Predictive Value of Resting Fractional Flow Reserve and Atherogenic Index of Plasma for Evaluation of Physiologically Significant Coronary Artery Lesions.

This study aimed to assess the relationship between the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and resting distal-to-aortic pressure ratio (Pd/Pa) in patients with intermediate coronary artery stenosis. This retrospective study included 802 chronic coronary syndrome patients with intermediate coronary artery stenosis who underwent fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurement. The resting Pd/Pa showed a significant negative correlation with AIP (rho= -.205, p < .001). When final FFR was divided into three tertiles (≤80, 81-89, ≥90), resting Pd/Pa was significantly lower, and AIP was markedly higher in the lower final FFR tertiles (both AIP and resting Pd/Pa differed significantly across the all three tertiles, p < .001). Furthermore, functionally significant stenosis independent predictors in multivariate analyses were AIP and resting Pd/Pa (p = .010 and p < .001, respectively). We observed for the first time an increase in AIP levels in the presence of functionally significant stenoses that may help better planning and identification of those patients with the functionally substantial atherosclerotic burden.

Lower levels of triiodothyronine are associated with poor hemodynamic profile and all-cause mortality in heart failure.

Background: We aimed to assess the association of triiodothyronine (T3) hormone with invasive hemodynamic parameters and all-cause mortality in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Results: About 483 HFrEF patients were enrolled. Patients with the lowest T3 tertile had advanced New York Heart Association (NYHA) classes, had higher uric acid, brain natriuretic peptide. T3 level had a positive correlation with cardiac index (CI) and a negative correlation with pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure. Adjusted with NYHA III-IV classes, uric acid, aspartate aminotransferase and CI, T3 level was found to be an independent predictor of all-cause mortality. In Kaplan-Meier analysis, the lowest T3 tertile had the lowest survival function. Conclusion: Free T3 is positively correlated with CI and negatively correlated with pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure in patients with HFrEF. Lower levels of T3 seems to be a poor prognostic factor in this particular patient population.

The association between left ventricular mass index and coronary collateral circulation in patients with chronic total occlusion.

OBJECTIVE: Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy predisposes the myocardium to ischemia through several mechanisms. The LV mass index (LVMI) is used as a readily available and reliable measurement of LV hypertrophy. The LVMI can also be used to evaluate LV remodeling. The hypothesis of this study was that LV hypertrophy might augment coronary collateralization in patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO) and the aim was to research any association between LVMI and collateral formation in CTO. As a secondary goal, specific LV geometric types that might be associated with collateral presence were also investigated. METHODS: A total of 305 patients with CTO were included and categorized into 4 groups based on Rentrop grade. RESULTS: The LVMI demonstrated an incremental linear trend as the Rentrop grade increased. In the receiver operating characteristic curve, the likelihood that a cut-off value of 100.1 g/m2 would accurately differentiate patients with collaterals from those without collaterals was 75.8%, with 68.5% sensitivity and 68.6% specificity. A 1 gram/m2 increase in LVMI was associated with a 7.5% greater likelihood of collateral development. In addition, compared with normal geometry, the presence of eccentric hypertrophy was associated with 6.7 times higher odds of the presence of coronary collaterals. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that a greater LVMI predicted coronary collateral presence. Furthermore, having an eccentric geometric type of hypertrophy increased the likelihood of coronary collaterals more than other geometries. This finding signified that in addition to LV wall thickness, the type of hypertrophy was also decisive in predicting collateral presence.

The importance of recognizing the prominent Eustachian valve in the evaluation of atrial septal defects before percutaneous or surgical closure.

Atrial septal defect closure is now routinely performed using a percutaneous approach under echocardiographic guidance. Since some echocardiographic features play an important role in the assessment of the defect and safety of the procedure, the salient features of the anatomical variations seen in adults undergoing transcatheter device closure should be well known to prevent inadvertent adverse effect or complications. It has been reported that the valve of the inferior vena cava, Eustachian valve, could be mistaken as the atrial septum thus ending in a wrong diagnosis and causing inadvertent surgical or percutaneous closure of an Eustachian valve to interatrial septum. We present a concise article that brings out a practical issue encountered during device closure of atrial septal defects.

Classical electrocardiographic clues for left main coronary artery disease.

Prediction of left main coronary artery (LMCA) or equivalent disease is important with regard to selecting the appropriate treatment strategy. The classical electrocardiographic pattern of LMCA disease includes ST elevation (STE) in lead aVR in the presence of extensive ST depression (most prominent in leads I, II, and V4-6) with the STE in aVR≥V1. Patients with these findings may potentially require early coronary angiography and coronary bypass surgery; therefore selected patients with these findings on exercise testing might benefit from more urgent or expedited angiography.