Is Left Ventricular Noncompaction Only a Morphological Feature? A Case of Disappearance of Noncompaction after Surgical Correction of Aorto-Right Ventricular Fistula, Interventricular Septal Defect and Aortic Stenosis.

A 55-year-old man complaining of worsening dyspnea on exertion was diagnosed with restrictive interventricular septal defect, left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC), mild aortic valve stenosis and aorto-right ventricular fistula. He underwent surgical aortic valve replacement with a mechanical bileaflet valve (St. Jude n. 23) and contextual direct suture of interventricular septal defect and closure of aorto-right ventricular fistula. At 2 years of follow-up, the patient was in good general condition. A complete echocardiographic examination showed normalization of left ventricular dimensions and ejection fraction. Furthermore, left ventricular trabeculations became less evident and no longer met the diagnostic criteria for noncompaction. In our case, the expected left ventricular reverse remodeling after cardiac surgery was associated with a significant reduction in LVNC features. In conclusion, physicians should be careful in avoiding overdiagnosis of LVNC, whose features may indeed reflect only the hypertrabeculated morphology of a normal or pathological heart.

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention in nonagenarians: six-month outcomes from a single-center registry.

Little is known about the efficacy and medium-term outcomes of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in very old patients. We evaluated in-hospital and 6-month outcomes in a retrospective cohort of nonagenarian patients presenting at our hospital with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and treated by primary PCI from January 2003 to May 2012. During this period, primary PCI was performed in 1598 consecutive patients; twenty-seven patients (age, 92.5 ± 2.5 years) were enrolled in the study. Four patients (15%) were in advanced Killip class at presentation. STEMI location was anterior in 44%. Patients received aspirin, 300 mg clopidogrel loading dose, and heparin. Abciximab was given to 41% of patients. Coronary angiography showed multivessel disease in 52% of patients. Pain-to-balloon and door-to-balloon times were 375.0 ± 410.2 minutes and 107.3 ± 47.6 minutes, respectively. Intra-aortic balloon pump was implanted in 1 patient. An average of 1.3 ± 0.7 stents (95% bare-metal stents) were implanted per patient. Procedural success rate, defined as Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow grade ≥ 2 and residual stenosis <20%, was 89%. Hospital mortality was 18.5%. TIMI major bleeding and acute renal failure, defined as an absolute increase of 0.5 mg/dL serum creatinine, occurred in 7% and 22% of patients, respectively. Overall 6-month survival rate was 67%. Our data suggest that primary PCI can be performed in nonagenarian patients with high success rate and with an acceptable bleeding risk, even when aggressive antithrombotic drugs, such as glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, are given.

Coronary-to-bronchial artery fistula in a patient with multivessel coronary disease treated by percutaneous coronary intervention.

We describe the case of a 78-year-old patient, admitted to our hospital with an acute coronary syndrome. Coronary angiography showed multivessel coronary artery disease and an anomalous coronary vessel branching from the right coronary artery. After successful percutaneous revascularization and discharge, the anomalous vessel was diagnosed by contrast enhanced 64-multidetector computed tomography as a coronary-to-bronchial fistula. Since the patient was asymptomatic, conservative treatment was selected.

Role of electroanatomic mapping in assessing the extent of atrial standstill: diagnostic and therapeutic implications.

Atrial standstill is characterized by failure of atrial excitation, either spontaneous or induced by atrial electric stimulation. We report the case of a 38-year-old man with severe bradycardia and junctional escape rhythm associated with dilative cardiomyopathy. Electroanatomic mapping showed the absence of atrial viability in almost the entire right atrial endocardial surface and excluded the feasibility of atrial pacing.

MicroRNAs and ischemic heart disease: towards a better comprehension of pathogenesis, new diagnostic tools and new therapeutic targets.

MicroRNAs are key, recently discovered, regulators of gene expression. They are involved in many physiological cellular pathways so it is not surprising that an altered microRNA expression pattern can be involved in the pathogenesis of many disease states. The possibility to manipulate microRNAs to obtain a therapeutical effect is very attractive since they represent specific targets in a particular cellular pathway and because it is quite easy to synthesize short oligonucleotides with the ability to interfere with microRNA mechanism of action. The main problem for microRNA-based therapy is represented by delivery. In the last two years many studies have underlined the involvement of microRNAs in many aspects of ischemic heart disease, the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western World. MiR-29 is involved in fibrotic reaction after myocardial infarction while miR-21 may exert a fundamental role in post-angioplasty restenosis. MiR-208 is involved in the shift toward a fetal gene expression pattern in contractile proteins in heart failure. MiR-1 influences susceptibility to cardiac arrhythmias after myocardial infarction. This review will focus on microRNAs involvement in multiple aspects of ischemic heart disease and on their promising novel therapeutic applications including some recent patents.

