Acoustic speech analysis of patients with decompensated heart failure: A pilot study.

This pilot study used acoustic speech analysis to monitor patients with heart failure (HF), which is characterized by increased intracardiac filling pressures and peripheral edema. HF-related edema in the vocal folds and lungs is hypothesized to affect phonation and speech respiration. Acoustic measures of vocal perturbation and speech breathing characteristics were computed from sustained vowels and speech passages recorded daily from ten patients with HF undergoing inpatient diuretic treatment. After treatment, patients displayed a higher proportion of automatically identified creaky voice, increased fundamental frequency, and decreased cepstral peak prominence variation, suggesting that speech biomarkers can be early indicators of HF.

Predictive factors for in-stent late loss and coronary lesion progression in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus randomized to rosiglitazone or placebo.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetics (DM2) are at increased risk for restenosis as well as nonculprit coronary artery lesion (NCCL) progression. Rosiglitazone (RSG) favorably modifies many of the altered biologic processes in DM2, although recent reports have questioned its safety. We conducted a double-blind randomized trial to assess the effects of RSG versus placebo on in-stent late lumen loss (LL) and angiographic progression of NCCL. METHODS: A total of 65 DM2 were randomized to RSG (4 mg/d) (n = 32) or placebo (n = 33) at the time of stenting and underwent clinical and laboratory analysis at 1 and 4 months and 8-month angiography (n = 46 patients). Rapid angiographic progression (RAP) was defined as > or =20% diameter reduction of preexisting NCCL by quantitative coronary angiography, or a new narrowing > or =30%. RESULTS: Mean LL in RSG (n = 33 lesions) was not different from that of placebo (0.62 +/- 0.59 vs 0.70 +/- 0.67, P = NS). Seven (13.5%) of 52 NCCLs have RAP in RSG versus 9 (16.1%) of 56 in placebo (P = NS). High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) was the only predictor of RAP. Patients with a 120-day hs-CRP > or =75th percentile had an OR of 7.35 (95% CI 2.35-23) for RAP versus those below. Although RSG treatment also lowered log (hs-CRP) at 4 months (RSG 0.10 +/- 0.37 vs placebo 0.26 +/- 0.49, P = .06), it did not decrease the likelihood of plaque progression while also raising LDL and N-terminal brain naturetic peptide. CONCLUSIONS: Rosiglitazone appears not to lower LL or reduce angiographic progression of NCCL in DM2 and had complex effects on markers of cardiac risk.

Metabolite Profiles Predict Acute Kidney Injury and Mortality in Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurs commonly after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and is associated with markedly increased postoperative mortality. We previously identified plasma metabolites predictive of incident chronic kidney disease, but whether metabolite profiles can identify those at risk of AKI is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolite profiling on plasma from patients undergoing TAVR and subjects from the community-based Framingham Heart Study (N=2164). AKI was defined by using the Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 criteria. Of 44 patients (mean age 82±9 years, 52% female) undergoing TAVR, 22 (50%) had chronic kidney disease and 9 (20%) developed AKI. Of 85 metabolites profiled, we detected markedly concordant cross-sectional metabolic changes associated with chronic kidney disease in the hospital-based TAVR and Framingham Heart Study cohorts. Baseline levels of 5-adenosylhomocysteine predicted AKI after TAVR, despite adjustment for baseline glomerular filtration rate (odds ratio per 1-SD increase 5.97, 95% CI 1.62-22.0; P=0.007). Of the patients who had AKI, 6 (66.7%) subsequently died, compared with 3 (8.6%) deaths among those patients who did not develop AKI (P=0.0008) over a median follow-up of 7.8 months. 5-adenosylhomocysteine was predictive of all-cause mortality after TAVR (hazard ratio per 1-SD increase 2.96, 95% CI 1.33-6.58; P=0.008), independent of baseline glomerular filtration rate. CONCLUSIONS: In an elderly population with severe aortic stenosis undergoing TAVR, metabolite profiling improves the prediction of AKI. Given the multifactorial nature of AKI after TAVR, metabolite profiles may identify those patients with reduced renal reserve.

Percutaneous Mitral Valve Edge-to-Edge Repair for Degenerative Mitral Regurgitation.

OPINION STATEMENT: Surgical mitral valve (MV) repair remains the gold standard to treat patients with significant degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR). Medical therapy was the only option for patients found to be not appropriate for MV surgery until the development of percutaneous/transcatheter MV repair options that now allow to reduce MR less invasively and safely. This article discusses the basic mechanisms of MR and the rationale for MR intervention and offers a detailed review on percutaneous/transcatheter MV repair with the MitraClip.