The non-invasive assessment of myocardial work by pressure-strain analysis: clinical applications.

Pressure-volume (PV) analysis is the most comprehensive way to describe cardiac function, giving insights into cardiac mechanics and energetics. However, PV analysis still remains a highly invasive and time-consuming method, preventing it from integration into clinical practice. Most of the echocardiographic parameters currently used in the clinical routine to characterize left ventricular (LV) systolic function, such as LV ejection fraction and LV global longitudinal strain, do not take the pressure developed within the LV into account and therefore fall too short in describing LV function as a hydraulic pump. Recently, LV pressure-strain analysis has been introduced as a new technique to assess myocardial work in a non-invasive fashion. This new method showed new insights in comparison to invasive measurements and was validated in different cardiac pathologies, e.g., for the detection of coronary artery disease, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT)-response prediction, and different forms of heart failure. Non-invasively assessed myocardial work may play a major role in guiding therapies and estimating prognosis. However, its incremental prognostic validity in comparison to common echocardiographic parameters remains unclear. This review aims to provide an overview of pressure-strain analysis, including its current application in the clinical arena, as well as potential fields of exploitation.

Periodontal Healing with Fixed Restorations Using the Biologically Oriented Preparation Technique Combined with a Full Digital Workflow: A Clinical Case Report.

(1) Gingival inflammation is an ongoing challenge in tooth-supported fixed restorations, especially when the prosthetic margin does not consider the supracrestal tissues of patients. This case report aimed to present the case of a patient who was periodontally compromised due to a previous invasion of the supracrestal tissue attachment with fixed restorations and evaluate the healing response of periodontal tissues to a vertical edgeless preparation technique: bleeding upon probing (BOP), periodontal probing depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL). (2) After tooth preparation, the new restorations were adapted, this time without invading the supracrestal space of the patient, and CAD/CAM monolithic zirconia crowns were fabricated. (3) Optimal maturation of the soft tissue was observed, achieving correction of the marginal contour of periodontal tissues and improvement of periodontal indexes. (4) It can be concluded that the BOPT technique combined with a full digital workflow is a valid option for the correction and remodeling of gingival architecture.

The Crosstalk between Gut Microbiota and White Adipose Tissue Mitochondria in Obesity.

Adipose tissue (AT) dysregulation is a key process in the pathophysiology of obesity and its cardiometabolic complications, but even if a growing body of evidence has been collected over recent decades, the underlying molecular basis of adiposopathy remains to be fully understood. In this context, mitochondria, the intracellular organelles that orchestrate energy production and undergo highly dynamic adaptive changes in response to changing environments, have emerged as crucial regulators of both white (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT) metabolism and function. Given that the gut microbiota and its metabolites are able to regulate host metabolism, adipogenesis, WAT inflammation, and thermogenesis, we hypothesize that their frequently observed dysregulation in obesity could affect AT metabolism by exerting direct and indirect effects on AT mitochondria. By collecting and revising the current evidence on the connections between gut microbiota and AT mitochondria in obesity, we gained insights into the molecular biology of their hitherto largely unexplored crosstalk, tracing how gut microbiota may regulate AT mitochondrial function.