Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Information for Cardiologists　- Systematic Literature Review and Additional Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Despite the rapidly increasing attention being given to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, more commonly known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the relationship between cardiovascular disease and COVID-19 has not been fully described.Methods and Results:A systematic review was undertaken to summarize the important aspects of COVID-19 for cardiologists. Protection both for patients and healthcare providers, indication for treatments, collaboration with other departments and hospitals, and regular update of information are essentials to front COVID-19 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Because the chief manifestations of COVID-19 infection are respiratory and acute respiratory distress syndrome, cardiologists do not see infected patients directly. Cardiologists need to be better prepared regarding standard disinfection procedures, and be aware of the indications for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and its use in the critical care setting.

Identification of Left Atrial Appendage Thrombi in Patients With Persistent and Long-Standing Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Using Intra-Cardiac Echocardiography and Cardiac Computed Tomography.

BACKGROUND: Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) and cardiac computed tomography (CCT), in addition to standard transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), have been used to identify left atrial (LA) thrombi prior to ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). The clinical advantages of this, however, remain unclear. This study therefore investigated the advantages of additional pre-procedural LA appendage (LAA) thrombus evaluation using ICE and the clinical value of CCT in persistent and long-standing persistent AF.Methods and Results:We analyzed data from 108 consecutive patients with persistent and long-standing persistent AF who were scheduled to undergo AF ablation. TEE was performed within 24 h prior to ablation. ICE was performed for 97 patients in whom a thrombus was not detected on TEE. CCT was performed in 95 patients. Thrombus or sludge was detected on TEE in 11 patients (10.3%), for whom ablation was cancelled. Four additional patients were diagnosed with LAA thrombus on ICE. When TEE and ICE were used as the reference for thrombus detection, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of CCT for identifying contrast defects in the LAA were 100%, 81.0%, 40.7%, and 100%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: ICE combined with TEE increased the detection rate of LAA thrombi in patients with persistent and long-standing persistent AF. Moreover, CCT had high sensitivity and negative predictive value for LAA thrombus detection.

Prognostic values of blood pH and lactate levels in patients resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

AIM: Early prediction of prognosis after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains difficult. High blood lactate or low pH levels may be associated with poor prognosis in OHCA patients, but these associations remain controversial. We compared blood lactate and pH levels in OHCA patients transferred to our hospital to measure their prognostic performance. METHODS: We investigated the associations between blood lactate and pH levels on admission and neurological outcomes in 372 OHCA patients who had a return of spontaneous circulation. RESULTS: Of the 372 OHCA patients, 31 had a favorable neurological outcome. Blood lactate levels were lower in patients with a favorable outcome than in those with an unfavorable outcome, but this difference did not reach statistical significance (82 ± 49 vs. 96 ± 41 mg/dL). However, pH levels were significantly higher in patients with a favorable outcome than in those with an unfavorable outcome (7.26 ± 0.16 vs. 6.93 ± 0.19, P < 0.001). The relative cumulative frequency distribution curve analysis showed the optimal cut-off points of lactate and pH to be approximately 80 mg/dL and 7.05, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity to predict a favorable outcome were 61% and 64% for lactate <80 mg/dL and 84% and 80% for pH >7.05, respectively. Areas under receiver-operating characteristic curves were significantly larger for pH than for lactate levels (P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, pH >7.05 was an independent predictor for a favorable outcome. CONCLUSION: After OHCA, patients with a favorable outcome had lower lactate and higher pH levels than those with an unfavorable outcome, but pH level was a much better predictor for neurological outcome than lactate levels.

Outcomes of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Performed With or Without Preprocedural Dual Antiplatelet Therapy.

