Quantitative assessment of effective regurgitant orifice: impact on risk stratification, and cut-off for severe and torrential tricuspid regurgitation grade.

AIMS: Asses the added value of quantitative evaluation of tricuspid regurgitation (TR), the proper cut-off value for severe TR and 'torrential TR' based on outcome data. The added value of quantitative evaluation of TR, and the cut-off values associated with increased mortality are unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: In patients with all-cause TR assessed both qualitatively and quantitatively by proximal iso-velocity surface area method, long-term and 1-year outcome analysis was conducted. Thresholds for excess mortality were assessed using spline curves, receiver-operating characteristic curves, and minimum P-value analysis. The study involved 676 patients with all-cause TR (age 73.9 ± 14 years, male 45%, ejection fraction 52.9 ± 14%). Effective regurgitant orifice (ERO) was strongly associated with decreased survival in unadjusted [hazard ratio (HR) 2.38 (1.79-3.01), P < 0.0001 per 0.1 cm2 increment] and adjusted [2.6 (1.25-5.0), P = 0.01] analyses. Quantitative grading was superior to qualitative grading in prediction of outcome (P < 0.01). The optimal cut-off value for the best separation in survival between groups of patients with severe vs. lesser degree of TR was 0.35 cm2 [P < 0.0001, HR =2.0 (1.5-2.7)]. ERO negatively impacted survival, even when including only the subgroup of patients with severe TR [HR 1.5 (1.01-2.3); P = 0.04]. The optimal threshold corresponding for the best separation for survival between groups of patients with severe vs. 'torrential' TR was 0.7 cm2 [P = 0.005, HR =2.6 (1.2-5.1)]. CONCLUSION: TR can be severe and even 'torrential' and is associated with excess mortality. Quantitative assessment of TR by ERO measurement is a powerful independent predictor of outcome, superior to standard qualitative assessment. The optimal cut-off above which mortality is increased is 0.35 cm2, similar albeit slightly lower than suggested in recent guidelines. Torrential TR >0.7 cm2 is associated with poorer survival compared to patients with severe TR (ERO > 0.4 cm2 and <0.7 cm2).

Assessment of Respiratory Distress by the Roth Score.

INTRODUCTION: Health care demand is increasing due to greater longevity of patients with chronic comorbidities. This increasing demand is occurring in a setting of resource scarcity. To address these changes, high-value care initiatives, such as telemedicine, are valuable resource-preservation strategies. This study introduces the Roth score as a telemedicine tool that uses patient counting times to accurately risk-stratify dyspnea severity in terms of hypoxia. HYPOTHESIS: The Roth score has correlation with dyspnea severity. METHODS: This is a prospective, controlled-cohort study. Roth score index is measured by having the patient count from 1 to 30 in their native language, in a single breath, as rapidly as possible. The primary result of the Roth score is the duration of time and the highest number reached. RESULTS: There was a strongly positive correlation between pulse oximetry and both maximal count achieved in 1 breath (r = 0.67; P < 0.001) and counting time (r = 0.59; P < 0.001). For oxygen saturation <95%, the maximal count number area under the curve is 0.828 and counting time area under the curve is 0.764. Counting time >8 seconds had a sensitivity of 78% and specificity of 73% for pulse oximetry <95%. CONCLUSIONS: The Roth score has strong correlation with dyspnea severity as determined by hypoxia. This tool is reproducible, low resource-utilization, and amenable to telemedicine. It is not intended to replace full clinical workup and diagnosis of respiratory distress, but it is useful in risk-stratifying severity of dyspnea that warrants further clinical evaluation.

Serial Echocardiographic Assessment of Left Ventricular Filling Pressure and Remodeling among ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients Treated by Primary Percutaneous Intervention.

BACKGROUND: Acute myocardial infarction and remodeling of the left ventricle is associated with significant changes in systolic and diastolic echocardiographic derived indices. The investigators have tried to determine whether persistence of increased ratio of transmitral flow velocity (E) to early mitral annulus velocity (e'), signifying increased cardiac filling pressure, is associated with left ventricular (LV) remodeling and increased chamber size among patients presenting with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, who underwent successful reperfusion with primary percutaneous coronary intervention. METHODS: Fifty-two patients (76% men; mean age, 61 ± 10 years) with first ST-segment elevation myocardial infarctions who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention were retrospectively studied. Echocardiography was performed at baseline (days 1-3) and after 178 ± 62 days. Patients were stratified according to E/septal e' ratio >15 and ≤15 in both examinations. All patients received optimal medical therapy according to guidelines and local practice. RESULTS: Patients with maintained or worsened E/septal e' ratios to >15 demonstrated on the second examination worse LV ejection fractions (mean, 45 ± 12% vs 52 ± 8%; P = .03) and higher indexed LV end-diastolic volumes (mean, 81.3 ± 22.9 vs 69.2 ± 13.4 mL/m(2); P = .01) and end-systolic volumes (mean, 33.0 ± 12.2 vs 23.7 ± 13.4 mL/m(2); P = .02) compared with the first examination, representing LV remodeling. Patients with E/septal e' ratios > 15 on the second examination demonstrated a positive correlation between the change in E/septal e' ratio and the change in indexed LV end-diastolic volume (linear R(2) = 0.344, P = .03). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarctions undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention, early and persistent elevation of the E/septal e' ratio may be associated with LV remodeling.