Background-Percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation using a stent-based bioprosthetic valve provides an alternative to surgery in select patients. Systemic infections in Melody valve-implanted patients with and without identified valve involvement have been reported, yet the incidence is unknown, and risk factors remain unidentified. Methods and Results-Between 2007 and 2012, a total of 147 consecutive patients with congenital heart disease underwent Melody percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation at our institution. Demographic and clinical variables were collected at baseline and at follow-up and analyzed as predictors. The occurrence of bloodstream infection (BSI), defined as a bacterial infection treated with ≥4 weeks of antibiotics, served as our primary outcome. The mean age at implantation for the study population was 21.5±11 years, and tetralogy of Fallot was the cardiac condition in 59%. During a median followup of 19 months, 14 patients experienced BSI (9.5%; 95% confidence interval, 5.3%-15%). Of these, 4 (2.7%) patients had Melody valve endocarditis. Two patients died during the event, neither of whom had known valve involvement. The median procedure to infection time was 15 months (range, 1-56). In univariate analysis, male sex, previous endocarditis, in situ stents in the right ventricular outflow tract, and presence of outflow tract irregularities at the implant site were associated with BSI occurrence. Conclusions-In this cohort, 9.5% of patients who underwent Melody percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation experienced subsequent BSI, occurring 1 to 56 months after implant, and 2.7% of patients had prosthetic endocarditis. Our findings suggest that patient and nonvalve anatomic factors may be associated with BSI after percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation. (Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2013;6:301-310.)

Absence of LA contraction and LA volume index ≥33 ml/m(2) result in a significant increase in the risk for thromboembolic stroke after the Maze procedure for patients in sinus rhythm.

Between 2004 and 2012, 200 symptomatic patients with exertional dyspnoea, preserved left ventricular systolic function and suspected pulmonary hypertension, underwent right heart catheterization. Included in the study were 63 patients with resting pulmonary arterial wedge pressure (PAWP) ≤15 mmHg. Patients were divided to three tertiles based on their peak exercise PAWP. Mean age was 60 ± 20 years and 29% were males. Mean pulmonary arterial pressure was 31 ± 14 mmHg at rest and 42 ± 18 mmHg upon exercise. Mean change in PAWP between rest and exercise was 0.0 ± 4.3, 4.6 ± 2.4, and 16.6 ± 7.1 mmHg in the lower, middle, and upper tertiles, respectively (P < 0.001). Higher exercise PAWP tertiles were associated with reduced pulmonary vascular resistance (8.3 ± 6.7, 2.9 ± 2.7, and 5.8 ± 4.6 Woods units, respectively; P = 0.004). A multivariate linear regression model demonstrated that each 5 kg/m 2 increase in body mass index was associated with 2.5 ± 1.0 mmHg increase in exercise PAWP (P = 0.017). A multivariate binary logistic model showed that subjects with borderline PAWP at rest (12-15 mmHg) were 4.5 times more likely to be in the upper tertile of exercise PAWP (P = 0.011).

Background: Current guidelines consider vitamin K antagonists (VKA) the oral anticoagulant agents of choice in adults with atrial arrhythmias (AA) and moderate or complex forms of congenital heart disease, significant valvular lesions, or bioprosthetic valves, pending safety data on non-VKA oral anticoagulants (NOACs). Therefore,

Background Women with congenital long-QT syndrome (LQTS) experience increased risk for cardiac events after the onset of adolescence, that is more pronounced among carriers of the LQT2 genotype. We hypothesized that the hormonal changes associated with menopause may affect clinical risk in this population. Methods and Results We used a repeated events analysis to evaluate the risk for recurrent syncope during the menopause-transition and post-menopausal periods (5-years before and after the age at onset of menopause, respectively) among 282 LQT1 (n=151) and LQT2 (n=131) women enrolled in the LQTS Registry. Multivariate analysis showed that the risk for recurrent syncope (n=150) among LQT2 women was significantly increased during both menopause-transition (HR = 3.38 [p = 0.005]) and the post-menopausal period (HR = 8.10 [p < 0.001]) as compared with the reproductive period. The risk increase was evident among women who did or did not receive estrogen therapy. In contrast, among LQT1 women the onset of menopause was associated with a reduction in the risk for recurrent syncope (HR = 0.19 [p = 0.05]; p-value for genotype-by-menopause interaction = 0.02). Only 22 women (8%) experienced aborted cardiac arrest (ACA) or sudden cardiac death (SCD) during follow-up. The frequency of ACA/SCD showed a similar genotype-specific association with the onset of menopause. Conclusions The onset of menopause is associated with a significant increase in the risk of cardiac events (dominated by recurrent episodes of syncope) in LQT2 women, suggesting that careful follow-up and continued long-term therapy are warranted in this population.

Statin use was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of life-threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias among patients with NICM.

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