BACKGROUND: Preprocedural dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) has been shown to improve outcomes; however, the efficacy of the procedure and its complications in Japanese patients remain largely unexplored, so we examined the risks and benefits of DAPT before PCI and its association with in-hospital outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed data from patients who had undergone PCI at 12 centers within the metropolitan Tokyo area between September 2008 and September 2013.Our study group comprised 6,528 patients, of whom 2,079 (31.8%) were not administered preprocedural DAPT. Non-use of preprocedural DAPT was associated with death, postprocedural shock, or heart failure (odds ratio [OR]: 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10-1.96, P=0.009), and postprocedural myocardial infarction (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.18-1.69, P<0.001) after adjusting propensity scores for known predictors of in-hospital complications. Non-use of DAPT was not associated with procedure-related bleeding complications (OR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.71-1.59, P=0.764). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately one-third of the patients who underwent PCI did not receive preprocedural DAPT despite guideline recommendations. Our results indicate that patients undergoing PCI with DAPT have a lower risk of postprocedural cardiac events without any increased bleeding risk. Further studies are needed to implement the use of DAPT in real-world PCI.

Efficacy of tolvaptan in a patient with right-sided heart failure and renal dysfunction refractory to diuretic therapy.

The use of loop diuretics has been shown to deteriorate renal dysfunction and is associated with a poor prognosis in patients with heart failure (HF). Tolvaptan, a vasopressin V2-receptor antagonist, has been reported to be effective in treating HF due to its potent effects of water diuresis and is expected to improve fluid retention without adversely affecting renal function. The present case is a 77-year-old man with pulmonary hypertension associated with chronic pulmonary artery thrombosis and old pulmonary tuberculosis who developed worsening right-sided HF with marked fluid retention and renal dysfunction. In this case, tolvaptan was effective in improving HF without deteriorating the patient's renal dysfunction. .

Primary aldosteronism associated with a giant coronary aneurysm after drug-eluting stent implantation.

Although primary aldosteronism had been recognized to be a treatable type of hypertension, it was recently suggested to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular complications. Coronary artery aneurysm is a rare complication after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation, and a giant coronary aneurysm is very rare. The present case is a 51-year-old, hypertensive patient with primary aldosteronism who developed myocardial infarction, a giant coronary aneurysm after DES implantation, and then cerebral hemorrhage. Our case suggests the excessively high risk for cardiovascular complications in patients with primary aldosteronism. .

Report from the Japanese registry of CPR for in-hospital cardiac arrest (J-RCPR).

BACKGROUND: In-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) is an important issue, but data in Japan are limited. METHODS AND RESULTS: To investigate in-hospital CPA, we conducted a prospective multicenter observational registry of in-hospital CPA and resuscitation in Japan (J-RCPR). During January 2008 to December 2009, patients were registered from 12 participating hospitals. All patients, visitors and employees within the facility campus who experience a cardiopulmonary resuscitation event defined as either a pulseless or a pulse with inadequate perfusion requiring chest compressions and/or defibrillation of ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT) were registered. Data were collected in 6 major categories of variables: facility data, patient demographic data, pre-event data, event data, outcome data, and quality improvement data. Data for 491 adults were analyzed. The prevalence of pulseless VT/VF as first documented rhythm was 28.1%, asystole was 29.5% and pulseless electrical activity was 41.1%. Immediate causes of event were arrhythmia 30.6%, acute respiratory insufficiency 26.7%, and hypotension 15.7%. Return of spontaneous circulation was 64.7%; the proportion of survival 24h after CPA was 49.8%, the proportion of survival to hospital discharge was 27.8% and proportion of favorable neurological outcome at 30 days was 21.4%. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of the registry for in-hospital CPA in Japan and shows that the registry provides important observational data.

Usefulness of a second temporary vena cava filter for preventing acute pulmonary thromboembolism.

The usefulness of a temporary inferior vena cava filter (t-IVC-f) for the prevention of acute pulmonary thromboembolism (APTE) associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE) has been established, but not the requirement for an additional therapeutic method when the t-IVC-f has captured a thrombus. A woman underwent implantation of a t-IVC-f just caudal to the bifurcation of the renal vein immediately before cesarean section (C/S) for VTE that had occurred during the third trimester of pregnancy. After receiving a combination of anticoagulant and fibrinolytic therapies after the C/S, the t-IVC-f was found to contain a thrombus and in order to prevent its dissemination during the removal of the closed filter, another filter was inserted and expanded proximal to the first. Insertion of an additional t-IVC-f may prevent occurrence of APTE during removal of the primary filter containing a friable thrombus after fibrinolytic therapy, and the technique proved useful in the present case of VTE during pregnancy.