The limit of physiological adaptation of the right ventricle to endurance training / El límite de la adaptación fisiológica del ventrículo derecho al entrenamiento de resistencia / O limite da adaptação fisiológica do ventrículo direito ao treino de resistência

The study aims to conduct a review of right ventricle, measured by echocardiography or magnetic resonance imaging, in athletes with high dynamic component and moderate static, the limit of the physiological adaptation. A search was carried out in the Medline database up to the end of 2017. This study showed that the mean values for the different measurements of the right ventricle in athletes are significantly greater than that of sedentary controls. In two of the 12 studies that analyzed mean diameter of the right ventricle in apical 4C, including 1477 endurance athletes and 498 controls, with high heterogeneity. Endurance athletes presented significantly higher longitudinal diameter of the RV in apical absolutes scores compared to control. The end diastolic volume and end systolic volume measured by magnetic resonance imaging, showed a significant standardized mean difference favoring athletes with a moderate heterogeneity.(AU)

El estudio tiene como objetivo realizar una revisión del ventrículo derecho, medido por ecocardiografía o resonancia magnética, en deportistas con alto componente dinámico y estático moderado, el límite de la adaptación fisiológica. Se realizó una búsqueda en la base de datos Medline hasta finales de 2017. Este estudio mostró que los valores medios de las diferentes mediciones del ventrículo derecho en los deportistas son significativamente mayores que los de los controles sedentarios. En dos de los 12 estudios que analizaron el diámetro medio del ventrículo derecho en apical 4C, incluyendo 1477 atletas de resistencia y 498 controles, con alta heterogeneidad. Los atletas de resistencia presentaron un diámetro longitudinal del VD en absolutas apicales significativamente mayor en comparación con los controles. El volumen diastólico final y el volumen sistólico final medidos por resonancia magnética, mostraron una diferencia media estandarizada significativa a favor de los atletas con una heterogeneidad moderada.(AU)

O estudo visa conduzir uma revisão do ventrículo direito, medido por ecocardiografia ou ressonância magnética, em atletas com elevada componente dinâmica e estática moderada, o limite da adaptação fisiológica. Foi realizada uma pesquisa na base de dados Medline até ao final de 2017. Este estudo mostrou que os valores médios das diferentes medidas do ventrículo direito em atletas são significativamente superiores aos dos controlos sedentários. Em dois dos 12 estudos que analisaram o diâmetro médio do ventrículo direito em 4C apical, incluindo 1477 atletas de endurance e 498 controlos, com elevada heterogeneidade. Os atletas de resistência apresentaram um diâmetro longitudinal do VD significativamente mais elevado nas pontuações absolutas apicais, em comparação com os controlos. O volume diastólico final e o volume sistólico final medido por ressonância magnética, mostraram uma diferença média padronizada significativa, favorecendo os atletas com uma heterogeneidade moderada.(AU)

Impact of Sacubitril-Valsartan Treatment on Diastolic Function in Patients with Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction.

INTRODUCTION: Sacubitril/valsartan (S-V) has been shown to reduce clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). This benefit has been mostly attributed to an improvement in systolic function. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate longitudinal changes in several echocardiographic parameters of diastolic function in a cohort of patients with HFrEF receiving S-V. METHODS: Echocardiographic parameters of consecutive patients receiving S-V, such as diastolic dysfunction (DD) grade and other individual diastolic and systolic function parameters, were prospectively collected at baseline and at 6-month follow-up. New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class was also recorded. RESULTS: 65 patients (73.9% males; 61.5 ± 13 years) with HFrEF in NYHA class II-IV were evaluated. There was a significant reduction in DD grade after treatment with maximal tolerated doses (p < 0.001). Patients with advanced DD showed the most significant improvements: 75% and 60% of patients with initial grade 3 and 2, respectively, had better grade after 6 months of S-V. Moreover, there was a reduction in E/e' ratio (p = 0.004), left atrial longitudinal strain (p = 0.002), and an improvement of left ventricle ejection fraction (p < 0.001) and NYHA functional class (p = 0.001). Among those subjects who improved their functional class, a higher percentage improved their DD grade (39.3%, p = 0.025) in comparison with those not improving their NYHA class (25%, p = 0.434). CONCLUSIONS: In addition to an improvement in systolic function parameters, patients with HFrEF receiving S-V improved their diastolic function. This echocardiographic improvement is particularly relevant in those patients with better NYHA class at 6-month follow-up.

Large-scale assessment of aortic stenosis: facing the next cardiac epidemic?

