Phospholamban p.Leu39* Cardiomyopathy Compared with Other Sarcomeric Cardiomyopathies: Age-Matched Patient Cohorts and Literature Review.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a heterogeneous genetic disorder, most often caused by sarcomeric gene mutations, with a small proportion due to variants in non-sarcomeric loci. Phospholamban (PLN) is a phosphoprotein associated with the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum, a major determinant of cardiac contractility and relaxation. We conducted a retrospective study to determine the prevalence, phenotypical spectrum and clinical course of patients carrying the PLN p.Leu39* variant. A cohort including 11 PLN patients was identified among all patients with HCM (9/189, 4.8%) and DCM (2/62, 3.2%) who underwent genetic testing from two tertiary centers and five more were detected through cascade screening. Complete phenotyping was performed. PLN p.Leu39* variant-driven cardiomyopathy presented mostly as hypertrophic, with frequent progression to end-stage dilated HCM. We proceeded to compare these results to a similar analysis of a control cohort consisting of age-matched individuals that inherited pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in common sarcomeric genes (MYBPC3/MYH7). Overall, the clinical characteristics and examination findings of patients carrying PLN p.Leu39* were not different from patients with cardiomyopathy related to sarcomeric mutations except for the presence of pathological Q waves and the incidence of non-sustained ventricular arrhythmias, which were higher in PLN patients than in those with MYBPC3/MYH7-related diseases.

Awareness of Nuclear Medicine Physicians in Romania Regarding the Diagnostic of Cardiac Amyloidosis-A Survey-Based Study.

Amyloidosis is a heterogeneous group of diseases caused by the extracellular deposition of amyloid insoluble fibrils in multiple organs, resulting in various clinical manifestations. Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) occurs mainly in primary light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, hereditary transthyretin (ATTRv) amyloidosis and senile or wild-type transthyretin (ATTRwt) amyloidosis. Knowing that myocardial uptake at bone scintigraphy is an essential step in the ATTR-CA diagnostic algorithm, the level of awareness among nuclear medicine physicians (NMPs) using bone tracer scintigraphy is of great importance. The objective of the study was to evaluate NMPs' awareness of scintigraphy with bisphosphonates for the detection of CA. We conducted an online survey among NMPs from Romania to assess their current awareness and state of knowledge of nuclear techniques used in CA. Among the total 65 Romanian NMPs, 35 (53%) responded to this questionnaire. Approximately three-quarters of participants (74%) found a diffuse accumulation of bisphosphonates in the heart on scintigraphy performed for bone pathology as an incidental discovery. Detection of myocardial uptake of 99mTc-labeled bisphosphonates on scintigraphy suggests CA-AL for 3% of participants and for 9% of respondents, the appearance is of uncertain cardiac amyloidosis, while 5% of participants observed cardiac uptake but did not report it as CA. Even if more than half of those who responded to this survey (54%) found abnormal cardiac uptake and interpreted it as CA-ATTR, only 14% contacted the referring physician to draw attention to the incidental discovery to refer the patient to a specialist in rare genetic cardiomyopathy. Regarding the knowledge about the categories of bisphosphonates recommended in the diagnosis of CA-ATTR, 54% answered inadequately that methylene diphosphonate (MDP) could be used. Romanian nuclear physicians are partially familiar with CA diagnosis by scintigraphy, but its diagnostic potential and standardization, recommended radiotracers and acquisition times and interpretation algorithms are known in varying proportions. Therefore, there is a need to enhance knowledge through continuing medical education programs in order to standardize the protocols for the acquisition, processing and interpretation of bisphosphonate scintigraphy for the detection of cardiac ATTR amyloidosis.

Progress and challenges in the treatment of cardiac amyloidosis: a review of the literature.

