Echocardiographic Predictors of Tricuspid Ring Annuloplasty Repair Failure for Functional Tricuspid Regurgitation.

OBJECTIVE: Significant tricuspid regurgitation (TR) recurs after tricuspid valve repair of functional TR in 15% to 20% within the first year, and 30% to 70% within 5 years. Prior investigations report leaflet tethering, and not tricuspid valve annular diameter (TVAD), as predictive of recurrent TR. The authors hypothesize that pre-repair TVAD is predictive of repair failure for functional TR. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-four patients with functional TR scheduled for left heart surgery and tricuspid valve repair with ring annuloplasty. DESIGN: Retrospective study design. Pre- and post-repair transthoracic and intraoperative transesophageal echocardiographic data included left and right ventricular functions, tricuspid leaflet tethering height, TVAD, and TR severity. Successful repair was defined as ≤2+ TR. SETTING: Tertiary care medical center. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS: Forty-five patients had a successful repair and 9 did not. Preoperative and intraoperative TVAD in diastole (TVADdiast) ≥4.2 cm, and preoperative systole (TVADsyst) ≥3.7 cm, but not leaflet tethering, were predictive of repair failure. Right ventricular (RV) width >4.88 cm was associated with repair failure. Neither pre- nor post-repair pulmonary artery systolic pressures (PASP) were predictors of repair failure. However, PASP did not change nor did RV function improve in the nonsuccessful repair group. CONCLUSION: For patients with functional TR undergoing primary left heart surgery, preoperative TVAD (systole and diastole), RV width, and postoperative RV function were predictors of repair outcome. Earlier TV repair and optimizing right heart function may improve repair outcome.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy: a clinical review.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a reversible cardiomyopathy which has increasingly been recognized in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome. It is characterized by transient systolic ventricular dysfunction with regional wall motion abnormalities beyond a single vascular territory and in the absence of significant epicardial coronary artery obstruction. Often, there is an acute emotional or physical stressor immediately preceding the presentation. Classical apical ballooning is seen on ventriculography or echocardiography but variants with isolated basal or mid wall akinesis have been described. Catecholamine excess and cardiotoxicity is the most compelling putative mechanism. The long-term prognosis is excellent but serious complications including cardiogenic shock and arrhythmias may occur acutely. Supportive treatment is the mainstay of therapy.

Implementing faculty evaluation of written sign-out.

PURPOSE: Recently the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education mandated decreased shift duration for intern physicians to no more than 16 hours. Such work-hour restrictions are likely to increase patient care hand-offs. It is well accepted that sign-out (i.e., hand-off) processes are error prone and lack standardization. Moreover, many residency programs do not evaluate sign-out. We designed and tested whether a sign-out evaluation process could be implemented to improve written sign-out. METHOD: Based on observed sign-out deficiencies at our institution we adapted a simple curriculum incorporating the SIGNOUT mnemonic, which we paired with weekly faculty member evaluation and feedback on sign-out using a structured sign-out evaluation tool. Later in the week, written sign-out was independently scored by 2-blinded senior resident reviewers who compared the inclusion of sign-out content, organization, and readability. RESULTS: Compared to baseline data in 128 written sign-outs, the pairing of a 1-page curriculum with weekly faculty member evaluation of written sign-out improved the inclusion of advanced directives from 38% to 69% (p < .001) and anticipatory guidance from a mean score of 1.8 (SD = 1.2) to 2.3 (SD = 1.5) on a 5-point scale (p = .01) in 177 written sign-outs. Readability and organization were unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: A simple curriculum paired with structured faculty evaluation and feedback can improve some parameters of sign-out. Structured evaluative sign-out tools may be useful to improve and teach sign-out skills.

Choice and Utility of Pacing Maneuver in Establishing the Mechanism of Supraventricular Tachycardia: A Single Center Experience.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the choice and utility of pacing maneuvers in the electrophysiology (EP) laboratory in establishing supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) mechanism. METHODS: We retrospectively examined a cohort of 160 consecutive patients with SVT presenting for invasive EP evaluation to a single center with 8 electrophysiologists. We analyzed the utility of the two most commonly used pacing maneuvers: (1) ventricular entrainment (VE) and (2) His-refractory premature ventricular stimuli (HRPVC) during SVT. RESULTS: VE was performed in 96 patients: atrial tachycardia (AT) 12, atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) 66, and orthodromic reciprocating tachycardia (ORT) 18. During VE, AT patients were most likely to have ventriculo-atrial (VA) dissociation (AT 58%, AVNRT 18%, ORT 0%, P < 0.001) and had a tendency towards less SVT termination (AT 0%, AVNRT 9%, ORT 11%, P = 0.19). HRPVCs were delivered in 39 patients: AT 1, AVNRT 24, and ORT 14. Advancement of atrial signal with HRPVC was only observed in ORT (AT 0%, AVNRT 0%, ORT 79%, P < 0.001) and SVT termination was also mostly observed in ORT (AT 0%, AVNRT 4%, ORT 21%, P = 0.33). The overall diagnostic utility of VE was lowest in AT (AT 42%, AVNRT 71%, ORT 83%, P = 0.04), while HRPVC was rarely used in AT. Furthermore, the utilization of maneuvers varied extensively (0% to100%) among the 8 electrophysiologists. CONCLUSION: There is great variation in the utilization of pacing maneuvers and their utility in ascertaining the mechanism of SVT. Our results support the fact that discerning AT from AVNRT mechanism remains the most challenging task in SVT diagnosis.

Cardiac repolarization instability during psychological stress in patients with ventricular arrhythmias.

INTRODUCTION: Changes in the autonomic nervous system activity are a major trigger of life-threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTAs). Mental arithmetic, a condition administered in a laboratory setting, can provide insight into the autonomic nervous system activity effects on cardiac physiology. We examined the responses of cardiac repolarization to laboratory-induced psychological stressors in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) with the objective of identifying the indices that differentiate patients with and without subsequent VTA in follow-up. METHODS: Continuous electrocardiographic signals were recorded using 3 standard bipolar (Holter) leads in 56 patients (age, 63.6 ± 11.9; female, 12%; left ventricular ejection fraction, 32.3 ± 11) with ICDs during mental arithmetic. The patients were separated into those with subsequent VTA during 3 to 4 years of follow-up (group 1: n = 9) and those without VTA (group 2: n = 47). Changes in repolarization (QT interval, mean T wave amplitude [Tamp], and T wave area) were analyzed during 5 minutes at baseline, stress, and recovery. The temporal instability of Tamp and T wave area was examined using the range (Δ) and variance (σ(2)) of beat-to-beat variations of the corresponding parameters. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in heart rate between the 2 groups at baseline (61 vs 63 beats per minute, P = .97), stress (64 vs 65 beats per minute, P = .40), and recovery (62 vs 61 beats per minute, P = .88). However, during mental stress and poststress recovery, ΔTamp was almost 2-fold greater in group 1 compared with group 2 (111 [57-203] vs 68 [44-94] µV, P = .04, respectively). Changes in QT intervals were also greater in group 1 compared with group 2 (P = .02). CONCLUSION: Among patients with ICDs, changes of Tamp after psychological stress were greater in those with subsequent arrhythmic events. This might signal proarrhythmic repolarization response and help identify patients who would benefit the most from ICD implantation and proactive management.