Clinical and Imaging Response to Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Inhibitors in Treatment of Cardiac Sarcoidosis: A Multicenter Experience.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) is an increasingly recognized cause of cardiomyopathy; however, data on immunosuppressive strategies are limited. Treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha inhibitors is not well described; moreover, there may be heart failure-related safety concerns. METHODS: Retrospective multicenter study of patients with CS treated with TNF alpha inhibitors. Baseline characteristics, treatments, and outcomes were adjudicated. RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients with CS (mean age 49.9 years, 42% women, 53% African American) were treated with TNF alpha inhibitor (30 infliximab, 8 adalimumab). Prednisone dose decreased from time of TNF alpha inhibitor initiation (21.7 ± 17.5 mg) to 6 months (10.4 ± 6.1 mg, P = .001) and 12 months (7.3 ± 7.3 mg, P = .002) after treatment. On pre-TNF alpha inhibitor treatment positron emission tomography with 18-flourodoxyglucose (FDG-PET), 84% of patients had cardiac FDG uptake. After treatment, there was a significant decrease in number of segments involved (3.5 ± 3.8 to 1.0 ± 2.5, P = .008) and maximum standardized uptake value (3.59 ± 3.70 to 0.57 ± 1.60, P = .0005), with 73% of patients demonstrating complete resolution or improvement of cardiac FDG uptake. The left ventricular ejection fraction remained stable (45.0 ± 16.5% to 47.0 ± 15.0%, P = .10). Four patients required inpatient heart failure treatment, and 8 had infections; 2 required treatment cessation. CONCLUSIONS: TNF alpha inhibitor treatment guided by FDG-PET imaging may minimize corticosteroid use and effectively reduce cardiac inflammation without significant adverse effect on cardiac function. However, infections were common, some of which were serious, and therefore patients require close monitoring for both infection and cardiac symptoms.

Obesity, Systemic Hypertension, and Pulmonary Hypertension: A Tale of Three Diseases.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially ischemic heart disease and stroke, is the major cause of death worldwide, accounting for more than one-third of all deaths annually. Hypertension is the most prevalent and modifiable risk factor of CVD-related deaths. The same is true for obesity, which is currently being recognized as a major global epidemic. The prevalence of obesity in the United States has increased dramatically, from 13.4% in 1960 to 36.5% in 2014, with as much as 70.7% of the American adult population being overweight or obese (CDC). Epidemiological studies have shown that obesity predisposes to hypertension and CVD - with the relationship between markers of obesity and blood pressure being almost linear across different populations. In this review, we discuss systemic and pulmonary hypertension in the context of obesity.

Utility of Invasive Electrophysiology Studies in Patients With Severe Aortic Stenosis Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

Permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation remains common after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Invasive electrophysiology studies (EPSs) may reduce PPM implantation rates by identifying patients who do not require long-term pacing. At our institution, a new strategy in which patients with equivocal indications for pacing underwent EPSs to determine the need for PPM implantation was adopted. We compared baseline demographics, TAVI procedural details, and outcomes in patients without any conduction disturbance after TAVI, patients with new PPM implantation, and patients with EPS ± new PPM implantation. After exclusion for preexisting PPMs, of a total of 614 consecutive TAVI patients, 117 (19.1%) required new PPM implantation for unequivocal pacing indications, and 95 (15.5%) underwent EPSs. Of those patients who underwent EPSs, 28 (29.5%) required PPM implantation and 67 (70.5%) did not. The overall rate of new PPM implantation was higher for self-expanding versus balloon-expandable valves (34.0% vs 19.9%, p = 0.0011). PPM implantation increased intensive care and hospital length of stay compared with patients without any conduction disturbance (10.7 ± 8.3 vs 8.5 ± 6.4 days, p = 0.003). A negative EPS did not prolong length of stay. There were no significant differences in 30-day and 1-year mortality between groups. In conclusion, among TAVI patients with new-onset conduction disturbance, EPS is a safe strategy to identify those who require PPM implantation and those in whom PPMs can be avoided.

Metronomic cyclophosphamide with bevacizumab provides disease stabilization in patients with advanced uterine cancer.

•We present two cases of advanced uterine cancer that were treated with the combination of metronomic cyclophosphamide and bevacizumab.•Targeting angiogenesis can provide disease control in patients with advanced uterine cancer.•Randomized controlled trials comparing metronomic and conventional regimens in advanced uterine cancer are required.

Experience with biodegradable polymer coated sirolimus-eluting coronary stent system in "real-life" percutaneous coronary intervention: 24-month data from the manipal-s registry.

INTRODUCTION: Despite the undeniable clinical efficacy of drug-eluting stents with durable polymers, concerns regarding their long-term safety have been raised, especially in more complex subsets. The Manipal-S Registry was designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the biodegradable polymer coated Supralimus(®) Sirolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent for the treatment of coronary artery disease, across a wide range of patients who are treated in real-life clinical practice. METHODS: All the consecutive 116 patients who underwent single-vessel or multiple vessel percutaneous coronary interventions with the use of Supralimus(®) sirolimus-eluting stents between September 2009 and December 2010, were included in this study. Patients were clinically followed-up at 1, 9, 12 and 24 months post-procedure. All clinical, procedural, and follow-up information were collected and analysed. RESULTS: In total 116 patients, 126 lesions were implanted with 144 stents which had an average stent length of 25.8±8.0 mm. The incidences of any major adverse cardiac and cerebral events at 1, 9, 12 and 24 months were 0, 5 (4.3%), 8 (6.9%), and 10 (8.6%) respectively. CONCLUSION: These 24-month results clearly provide evidence for safety and effectiveness of the Supralimus(®) Sirolimus-eluting coronary stent system with the biodegradable polymer in real-life patients, even in those with acute myocardial infarctions.