Health System-Level Performance in Prescribing Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy for Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: Results From the CONNECT-HF Trial.

BACKGROUND: Health system-level interventions to improve use of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) often fail in the acute care setting. We sought to identify factors associated with high performance in adoption of GDMT among health systems in CONNECT-HF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Site-level composite quality scores were calculated at discharge and last follow-up. Site performance was defined as the average change in score from baseline to last follow-up and analyzed by performance tertile using a mixed-effects model with baseline performance as a fixed effect and site as a random effect. Among 150 randomized sites, the mean 12-month improvement in GDMT was 1.8% (-26.4% to 60.0%). Achievement of 50% or more of the target dose for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors, and beta-blockers at 12 months was modest, even at the highest performing sites (median 29.6% [23%, 41%] and 41.2% [29%, 50%]). Sites achieving higher GDMT scores had care teams that included social workers and pharmacists, as well as patients who were able to afford medications and access medication lists in the electronic health record. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial gaps in site-level use of GDMT were found, even among the highest performing sites. The failure of hospital-level interventions to improve quality metrics suggests that a team-based approach to care and improved patient access to medications are needed for postdischarge success.

Right-sided endocarditis: eustachian valve and coronary sinus involvement.

Infective endocarditis in patients with intravenous drug use commonly involves right-sided heart valves. Eustachian valve (EV) endocarditis is not commonly seen given the valve's infrequent presence. Involvement of the coronary sinus (CS) with endocarditis is also an unusual finding. We present a case with echocardiographic findings consistent with EV endocarditis along with CS involvement, which appropriately responded to antibiotics.

Echocardiography in Infective Endocarditis: State of the Art.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In this review, we examine the central role of echocardiography in the diagnosis, prognosis, and management of infective endocarditis (IE). RECENT FINDINGS: 2D transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography TEE have complementary roles and are unequivocally the mainstay of diagnostic imaging in IE. The advent of 3D and multiplanar imaging have greatly enhanced the ability of the imager to evaluate cardiac structure and function. Technologic advances in 3D imaging allow for the reconstruction of realistic anatomic images that in turn have positively impacted IE-related surgical planning and intervention. CT and metabolic imaging appear to be emerging as promising ancillary diagnostic tools that could be deployed in select scenarios to circumvent some of the limitations of echocardiography. Our review summarizes the indispensable and central role of various echocardiographic modalities in the management of infective endocarditis. The complementary role of 2D TTE and TEE are discussed and areas where 3D TEE offers incremental value highlighted. An algorithm summarizing a contemporary approach to the workup of endocarditis is provided and major societal guidelines for timing of surgery are reviewed.

The challenges of treating recurrent polymorphic ventricular tachycardia due to coronary vasospasm: Lessons from an interesting case.

Coronary artery vasospasm can cause recurrent anginal episodes with ST-segment elevation. Vasospasm induced myocardial ischemia can lead to arrhythmias including life threatening ventricular tachycardia (VT). Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), although not routinely recommended for treating vasospastic angina, can be considered for discrete coronary spasm that is not amenable to vasodilator therapy. We present a challenging case of a 41-year-old lady with recurrent episodes of vasospastic angina and VT refractory to medical therapy, which was successfully treated with PCI and an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.

Comparison of Left Ventricular Contractile Abnormalities in Stress-Induced Cardiomyopathy versus Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease Using Two-Dimensional Strain Imaging.

BACKGROUND: Data on left ventricular (LV) strain profiles in patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) in comparison with obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) are limited. We sought to investigate regional and global LV longitudinal strain in a cohort of patients with known TC using two-dimensional strain imaging (2DS) in comparison with patients with acute cardiomyopathy (ACM) due to severe obstructive left anterior descending arterial disease or triple-vessel disease and healthy controls. METHODS: Transthoracic echocardiography was performed in 34 patients with established TC, 24 patients with ACM, and 30 healthy subjects. We measured the segmental longitudinal strain in apical views by the use of EchoInsight Epsilon software. Left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) was calculated by averaging segmental wall strains. RESULTS: The TC and ACM groups were comparable for age and demographic characteristics. Systolic and diastolic function were significantly impaired in both groups compared to controls. LV global and segmental systolic strain was also significantly attenuated in patients with TC and ACM compared to controls (P < 0.001). Moreover, LV basal segmental longitudinal strain was higher in the patients with TC compared to ACM (P = 0.02). Global and apical segmental strain appear to be higher in patients with mid-ventricular variant compared to those with apical variant of TC with apical strain cutoff value of -7.85%, offering the best discriminatory value for differentiating these two patterns (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this hypothesis-generating study indicate that longitudinal LV strain parameters are similarly impaired in patients with TC and ACM due to severe obstructive left anterior descending arterial disease or triple-vessel disease. Assessment of two-dimensional LV strain parameters could help differentiate between different TC patterns.

