Quality of life in heart failure: New data, new drugs and devices.

Quality of life (QoL) is a therapeutic goal in heart failure. There are many EBM therapies for improving QoL. In this study, data is presented on new pharmacotherapies and devices that impact QoL in the heart failure population.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen expression in intracranial lesions - a review of the primary, metastatic, and nonneoplastic lesions.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a membrane protein originally discovered in prostate cancer cells. It is widely used at all stages of prostate cancer diagnosis. Several studies have highlighted its possible wide application in other cancers. This review discusses the potential use of positron emission tomography with labelled PSMA for the diagnosis or differentiation of intracranial lesions. Given the numerous reports on the usefulness of PSMA in the diagnosis of brain tumours of glial origin, the focus is on lesions of a different aetiology.

A case of a patient with biochemical recurrence and inadequate results of suspected bone metastases in imaging methods - will [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT give us an answer?

We present a case of a 79-year-old asymptomatic patient with prostate adenocarcinoma, Gleason score 9 (4 + 5), with the initial prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level of 17 ng/mL, treated with radiotherapy and hormonotherapy, who was diagnosed with the rapid growth of PSA levels up to 78.8 ng/mL. Due to suspected bone metastases, first, bone scintigraphy was performed. However, it showed only one intense "hot" lesion in the Th7 projection. This image was not consistent with a high level of PSA, for which reason a computed tomography (CT) scan was performed. It revealed lytic metastasis in Th7 and one more suspicious change in L2, which still was inconsistent with the patient's clinical picture. The patient was referred for [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT. It showed an uncountable number of foci of increased marker accumulation in bones, mostly without visible change in CT examination. This case showed that the clinical results and suspicions of the advancement of a patient's disease are still the most important data in care and therapy planning.

What's New in Cirrhotic Cardiomyopathy?-Review Article.

Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy (CCM) is a relatively new medical term. The constant development of novel diagnostic and clinical tools continuously delivers new data and findings about this broad disorder. The purpose of this review is to summarize current facts about CCM, identify gaps of knowledge, and indicate the direction in which to prepare an updated definition of CCM. We performed a review of the literature using scientific data sources with an emphasis on the latest findings. CCM is a clinical manifestation of disorders in the circulatory system in the course of portal hypertension. It is characterized by impaired left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction, and electrophysiological abnormalities, especially QT interval prolongation. However, signs and symptoms reported by patients are non-specific and include reduced exercise tolerance, fatigue, peripheral oedema, and ascites. The disease usually remains asymptomatic with almost normal heart function, unless patients are exposed to stress or exertion. Unfortunately, due to the subclinical course, CCM is rarely recognized. Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx) seems to improve circulatory function although there is no consensus about its positive effect, with reported cases of heart failure onset after transplantation. Researchers indicate a careful pre-, peri-, and post-transplant cardiac assessment as a crucial point in detecting CCM and improving patients' prognosis. There is also an urgent need to update the CCM definition and establish a diagnostic algorithm for early diagnosis of CCM as well as a specific treatment of this condition.

Non-Invasive Continuous Measurement of Haemodynamic Parameters-Clinical Utility.

The evaluation and monitoring of patients' haemodynamic parameters are essential in everyday clinical practice. The application of continuous, non-invasive measurement methods is a relatively recent solution. CNAP, ClearSight and many other technologies have been introduced to the market. The use of these techniques for assessing patient eligibility before cardiac procedures, as well as for intraoperative monitoring is currently being widely investigated. Their numerous advantages, including the simplicity of application, time- and cost-effectiveness, and the limited risk of infection, could enforce their further development and potential utility. However, some limitations and contradictions should also be discussed. The aim of this paper is to briefly describe the new findings, give practical examples of the clinical utility of these methods, compare them with invasive techniques, and review the literature on this subject.