Malignant Left Atrial Appendage Morphology: Current Classification vs H-L System.

INTRODUCTION: In previous studies the risk of stroke recurrence has been associated with the left atrial appendage (LAA) morphology (non-chicken wing (NCW)), knowing those with a greater risk as malignant LAA. Recently, a simpler morphological classification has been suggested with two categories: Low-risk (LAA-L) and High-risk (LAA-H); which could be easier to apply and may correlate better with the risk of embolic stroke. METHODS: Retrospective analysis from a registry of patients with recurrent cardioembolic strokes despite appropriate anticoagulant therapy, in which LAA morphology was studied with cardiac CT scan. LAA morphology was classified according to the four current categories and H-L morphology by the same cardiologist. Other variables associated with a high risk of stroke were also assessed, such as CHA2DS2-VASc score and left atrial (LA) size. RESULTS: Twenty-six cases were included in the analysis. We identified 22 (84.6%) chicken wing (CW), 1 (3.8%) windsock and 3 (11.5%) cactus by the current classification system, while 15 (57.7%) were classified as LAA-H and 11 (42.3%) as LAA-L by the new system. Half of the 22 cases with CW morphology were considered LAA-H, whereas all NCW were also classified as LAA-H. LA diameter and area were significantly higher in cases with LAA-H morphology (p=0.03 and 0.014), and also in those CW and LAA-H, compared to those CW with LAA-L (p=0.035). CONCLUSIONS: With this new classification system more than half of the cases of our malignant LAAs were classified as high-risk morphology. This morphology was also associated with an increased LA size.

Percutaneous closure of incomplete surgical left atrial appendage ligation: success begins with the decision to try.

The authors present a case of percutaneous closure of an incomplete surgical left atrial appendage (LAA) ligation with a new device LAmbre (Lifetech ScientificCo Ltd).

6-Month Outcomes of the TricValve System in Patients With Tricuspid Regurgitation: The TRICUS EURO Study.

BACKGROUND: Severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is frequently associated with significant morbidity and mortality; such patients are often deemed to be at high surgical risk. Heterotopic bicaval stenting is an emerging, attractive transcatheter solution for these patients. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the 30-day safety and 6-month efficacy outcomes of specifically designed bioprosthetic valves for the superior and inferior vena cava. METHODS: TRICUS EURO (Safety and Efficacy of the TricValve® Transcatheter Bicaval Valves System in the Superior and Inferior Vena Cava in Patients With Severe Tricuspid Regurgitation) is a nonblinded, nonrandomized, single-arm, multicenter, prospective trial that enrolled patients from 12 European centers between December 2019 and February 2021. High-risk individuals with severe symptomatic TR despite optimal medical therapy were included. The primary endpoint was quality-of-life (QOL) improvement measured by Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire score and New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class improvement at 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients (mean age 76 ± 6.8 years, 83% women) were treated using the TricValve system. All patients at baseline were in NYHA functional class III or IV. At 30 days, procedural success was 94%, with no procedural deaths or conversions to surgery. A significant increase in QOL at 6 months follow-up was observed (baseline and 6-month Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire scores 42.01 ± 22.3 and 59.7 ± 23.6, respectively; P = 0.004), correlating with a significant improvement in NYHA functional class, with 79.4% of patients noted to be in functional class I or II at 6 months (P = 0.0006). The rates of 6-month all-cause mortality and heart failure hospitalization were 8.5% and 20%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The dedicated bicaval system for treating severe symptomatic TR was associated with a high procedural success rate and significant improvements in both QOL and functional classification at 6 months follow-up.

New-onset atrial fibrillation during COVID-19 infection predicts poor prognosis.

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has led to a paradigm shift in healthcare worldwide. Little is known about the impact on the cardiovascular system, and the incidence and consequences of new onset of atrial fibrillation (AF) in infected patients remain unclear. The aim of this study was to analyze the cardiovascular outcomes of patients with newonset AF and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. METHODS: This observational study analyzed a sample of 160 consecutive patients hospitalized due to COVID-19. A group with new-onset AF (n = 12) was compared with a control group (total: n = 148, sinus rhythm: n = 118, previous AF: n = 30). New-onset AF patients were significantly older and hypertensive, as well as presenting more frequently with a history of acute coronary syndrome and renal dysfunction. This group showed a higher incidence of thromboembolic events (41.7% vs. 4.1%; p < 0.001), bleeding (33.3% vs. 4.7%, p = 0.005), a combined endpoint of thrombosis and death (58.3% vs. 19.6%, p = 0.006) and longer hospital stays (16.4 vs. 8.6 days, p < 0.001), with no differences in all-cause mortality. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis, adjusted by potential confounding factors, new-onset AF demonstrated a 14.26 odds ratio for thromboembolism (95% confidence interval 2.86-71.10, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: New-onset AF in COVID-19 patients presumably has a notable impact on prognosis. The appearance of new-onset AF is related to worse cardiovascular outcomes, considering it as an independent predictor of embolic events. Further studies are needed to identify patients with COVID-19 at high risk of developing "de novo" AF, provide early anticoagulation and minimize the embolic risk of both entities.

