The results indicated that high TH17/Treg ratio exists inrheumatic MVD. This imbalance may play a role in the pathogenesis, and TH17/Treg balance may be a promising therapeutic approach in RHD.

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Background This study aimed to investigate serum 25[OH]D levels between patients with vasovagal syncope (VVS) diagnosed with head‐up tilt table test (HUTT) and age‐matched healthy people. Methods The study included 75 consecutive patients (32.3 ± 10.7 years), who presented with syncope and underwent HUTT and 52 healthy controls (32.9 ± 14.1 years). HUTT patients were divided into two groups according to whether there was syncope response to the test. Patients underwent cardiac, psychiatric, and neurological investigation. Serum 25[OH]D levels were measured by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay method. Results There was no difference between the two groups in terms of age, gender, body mass index (BMI), echocardiographic findings (P > .05). Mean serum 25[OH]D (24.5 ± 6.3 vs 20.1 ± 8.8 ng/mL, P = .003) and vitamin B12 levels (436.4 ± 199.2 vs 363.1 ± 107.6 pg/mL, P = .009) was lower in syncope patients when compared to the control group. In correlation analyses, syncope was shown as correlated with the vitamin D (r = −264, P = .003) and vitamin B12 levels (r = −233, P = .009). But, multivariate regression analyses showed that only vitamin D increased risk of syncope [OR: 0.946, 95% CI (0.901‐0.994)]. There was no difference in terms of age, gender, BMI, echocardiographic findings between the in HUTT positive (n = 45) and negative groups (n = 29). Only vitamin D level was significantly lower in HUTT positive group (17.5 ± 7.7 vs 24.4 ± 9.1 ng/mL, P = .002). There was no difference among in the vasovagal subgroups in terms of vitamin D level and other features. Conclusion Vitamin D and B12 levels were reasonably low in syncope patients, but especially low Vitamin D levels were associated with VVS diagnosed in HUTT.

fQRS is independently associated with the severity of AS while traditional LVH criteria, except strain pattern, are not. fQRS may be better than traditional ECG criteria of LVH and echocardiographic LVH as an indicator of myocardial fibrosis in AS. Thus, fQRS may have a role in determining the severity and prognosis of AS.

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ObjectiveTo evaluate the predictive value of mean perfusion pressure (mPP) in the development of acute kidney injury (AKIN) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).MethodsOne hundred and forty seven consecutive patients with aortic stenosis (AS) were evaluated for this study and 133 of them were included. Mean arterial pressure (mAP) and central venous pressure (CVP) were used to calculate mPP before TAVI procedure (mPP = mAP-CVP). The occurrence of AKIN was evaluated with AKIN classification according to the Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 recommendations. The patients were divided into two groups according to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of their mPP levels (high-risk group and low-risk group).ResultsThe AKIN prevalence was 22.6% in this study population. Baseline serum creatinine level, glomerular filtration rate, amount of contrast medium, and the level of mPP were determined as predictive factors for the development of AKIN.ConclusionThe occurrence of AKIN is associated with increased morbidity and mortality rates in patients with TAVI. In addition to the amount of contrast medium and basal kidney functions, our study showed that lower mPP was strongly associated with development of AKIN after TAVI.

Background: Regular physical activity is associated with cardiovascular health; however, intensive exercise can have harmful effects on the heart. Two-dimensional (2D) speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) is a well-established diagnostic tool to evaluate subclinical myocardial dysfunction and has been widely used in athletes in recent years. This study is designed to evaluate whether low-intensity exercise has beneficial effects on myocardial performance. We aimed to evaluate systolic and diastolic functions of myocardium derived from STE in sports practitioners in a lowintensity exercise training program. Method: Eighty-four sports practitioners and eighty-two sedentary healthy controls were prospectively included in our study. In addition to standard 2D echocardiographic measurements, left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS), right ventricular (RV) GLS, RV-free wall strain (FWS), left atrium (LA) strain, and strain rate were analyzed. Results: Mean LV GLS was significantly higher in sports practitioners compared with sedentary population (−19.21 ± 2.61% vs −18.37 ± 2.75%, P = .044). RV GLS was significantly higher in sports practitioners than sedentary population (−21.82 ± 4.86% vs −20.04 ± 4.62%, P = .016). Longitudinal strain and strain rate of LA conduit phase were significantly higher in sports practitioners than sedentary participants