Cardiac imaging in rheumatic diseases.

The majority of the imaging techniques in cardiology could be applied in rheumatic diseases (RDs), such as echocardiography, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), radionuclide ventriculography, angiography, cardiovascular MRI and CT. Inflammatory pericardial involvement is the most common cardiac manifestation in various forms of RD. Echocardiography is the gold standard for diagnosis of pericardial abnormalities, demonstrating location and amount of pericardial effusion. Cardiac MRI and CT can be used to assess the features of pericardial effusions and pericardial structures. In patients with valvular heart disease in RD, transoesophageal echocardiography is a superior method and offers reliable information about valve morphology, the severity of the disease and left ventricular (LV) function. In addition, cardiac MRI is a valuable tool for the evaluation of valvular stenosis and regurgitation severity. Myocardial involvement in RD is demonstrated by abnormalities in LV size and function, indicating myocardial inflammation. In these patients Doppler echocardiography and myocardial tissue imaging can provide essential diagnostic information. Both LV angiography and cardiac MRI can provide reliable information on LV size, function and mass. In patients with coronary disease associated with RD, LV ejection fraction and ventricular wall motion can be assessed by echocardiography, radionuclide ventriculography, gated SPECT and MRI. Three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography is considered superior to 2D echocardiographic techniques. Stress echocardiography is the most used method for detection of myocardial ischaemia. The only accurate visualization of the coronary arteries is by selective coronary arteriography, which remains the gold standard. Although new non-invasive techniques have been developed, including CT and MRI angiography, some limitations apply.

Cardiac arrhythmias and conduction disturbances in autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Rhythm and conduction disturbances and sudden cardiac death (SCD) are important manifestations of cardiac involvement in autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs). In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a major cause of SCD is atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, leading to acute coronary syndrome and ventricular arrhythmias. In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), sinus tachycardia, atrial fibrillation and atrial ectopic beats are the major cardiac arrhythmias. In some cases, sinus tachycardia may be the only manifestation of cardiac involvement. The most frequent cardiac rhythm disturbances in systemic sclerosis (SSc) are premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), often appearing as monomorphic, single PVCs, or rarely as bigeminy, trigeminy or pairs. Transient atrial fibrillation, flutter or paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia are also described in 20-30% of SSc patients. Non-sustained ventricular tachycardia was described in 7-13%, while SCD is reported in 5-21% of unselected patients with SSc. The conduction disorders are more frequent in ARD than the cardiac arrhythmias. In RA, infiltration of the atrioventricular (AV) node can cause right bundle branch block in 35% of patients. AV block is rare in RA, and is usually complete. In SLE small vessel vasculitis, the infiltration of the sinus or AV nodes, or active myocarditis can lead to first-degree AV block in 34-70% of patients. In contrast to RA, conduction abnormalities may regress when the underlying disease is controlled. In neonatal lupus, 3% of infants whose mothers are antibody positive develop complete heart block. Conduction disturbances in SSc are due to fibrosis of sinoatrial node, presenting as abnormal ECG, bundle and fascicular blocks and occur in 25-75% of patients.

Erectile dysfunction as a predictor of advanced vascular age.

Vascular age (VA) represents chronological age (CA) adjusted for individual's atherosclerotic burden. The presence of erectile dysfunction (ED) has been considered as a clinical sentinel of premature atherosclerosis. The objective of this study was to explore the predictive value of ED in assessing the discrepancy between VA and CA. In the period from 1 January 2014 to 1 January 2015, all consecutive men referring to the outpatient departments of the Clinics of Urology and Cardiology in Belgrade (Serbia) were considered for enrolment in this cross-sectional study. General exclusion criteria were: age below 18, heart failure, history of myocardial infarction, impaired renal and liver function, acute infection, history of endocrine disease other than type 2 diabetes, pelvic surgery or trauma, and acute coronary syndrome within the last 6 months. According to the presence of ED, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and history of coronary artery disease participants were assigned into five study groups. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify the predictive value of ED in detection of advanced VA. The mean age of males enrolled in the study was 52.9 ± 7.7 years. The predominance of VA over CA was statistically significantly higher in the group of participants with coexistence of ED and hypertension compared to the group of patients with ED and type 2 diabetes (p = 0.027) and the group of patients with ED (p = 0.014) and control group (p < 0.01). Regression analysis highlighted that ED represented a highly important marker (p < 0.01) of advanced VA, which independently accounted for 6.1% of the variance in the discrepancy between VA and CA. Our study suggests that assessment of ED could be a part of a more comprehensive prediction of patients' advanced VA. Screening among such a highly selected population may help identify those that would most benefit from drug treatments and life style changes.