Acute Myocarditis and Pericarditis After mRNA COVID-19 Vaccinations-A Single-Centre Retrospective Analysis.

BACKGROUND: With the rapid rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations, numerous associated and suspected adverse events have been reported nationally and worldwide. Literature reporting confirmed cases of pericarditis and myocarditis following SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccinations has evolved, with a predominance in adolescent males following the second dose. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of all patients presenting to St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Australia with suspected COVID-19 vaccine-related myocarditis and pericarditis. The Brighton Collaboration Case Definitions of Myocarditis and Pericarditis were used to categorise patients into groups based on diagnostic certainty. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging findings were reviewed against updated Lake Louise Criteria for diagnosing patients with suspected myocarditis. RESULTS: We report 10 cases of confirmed, possible or probable myocarditis and pericarditis. The mean age of presentation in the vaccine group was 33±9.0 years. The most common presenting symptom was pleuritic chest pain (n=8, 80%). Eight patients (80%) had electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities (n=6 pericarditis, n=2 myocarditis). Five patients (50%) had a minimum 24 hours of cardiac monitoring. One patient had multisystem inflammatory syndrome following vaccination (MIS-V) with severely impaired left ventricular ejection fraction and required admission to the intensive care unit. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Cardiac complications post mRNA vaccines are rare. Our case series reflects the worldwide data that vaccine-related myocarditis and pericarditis most frequently occur in young males, following the second dose of the vaccine. These cardiac side effects are mild and self-limiting, with adequate responses to oral anti-inflammatories. One patient developed a severe reaction, with no fatal cases.

Prevention and Reversal of Frailty in Heart Failure　- A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Frailty is prevalent in patients with heart failure (HF) and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Hence, there has been increased interest in the reversibility of frailty following treatment with medication or surgery. This systematic review aimed to assess the reversibility of frailty in patients with HF before and after surgical interventions aimed at treating the underlying cause of HF. It also aimed to assess the efficacy of cardiac rehabilitation and prehabilitation in reversing or preventing frailty in patients with HF.Methods and Results:Searches of PubMed, MEDLINE and Academic Search Ultimate identified studies with HF patients undergoing interventions to reverse frailty. Titles, abstracts and full texts were screened for eligibility based on the PRISMA guidelines and using predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria in relation to participants, intervention, control, outcome and study design. In total, 14 studies were included: 3 assessed the effect of surgery, 7 assessed the effect of rehabilitation programs, 2 assessed the effect of a prehabilitation program and 2 assessed the effect of program interruptions on HF patients. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, it was found that frailty is at least partially reversible and potentially preventable in patients with HF. Interruption of rehabilitation programs resulted in deterioration of the frailty status. Future research should focus on the role of prehabilitation in mitigating frailty prior to surgical intervention.

Persistent pathology of the patent foramen ovale: a review of the literature.

A patent foramen ovale (PFO) is an interatrial shunt, with a prevalence of 20-34% in the general population. While most people do not have secondary manifestations of a PFO, some reported sequelae include ischaemic stroke, migraine, platypnoea-orthodeoxia syndrome and decompression illness. Furthermore, in some cases, PFO closure should be considered for patients before neurosurgery and for patients with concomitant carcinoid syndrome. Recent trials support PFO closure for ischaemic stroke patients with high risk PFOs and absence of other identified stroke mechanisms. While PFOs can be associated with migraine with auras, with some patients reporting symptomatic improvement after closure, the evidence from randomised controlled trials is less clear in supporting the use of PFO closure for migraine treatment. PFO closure for other indications such as platypnoea-orthodeoxia syndrome, decompression illness and paradoxical embolism are based largely on case series with good clinical outcomes. PFO closure can be performed as a day surgical intervention with high procedural success and low risk of complications.

Coronary artery vasculitis: a review of current literature.

Cardiac vasculitis is recognized as a heterogeneous disease process with a wide spectrum of manifestations including pericarditis, myocarditis, valvular heart disease and less frequently, coronary artery vasculitis (CAV). CAV encompasses an emerging field of diseases which differ from conventional atherosclerotic disease and have a proclivity for the younger population groups. CAV portends multiple complications including the development of coronary artery aneurysms, coronary stenotic lesions, and thrombosis, all which may result in acute coronary syndromes. There are several aetiologies for CAV; with Kawasaki's disease, Takayasu's arteritis, Polyarteritis Nodosa, and Giant-Cell Arteritis more frequently described clinically, and in literature. There is a growing role for multi-modality imaging in assisting the diagnostic process; including transthoracic echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography coronary angiography, fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography and conventional coronary angiogram with intravascular ultrasound. Whilst the treatment paradigms fundamentally vary between different aetiologies, there are overlaps with pharmacological regimes in immunosuppressive agents and anti-platelet therapies. Interventional and surgical management are is a consideration in select populations groups, within a multi-disciplinary context. Further large-scale studies are required to better appropriately outline management protocols in this niche population.

Ventricular Arrhythmias in Cardiac Amyloidosis: A Review of Current Literature.

