Heart Failure Awareness Survey in a Turkish Population: HFAS-TR.

OBJECTIVE: Heart failure is a leading cause of death and the most common diagnosis leading to hospitalization. Its awareness is lower than that of other cardiovascular diseases, both in the general population and among patients with heart failure (HF). This study aimed to establish the current level of knowledge about HF in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF) in Türkiye. METHODS: This questionnaire-based survey study is multicenter, conducted across 34 centers from December 2021 to July 2022. We performed a survey consisting of two sets of questions focusing on individual characteristics of the patients and HF-related knowledge. RESULTS: The study included a total of 2,307 outpatient HF patients, comprising 70.5% males and 29.5% females with a mean age of 64.58 ± 13 (56-74) years and a mean body mass index value of 32.5 ± 10 kg/m2. HFrEF and HFmrEF were determined in 74.7% and 25.3% of patients, respectively. Thirty percent of the patients were unaware that they had HF. While 28.7% of the patients thought that they had sufficient information about HF, 71.3% believed they lacked adequate knowledge. In the study, 25.2% of the participants identified dyspnea, 22% identified tiredness, and 25.4% identified leg edema as the most common symptoms of HF. Only 27.4% of patients recognized all three typical symptoms of HF. CONCLUSION: We found that the study population's knowledge about HF symptoms and the nature of the disease was poor. Educational and awareness activities are necessary to optimize outcomes and benefits.

Predictors of coronary tortuosity in patients with chronic coronary syndrome.

Aim    Coronary artery tortuosity is a common coronary angiographic finding. This tortuosity can cause myocardial ischemia even in the absence of significant coronary artery stenosis. Our aim was to compare the demographic, clinical and echocardiographic features of patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) and with and without coronary artery tortuosity.Material and methods    361 patients who underwent elective coronary angiography (CAG) due to CCS were included in the study. These patients divided into two groups, those with coronary tortuosity (Group 1) and those without (Group 2). Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors associated with coronary artery tortuosity.Results    The mean age of the 361 CCS patients (44 % female; 56 % male) was 56.7±11.5 years. In the univariable regression analysis, age, female sex, hypertension (HT), PR interval, QTc interval, ST / T segment changes, left ventricle diastolic dysfunction (LVDD), left ventricle hypertrophia (LVH) were identified as predictors of coronary tortuosity. In the multivariable regression analysis, age (OR: 1.059; 95 %CI: 1.032-1.087, p<0.001) and hypertension (OR: 0.484; 95 %CI: 0.278-0.843, p=0.01) were identified as independent predictors of coronary tortuosity.Conclusion    Coronary artery tortuosity is an angiographic finding that develops as a result of adaptive mechanisms in the heart and can cause myocardial ischemia. Predictors of coronary artery tortuosity in patients with CCS were long PR and QTc intervals, ST / T segment changes, LVH, LVDD, advanced age, and female gender. Evaluation of these demographic, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic data may help clinicans to anticipate coronary artery tortuosity in patients with CCS and to be precautious for PCI.

The Definition of Sarcomeric and Non-Sarcomeric Gene Mutations in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Patients: A Multicenter Diagnostic Study Across Türkiye.

BACKGROUND: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a common genetic heart disease and up to 40%-60% of patients have mutations in cardiac sarcomere protein genes. This genetic diagnosis study aimed to detect pathogenic or likely pathogenic sarcomeric and non-sarcomeric gene mutations and to confirm a final molecular diagnosis in patients diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. METHODS: A total of 392 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were included in this nationwide multicenter study conducted at 23 centers across Türkiye. All samples were analyzed with a 17-gene hypertrophic cardiomyopathy panel using next-generation sequencing technology. The gene panel includes ACTC1, DES, FLNC, GLA, LAMP2, MYBPC3, MYH7, MYL2, MYL3, PLN, PRKAG2, PTPN11, TNNC1, TNNI3, TNNT2, TPM1, and TTR genes. RESULTS: The next-generation sequencing panel identified positive genetic variants (variants of unknown significance, likely pathogenic or pathogenic) in 12 genes for 121 of 392 samples, including sarcomeric gene mutations in 30.4% (119/392) of samples tested, galactosidase alpha variants in 0.5% (2/392) of samples and TTR variant in 0.025% (1/392). The likely pathogenic or pathogenic variants identified in 69 (57.0%) of 121 positive samples yielded a confirmed molecular diagnosis. The diagnostic yield was 17.1% (15.8% for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy variants) for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy phenocopies and 0.5% for Fabry disease. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that the distribution of genetic mutations, the prevalence of Fabry disease, and TTR amyloidosis in the Turkish population diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy were similar to the other populations, but the percentage of sarcomeric gene mutations was slightly lower.

