Association between cumulative dose of hydroxychloroquine and electrocardiographic abnormalities in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is one of the most used drugs in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In these patients, where heart involvement is common, cardiac HCQ toxicity may lead to fatal outcomes. The aim of this work is to study the influence of cumulative HCQ (cHCQ) in a selected group of patients with SLE and its association with electrocardiographic (EKG) abnormalities. METHODS: Single-center retrospective, observational study in which data were collected from the medical records of consecutive patients with a diagnosis of SLE who started treatment with HCQ and who had a 12-lead EKG before starting treatment and during follow-up. EKG abnormalities were grouped as conduction or structural abnormalities. The association of cHCQ with the occurrence of EKG disturbances was analyzed together with other demographic and clinical variables through univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: 105 patients were selected with median cHCQ of 913 g. The sample was classified into two groups, above or below 913 g. Significantly, more conduction disturbances were observed in the group above the median (OR: 2.89; 95%CI: 1.01-8.23). In the multivariate analysis, the OR per 100 g of cHCQ dose was 1.06 (95%CI: 0.99-1.14). Age was the only variable associated with conduction disturbances. There were no significant differences in the development of structural abnormalities and a tendency for more high-grade atrioventricular block was shown. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests an association between the cHCQ and the development of EKG conduction disturbances that disappears after multivariate adjustment. No increased number of structural abnormalities was observed.

The Prevalence of Cardiac Diseases in a Contemporary Large Cohort of Dutch Elderly Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients-The CARDAS Study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of specific cardiac manifestations, i.e., conduction disorders, valvular disease and diastolic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, in a large cross-sectional controlled cohort of elderly ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients. METHODS: This cross-sectional study assessed the prevalence of valvular disease, conduction disorders and LV dysfunction in 193 randomly selected AS patients compared with 74 osteoarthritis (OA) controls aged 50-75 years. Patients underwent conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography in combination with clinical and laboratory assessments. Multivariate regression analyses were performed to compare the odds of mitral valve regurgitation (MVR) and aortic valve regurgitation (AVR) between AS patients and OA controls. RESULTS: The prevalence of diastolic dysfunction was trivial and comparable in AS patients compared to controls (respectively, 4% and 3%) and had no further clinical relevance. In addition, the prevalence of conduction disturbances was similar in both groups, with little clinical relevance, respectively 23% vs. 24%. The prevalence of AVR was significantly higher in AS patients compared to the controls, respectively 23% (9% trace, 12% mild, 1% moderate, 1% severe, 1% prosthesis) vs. 11%, p = 0.04. After correcting for age, sex and CV risk factors, AS patients had an odds ratio of 4.5 (95% CI 1.1-13.6) for AVR compared to the controls. In contrast, the prevalence values of MVR were similar and mostly not clinically relevant in AS patients and controls, respectively 36% and 32% and p = 0.46. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of diastolic LV dysfunction and conduction disorders was mostly not clinically relevant, and similar in AS patients and controls. However, AS patients had an up to five times increased odds to develop AVR compared to controls. Therefore, echocardiographic screening of elderly (50-75 years) AS patients should be considered.

Prognostic Model of Typical Complications Caused by Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

The aim of the study was to develop a prognostic model based on statistical discriminant analysis to assess the risk of postoperative disturbance of cardiac conduction and paraprosthetic regurgitation after transcatheter aortic valve replacement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical data of 10 patients implanted with CoreValveTM prostheses (Medtronic Inc., USA) were used to develop prognostic models. To that end, we analyzed changes in hemodynamic and functional parameters provided by echocardiography in the pre- and postoperative periods. RESULTS: We observed significant positive changes in the severity of left ventricular myocardial hypertrophy; on the contrary, volume indicators did not significantly change, which might be associated with the concentric type of left ventricular hypertrophy. The discriminant analysis made it possible to determine major (preoperative) morphological and functional indicators associated with the two most common complications of the procedure: left bundle branch block and paraprosthetic regurgitation. Left ventricular posterior wall thickness, interventricular septal thickness, left atrium dimension, and myocardial mass are the critical factors that determine the development of these complications. CONCLUSION: In the prognostic model, the proposed weighting coefficients allow one to assess the risk of postoperative complications; however, the presence of false-positive results requires further refinement of these coefficients within the linear equation.