <9g/dL and hyperparathyroidism were significantly associated with left ventricular hypertrophy. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy detected by echocardiography was high. All electrocardiographic criteria had a low sensibility and a high specificity in the diagnostic of echocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy. To improve the accuracy of electrocardiographic criteria, it is necessary to combine several electrocardiographic criteria and not often focused on a single classic electrocardiographic index.

Design and Rationale of the National Tunisian Registry of Heart Failure (NATURE-HF): Protocol for a Multicenter Registry Study.

BACKGROUND: The frequency of heart failure (HF) in Tunisia is on the rise and has now become a public health concern. This is mainly due to an aging Tunisian population (Tunisia has one of the oldest populations in Africa as well as the highest life expectancy in the continent) and an increase in coronary artery disease and hypertension. However, no extensive data are available on demographic characteristics, prognosis, and quality of care of patients with HF in Tunisia (nor in North Africa). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze, follow, and evaluate patients with HF in a large nation-wide multicenter trial. METHODS: A total of 1700 patients with HF diagnosed by the investigator will be included in the National Tunisian Registry of Heart Failure study (NATURE-HF). Patients must visit the cardiology clinic 1, 3, and 12 months after study inclusion. This follow-up is provided by the investigator. All data are collected via the DACIMA Clinical Suite web interface. RESULTS: At the end of the study, we will note the occurrence of cardiovascular death (sudden death, coronary artery disease, refractory HF, stroke), death from any cause (cardiovascular and noncardiovascular), and the occurrence of a rehospitalization episode for an HF relapse during the follow-up period. Based on these data, we will evaluate the demographic characteristics of the study patients, the characteristics of pathological antecedents, and symptomatic and clinical features of HF. In addition, we will report the paraclinical examination findings such as the laboratory standard parameters and brain natriuretic peptides, electrocardiogram or 24-hour Holter monitoring, echocardiography, and coronarography. We will also provide a description of the therapeutic environment and therapeutic changes that occur during the 1-year follow-up of patients, adverse events following medical treatment and intervention during the 3- and 12-month follow-up, the evaluation of left ventricular ejection fraction during the 3- and 12-month follow-up, the overall rate of rehospitalization over the 1-year follow-up for an HF relapse, and the rate of rehospitalization during the first 3 months after inclusion into the study. CONCLUSIONS: The NATURE-HF study will fill a significant gap in the dynamic landscape of HF care and research. It will provide unique and necessary data on the management and outcomes of patients with HF. This study will yield the largest contemporary longitudinal cohort of patients with HF in Tunisia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03262675; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03262675. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/12262.

Silent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation: Prevalence and predictive factors.

BACKGROUND: Silent strokes are damagesof brain not accompanied by symptoms suggestive of stroke. Currentepidemiological trends suggesttheirindependent association with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, this association is not yetwelldefined. AIM: To assess the prevalence of silent stroke in AF and determine itspredictivefactors. METHODS: We carried out a cross-sectional study enrolling 37 patients followed for non-valvular AF in the cardiologydepartment. All participants had a clinicalevaluation and brain MRI. RESULTS: The mean age was 66 ± 7 yearswith asex ratio (M / F) of 0.76. The mostcommon class of AF was the persistent form (70%). Oral anticoagulant therapywasprescribedin 32 patients (94.1%). Silent strokewerereported in 9 patients (24.3%). Age ≥72 years and CHA2DS2VASc score ≥ 4 weresignificantlyassociatedwith silent strokes in the univariate study withsensitivities of 77.8% and 62.5% respectively and specificities of 78.6% and 92.3% respectively. In the multivariate study, only CHA2DS2VASc score ≥ 4 wasconsidered to be an independentpredictor of silent stroke in AF (p = 0.004; adjusted OR = 20; CI95%: 2.6-152.6). CONCLUSIONS: Our resultsregarding the association between silent strokesand AF confirmedpreviousevidence. Screening for theselesions in AF patients at high thromboembolicriskappears to be a relevant approachgiventheirpoorprognosis.

Prosthetic valve endocarditis: clinical, bacteriological and therapeutic aspects.

BACKGROUND: The prosthetic valve endocarditis(PVE) is a serious complication of valve replacement surgery. The aim of this work was to analyze the clinical and echocardiography characters of the PVE, deduce surgery indication, and determinate the prognostic factors Methods :We presented a retrospective descriptive study from 2000 to 2014 which included 30 patients hospitalized in department of cardiology in la Rabta hospital for certain PVE according to DUCKES criteria. RESULTS: Our study consisted of 18 male patients with sex ratio of 1.5 ,the mean age was 44 years; These PVE were early in 6 cases and delayed in 24 cases. Fever was present in 28 patients..splénomegaly was present in 7 patients and cutaneous signs were present in 6 patients Blood cultures were negatives in 16 patients .Staphylococcus was isolated in 7 cases (23.3%), a streptococcus in 5 cases (16.6%), a gram negative bacillus in 1 case (3, 3%) and one enterococci in 1 case (3.3%).The transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography performed in all patients showed vegetation for 17 patients, a Dishence of prosthetic valve in 14 patients, prosthesis obstruction in two patients and annular abscess in 4 patients . 22 complications were reported in 21 patients; il was an hemodynamic complication in 13 cases , a septic complication (uncontrolled infection ) in three patients, embolic complication (ischemic transit stroke ) in 4 cases and mixed (hemodynamic and septic) in one patient. The indication for surgery was retained in 18 patients; the need for early surgery was because of congestive heart failure in 14 patients and uncontrolled infection in 4 patients ; but it was performed in 13cases with a period between 1 and 30 days the operation the global mortality was about 30%. he predictors factors of mortality released from our study are: the early character of EPV, heart failure, uncontrolled infection, staphylococcal endocarditis and dishence of prosthesis with significant regurgitation. CONCLUSION: PVE is still a serious complication leading to high mortality . Combined medical and surgical treatment is recommended.