Our results suggest that TEVAR is feasible, safe, and associated with a high reintervention rate and reduced rate of positive aortic remodeling in patients with Marfan syndrome. Survival at 8 years was comparable to contemporary series of open repair.

Coronary CT angiography allows the assessment of coronary artery involvement in patients with Takayasu arteritis. These data confirm prior observations that most coronary lesions are in ostial or proximal coronary artery locations. Disease duration in patients with coronary artery involvement is longer than in patients without.

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These results strongly suggest that allopurinol improves flow-mediated vasodilation regardless of uric acid plasma concentrations.

Background Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is one of the main predictors of mortality in Chagas cardiomyopathy (CC). Although the substrate of sustained and nonsustained‐VT (NS‐VT) seems to be the same, little is known about the distribution of late enhancement (LE). Our aim was to compare the clinical findings and the amount and patterns of LE in Chagas disease according to the presence and type of VT. Methods and Results Magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 54 Chagas seropositive patients: 8 indeterminate and 46 with CC of whom 15 were without VT, 13 with NS‐VT, and 18 with sustained‐VT (S‐VT). There were 31 males (57%), mean age was 55.9 ± 12.2 years. LE was found in 87% of all patients and in 50%, 80%, and 100% of the indeterminate, without VT and VT groups, respectively. The percentage of LE increased progressively in the indeterminate, CC without VT, and CC with VT groups; without a significant difference between NS‐VT and S‐VT (0.93%, 15.2%, 23.2%, and 21.4%, respectively). The amount of LE increased with the functional class. LE in the basal and mid lateral wall was more frequent in VT, without difference between S‐VT and NS‐VT. The only predictor of VT was the percentage of LE, odds ratio (OR), 6.2; (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.7‐28.4; P = .01) with a cutoff of Odds Ratio 17.1%. Conclusions The amount of LE increases in relation to the clinical stage of the disease and its functional class in Chagas seropositive patients. The amount of LE was the main predictor of VT, without difference between S‐VT and NS‐VT.

Chagas cardiomyopathy (CC), caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is an important cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in developing countries. It is estimated that 6 to 7 million people worldwide are infected, and it is predicted that it will be responsible for 200,000 deaths by 2025. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers Chagas disease (CD) as a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD), which must be acknowledged and detected in time, as it remains a clinical and diagnostic challenge in both endemic and non-endemic regions and at different levels of care. The literature on CC was analyzed by searching different databases (Medline, Cochrane Central, EMBASE, PubMed, Google Scholar, EBSCO) from 1968 until October 2022. Multicenter and bioinformatics trials, systematic and bibliographic reviews, international guidelines, and clinical cases were included. The reference lists of the included papers were checked. No linguistic restrictions or study designs were applied. This review is intended to address the current incidence and prevalence of CD and to identify the main pathogenic mechanisms, clinical presentation, and diagnosis of CC.

The ACE D/D genotype was associated with nitric oxide metabolite levels and systolic blood pressure in clinically healthy men while it had no effect in women.

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