Tei Index Complements Conventional Echocardiographic Parameters in Diagnostic Workup of Suspected Takotsubo Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Tei index (TI) is a combined myocardial performance index for overall cardiac function, the sensitivity of which seems to be better than that of systolic and diastolic parameters alone. Evidence for TI in the context of Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is currently limited, which is why we chose to investigate this parameter in affected patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Patients with TTS (n = 51), acute coronary syndrome (ACS; n = 29), and controls (n = 58) were retrospectively investigated. Laboratory and echocardiographic parameters including TI were analyzed for their ability to discriminate TTS in the total study cohort. RESULTS: TI was the highest, and thus most pathological, in patients with TTS (median 0.516 vs. ACS: 0.355 vs. control: 0.313, p < 0.0001) and showed the best discriminatory ability for TTS (AUC: 0.836, p < 0.0001). A cut-off for diagnosis of TTS was calculated at ≥0.418 (specificity: 83.5% and sensitivity: 74.0%) by means of the Youden index. CONCLUSION: The discriminatory ability of TI was better than that of other echocardiographic parameters such as LV systolic function. Due to the simple, fast, and inexpensive way of calculating TI, diagnostic workup with conventional parameters could be complemented by TI in patients with suspected TTS.

Tei Index Is a Useful Adjunctive Tool in the Diagnostic Workup of Patients with Acute Myocarditis.

Background: Tei index (TI) is a combined myocardial performance index, which was found to be more sensitive for overall cardiac dysfunction than systolic or diastolic parameters alone. Currently, there is only limited evidence for this measure in the context of myocarditis. Thus, TI could add additional benefits to conventional diagnostic workup. Methods: TI of patients with myocarditis (n = 40), acute coronary syndrome (n = 29) and controls (n = 50) was retrospectively analyzed concerning its discriminatory ability for myocarditis. Results: TI was most pathological in patients with myocarditis (median 0.41 vs. 0.35 vs. 0.31, p < 0.0001). Its discriminatory ability was better than that of EF or E/e' (AUCs: TI: 0.71, p < 0.0001; EF: 0.57, p = 0.112; E/e': 0.64, p = 0.983), which was also verified in logistic regression analysis (B(SE) = 0.81(0.23), p = 0.0004). The association of TI with myocarditis remained significant even after correction for confounders in propensity score weighted analysis. Conclusions: The TI showed a better discriminatory ability for myocarditis than conventional echocardiographic parameters. Since TI is easily conducted, it might be a helpful adjunctive tool to supplement conventional diagnostic modalities in patients with suspected myocarditis.

Prognostic implications of the seventh edition of the international union against cancer classification for patients with gastric cancer: the Western experience of patients treated in a single-center European institution.

PURPOSE: Validity of the seventh edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer/International Union Against Cancer (AJCC/UICC) staging systems for gastric cancer has been evaluated in several studies, mostly in Asian patient populations. Only few data are available on the prognostic implications of the new classification system on a Western population. Therefore, we investigated its prognostic ability based on a German patient cohort. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data from a single-center cohort of 1,767 consecutive patients surgically treated for gastric cancer were classified according to the seventh edition and were compared using the previous TNM/UICC classification. Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed for all TNM stages and UICC stages in a comparative manner. Additional survival receiver operating characteristic analyses and bootstrap-based goodness-of-fit comparisons via Bayesian information criterion (BIC) were performed to assess and compare prognostic performance of the competing classification systems. RESULTS: We identified the UICC pT/pN stages according to the seventh edition of the AJCC/UICC guidelines as well as resection status, age, Lauren histotype, lymph-node ratio, and tumor grade as independent prognostic factors in gastric cancer, which is consistent with data from previous Asian studies. Overall survival rates according to the new edition were significantly different for each individual's pT, pN, and UICC stage. However, BIC analysis revealed that, owing to higher complexity, the new staging system might not significantly alter predictability for overall survival compared with the old system within the analyzed cohort from a statistical point of view. CONCLUSION: The seventh edition of the AJCC/UICC classification was found to be valid with distinctive prognosis for each stage. However, the AJCC/UICC classification has become more complex without improving predictability for overall survival in a Western population. Therefore, simplification with better predictability of overall survival of patients with gastric cancer should be considered when revising the seventh edition.