Determination of Optimal and Safest Proximal Sealing Length During Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the optimal and safest proximal sealing length (PSL) during thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR), depending on anatomical aortic arch types and proximal landing zones (LZs). METHODS: This was a single centre retrospective observational study of consecutive TEVAR patients (2008-2020). All aortic pathologies requiring Ishimaru landing zone (LZ) 0 - 3 were included; results were stratified by aortic arch type. The PSL was measured as the length of complete aortic wall to endograft apposition at the level of the proximal neck. The primary endpoint was proximal failure (type 1A endoleak, endograft migration, or re-intervention requiring proximal graft extension). Freedom from proximal failure was estimated with Kaplan-Meier curves. An "optimal" sealing length (PSL cutoff maximising sensitivity + specificity for proximal failure) and "safest length" (PSL cutoff determining ≥ 90% sensitivity) were identified using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS: One hundred and forty patients received TEVAR; mean ± standard deviation PSL was 29 ± 9 mm. Freedom from proximal endograft failure at five years (median 31 months) was 82.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 72 - 95); the shorter the PSL, the greater was the risk of failure (hazard ratio 0.90, 95% CI 0.84 - 0.97; p = .004). Overall optimal and safest PSL were 25 mm (sensitivity 78%, specificity 66%) and 30 mm (sensitivity 92%, specificity 30%), respectively. In type I arch, the optimal PSL was 22 mm (sensitivity 50%, specificity 87%). In type II, the optimal PSL was 25 mm (sensitivity 89%, specificity 59%) overall and 27 mm for type II/LZ 2 - 3 (sensitivity 31%, specificity 68%). For type III, the optimal PSL was 27 mm (sensitivity 80%, specificity 87%); the safest was 30 mm (sensitivity 100%, specificity 61%) In type III/LZ 2 - 3, the optimal PSL was 27 mm (sensitivity 31%, specificity 68%) and safest was 30 mm (sensitivity 100%, specificity 55%). CONCLUSION: A 20 mm PSL may be acceptable only for type I arches. For types II/III, that represent the majority of cases, a 25 - 30 mm PSL may be required for a safe and durable TEVAR.

Standard and New Echocardio Techniques, Such as Global Longitudinal Strain, to Monitor the Impact of Diets on Cardiovascular Diseases and Heart Function.

"The Seven Countries Study", published in 1984, was the first study to find a correlation between diet and mortality related to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Since then, many investigations have addressed the relationship between type of diet, or specific nutrients, and CVDs. Based on these findings, some traditional dietary models, such as the Mediterranean or Nordic diet, are recommended to prevent CVDs. Meanwhile, new diets have been proposed for optimal nutrition therapy, for example, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention Diet for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND). The main outcomes evaluated after implementing these dietary models are as follows: CVD-related death; the development of specific CVDs, such as myocardial infarction and hypertension; or biochemical parameters related to CVDs, i.e., non-HDL cholesterol, C-reactive protein (CPR) and homocysteine. However, the early impact of diet on heart functionality is less evaluated. Recently, the echographic measurement of left ventricle (LV) deformation by global longitudinal strain (GLS) has been introduced as a novel marker of clinical and subclinical cardiac dysfunction. This technology allows a subclinical evaluation of heart functionality since, differently from the traditional evaluation of left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF), it is capable of detecting early myocardial dysfunction. In this review, we analyzed the available studies that correlate dietetic regimens to cardiovascular diseases, focusing on the relevance of LV strain to detect subclinical myocardial alteration related to diet. Evidence is presented that DASH and MIND can have a positive impact on heart functionality and that myocardial strain is useful for early detection of diet-related changes in cardiac function.