Effect of Sport Activity on Uncomplicated Bicuspid Aortic Valve: Long-Term Longitudinal Echocardiographic Study.

BACKGROUND: The bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is a congenital heart defect that can lead to certain complications (aortic stenosis, regurgitation, dilatation and endocarditis), the diagnosis and clinical monitoring of which are effectively entrusted to transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). The impact of training on the natural history of the disease remains unclear. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of athletes with uncomplicated BAV aged 18-50 years, who underwent at least 2 TTEs with a minimum follow-up of 5 years, subdivided according to the level of physical activity during follow-up into ''untrained'' and ''trained'', was collected. RESULTS: 47 athletes (87.3% male, median 21.0, (18.0; 33.0) years) were included. Median follow-up was 11.6 (8.4; 16.3) years. No statistically significant difference in the growing rate of aorta, left ventricle, nor a significant worsening of aortic stenosis and regurgitation was found. Moreover, there was no significant correlation between weekly training minutes during follow-up and the echocardiographic parameters related to heart size and function. CONCLUSIONS: In BAV without major complications, high training volumes do not correspond to a more rapid and significant deterioration in valve function nor to a more rapid increase in aortic or cardiac chamber size.

Evaluation of Metabolic and Cardiovascular Risk Measured by Laboratory Biomarkers and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test in Children and Adolescents Recovered from Brain Tumors: The CARMEP Study.

In recent decades, the improvement of treatments and the adoption of therapeutic protocols of international cooperation has led to an improvement in the survival of children affected by brain tumors. However, in parallel with the increase in survival, long-term side effects related to treatments have been observed over time, including the activation of chronic inflammatory processes and metabolic alterations, which can facilitate the onset of metabolic syndrome and increased cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to find possible statistically significant differences in the serum concentrations of early biomarkers of metabolic syndrome and in the results of cardiopulmonary exercise testing between survivors of childhood brain tumors and healthy controls. This is a prospective and observational study conducted on a group of 14 male patients who survived childhood brain tumors compared with the same number of healthy controls. The concentrations of early metabolic syndrome biomarkers [adiponectin, leptin, TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, endothelin-1, apolipoprotein B, and lipoprotein (a)] were measured and a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) was performed. Results: Childhood brain tumor survivors performed worse on average than controls on the CPET. Furthermore, they showed higher endothelin-1 values than controls (p = 0.025). The CPET results showed an inverse correlation with leptin. The differences found highlight the greater cardiovascular risk of brain tumor survivors, and radiotherapy could be implicated in the genesis of this greater cardiovascular risk.

Performance of risk stratification scores and role of comorbidities in older vs younger patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Risk scores are important tools for the prognostic stratification of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Their performance and the additional impact of comorbidities across age groups is unknown. METHODS: Patients with PAH enrolled from 2001 to 2021 were divided in ≥65 years old vs <65 years old patients. Study outcome was 5-year all-cause mortality. French Pulmonary Hypertension Network (FPHN), FPHN noninvasive, Comparative, Prospective Registry of Newly Initiated Therapies for Pulmonary Hypertension (COMPERA) and Registry to Evaluate Early and Long-term PAH Disease Management (REVEAL 2.0) risk scores were calculated and patients categorized at low, intermediate and high risk. Number of comorbidities was calculated. RESULTS: Among 383 patients, 152 (40%) were ≥65 years old. They had more comorbidities (number of comorbidities 2, IQR 1-3, vs 1, IQR 0-2 in <65 years patients). Five-year survival was 63% in ≥65 vs 90% in <65 years. Risk scores correctly discriminated the different classes of risk in the overall cohort and in the older and younger groups. REVEAL 2.0 showed the best accuracy in the total cohort (C-index 0.74, standard error-SE- 0.03) and older (C-index 0.69, SE 0.03) patients, whereas COMPERA 2.0 performed better in younger patients (C-index 0.75, SE 0.08). Number of comorbidities was associated with higher 5-year mortality, and consistently increased the accuracy of risk scores, in younger but not in older patients. CONCLUSIONS: Risk scores have similar accuracy in the prognostic stratification of older vs younger PAH patients. REVEAL 2.0 had the best performance in older patients and COMPERA 2.0 had it in younger patients. Comorbidities increased the accuracy of risk scores only in younger patients.