Cardiovascular effects of omega-3 free Fatty acids.

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential substances for the development and function of human organism. They cannot be synthesized in humans, and consequently have to be acquired from food, almost exclusively from fish. Omega-3 fatty acids exert potent anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic actions by interfering with the metabolism of arachidonic acid, modifying lipid composition (mainly lowering triglycerides), improving hemodynamics and reducing cardiac hypertrophy. Recently, clinical and experimental studies demonstrated an anti-arrhythmic effect and a significant impact on survival after myocardial infarction (MI). It follows that omega-3 fatty acids have been widely accepted for clinical use in patients with dyslipidemia or with atherosclerotic disease and in survivors of acute MI. This review briefly explores the metabolic mechanisms and the clinical effects of this class of substances and considers their use in patients with cardiovascular disease.

Home defibrillation: a feasibility study in myocardial infarction survivors at intermediate risk of sudden death.

BACKGROUND: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest occurs at home in 65-80% of cases and is often witnessed. We designed a study to explore the feasibility of a home defibrillation program (a) evaluating the retention of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillators (AED) use skills (BLSD) (b) assessing the impact on anxiety, depression, and quality of life and (c) recording the critical issues emerging from program implementation. METHODS: Thirty-three post-myocardial infarction patients and their 56 relatives received BLSD training and an AED. Assessment of BLSD skills, levels of anxiety, and depression and quality of life were scheduled every 3 months for 1 year or until a common stopping date. RESULTS: Overall BLSD score was 26 +/- 3 at baseline vs. 22 +/- 5 at 3 months (P < .0001), 21 +/- 6 at 6 months (P < .0001), 22 +/- 4 at 9 months (P < .0001) and 23 +/- 5 at 12 months (P = .001). Conversely, the BLSD component AED use" remained stable throughout the study. Quality of life, anxiety, and depression scores remained constant. Compliance to BLSD retraining sessions and AEDs checks decreased over time and was influenced by a concomitant clinical appointment. CONCLUSIONS: BLSD performance of families of post-myocardial infarction patients decreases over time, even though the ability to operate AEDs appears to be the least affected component. Compliance with retraining sessions and AED checks declines over time and is improved if they are combined with clinical appointments. The implementation of a home defibrillation program does not affect anxiety, depression, or the quality of life.

[Effect of omega-3 fatty acids on the prevention of atrial arrhythmias]. / Effetti degli acidi grassi omega-3 nella prevenzione delle aritmie atriali.

BACKGROUND: The effects of omega-3 fatty acids on membrane stabilization are well known. Reduction of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death has been reported; fewer data exist regarding the effects on atrial arrhythmias. The object of this report is to evaluate the reduction of atrial arrhythmia-fibrillation after treatment with omega-3, in patients with dual-chamber pacemakers. METHODS: We have examined 40 patients with paroxysmal atrial tachyarrhythmia recorded at the periodic pacemaker controls. At the study entry, all patients were treated with omega-3 (1 g/die); no changes in the device programmation and in the previous pharmacological therapy were allowed. The devices were interrogated after 4 months of treatment to evaluate the number of episodes and the burden of atrial tachyarrhythmia. At this time, the treatment was discontinued and the patients were reevaluated 4 months later. RESULTS: Two patients discontinued the treatment complaining of adverse gastroentheric effects. The episodes of atrial tachyarrhythmia in the pre-treatment period resulted 444 +/- 1161, and the burden 3.89% of time; in the treatment period resulted respectively 181 +/- 436 (-59%, p = 0.037) and 1.06% (-67%, p = 0.029). After drug withdrawal, the episodes of atrial tachyarrhythmia raised to 552 +/- 1717 (p = 0.065) and the burden to 2.69% (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest a powerful effect of omega-3 fatty acids in the reduction of atrial tachyarrhythmia-fibrillation in these patients, without significant adverse effects.