Long-term prognostic impact of subclinical myocardial dysfunction in patients recovered from COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular sequelae may occur in patients recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Recent studies have detected a considerable incidence of subclinical myocardial dysfunction-assessed with speckle-tracking echocardiography-and of long-COVID symptoms in these patients. This study aimed to define the long-term prognostic role of subclinical myocardial dysfunction and long-COVID condition in patients recovered from COVID-19 pneumonia. METHODS: We prospectively followed up 110 patients hospitalized at our institution due to COVID-19 pneumonia in April 2020 and then recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection. A 7-month clinical and echocardiographic evaluation was performed, followed by a 21-month clinical follow-up. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure hospitalization, and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: A subclinical myocardial dysfunction-defined as an impairment of left ventricular global longitudinal strain (≥-18%)-was identified at a 7-month follow-up in 37 patients (34%), was associated with an increased risk of long-term MACE with a good discriminative power (area under the curve: .73) and resulted in a strong independent predictor of extended MACE in multivariate regression analyses. Long-COVID condition was not associated with a worse long-term prognosis, instead. CONCLUSIONS: In patients recovered from COVID-19 pneumonia, a subclinical myocardial dysfunction is present in one-third of the whole population at 7-month follow-up and is associated with a higher risk of MACE at long-term follow-up. Speckle-tracking echocardiography is a promising tool to optimize the risk-stratification in patients recovered from COVID-19 pneumonia, while the definition of a long-COVID condition has no prognostic relevance.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement in aortic stenosis and cardiac amyloidosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIMS: Aortic stenosis (AS) and cardiac amyloidosis (CA) are typical diseases of the elderly. Up to 16% of older adults with severe AS referred to transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) have a concomitant diagnosis of CA. CA-AS population suffers from reduced functional capacity and worse prognosis than AS patients. As the prognostic impact of TAVR in patients with CA-AS has been historically questioned and in light of recently published evidence, we aim to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the efficacy and safety of TAVR in CA-AS patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies: (i) evaluating mortality with TAVR as compared with medical therapy in CA-AS patients and (ii) reporting complications and clinical outcomes of TAVR in CA-AS patients as compared with patients with AS alone. A total of seven observational studies were identified: four reported mortality with TAVR, and four reported complications and clinical outcomes after TAVR of patients with CA-AS compared with AS alone patients. In patients with CA-AS, the risk of mortality was lower with TAVR (n = 44) as compared with medical therapy (n = 36) [odds ratio (OR) 0.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.07-0.73, I2  = 0%, P = 0.001, number needed to treat = 3]. The safety profile of TAVR seems to be similar in patients with CA-AS (n = 75) as compared with those with AS alone (n = 536), with comparable risks of stroke, vascular complications, life-threatening bleeding, acute kidney injury, and 30 day mortality, although CA-AS was associated with a trend towards an increased risk of permanent pacemaker implantation (OR 1.76, 95% CI 0.91-4.09, I2  = 0%, P = 0.085). CA is associated with a numerically higher rate of long-term mortality and rehospitalizations following TAVR in patients with CA-AS as compared with those with AS alone. CONCLUSIONS: TAVR is an effective and safe procedure in CA-AS patients, with a substantial survival benefit as compared with medical therapy, and a safety profile comparable with patients with AS alone except for a trend towards higher risk of permanent pacemaker implantation.

[Percutaneous mitral valve repair in acute mitral regurgitation]. / Plastica mitralica transcatetere per il trattamento dell'insufficienza mitralica acuta.

Acute mitral regurgitation is a life-threatening pathology. Nowadays, percutaneous mitral valve repair with the MitraClip device offers, in selected patients, a safe and effective therapeutic alternative to open surgery. Hereby, we report the case of an 82-year-old woman with lateral ST-elevation myocardial infarction determining severe acute mitral regurgitation, who was treated with an urgent MitraClip procedure. Moreover, we discuss echocardiographic assessment of acute mitral regurgitation and we review available literature and possible management of this complex scenario.