Revista española de cardiología (English ed.)最新文献

Atrial fibrillation (AF) causes progressive structural and electrical changes in the atria that can be summarized within the general concept of atrial remodeling. In parallel, other clinical characteristics and comorbidities may also affect atrial tissue properties and make the atria susceptible to AF initiation and its long-term persistence. Overall, pathological atrial changes lead to atrial cardiomyopathy with important implications for rhythm control. Although there is general agreement on the role of the atrial substrate for successful rhythm control in AF, the current classification oversimplifies clinical management. The classification uses temporal criteria and does not establish a well-defined strategy to characterize the individual-specific degree of atrial cardiomyopathy. Better characterization of atrial cardiomyopathy may improve the decision-making process on the most appropriate therapeutic option. We review current scientific evidence and propose a practical characterization of the atrial substrate based on 3 evaluation steps starting with a clinical evaluation (step 1), then assess outpatient complementary data (step 2), and finally include information from advanced diagnostic tools (step 3). The information from each of the steps or a combination thereof can be used to classify AF patients in 4 stages of atrial cardiomyopathy, which we also use to estimate the success on effective rhythm control.

Myocarditis is defined as myocardial inflammation and its etiology is highly diverse, including infectious agents, drugs, and autoimmune diseases. The clinical presentation also varies widely, extending beyond the classic clinical picture of acute chest pain, and includes cases of cardiomyopathy of unknown cause whose etiology may be inflammatory. Because certain patients may benefit from targeted treatments, the search for the etiology should begin when myocarditis is first suspected. There remain several areas of uncertainty in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. Consequently, this consensus document aims to provide clear recommendations for its diagnosis and treatment. Hence, a diagnostic algorithm is proposed, specifying when non-invasive diagnosis with cardiac MR is appropriate vs a noninvasive approach with endomyocardial biopsy. In addition, more novel aspects are discussed, such as when to suspect an underlying genetic etiology. The recommendations cover the management of myocarditis and inflammatory cardiomyopathy, both for general complications and specific clinical entities.

The 2024 Interamerican Society of Cardiology (SIAC) guidelines on cardiorespiratory rehabilitation (CRR) in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease aim to gather and evaluate all relevant evidence available on the topic to unify criteria and promote the implementation of CRR programs in this population in Latin America and other parts of the world. Currently, there is no unified CRR model for the pediatric population. Consequently, our goal was to create these CRR guidelines adapted to the characteristics of congenital heart disease and the physiology of this population, as well as to the realities of Latin America. These guidelines are designed to serve as a support for health care workers involved in the care of this patient group who wish to implement a CRR program in their workplace. The guidelines include an easily reproducible program model that can be implemented in any center. The members of this Task Force were selected by the SIAC on behalf of health care workers dedicated to the care of pediatric patients with congenital heart disease. To draft the document, the selected experts performed a thorough review of the published evidence.

Introduction and objectives

The tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion/systolic pulmonary artery pressure (TAPSE/SPAP) ratio is a noninvasive surrogate of right ventricular to pulmonary circulation that has prognostic implications in patients with heart failure (HF) or pulmonary hypertension. Our purpose was to evaluate the prognostic value of the TAPSE/SPAP ratio in patients with cardiac amyloidosis.

Methods

We used the database of the AMIGAL study, a prospective, observational registry of patients with cardiac amyloidosis recruited in 7 hospitals of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, Spain, from January 1, 2018 to October 31, 2022. We selected patients whose baseline TAPSE/SPAP ratio was calculated with transthoracic echocardiography. Long-term survival and survival free of HF hospitalization were assessed by means of 5 different multivariable Cox regression models. Median follow-up was 680 days.

Results

We studied 233 patients with cardiac amyloidosis, among whom 209 (89.7%) had transthyretin type. The baseline TAPSE/SPAP ratio correlated significantly with clinical outcomes. Depending on the multivariable model considered, the adjusted hazard ratios estimated per 0.1 mm/mmHg increase of baseline TAPSE/SPAP ratio ranged from 0.76 to 0.84 for all-cause mortality. Similarly, the ratios for all-cause mortality of HF hospitalization ranged from 0.79 to 0.84. The addition of the baseline TAPSE/SPAP ratio to the predictive model of the United Kingdom National Amyloidosis Centre resulted in an increase in Harrell's c-statistic from 0.662 to 0.705 for all-cause mortality and from 0.668 to 0.707 for all-cause mortality or HF hospitalization.

Conclusions

Reduced TAPSE/SPAP ratio is an independent adverse prognostic marker in patients with cardiac amyloidosis.

Stroke prevention following successful catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation remains a controversial topic. Oral anticoagulation is associated with a significant reduction in stroke risk in the general atrial fibrillation population but may be associated with an increased risk of major bleeding, and the benefit: risk ratio must be considered. Improvement in successful catheter ablation and widespread use of cardiac monitoring devices may allow for novel anticoagulation strategies in a subset of patients with atrial fibrillation, which may optimize stroke prevention while minimizing bleeding risk. In this review, we discuss stroke risk in atrial fibrillation and the effects of successful catheter ablation on thromboembolic risk. We also explore novel strategies for stroke prevention following successful catheter ablation.