Transcatheter Mitral Repair for Functional Mitral Regurgitation According to Left Ventricular Function: A Real-Life Propensity-Score Matched Study.

BACKGROUND: Transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) could improve survival in functional mitral regurgitation (FMR), but it is necessary to consider the influence of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Therefore, we compare the outcomes after TMVR with Mitraclip® between two groups according to LVEF. METHODS: In an observational registry study, we compared the outcomes in patients with FMR who underwent TMVR with and without LVEF <30%. The primary endpoint was the combined one-year all-cause mortality and unplanned hospital readmissions due to HF. The secondary end-points were New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class and mitral regurgitation (MR) severity. Propensity-score matching was used to create two groups with the same baseline characteristics, except for baseline LVEF. RESULTS: Among 535 FMR eligible patients, 144 patients with LVEF <30% (group 1) and 144 with LVEF >30% (group 2) had similar propensity scores and were included in the analyses. The primary study endpoint was significantlly higher in group 1 (33.3% vs. 9.4%, p = 0.002). There was a maintained improvement in secondary endpoints without significant differences among groups. CONCLUSION: FMR patients with LVEF <30% treated with MitraClip® had higher mortality and readmissions than patients with LVEF ≥30% treated with the same device. However, both groups improved the NYHA functional class and MR severity.

Current status of anticoagulation in patients with breast cancer and atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE: Balance between embolic and bleeding risk is challenging among patients with cancer. There is a lack of specific recommendations for the use of antithrombotic therapy in oncologic patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We compared the embolic and bleeding risk, the preventive management and the incidence of events between patients with and without cancer. We further evaluated the effectiveness and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) within patients with cancer. METHODS AND RESULTS: The AMBER-AF registry is an observational multicentre study that analysed patients with non-valvular AF treated in Oncology and Cardiology Departments in Spain. 1,237 female patients with AF were enrolled: 637 with breast cancer and 599 without cancer. Mean follow-up was 3.1 years. Both groups were similar in age, embolic risk and bleeding risk. Lack of guidelines-recommended therapies was more frequent among patients with cancer. Compared with patients without cancer, adjusted rates of stroke (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval]) in cancer patients were higher (1.56 [1.04-2.35]), whereas bleeding rates remained similar (1.25 [0.95-1.64]). Within the group of patients with cancer, the use of DOACs vs VKAs did not entail differences in the adjusted rates of stroke (0.91 [0.42-1.99]) or severe bleedings (1.53 [0.93-2.53]). CONCLUSIONS: Antithrombotic management of AF frequently differs in patients with breast cancer. While breast cancer is associated with a higher risk of incident stroke, bleeding events remained similar. Patients with cancer treated with DOACs experienced similar rates of stroke and bleeding as those with VKAs.

Accuracy and reproducibility of novel echocardiographic three-dimensional automated software for the assessment of the aortic root in candidates for thanscatheter aortic valve replacement.

AIMS: A specialized three-dimensional transoesophageal echocardiography (3D-TOE) reconstruction tool has recently been introduced; the system automatically configures a geometric model of the aortic root from the images obtained by 3D-TOE and performs quantitative analysis of these structures. The aim of this study was to compare the measurements of the aortic annulus (AA) obtained by the new model to that obtained by 3D-TOE and multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in candidates to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and to assess the reproducibility of this new method. METHODS AND RESULTS: We included 31 patients who underwent TAVI. The AA diameters and area were evaluated by the manual 3D-TOE method and by the automatic software. We showed an excellent correlation between the measurements obtained by both methods: intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC): 0.731 (0.508-0.862), r: 0.742 for AA diameter and ICC: 0.723 (0.662-0.923), r: 0.723 for the AA area, with no significant differences regardless of the method used. The interobserver variability was superior for the automatic measurements than for the manual ones. In a subgroup of 10 patients, we also found an excellent correlation between the automatic measurements and those obtained by MDCT, ICC: 0.941 (0.761-0.985), r: 0.901 for AA diameter and ICC: 0.853 (0.409-0.964), r: 0.744 for the AA area. CONCLUSION: The new automatic 3D-TOE software allows modelling and quantifying the aortic root from 3D-TOE data with high reproducibility. There is good correlation between the automated measurements and other 3D validated techniques. Our results support its use in clinical practice as an alternative to MDCT previous to TAVI.