Cardiac amyloidosis is a restrictive cardiomyopathy determined by the accumulation of amyloid, which is represented by misfolded protein fragments in the cardiac extracellular space. The main classification of systemic amyloidosis is determined by the amyloid precursor proteins causing a very heterogeneous disease spectrum, but the main types of amyloidosis involving the heart are light chain (AL) and transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR). AL, in which the amyloid precursor is represented by misfolded immunoglobulin light chains, can involve almost any system carrying the worst prognosis among amyloidosis patients. This has however dramatically improved in the last few years with the increased usage of the novel therapies such as proteasome inhibitors and haematopoietic cell transplantation, in the case of timely diagnosis and initiation of treatment. The treatment for AL is directed by the haematologist working closely with the cardiologist when there is a significant cardiac involvement. Transthyretin (TTR) is a protein that is produced by the liver and is involved in the transportation of thyroid hormones, especially thyroxine and retinol binding protein. ATTR results from the accumulation of transthyretin amyloid in the extracellular space of different organs and systems, especially the heart and the nervous system. Specific therapies for ATTR act at various levels of TTR, from synthesis to deposition: TTR tetramer stabilization, oligomer aggregation inhibition, genetic therapy, amyloid fibre degradation, antiserum amyloid P antibodies, and antiserum TTR antibodies. Treatment of systemic amyloidosis has dramatically evolved over the last few years in both AL and ATTR, improving disease prognosis. Moreover, recent studies revealed that timely treatment can lead to an improvement in clinical status and in a regression of amyloid myocardial infiltration showed by imaging, especially by cardiac magnetic resonance, in both AL and ATTR. However, treating cardiac amyloidosis is a complex task due to the frequent association between systemic congestion and low blood pressure, thrombo-embolic and haemorrhagic risk balance, patient frailty, and generally poor prognosis. The aim of this review is to describe the current state of knowledge regarding cardiac amyloidosis therapy in this constantly evolving field, classified as treatment of the cardiac complications of amyloidosis (heart failure, rhythm and conduction disturbances, and thrombo-embolic risk) and the disease-modifying therapy.

Prospective Case-Control Study of Cardiovascular Abnormalities 6 Months Following Mild COVID-19 in Healthcare Workers.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to detect cardiovascular changes after mild severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 infection. BACKGROUND: Concern exists that mild coronavirus disease 2019 may cause myocardial and vascular disease. METHODS: Participants were recruited from COVIDsortium, a 3-hospital prospective study of 731 health care workers who underwent first-wave weekly symptom, polymerase chain reaction, and serology assessment over 4 months, with seroconversion in 21.5% (n = 157). At 6 months post-infection, 74 seropositive and 75 age-, sex-, and ethnicity-matched seronegative control subjects were recruited for cardiovascular phenotyping (comprehensive phantom-calibrated cardiovascular magnetic resonance and blood biomarkers). Analysis was blinded, using objective artificial intelligence analytics where available. RESULTS: A total of 149 subjects (mean age 37 years, range 18 to 63 years, 58% women) were recruited. Seropositive infections had been mild with case definition, noncase definition, and asymptomatic disease in 45 (61%), 18 (24%), and 11 (15%), respectively, with 1 person hospitalized (for 2 days). Between seropositive and seronegative groups, there were no differences in cardiac structure (left ventricular volumes, mass, atrial area), function (ejection fraction, global longitudinal shortening, aortic distensibility), tissue characterization (T1, T2, extracellular volume fraction mapping, late gadolinium enhancement) or biomarkers (troponin, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide). With abnormal defined by the 75 seronegatives (2 SDs from mean, e.g., ejection fraction <54%, septal T1 >1,072 ms, septal T2 >52.4 ms), individuals had abnormalities including reduced ejection fraction (n = 2, minimum 50%), T1 elevation (n = 6), T2 elevation (n = 9), late gadolinium enhancement (n = 13, median 1%, max 5% of myocardium), biomarker elevation (borderline troponin elevation in 4; all N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide normal). These were distributed equally between seropositive and seronegative individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiovascular abnormalities are no more common in seropositive versus seronegative otherwise healthy, workforce representative individuals 6 months post-mild severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 infection.