Usefulness of severity scales for cardiogenic shock in-hospital mortality. Proposal for a new prognostic model.

Cardiogenic shock (CS) is a condition comprising multiple etiologies, which associates high mortality rates. Some scoring systems have been shown to be good predictors of hospital mortality in patients admitted to Critical Care Units (CCU). The main objective of this study is to analyze their usefulness and validity in a cohort of CS patients. METHODS: Observational unicentric study of a cohort of CS patients. SOFA, SAPS II and APACHE II scores were calculated in the first 24 h of CCU admission. RESULTS: 130 patients with CS were included. SOFA, SAPS II and APACHE II scores revealed good discrimination for hospital mortality: (AUC) ROC values (AUC: 0.711, 0.752 and 0.742 respectively; P = .6). Calibration, estimated by the Hosmer-Lemeshow test, was adequate in all cases. Acute coronary syndrome, lactate serum values, SAPS II score and vasoactive inotropic score (VIS) were found to be independent predictors for mortality, upon ICU admission. With these variables, a specific prognostic indicator was developed (SAPS-2-LIVE), which improved predictive capability for mortality in our series (AUC) ROC, 0.825 (95% CI 0.752-0.89). CONCLUSION: In this contemporary CS cohort, the aforementioned scores have been shown to have good predictive ability for hospital mortality. These findings could contribute to a more accurate risk stratification in CS.

Current Situation and Prognostic Evolution of Combined Heart-lung Transplantation in a European Union Country.

Background: This study aims to evaluate the entire experience in heart-lung transplantation (HLTx) in a country of the European Union with 47 million inhabitants according to the etiologies that motivated the procedure. Methods: A retrospective study on 1,751 consecutive transplants (HLTx: 78) was performed from 1990 to 2020 in two centers. Overall survival, adjusted for clinical profile and etiological subgroups, was compared. 7 subgroups were considered: 1) Cardiomyopathy with pulmonary hypertension (CM + PH). 2) Eisenmenger syndrome. 3) Congenital heart disease (CHD). 4) Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). 5) Cystic fibrosis. 6) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)/Emphysema. 7) Diffuse interstitial lung disease (ILD). Results: Early mortality was 44% and that of the rest of the follow-up was 31%. There were differences between HTLx and HTx in survival, also comparing groups with a similar clinical profile with propensity score (p= 0.04). Median survival was low in CM + PH (18 days), ILD (29 days) and CHD (114 days), intermediate in Eisenmenger syndrome (600 days), and longer in IPAH, COPD/Emphysema and cystic fibrosis. Conclusion: HLTx has a high mortality. The etiological analysis is of the utmost interest to make the most of the organs and improve survival.

[Angina pectoris in the heart transplant recipient: evidence of reinnervation]. / Angina de pecho en el paciente con trasplante cardíaco: una evidencia de reinervación.

Heart transplantation involves the removal of a sick heart together with its innervation and replacement with a donor heart isolated from the control of the autonomous nervous system of the recipient, therefore being, functionally dennervated. Dennervation conditions several alterations in cardiac physiology, such as the inability to experience pain during myocardial ischemia, so that theoretically these patients cannot present angina pectoris. However, several reports have shown evidence of reinnervation with isolated cases of transplanted patients with angina pectoris having been reported. We describe the case of a transplanted patient who showed typical effort angina, vascular disease of the graft and data of sympathetic reinnervation demonstrated by cardiac gammagraphy with metayodo-benzilguanidina-I-123.

[Experimental endocarditis. Pathological anatomy of human endocarditis]. / Endocarditis experimental. Anatomía patológica de la endocarditis humana.

Experimental reproduction of human endocarditis in animal models has been based on the induction of structural lesions in valve endocardium using different methods. The primary lesion caused in this way is the so called non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis. Its colonization is then induced by inoculation of microorganisms in the bloodstream. Freedman's modified method has been the most widespread model of this type. It has mainly been performed in rabbits with inoculation of Staphylococcus aureus or alpha-hemolitic Streptococcus. Experimental models of endocarditis have contributed to our knowledge of the pathogenic mechanisms, causative agents and predisposing factors of endocarditis. They have also allowed us to develop appropriate diagnostic, therapeutic and prophylactic measures for its management.