Frontal QRS/T angle can predict mortality in COVID-19 patients.

AIMS: The frontal QRS-T (fQRS) angle has been investigated in the general population, including healthy people and patients with heart failure. The fQRS angle can predict mortality due to myocarditis, ischaemic and non-ischaemic cardiomyopathies, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, and chronic heart failure in the general population. Moreover, no studies to date have investigated fQRS angle in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Thus, the purpose of this retrospective multicentre study was to evaluate the fQRS angle of COVID-19 patients to predict in-hospital mortality and the need for mechanical ventilation. METHODS AND RESULTS: An electrocardiogram was performed for 327 COVID-19 patients during admission, and the fQRS angle was calculated. Mechanical ventilation was needed in 119 patients; of them, 110 died in the hospital. The patients were divided into two groups according to an fQRs angle >90° versus an fQRS angle ≤90°. The percentages of mortality and the need for mechanical ventilation according to fQRS angle were 67.8% and 66.1%, respectively, in the fQRs >90° group and 26.1% and 29.9% in the fQRS ≤90°group. Heart rate, oxygen saturation, fQRS angle, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and C-reactive protein level were predictors of mortality on the multivariable analysis. The mortality risk increased 2.9-fold on the univariate analysis and 1.6-fold on the multivariate analysis for the fQRS >90° patient group versus the fQRS ≤90° group. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, a wide fQRS angle >90° was a predictor of in-hospital mortality and associated with the need for mechanical ventilation among COVID-19 patients.

CHA2DS2-VASc score and modified CHA2DS2-VASc score can predict mortality and intensive care unit hospitalization in COVID-19 patients.

In this study, we investigated whether the CHA2DS2-VASc score could be used to estimate the need for hospitalization in the intensive care unit (ICU), the length of stay in the ICU, and mortality in patients with COVID-19. Patients admitted to Merkezefendi State Hospital because of COVID-19 diagnosis confirmed by RNA detection of virus by using polymerase chain reaction between March 24, 2020 and July 6, 2020, were screened retrospectively. The CHA2DS2-VASc and modified CHA2DS2-VASc score of all patients was calculated. Also, we received all patients' complete biochemical markers including D-dimer, Troponin I, and c-reactive protein on admission. We enrolled 1000 patients; 791 were admitted to the general medical service and 209 to the ICU; 82 of these 209 patients died. The ROC curves of the CHA2DS2-VASc and M-CHA2DS2-VASc scores were analyzed. The cut-off values of these scores for predicting mortality were ≥ 3 (2 or under and 3). The CHA2DS2-VASc and M-CHA2DS2-VASc scores had an area under the curve value of 0.89 on the ROC. The sensitivity and specificity of the CHA2DS2-VASc scores were 81.7% and 83.8%, respectively; the sensitivity and specificity of the M-CHA2DS2-VASc scores were 85.3% and 84.1%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CHA2DS2-VASc, Troponin I, D-Dimer, and CRP were independent predictors of mortality in COVID-19 patients. Using a simple and easily available scoring system, CHA2DS2-VASc and M-CHA2DS2-VASc scores can be assessed in patients diagnosed with COVID-19. These scores can predict mortality and the need for ICU hospitalization in these patients.