Vaccine-carditis study: Spanish multicenter registry of inflammatory heart disease after COVID-19 vaccination.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been a major scientific and medical achievement in the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, very infrequent cases of inflammatory heart disease have been described as adverse events, leading to uncertainty in the scientific community and in the general population. METHODS: The Vaccine-Carditis Registry has included all cases of myocarditis and pericarditis diagnosed within 30 days after COVID-19 vaccination since August 1, 2021 in 29 centers throughout the Spanish territory. The definitions of myocarditis (probable or confirmed) and pericarditis followed the consensus of the Centers for Disease Control and the Clinical Practice Guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology. A comprehensive analysis of clinical characteristics and 3-month evolution is presented. RESULTS: From August 1, 2021, to March 10, 2022, 139 cases of myocarditis or pericarditis were recorded (81.3% male, median age 28 years). Most cases were detected in the 1st week after administration of an mRNA vaccine, the majority after the second dose. The most common presentation was mixed inflammatory disease (myocarditis and pericarditis). 11% had left ventricular systolic dysfunction, 4% had right ventricular systolic dysfunction, and 21% had pericardial effusion. In cardiac magnetic resonance studies, left ventricular inferolateral involvement was the most frequent pattern (58%). More than 90% of cases had a benign clinical course. After a 3-month follow-up, the incidence of adverse events was 12.78% (1.44% mortality). CONCLUSIONS: In our setting, inflammatory heart disease after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 predominantly affects young men in the 1st week after the second dose of RNA-m vaccine and presents a favorable clinical course in most cases.

MitraClip improves cardiopulmonary exercise test in patients with systolic heart failure and functional mitral regurgitation.

AIMS: The aim of this study is to evaluate changes in cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) after percutaneous mitral valve repair (PMVR) with MitraClip in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction who are potentially candidates for heart transplantation or destination left ventricular assist device. METHODS AND RESULTS: Prospective registry of all consecutive patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and functional mitral regurgitation (MR) underwent elective PMVR between October 2015 and March 2018 in our institution. Patients with preserved or mid-range left ventricular ejection fraction (>40%), advanced age (>75 years old), or severe co-morbidities (end-stage organ damage) were not included. Treadmill exercise testing with respiratory gas exchange analysis was carried out in 11 patients (male, 72.7%; median age, 67 years old) within the month prior to the procedure and at 6 month follow-up. PMVR was successfully performed in all patients. At 6 month follow-up, PMVR was associated with an improvement in New York Heart Association functional class (P = 0.021) and a reduction in MR severity (P = 0.013) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels (2805 [1878-5022] vs. 1485 [654-3032] pg/mL; P = 0.012). All patients completed pre-procedural and post-procedural CPET, and all the studies showed a respiratory exchange ratio ≥1 and were consistent with sufficient exercise effort. Compared with pre-procedural CPET, patients showed a significant increase in exercise time (295 [110-335] vs. 405 [261-540] s; P = 0.047), VO2 (9.8 [9.1-13.4] vs. 13.5 [12.1-16.8] mL/kg/min; P = 0.033), ventilatory anaerobic threshold (510 [430-950] vs. 850 [670-1070] mL/kg/min; P = 0.033), peak O2 pulse (7.2 [4.3-8.6] vs. 8.3 [6.2-11.8] mL/beat; P = 0.033), and workload (5 [3-6] vs. 6 [5-8] metabolic equivalents; P = 0.049). CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous mitral valve repair with MitraClip was associated with an enhancement in cardiopulmonary performance in patients with systolic heart failure and secondary MR.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection in systemic lupus erythematosus: case-based review.

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) present an increased prevalence of coronary heart disease. The majority of cases of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in patients with SLE are due to atherosclerosis. Less common causes include thrombosis of an angiographically normal coronary artery and coronary vasculitis. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of ACS in these patients. We report the case of a 53-year-old female diagnosed of SLE presenting with an ACS caused by SCAD. She was treated medically and her clinical course was favorable. A literature search identified seven additional cases of SCAD associated with SLE. The main clinical features found in these reports are revised. ACS caused by SCAD in SLE patients is a condition likely under-reported in literature. SCAD should be suspected in patients with SLE and ACS, especially in younger women without evident cardiovascular risk factors. An early accurate diagnosis of SCAD is key to provide specific treatment, which differs from that of usual atherosclerotic ACS.

[Approach to illness and death of Vadinienses in roman Hispania (I-IV centuries)]. / Aproximación a la enfermedad y muerte de los Vadinienses en la Hispania romana (siglos I-IV).

The Vadinienses were a Cantabrian people who lived between the first and fourth centuries in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, northeast of the present province of León and the corresponding part of the current territory of Asturias. In this paper we study the possible causes of illness and death of the Vadinienses represented in their gravestones. The analysis of Vadinienses epitaphs shows that two-thirds of the deaths occurred in people between the ages of 20-30, a finding that is not interpreted as representative of the usual age of death at that time. The most likely causes of death are infections and violent deaths in sports competitions or work accidents. Analyzing females independently, almost half of the deceased were under the age of 20, being the main possibilities the deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth at very early ages.

Los vadinienses fueron un pueblo cántabro que habitó entre los siglos I y IV en el norte de la península ibérica -noreste de la actual provincia de León y la parte correspondiente de la actual Asturias-. En este trabajo se estudian las posibles causas de enfermedad y muerte de la población vadiniense representada en sus lápidas funerarias. Dos terceras partes de los vadinienses, según los datos de sus epitafios, murieron entre los 20-30 años, hallazgo que no se interpreta como representativo de la edad de muerte habitual en la época. Se consideran como las causas de muerte más probables las infecciones y las muertes violentas en competiciones deportivas o en accidentes laborales. Cuando se analiza de modo independiente al sexo femenino, casi la mitad de las fallecidas lo hicieron antes de los 20 años de edad, valorando como principales posibilidades las muertes relacionadas con embarazos y partos en edades muy precoces.