Novel oral anticoagulants in patients undergoing cardioversion for atrial fibrillation.

Recent trials on novel oral anticoagulants (NOAC) in patients undergoing cardioversion showed that NOACs are as safe and effective as treatment with vitamin K antagonists in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing electric or pharmacological cardioversion. We conducted an EMBASE and MEDLINE search for studies in which patients undergoing cardioversion were assigned to treatment with NOACs versus VKAs. We identified one prospective randomized study and three post hoc analysis of randomized trials which enrolled 2,788 controls that received NOACs and 1,729 patients that received VKAs. NOACs and VKAs had comparable effects on the rates of stroke/thromboembolism, major bleeding events and all-cause mortality. NOACs are safe and effective alternatives to VKA in patients with AF undergoing cardioversion.

State-of-the-Art Imaging of Infiltrative Cardiomyopathies: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

Infiltrative cardiomyopathies comprise a broad spectrum of inherited or acquired conditions caused by deposition of abnormal substances within the myocardium. Increased wall thickness, inflammation, microvascular dysfunction, and fibrosis are the common pathological processes that lead to abnormal myocardial filling, chamber dilation, and disruption of conduction system. Advanced disease presents as heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias conferring poor prognosis. Infiltrative cardiomyopathies are often diagnosed late or misclassified as other more common conditions, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hypertensive heart disease, ischemic or other forms of nonischemic cardiomyopathies. Accurate diagnosis is also critical because clinical features, testing methodologies, and approach to treatment vary significantly even within the different types of infiltrative cardiomyopathies on the basis of the type of substance deposited. Substantial advances in noninvasive cardiac imaging have enabled accurate and early diagnosis. thereby eliminating the need for endomyocardial biopsy in most cases. This scientific statement discusses the role of contemporary multimodality imaging of infiltrative cardiomyopathies, including echocardiography, nuclear and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis, prognostication, and assessment of response to treatment.

Use of a Cardiac Scale to Predict Heart Failure Events: Design of SCALE-HF 1.

BACKGROUND: There is a need for simple, noninvasive solutions to remotely monitor and predict worsening heart failure (HF) events. SCALE-HF 1 (Surveillance and Alert-Based Multiparameter Monitoring to Reduce Worsening Heart Failure Events) is a prospective, multicenter study that will develop and assess the accuracy of the heart function index-a composite algorithm of noninvasive hemodynamic biomarkers from a cardiac scale-in predicting worsening HF events. METHODS: Approximately 300 patients with chronic HF and recent decompensation will be enrolled in this observational study for model development. Patients will be encouraged to take daily cardiac scale measurements. RESULTS: Approximately 50 HF events, defined as an urgent, unscheduled clinic, emergency department, or hospitalization for worsening HF will be used for model development. The composite index will be developed from hemodynamic biomarkers derived from ECG, ballistocardiogram, and impedance plethysmogram signals measured from the cardiac scale. Biomarkers of interest include weight, peripheral impedance, pulse rate and variability, and estimates of stroke volume, cardiac output, and blood pressure captured through the cardiac scale. The sensitivity, unexplained alert rate, and alerting time of the index in predicting worsening HF events will be evaluated and compared with the performance of simple weight-based rule-of-thumb algorithms (eg, weight increase of 3 lbs in 1 day or 5 lbs in 7 days) that are often used in practice. CONCLUSIONS: SCALE-HF 1 is the first study to develop and evaluate the performance of a composite index derived from noninvasive hemodynamic biomarkers measured from a cardiac scale in predicting worsening HF events. Subsequent studies will validate the heart function index and assess its ability to improve patient outcomes. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov; Unique identifier: NCT04882449.

Challenges of left atrial appendage closure device and anticoagulation in a patient with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).

