Reliability of Fractional Flow Reserve and Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio in Assessing Intermediate Coronary Stenosis in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation.

Despite the current use of fractional flow reserve (FFR) and instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) for guiding revascularization in atrial fibrillation (AF), there is a lack of studies evaluating their reliability in this particular population. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the reliability of FFR and iFR in patients with AF. This retrospective study included all patients with AF undergoing FFR measurements (n = 45 vessels from 36 patients) at Brugmann University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium, between 2012 and 2020 or iFR (n = 18 vessels from 13 patients) and a corresponding number of patients with sinus rhythm (SR) randomly selected from the same period, benefiting from iFR (n = 20 vessels from 17 patients) or FFR (n = 50 vessels from 37 patients). Our main findings indicate that there is an increased beat-to-beat variability of individual iFR measures in patients with AF, compared with SR. In addition, the reproducibility of iFR on test-retest is low in patients with AF, leading to increased lesion reclassification (53.8% of lesions reclassified on 2 consecutive iFR measurements in AF vs 6.6% lesions reclassified in SR, p <0.05). In contrast, FFR seems to be more robust in evaluating coronary lesions in AF in terms of equivalent variability, reproducibility, and lesion reclassification observed in the SR population. In conclusion, this is the first study to evaluate the reliability of iFR and FFR in AF. Our findings raise caution in using iFR to guide revascularization in patients with AF, whereas FFR seems to be more robust in this population.

Evaluation of Cardiac Function in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease with Left Ventricular Global Longitudinal Strain.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The importance of myocardial dysfunction in sickle cell disease (SCD) is currently debated. It is difficult to find a reliable index of function in patients with chronic overload as in SCD. Speckle tracking echocardiography, a new mean of evaluating cardiac function, might be a useful tool in SCD. It has been applied in many fields to detect early cardiac function deterioration, and it is less load dependent compared with other function parameters. Studies in patients with SCD are rare, and the results are conflicting. The present study aimed to determine whether left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS) was abnormal in a population of adults with SCD and whether it was correlated with clinical or biological parameters. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 37 patients and 34 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Echocardiography was performed in patients and controls. RESULTS: We found that the left ventricular diameter and mass were higher and the ejection fraction and longitudinal strain were lower in patients compared with controls. Diastolic dysfunction was uncommon. LV-GLS was abnormal in 21% of the patients. No correlation was observed between strain and clinical or biological parameters. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that LV-GLS could be a useful tool for evaluating these patients. However, the clinical impact of reduced LV-GLS remains to be determined.

Cardiogenic Shock after Nifedipine Administration in a Pregnant Patient: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

We present a case of a 21-year-old Caucasian woman at 27 weeks of pregnancy who was admitted to the obstetric department for pre-term labor. She received 10 mg of nifedipine 4 times in 1 h, according to the internal protocol. Shortly after, she brutally deteriorated with pulmonary edema and hypoxemia requiring transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU) for mechanical ventilation. She finally improved and was successfully extubated after undergoing a percutaneous valvuloplasty of the mitral valve. This case illustrates a severe cardiogenic shock after administration of nifedipine for premature labor in a context of unknown rheumatic mitral stenosis. Nifedipine induces a reflex tachycardia that reduces the diastolic period and thereby precipitates pulmonary edema in case of mitral stenosis. This case emphasizes the fact that this drug may be severely harmful and should never be used before a careful physical examination and echocardiography if valvular heart disease is suspected.

Implantation of a Stent in a Stenotic Conduit Between the Left Ventricle and Aorta in a Patient Undergone Surgery for a Double Outlet Right Ventricle.

Reinterventions for surgery complications in adult patients with complex congenital heart disease are often difficult and have a high operative risk. If anatomically possible, a percutaneous approach is an alternative to surgery. We report the case of a 36 year-old patient who underwent surgery for a double outlet right ventricle with transposition of the great arteries and pulmonary stenosis. On the days following the surgery, the patient was hemodynamically unstable due to a stenosis of the intraventricular Dacron conduit between the left ventricle and the aorta. Because of the fragility of the patient, additional surgery was not possible and a percutaneous approach was preferred. A Cheatham Platinum stent mounted on a balloon-in-balloon catheter was implanted with success in the stenotic intraventricular Dacron conduit.