Aims: Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most frequent valvular disease in developed countries. As society grows older, the prevalence of AS increases. However, the real burden, current aetiology, severity distribution, and echocardiographic patterns of AS are not fully clear. The aim of the present study is to provide an accurate overall picture of AS, focusing on its epidemiology, aetiology, and echocardiographic features. Methods and results: A total of 29 502 consecutive echocardiograpies were prospectively included in this multicentre study. The present sample was composed of patients with advanced age (mean 75.2 years) and similar gender distribution. High proportion (7.2%) showed any grade of AS, with important number of patients (2.8%) presenting severe AS, most of them aged 75 years or more. Coexisting valvular disease appeared in almost half of the sample (49.6%), being the most frequently diagnosed aortic regurgitation (AR) (22%) followed by mitral regurgitation (MR) (15.6%). Degenerative aetiology was found in the vast majority (93.4%) of the studies whereas rheumatic is currently infrequent (3.35%). Low flow-low gradient (LFLG) appeared in 24.6% of patients with severe AS. Atrial fibrillation (23.1% vs. 11.6%; P = 0.002), MR (23.3% vs. 15.1%; P = 0.018), and right ventricle dysfunction (13.3% vs. 5.2%; P = 0.003) appeared frequently in LFLG group. Conclusions: Burden of AS is higher than previously assumed. Degenerative aetiology is the main cause of AS. Most of the patients are elder with high prevalence of significant co-existing valvular disease. LFLG severe AS is present in an important proportion of patients, showing high grade of left ventricle remodelling.

Limits of ventricular function: from athlete's heart to a failing heart.

The interest in the study of ventricular function has grown considerably in the last decades. In this review, we analyse the extreme values of ventricular function as obtained with Doppler echocardiography. We mainly focus on the parameters that have been used throughout the history of Doppler echocardiography to assess left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function. The 'athlete's heart' would be the highest expression of ventricular function whereas its lowest expression is represented by the failing heart, independently from the original aetiology leading to this condition. There are, however, morphological similarities (dilation and hypertrophy) between the athlete's and the failing heart, which emerge as physiological and pathophysiological adaptations, respectively. The introduction of new assessment techniques, specifically speckle tracking, may provide new insight into the properties that determine ventricular filling, specifically left ventricular twisting. The concept of ventricular function must be always considered, although it may not be always possible to distinguish the normal heart of sedentary individuals from that of highly trained hearts based solely on echocardiographic or basic studies.

Changes in the severity of aortic regurgitation at peak effort during exercise.

BACKGROUND: Chronic aortic regurgitation can be well tolerated for a long time. Some patients with normal ventricular function can even reach high levels of sporting performance. How the severity of regurgitation may change during exercise, however, is little known, although some studies suggest it diminishes. The present work examines, during exercise, the functional capacity, ventricular function, and regurgitation fraction (RF) in asymptomatic subjects with moderate or severe aortic regurgitation with preserved ejection fraction. METHODS: The study subjects (n=32; 23 men, 9 women) were patients referred to our echocardiography laboratory with moderate or severe aortic regurgitation, preserved left ventricular systolic function, and sinus rhythm into NYHA functional class I. All underwent transthoracic echocardiography at rest and at peak effort during an exercise protocol involving an inclined cycloergometer. Left atrial and ventricular volume indices were recorded, along with diastolic and systolic function, cardiac index, peripheral resistance, and RF. RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 43.8±18.2years; 59% suffered moderate regurgitation, 41% severe aortic regurgitation, and 84% had a dilated left ventricle. All subjects managed exercise loads adequate for their age. Peak effort was associated with a significant reduction (mean 44.5% [range 10-95%]) in the RF (21.8±13.2 vs. 39.3%±14.7% at rest; p=0.0001). The absolute reduction in the RF at peak effort was greater among the subjects with severe aortic regurgitation (21.2% vs. 13.3% in those with moderate regurgitation; p=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: The RF becomes smaller during exercise in asymptomatic subjects with moderate or severe aortic regurgitation and preserved ventricular function.

Situacion actual: lo nuevo en tecnicas de imagen cardiaca / State of the art: new developments in cardiac imaging

La imagen cardiaca sigue desentrañando aspectos anatómicos y funcionales relacionados con la enfermedad de la víscera. La ecocardiografía desarrolla y optimiza la visualización tridimensional tanto transesofagica como transtoracica, consolida el valor de técnicas que permiten entender mejor la mecánica cardiaca y la función ventricular, y al tiempo la industria saca al mercado nuevos equipos más manejables aunque limitados e incompletos para un estudio estándar. La tomografía mantiene e incrementa su valor diagnostico y predictivo en el campo de la enfermedad coronaria a coste radiactivo cada vez menor. La cardiorresonancia permite valorar exquisitamente el daño y la recuperación miocárdica en cardiopatía isquémica y tras el síndrome coronario agudo. La aparición de nuevas tomogamma cámaras exclusivas para cardiología nuclear mejora la calidad del estudio y reduce la radiación. Las imágenes hibridas o de fusión entre diferentes tecnologías, como las nucleares y la tomografía, son prometedoras e ilusionantes (AU)

