When COVID-19 delays the management of an urgent heart condition: A rare case of a spontaneous dissection of two coronary arteries.

Some severe life-threatening conditions could be misdiagnosed during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Arterial Hypertension: Individual Therapeutic Approaches-From DNA Sequencing to Gender Differentiation and New Therapeutic Targets.

The aim of this paper is to provide an accurate overview regarding the current recommended approach for antihypertensive treatment. The importance of DNA sequencing in understanding the complex implication of genetics in hypertension could represent an important step in understanding antihypertensive treatment as well as in developing new medical strategies. Despite a pool of data from studies regarding cardiovascular risk factors emphasizing a worse prognosis for female patients rather than male patients, there are also results indicating that women are more likely to be predisposed to the use of antihypertensive medication and less likely to develop uncontrolled hypertension. Moreover, lower systolic blood pressure values are associated with increased cardiovascular risk in women compared to men. The prevalence, awareness and, most importantly, treatment of hypertension is variable in male and female patients, since the mechanisms responsible for this pathology may be different and closely related to gender factors such as the renin-angiotensin system, sympathetic nervous activity, endothelin-1, sex hormones, aldosterone, and the immune system. Thus, gender-related antihypertensive treatment individualization may be a valuable tool in improving female patients' prognosis.

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression is correlated with T2* iron deposition in response to doxorubicin treatment: cardiotoxicity risk assessment.

Although doxorubicin (Dox) is an effective antitumor antibiotic in the anthracycline class, it often induces the undesirable side effect of cardiomyopathy leading to congestive heart failure, which limits its clinical use. The primary goal of this study is to evaluate a reliable translational method for Dox-induced cardiotoxicity (CTX) screening, aiming to identify a high-risk population and to discover new strategies to predict and investigate this phenomenon. Early identification of the presence of iron deposits and genetic and environmental triggers that predispose individuals to increased risk of Dox-induced CTX (e.g., overexpression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)) will enable the early implementation of countermeasure therapy, which will improve the patient's chance of survival. Our cohort consisted of 25 consecutive patients with pathologically confirmed cancer undergoing Dox chemotherapy and 12 control patients. The following parameters were measured: serum TLR4 (baseline), serum transferrin (baseline and 6-week follow-up) and iron deposition (baseline and 6-week follow-up). The average number of gene expression units was 0.121 for TLR4 (range 0.051-0.801). We subsequently correlated serum TLR4 levels in our cohort with myocardial iron overload using the cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) T2* technique, the ventricular function (% ejection fraction, %EF) and serum transferrin levels. There is a strong negative linear relationship between serum TLR4 and CMR T2* values (r = - 0.9106, ****P < 0.0001). There is also a linear correlation (either positive or negative) with EF and transferrin; no established relationship related to the sex of the patients was found. Patients with elevated serum TLR4 at baseline also exhibited an increase in serum transferrin levels and Dox-induced left ventricular dysfunction with a decreased EF (< 50%); this phenomenon was observed in 7 of 25 patients (28%) at the 6-week follow-up. There were no significant differences or correlations based on sex. We concluded that there is a direct relationship between Dox-induced CTX (indicated by elevated serum TLR4) and the times (ms) for T2* (decreases in which correspond to immediate and rapid iron overload).

Antithrombotic treatment tailoring and risk score evaluation in elderly patients diagnosed with an acute coronary syndrome.

Age is an important prognostic factor in the outcome of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). A substantial percentage of patients who experience ACS is more than 75 years old, and they represent the fastest-growing segment of the population treated in this setting. These patients present different patterns of responses to pharmacotherapy, namely, a higher ischemic and bleeding risk than do patients under 75 years of age. Our aim was to identify whether the currently available ACS ischemic and bleeding risk scores, which has been validated for the general population, may also apply to the elderly population. The second aim was to determine whether the elderly benefit more from a specific pharmacological regimen, keeping in mind the numerous molecules of antiplatelet and antithrombotic drugs, all validated in the general population. We concluded that the GRACE (Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events) risk score has been extensively validated in the elderly. However, the CRUSADE (Can Rapid risk stratification of Unstable angina patients Suppress ADverse outcomes with Early implementation of the ACC/AHA Guidelines) bleeding score has a moderate correlation with outcomes in the elderly. Until now, there have not been head-to-head scores that quantify the ischemic versus hemorrhagic risk or scores that use the same end point and timeline (e.g., ischemic death rate versus bleeding death rate at one month). We also recommend that the frailty score be considered or integrated into the current existing scores to better quantify the overall patient risk. With regard to medical treatment, based on the subgroup analysis, we identified the drugs that have the least adverse effects in the elderly while maintaining optimal efficacy.

