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We have histologically validated that CUS quantifies the development of adventitial vasa vasorum associated with atherosclerosis progression. This imaging technique has the potential for characterizing prognostically significant plaque features.

BackgroundEchocardiography (echo) is a first line test to assess cardiac structure and function. It is not known if cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) ordered during routine clinical practice in selected patients can add additional prognostic information after routine echo. We assessed whether CMR improves outcomes prediction after contemporaneous echo, which may have implications for efforts to optimize processes of care, assess effectiveness, and allocate limited health care resources.Methods and resultsWe prospectively enrolled 1044 consecutive patients referred for CMR. There were 38 deaths and 3 cardiac transplants over a median follow-up of 1.0 years (IQR 0.4-1.5). We first reproduced previous survival curve strata (presence of LGE and ejection fraction (EF) < 50%) for transplant free survival, to support generalizability of any findings. Then, in a subset (n = 444) with contemporaneous echo (median 3 days apart, IQR 1–9), EF by echo (assessed visually) or CMR were modestly correlated (R2 = 0.66, p < 0.001), and 30 deaths and 3 transplants occurred over a median follow-up of 0.83 years (IQR 0.29-1.40). CMR EF predicted mortality better than echo EF in univariable Cox models (Integrated Discrimination Improvement (IDI) 0.018, 95% CI 0.008-0.034; Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI) 0.51, 95% CI 0.11-0.85). Finally, LGE further improved prediction beyond EF as determined by hazard ratios, NRI, and IDI in all Cox models predicting mortality or transplant free survival, adjusting for age, gender, wall motion, and EF.ConclusionsAmong those referred for CMR after echocardiography, CMR with LGE further improves risk stratification of individuals at risk for death or death/cardiac transplant.

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Patients receiving drug-eluting coronary stents (DES) require antiplatelet therapy for at least 12 months to prevent stent thrombosis (ST), a potentially calamitous event. Since interruption of antiplatelet therapy is the greatest risk factor for ST, it is imperative that the decision to discontinue these agents be based on an accurate assessment of the patient's risk for bleeding complications. Individuals who are regarded as being at a high risk are those undergoing intracranial, spinal or intraocular surgeries. These patients require alternative agents during the perioperative period to minimize both their risk of perioperative thrombosis and intraoperative hemorrhage. We report the case of a woman who required spinal surgery 3 months after she underwent placement of two drug-eluting stents. The patient's clopidogrel was stopped 5 days prior to surgery and an infusion of eptifibatide was used to "bridge" antiplatelet therapy during the perioperative period. Postoperatively, anticoagulation therapy was reinstituted using aspirin with clopidogrel. This case serves as a successful example of bridging therapy using a short acting and gycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitor as a means of maintaining antiplatelet therapy during the perioperative period to minimize the risk of stent thrombosis and the risk of intraoperative bleeding.

This series describes three adolescent females who presented with chest pain and ventricular dysfunction related to acute coronary ischemia secondary to Takayasu’s arteritis with varied courses of disease progression leading to a diverse range of therapies including cardiac transplantation. While Takayasu’s arteritis is rare in childhood, it should be strongly considered in any adolescent female presenting with systemic inflammation and chest pain consistent with myocardial infarction. A high index of suspicion can lead to early detection and aggressive management of the underlying vasculitis reducing associated morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this report is to describe the challenges in the clinical diagnosis and management of Takayasu’s arteritis with myocardial infarction. We also seek to enhance awareness about unique presentations of Takayasu’s arteritis within the paediatric community.

Our results suggest that a combination of afterload reduction and hypoxemic therapy was able to maintain an appropriate distribution of the cardiac output in the majority of preoperative patients with single-ventricle physiology. An adequate balance of systemic and pulmonary blood flow was successfully achieved with an increase in arterial PaO2 values.

Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease characterized by the formation of non-necrotizing granulomas, primarily involving the lungs and other organs such as the heart. The diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis can be difficult. The last set of diagnostic guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of cardiac sarcoidosis was published in 2019 by the Japanese Circulation Society (JCS).We describe a case of classic cardiac sarcoidosis and review the literature on clinical presentation, imaging, and management.