Epicardial Fat in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: Bad Actor or Just Lying Around?

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is increasingly recognised to be strongly associated with obesity and abnormalities in fat distribution. Epicardial fat has been associated with abnormal haemodynamics in HFpEF, with potential for direct mechanical effects on the heart causing constriction-like physiology and local myocardial remodelling effects from secretion of inflammatory and profibrotic mediators. However, patients with epicardial fat generally have more systemic and visceral adipose tissue making determination of causality between epicardial fat and HFpEF complex. In this review, we will summarise the evidence for epicardial fat being either directly causal in HFpEF pathogenesis or merely being a correlate of worse systemic inflammatory and generalised adiposity. We will also discuss therapies that directly target epicardial fat and may have potential for treating HFpEF and elucidating the independent role of epicardial fat in its pathogenesis.

Low-Risk Transcatheter Versus Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement - An Updated Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

OBJECTIVES: To perform a meta-analysis including all available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to date comparing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) and low surgical risk. BACKGROUND: Current guidelines recommend SAVR for patients with severe symptomatic AS and low surgical risk. A few RCTs have evaluated TAVR in low surgical risk patients but equipoise exists related to TAVR valve durability, paravalvular leak (PVL) and role of TAVR in younger, low surgical risk patients. METHODS: Five databases were analyzed from January-2000 to March-2019 for RCTs comparing SAVR to TAVR in low-risk severe AS patients. RESULTS: Four RCTs on low-risk TAVR patients with 2887 patients were included. Mean follow-up was ~24.1 ±â€¯24 months. Early mortality was lower with TAVR compared to SAVR (RR: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.20-0.95, P = 0.038) whereas long-term mortality was similar (RR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.39-1.14, P = 0.141). Both early and long-term stroke rates were similar. TAVR was associated with lower risk of atrial fibrillation, major bleeding, acute kidney injury (AKI) and rehospitalization, but higher rates of permanent pacemaker implantation (PPM) and moderate or severe PVL. There was no difference in major vascular complications, myocardial infarction, endocarditis, aortic valve gradients and valve area at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In low-risk patients with severe AS, TAVR has a lower early mortality compared to SAVR with no difference in long-term mortality. Although complication rates varied between TAVR and SAVR, our study findings suggest that transfemoral-TAVR is an appropriate treatment option for severe symptomatic AS in patients with low surgical risk.

Population-based estimation of renal function in healthy young Indian adults based on body mass index and sex correlating renal volume, serum creatinine, and cystatin C.

This population-based prospective study was undertaken in Mahatma Gandhi Medical College to estimate the renal function in young healthy Indian adults. A young healthy heterogeneous Indian cohort comprising 978 individuals, predominantly medical students, was assessed by a detailed questionnaire, and variables such as height, weight, body mass index (BMI), birth weight, and blood pressure were documented. Laboratory investigations included serum creatinine, serum cystatin C, blood sugar, urine protein, and imaging of the kidneys with ultrasound. The mean age of the cohort was 25±6 years, comprising 672 males and 306 females. The estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) by the Cockcroft-Gault formula for BMI <18.5 kg/m2, 18.5-24.99 kg/m2, 25-29.99 kg/m2, and ≥30 kg/m2 were 71.29±10.45 mL/min, 86.38±13.46 mL/min, 98.88±15.29 mL/min, and 109.13±21.57 mL/min, respectively; the eGFRs using cystatin C for the four groups of BMI were 84.53±18.14 mL/min, 84.01±40.11 mL/min, 79.18±13.46 mL/min, and 77.30±10.90 mL/min, respectively. This study attempts to establish a normal range of serum creatinine and cystatin C values for the Indian population and shows that in young healthy Indian adults, eGFR and kidney volume vary by BMI and sex.

Optimal management of hyperphosphatemia in end-stage renal disease: an Indian perspective.

There has been an exponential increase in the incidence of diabetes and hypertension in India in the last few decades, with a proportional increase in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Preventive health care and maintenance of asymptomatic chronic disease such as CKD are often neglected by patients until they become symptomatic with fluid retention and uremia. Management of hyperphosphatemia in CKD remains one of the challenges of nephrology in India for this reason, as it is almost completely asymptomatic but contributes to renal osteodystrophy, metastatic vascular calcification, and acceleration of cardiovascular disease. Lack of understanding of the dangers of asymptomatic hyperphosphatemia, the huge pill burden of phosphate binders, difficulty with dietary and dialysis compliance, and most importantly, the added expense of the drugs places additional road blocks in the treatment of hyperphosphatemia at a population level in developing countries like India. In this review we seek to address the contribution of hyperphosphatemia to adverse outcomes and discuss economic, cultural, and societal factors unique to the management of phosphate levels in Indian patients with advanced CKD.