Oral sirolimus: A possible treatment for refractory angina pectoris in the elderly.

Refractory angina pectoris (RAP) is a clinical problem, frequently encountered in the elderly, associated with high health-care costs. Until recently, the goal of RAP treatment aimed at improving the quality of life (QoL) because it was thought that mortality rates were not different between stable angina pectoris and RAP. Our purpose was at determining whether any mortality rate difference exists and whether any novel therapeutical solution might be translated into clinical practice. We therefore performed a literature review to assess current optimal treatment of RAP patients, including all studies involving the use of oral sirolimus and stents, although no consistent evidence was found for any specific treatment to improve survival, apart from minor QoL amelioration. A large mortality difference was seen between RAP and stable angina pectoris. On the other hand, therapeutic approaches to RAP patients showed frequent complications and several contraindications, depending on the procedure. We propose to inhibit instead of stimulating angiogenesis, by giving oral sirolimus, an immunosuppressive drug, thereby decreasing the atherosclerotic process and its evolution. Sirolimus was shown to decrease left ventricular mass (thus indirectly decreasing myocardial oxygen needs and consumption). It might stop and, in some cases, even enable regression of plaque progression. Sirolimus side effects are mild to moderate and wash-out rapidly at treatment discontinuation. Compared with current therapies sirolimus treatment is more health-care cost efficient. It should be important to design a trial in RAP patients powered to reduce mortality and QoL increase.

Anticoagulation in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, low ejection fraction, and sinus rhythm: back to the drawing board.

Heart failure patients present an important thrombo-embolic risk, including symptomatic or silent peripheral arterial embolism, pulmonary embolism, and stroke. Patients in sinus rhythm who have concomitant depressed (< 35%) left ventricular ejection fraction have a 4% rate of embolic events. Several prospective randomized trials of anticoagulation in this group of patients were either underpowered or had a short period of follow-up. Even though in two studies warfarin had a slight advantage over aspirin (in the WATCH and WARCEF trials), it was at the cost of an increased risk in major hemorrhage. To decrease bleeding rates and to improve anticoagulant effect, new treatment strategies have to be tested. Novel anticoagulants (dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban) seem to be a promising alternative.

Head-to-head comparison of sirolimus-eluting stent versus bare metal stent evaluation of the coronary endothelial dysfunction in the same patient presenting with multiple coronary artery lesions: the CREDENTIAL study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the endothelial dysfunction (ED) after bare metal stents (BMS) and sirolimus eluting stents (SES) implantation in the same patient, overcoming the confounding role of individual variables. BACKGROUND: SES reduce restenosis rate compared to BMS but causes more ED. ED is a potentially unsafe phenomenon, since it is the first step in the cascade of atherosclerosis. Studies showing more pronounced ED with drug eluting stents than BMS involved different series of patients, making the comparison difficult because endothelial function (EF) is responsive to many risk factors. METHODS: we designed a prospective comparison of 6 months post-deployment EF of SES versus BMS implanted in the same patient, but in different coronary segments. Forty-eight lesions were randomly assigned on a 1:1 allocation using block sizing of 4 according to a computer-generated sequence (SAS System, Version 9.1) basis to treatment with SES or BMS. The EF was evaluated by measuring vessel diameter variation in the stented segment, before and after selective intracoronary infusion of acetylcholine (iiAch). RESULTS: In eligible patients, the relative magnitudes of major vasoconstriction were 2.6, 2.9, 4.6, and 3.1 at 5 mm proximal and 5, 10 and 20 mm distal to the stent edge. Overall, a 3.5-fold major distal vasoconstriction after iiAch of SES vs. BMS was calculated. CONCLUSIONS: in the same patients, but treating different coronary segments, SES implantation induces a higher rate of vasoconstriction compared to BMS. The increased vasoconstriction after iiAch is an indicator of ED.

Viewpoint: the ENIGMAS trial - when should we treat patients with moderate aortic stenosis?

Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most frequent valvular heart disease encountered in our daily practice. Although there are clear guidelines for severe AS management, cardiologists often have few treatment options for patients with moderate AS; however, there is higher mortality in this patient subgroup versus an age-matched population. The authors reviewed all of the studies on moderate AS, summarized the factors that increase disease progression and discussed an ideal trial design to prospectively evaluate AS progression factors using modern cardiology tools such as strain and magnetic resonance imaging.