Journal of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Research最新文献

We report a case of an 87-year-old man where coronary CT angiography incidentally demonstrated a "split" right coronary artery (RCA) featuring a "split" posterior descending artery. This case focusses on the morphological description of this variant as well as its differentiation from a "dual" or "duplicated" RCA.

Three-dimensional (3D) myocardial tissues for studying human heart biology, physiology and pharmacology have recently received lots of attention. Organoids as 3D mini-organs are created from multiple cell types (i.e. induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) or embryonic stem cells (ESCs)) with other supporting co-cultured cells such as endothelial cells or fibroblasts. Cardiac organoid culture technologies are bringing about significant advances in organ research and allows for the establishment of tissue regeneration and disease modeling. The present review provides an overview of the recent advances in human cardiac organoid platforms in disease biology and for cardiovascular regenerative medicine.

Ventricular dysfunction is the most frequent complication in adult patients post-Fontan completion. Through this work, we aim to evaluate ventricular systolic function by conventional echographic parameters and by global longitudinal strain (GLS) to determine the prediction of early ventricular systolic dysfunction. This is a prospective monocentric study enrolling 15 clinically stable adult Fontan patients with preserved ejection fraction (EF). Myocardial deformation study by GLS with speckle tracking technique in addition to a standard Doppler transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was performed. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) was also performed. A comparison of echocardiographic and CMR parameters was made. In comparison to CMR-derived EF, we found a significant correlation with GLS and TTE-derived EF (P=0.003 and 0.014). We divided our population into two groups based on the cut-off value of 50% of CMR derived EF. Comparison of GLS in both groups showed a significant correlation (P=0.003). A cut-off value of -13.3% showed sensitivity of 67% and specificity of 100%. GLS has a moderate diagnostic value for systolic myocardial dysfunction in the population of adult patients with Fontan circulation.

Introduction: Natural decellularized patches have been developed as the therapeutic platform for the treatment of different diseases, especially cardiovascular disorders. Decellularized scaffolds (as both cell-seeded and cell-free patches) are broadly studied in heart tissue redevelopment in vivo and in vitro. The designed regenerative bio-scaffold must have desirable physicochemical properties including mechanical stiffness for load-bearing, and appropriate anatomical characteristics to mimic the native biological environment properly and facilitate tissue reconstruction. In this context, the current study was designed to investigate rabbit decellularized derma's similarity with human decellularized skin in terms of mechanical properties for cardiac tissue engineering application.

Methods: Fifty two rabbit dermal specimens were provided and divided into two groups: the experimental (decellularized) group and the control (group). Similarly, twelve human skin specimens were divided into the experimental (decellularized) and control groups. Initially, the effect of decellularization on the mechanical performance of scaffolds was analyzed. Then, the mechanical strength of decellularized rabbit skin was compared to decellularized human derma by measuring the stress strain and Young's modulus of the samples.

Results: The results showed that rabbit decellularized skin has a similar elastic range to human decellularized skin, despite being more elastic (P>0.05). In addition, after decellularization, both rabbit and human skin showed a non-significant decrease in elasticity (P>0.05). It is worth noting that the elasticity reduction in rabbit samples after skin decellularization was lower than in human samples.

Conclusion: According to the results of this study and the similarities of rabbit decellularized derm to human skin and its advantages over it, along with the biological complexity of native cardiac ECM, this scaffold can be used as an alternative matrix for tissue-engineered cardiac patches.

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a prevalent metabolic disorder with increasing prevalence attributed to extended life expectancy. This study aims to investigate MetS prevalence and its determinants in the East-Azerbaijan population.

Methods: Conducted as a cross-sectional study within the East Azerbaijan region, this research is based on a major Lifestyle Promotion Project. The study encompasses 700 participants aged 15 to 65 years, representing the general population and selected using probability proportional to size multistage stratified cluster sampling. MetS diagnoses were conducted using the adult Panel III criteria. Data on socio-demographics, smoking status, and physical activity levels were collected through questionnaires.

Results: Among participants, the mean age was 42.4±12.38 years, and the mean body mass index was 27.69±4.94 kg/m2. The MetS group exhibited higher mean age and body mass index compared to the non-MetS group (P<0.001). The prevalence of MetS in the population was 34.2%, with higher rates in females (37.1%) compared to males (30.5%), though this difference wasn't statistically significant (P=0.11). Notably, a substantial distinction was observed between the two groups regarding education levels (P<0.001).

Conclusion: The study reveals a significant association between increasing age and higher prevalence of MetS. Furthermore, lower educational levels were linked to an elevated prevalence of MetS. While other socio-demographic factors didn't demonstrate statistically significant relationships, these findings emphasize the importance of targeted interventions and education in mitigating MetS risks.

COVID-19 has been known to induce systemic inflammation and hyper coagulate state leading to different complications. Cardiovascular complications are one of the most important among complications following COVID-19 infection. A 57 years old woman with past medical history of COVID-19 infection about two months ago came to our hospital with presentation of fever and dyspnea. During workup, tricuspid valve infection associated with pulmonary septic emboli was diagnosed without any obvious risk factor for infective endocarditis. It seems that COVID-19 infection may increase the rate of endocarditis in patients with or without risk factors of endocarditis.

Introduction: Optimal treatment of dyslipidemia is a top priority in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. For this purpose, clinicians in Iran usually refer to four current international guidelines. The aim of this study was to assess the approach of Iranian clinical pharmacists in the treatment of dyslipidemia based on international guidelines. Methods: A structured questionnaire was prepared. Questions (n=24) included the demographics (n=7), dyslipidemia references (n=3), dyslipidemia general knowledge of respondents (n=10), and questions (n=4) designed based on the difference among the latest version of guidelines participants stated they use in their practice. After validity conformation, the questionnaire was distributed to 120 clinical pharmacists, electronically from May to August 2021. Results: Response rate was 77.5% (n=93). The majority of participants (80.6%, n=75) claimed to have used the 2018 ACC/AHA guideline. The Median (interquartile range [IQR]) score of the general knowledge questions was 5.0 (2.0) out of 10. The Median (IQR) score of questions designed based on the difference among guidelines was calculated 3(1) out of 4. There was no significant (P=0.25) difference in score among participants according to their guideline selection. Moreover, the gender and length of experience as a clinical pharmacist had no significant (P>0.05) effect on the score of participants. Conclusion: In this study, Iranian clinical pharmacists answered half of the dyslipidemia general knowledge questions correctly. Also, Participants were up-to-date on 75% of the questions designed based on the latest version of the guideline they had been using in their practice.