Cardiac imaging continues to reveal new anatomical and functional insights into heart disease. In echocardiography, both transesophageal and transthoracic three-dimensional imaging have been fully developed and optimized, and the value of the techniques that have increased our understanding of cardiacmechanics and ventricular function is well established. At the same time, the healthcare industry has released new devices onto the market which, although they are easier to use, have limitations that restricttheir use for routine assessment. Tomography’s diagnostic and prognostic value in coronary artery disease continues to increase while radiation exposure becomes progressively lower. With cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, myocardial injury and recovery in ischemic heart disease and following acute coronary syndrome can be monitored in exquisite detail. The emergence of new combined tomographic and gamma camera techniques, exclusively developed for nuclear cardiology, have improved the quality of investigations and reduced radiation exposure. The hybrid or fusion images produced by combining different techniques, such as nuclear cardiology techniques and tomography, promise an exciting future (AU)

[Progress on cardiac imaging techniques]. / Novedades en técnicas de imagen cardiaca.

The development of a noninvasive diagnostic test follows a typical timeline: description, enthusiasm, clinical assessment and application, and epidemiological study. However, for techniques such as echocardiography that are widely available, have no harmful effects and are inexpensive, clinical applications may become widespread before they have been evaluated. Real progress is being made with the use of new methodologies, such as myocardial deformation echocardiography and three-dimensional echocardiography. Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography has returned echocardiography to its place at the center of modern cardiac diagnosis after it had been displaced in recent years by cardiac multislice CT and cardiac magnetic resonance. However, the new radiological techniques that have helped to reduce radiation exposure to patients and that have improved image acquisition could restore CT to the heart of general cardiac diagnosis. At the moment, it is not possible to displace the echocardiography from its central role in cardiac imaging. This article contains a review of the most important publications on echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging and cardiac CT that have appeared recently in cardiology journals, mainly during 2010.

Novedades en técnicas de imagen cardiaca / Progress on cardiac imaging techniques

Las pruebas diagnósticas no invasivas siguen una cronología típica: descripción, entusiasmo, evaluación y aplicabilidad clínica y epidemiológica. La ecocardiografía es una técnica sin efectos lesivos, altamente disponible y barata, por lo que su aplicabilidad clínica se difunde antes que su asentamiento y su evaluación. Los avances se están desarrollando con nuevas herramientas para el estudio de la deformación miocárdica y las aplicaciones clínicas del ecocardiograma tridimensional. La ecocardiografía transesofágica tridimensional ha vuelto a situar al ecocardiograma en el centro del diagnóstico cardiaco moderno que durante los últimos años había sido desplazado por la tomografía computarizada y la resonancia magnética. No obstante, nuevas tecnologías radiológicas que contribuyan a disminuir la irradiación de los pacientes y mejorar la adquisición de imágenes pueden llevar a la tomografía al eje capital del diagnóstico cardiológico global. Actualmente no podemos desplazar a la ecocardiografía como principal área de interés en imagen cardiaca. En este artículo revisamos las publicaciones más relevantes en las revistas de cardiología aparecidas principalmente durante 2010 en ecocardiografía, resonancia magnética y tomografía computarizada cardiaca (AU)

The development of a noninvasive diagnostic test follows a typical timeline: description, enthusiasm, clinical assessment and application, and epidemiological study. However, for techniques such as echocardiography that are widely available, have no harmful effects and are inexpensive, clinical applications may become widespread before they have been evaluated. Real progress is being made with the use of new methodologies, such as myocardial deformation echocardiography and three-dimensional echocardiography. Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography has returned echocardiography to its place at the center of modern cardiac diagnosis after it had been displaced in recent years by (..) (AU)

Rotura espontánea de músculo papilar con coronarias angiográficamente normales / Spontaneous Papillary Muscle Rupture in the Absence of Coronary Artery Disease

La rotura de músculo papilar es una afección poco frecuente, normalmente secundaria a una complicación mecánica del infarto agudo de miocardio o a un traumatismo torácico. Presentamos el caso clínico de una paciente que presentó una rotura espontánea completa de músculo papilar posteromedial e insuficiencia mitral severa secundaria, por necrosis aislada del papilar, sin lesiones coronarias angiográficas, que evolucionó a shock cardiogénico, requiriendo cirugía emergente de sustitución valvular mitral, realizada con éxito. Se ha revisado la escasa bibliografía clínica e histopatológica al respecto y se comentan los posibles mecanismos de dicha rotura. (AU)