Cardiac Amyloidosis is an infiltrative cardiomyopathy which occurs secondary to deposition of mis-folded protein in the myocardium, with the two most common subtypes being AL amyloidosis and TTR amyloidosis. The pathogenesis of the disease is multifaceted and involves a variety of mechanisms including an inflammatory response cascade, oxidative stress and subsequent separation of myocyte fibrils. Cardiac Amyloidosis frequently results in congestive cardiac failure and arrhythmias, from a disruption in cardiac substrate with subsequent electro-mechanical remodelling. Disease progression is usually demonstrated by development of progressive pump failure, which may be seen with a high arrhythmic burden, usually portending a poor prognosis. There is a paucity of literature on the clinical implications of ventricular arrhythmias in the context of cardiac amyloidosis. The important diagnostic investigations for these patients include transthoracic echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and an electrophysiology study. Whilst there are no robust management guidelines, studies have indicated benefits from contemporary pharmacological therapy and case-by-case catheter ablation. There are novel directed therapies available for TTR amyloidosis that have shown to improve overall survival. The role of ICD therapy in cardiac amyloidosis is controversial, with benefits seen predominantly in early phases of the disease process. The only definitive surgical therapy includes heart transplantation, but is largely indicated for progressive decompensated heart failure (Figure 1). Further large-scale studies are required to better outline management paradigms for treating ventricular arrhythmias in cardiac amyloidosis.

SEVERE HYPERTRIGLYCERIDEMIA ASSOCIATED WITH EVEROLIMUS TREATMENT AFTER HEART TRANSPLANTATION.

OBJECTIVE: Everolimus, a mammalian target-ofrapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, is increasingly used post-transplantation due to favorable effects on renal function and malignancy risk when compared to other immunosuppressive treatments such as calcineurin inhibitors. However, it can confer adverse effects such as dyslipidemia, which is not underpinned by any long-term screening and management of dyslipidemia in heart transplant recipients treated with everolimus. METHODS: We report a case of severe hypertriglyceridemia which developed after commencement of everolimus in a heart transplant recipient with a background of Dunnigan-type familial partial lipodystrophy. RESULTS: The patient is a 36-year-old woman who underwent heart transplantation for dilated cardiomyopathy. About 11 weeks following commencement of everolimus as part of her antirejection medication regime, serum triglyceride level concentration peaked at 5,093 mg/dL (normal, 0.0 to 177.2 mg/dL). There were no clinical complications with triglycerides at this elevated level and it improved substantially following cessation of everolimus and initiation of a high dose intravenous insulin-dextrose infusion. CONCLUSION: This case highlights dyslipidemia as a potential complication of everolimus treatment and that appropriate screening is important as lipid lowering medication can effectively control levels and minimize adverse outcomes.

Neurologic Complications of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Review.

OBJECTIVE: To review the evidence on neurologic complications in adult extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) patients with regard to incidence, pathophysiology, risk factors, diagnosis, monitoring techniques, prevention, and management. DESIGN: Literature review. SETTING: Observational studies and case reports from a variety of institutions. PARTICIPANTS: Adult ECMO patients. INTERVENTIONS: Six electronic databases were searched from their dates of inception to October 2016. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The range of neurologic complications reported in adult ECMO patients included stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, and brain death. Due to a lack of standardized reporting, their true incidence may have been underestimated significantly. A variety of pathophysiologic mechanisms and risk factors have been proposed. Some of these are specific to venoarterial ECMO, whereas others may be more relevant to venovenous ECMO (eg, rapid correction of hypercarbia). With regard to diagnosis and monitoring, clinical examination alone can be challenging and insufficiently sensitive, particularly for the confirmation of brain death. Computed tomography is the main imaging modality for acute neurologic assessment because magnetic resonance imaging is not feasible in these patients. Options for neuromonitoring are limited, although cerebral near-infrared spectroscopy may be useful. There are very limited data to guide the management of specific complications such as intracranial hemorrhage, which remains a leading cause of mortality in ECMO patients. CONCLUSIONS: ECMO can be lifesaving and is being used increasingly for severe respiratory and/or cardiac failure. However, it remains associated with significant neurologic morbidity and mortality. Greater research clearly is needed to determine the best approach to the assessment and management of neurologic complications in this rapidly growing patient population.

Preconditioning Therapy in ABO-Incompatible Living Kidney Transplantation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: ABO-incompatible (ABOi) kidney transplantation is now an established form of renal replacement therapy, but the efficacy and safety of the different types of preconditioning therapies are unclear. We aimed to synthesize the totality of the published evidence about the effects of any form of preconditioning therapies in living donor ABOi kidney transplantation on graft and patient outcomes. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and Clinicaltrial.gov databases (inception through June 2015) to identify all studies that described the outcomes of adult living donor ABOi kidney transplantations using any form of preconditioning therapies. Two independent reviewers identified studies, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. Data were summarized using the random effects model, and heterogeneity was explored using subgroup analyses. We assessed confidence in the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation framework. RESULTS: Eighty-three studies (54 case reports and case series, 25 cohort, 2 case-control, and 2 registry studies) involving 4810 ABOi transplant recipients were identified. Overall, confidence in the available evidence was low. During a mean follow-up time of 28 (standard deviation [SD], 26.6) months, the overall graft survival for recipients who received immunoadsorption or apheresis was 94.1% (95% confidence interval [95%CI], 88.2%-97.1%) and 88.0% (95% CI, 82.6%-91.8%), respectively. For those who received rituximab or underwent splenectomy, the overall graft survival was 94.5% (95% CI, 91.6%-96.5%) and 79.7% (95% CI, 72.9%-85.1%), respectively. Data on other longer-term outcomes, including malignancy, were sparse. CONCLUSIONS: Rituximab or immunoadsorption appeared to be promising preconditioning strategies before ABOi kidney transplantation. However, the overall quality of evidence and the confidence in the observed treatment effects are low. The increased use of ABOi kidney transplantation needs to be matched with randomized trials of different types, dosing, and frequency of preconditioning therapies so that this scarce resource can be used most effectively and efficiently.