Among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who have high risk of bleeding secondary to haematologic disorders, left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion therapy has been shown to be an excellent alternative to long-term use of oral anticoagulation for thromboembolic stroke prevention. However, there remains a major concern of device-associated thrombosis post-procedure, that can lead to life-threatening embolic events. To this date, there is no systematic guideline for the selection and management of patients with haematological disorders with LAA occlusion therapy, especially in those with platelet disorders such as immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Patients with platelet disorders are at a higher risk for bleeding; however, that does not prevent such patients from thromboembolic events secondary to AF. We present a case of ITP with permanent AF, where an LAA device was complicated by thrombus formation due to challenges faced with anticoagulation therapy.

Atypical presentation of cardiac sarcoidosis: role of multimodality imaging and review of literature.

Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) is challenging to determine, consequently is under-recognised in clinical practice. The accurate prevalence of CS is possibly underestimated due to unspecific symptoms, subclinical illness and the dearth of universally accepted diagnostic criteria. Totally, non-invasive diagnosis of CS was proposed in 2015 by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare using positron emission tomography and cardiac MRI findings as major criteria and substituting histological verification. We present a case of a 60-year-old woman with pulmonary sarcoidosis presenting with progressively worsening palpitations and recurrent syncope. Her initial evaluation at another hospital facility revealed normal cardiac testing. A detailed evaluation with echocardiography and cardiac MRI helped us arrive at the diagnosis of CS, which resulted in appropriate treatment and resolution of symptoms. We discuss CS in general, the clinical disease, diagnostic algorithms, latest guidelines and management.

Early-Onset Bilateral Severe Valvular Regurgitation After Mediastinal Radiotherapy in Hodgkin Lymphoma Survivors: Should We Screen Prior to 10 Years After Mediastinal Radiotherapy?

Background: Radiation-induced valvulopathy (RIV) is a common complication of mediastinal radiotherapy and usually occurs at least 10 years after exposure to radiotherapy. Case Report: We report the case of a 37-year-old female with a history of stage IIIB Hodgkin lymphoma who was diagnosed with RIV after all other potential causes of shortness of breath and valvular dysfunction were excluded. The patient's presentation, 6 years after receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma, was earlier than expected after mediastinal radiotherapy. The patient was started on a regimen of lisinopril, nifedipine, and metoprolol, and her symptoms improved significantly within 4 days of starting medical therapy. We review the literature, discuss the risk factors and determinants of developing RIV, and suggest the ideal timing to screen patients. Conclusion: This case is of educational value for internal medicine, oncology, and cardiology healthcare providers who should consider RIV as a cause of shortness of breath in patients who underwent mediastinal radiotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma.

A Doppler Echocardiographic Pulmonary Flow Marker of Massive or Submassive Acute Pulmonary Embolus.

BACKGROUND: To date, echocardiography has not gained acceptance as an alternative imaging modality for the detection of massive pulmonary embolism (MPE) or submassive pulmonary embolism (SMPE). The objective of this study was to explore the clinical utility of early systolic notching (ESN) of the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) pulsed-wave Doppler envelope in the detection of MPE or SMPE. METHODS: Two hundred seventy-seven patients (mean age, 56 ± 16 years; 52% women), without known pulmonary hypertension, who underwent contrast computed tomographic angiography for suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) and underwent echocardiography were retrospectively studied. Extent of PE was categorized using standard criteria. ESN identified from pulsed-wave spectral Doppler interrogation of the RVOT was analyzed, as were other echocardiography parameters such as McConnell's sign, the "60/60" sign, and acceleration and deceleration times of the RVOT Doppler signal. Analysis was conducted using probability statistics and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS: Of the 277 patients studied, 100 (44%) had MPE or SMPE, 87 (38%) had subsegmental PE, and 90 (39%) did not have PE. ESN was observed in 92% of patients with MPE or SMPE, 2% with subsegmental PE, and in no patients without PE. Interobserver assessment of early systolic notching demonstrated 97% agreement (κ = 0.93, P < .001). Compared with more widely recognized echocardiographic parameters, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.96 (95% CI, 0.92-0.98) for ESN was superior to that for McConnell's sign (AUC, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.68-0.80), the 60/60 sign (AUC, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.68-0.79), and RVOT acceleration time ≤ 87 msec (AUC, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.79-0.88), as well as other study Doppler variables, in patients with computed tomography-confirmed MPE or SMPE. CONCLUSIONS: The pulmonary Doppler flow pattern of ESN appears to be a promising noninvasive sign observed frequently in patients with MPE or SMPE. Future prospective study to ascertain diagnostic utility in a broader population is warranted.