We conducted a systematic review of the literature for assessing the value of home monitoring for heart failure (HF) patients. The abstracts of 383 articles were read. We excluded those in which either no home monitoring was done or only the technical aspects of the telemedicine application were described. Forty-two studies met the selection criteria. We classified the results into feasibility (technical and institutional) and impact (on the clinical process, on patient health, on accessibility and acceptability of the health system, and on the economy). Evaluating the articles showed that home monitoring in HF patients is viable, given that: (1) it appears to be technically effective for following the patient remotely; (2) it appears to be easy to use, and it is widely accepted by patients and health professionals; and (3) it appears to be economically viable. Furthermore, home monitoring of HF patients has been shown to have a positive impact on: (1) the clinical process, supported by a significant improvement of patient follow-up by adjustment of treatment, diet or behaviour, as well as hospital readmissions and emergency visits reduction; (2) the patient's health, supported by a relevant improvement in quality of life, a reduction of days in hospital, and a decrease in mortality; and (3) costs resulting from the use of health resources.
The overall meaning of RBBB in acute myocardial infarction has not changed in the thrombolytic era, although a higher rate of new and transient RBBB and a lower rate of bifascicular block may represent a beneficial effect of thrombolytic therapy.
Remodelling in the atria could appear as a result of hypertension, diabetes or ischaemic heart disease. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a mediator of profibrotic pathways and a potential biomarker of cardiac remodelling. We prospectively recruited consecutive patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery. Preoperative Gal-3 levels were determined from serum samples, and the presence of fibrosis was assessed from atrial appendage tissue samples obtained during cardiac surgery. We included 100 patients with aortic valve or ischaemic heart diseases and 15 controls with permanent AF. Gal-3 levels were associated with sex, left atrial volume, previous cardiac disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, NYHA and NT-proBNP. We observed differences in serum Gal-3 concentrations between patients and controls with permanent AF (p = 0.020). We performed ROC curves related to fibrosis and established a cutoff point for Gal-3 >13.65 ng/ml. Multivariate analyses showed previous cardiac disease, NYHA scale and high Gal-3 to be independent predictors of fibrosis. After adjustment for confounding factors, atrial fibrosis remained the only independent factor for the development of AF (p = 0.022). High Gal-3 serum levels predict fibrosis of the atrial appendage. NYHA scale and previous cardiac disease were also associated with tissue fibrosis in patients undergoing surgery. Atrial fibrosis was the only independent predictor for post-operative AF occurrence in our model after correcting for confounding factors.
High presurgical hsTnT levels were independently predictive of patients developing AF after cardiac surgery. hsTnT levels determined post-surgery suggest that cardiac perioperative myocardial injury is not associated with postoperative AF development. NT-proBNP did not reach statistical significance as a biomarker for AF prediction.
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