Background-Some patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) do not undergo aortic valve replacement (AVR) despite demonstrated symptomatic and survival advantages and despite unequivocal guideline recommendations for surgical evaluation. Methods and Results-In

Bendopnea is mediated via a further increase in filling pressures during bending when filling pressures are already high, particularly if CI is reduced. Awareness of bendopnea should improve noninvasive assessment of hemodynamics in subjects with heart failure.

Background Women <50 years of age with coronary artery disease (CAD) may represent a group at higher risk for recurrent ischemic events following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI); however, no long-term, multi-center outcomes assessment exists in this population. Methods and Results Using the NHLBI Dynamic Registry we evaluated the association of sex and age on cardiovascular-related outcomes in10,963 patients (3,797 women, 394 <50 years) undergoing PCI and followed for 5 years. Death, myocardial infarction (MI), coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), and repeat PCI were primary outcomes comprising major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). While procedural success rates were similar by sex, the cumulative rate of MACE at 1 year was higher in young women (27.8 vs. 19.9%, p=0.003) driven largely by higher rates of repeat revascularizations for target vessel or target lesion failure (CABG: 8.9% vs. 3.9%, p<0.001, adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 2.4, 95% CI 1.5-4.0; PCI: 19.0% vs. 13.0%, p=0.005, aHR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2-2.2). At 5 years, young women remained at higher risk for repeat procedures (CABG: 10.7% vs. 6.8%, p=0.04, aHR 1.71, 95% CI 1.01-2.88; repeat PCI [target vessel]: 19.7% vs. 11.8%, p=0.002, aHR 1.8, 95% CI 1.24-2.82). Compared to older women, younger women remained at increased risk of MACE, while all outcome rates were similar in older women and men. Conclusions Young women, despite having less severe angiographic CAD have an increased risk of target vessel and target lesion failure. The causes of this difference deserve further investigation. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00005677.

The study found no apparent sex-specific differences in survival or stroke in this trial of TAVR. This may reflect the changing demographic of patients enrolled, use of newer-generation valves with more sizes available, and more accurate valve sizing techniques.

Background Acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery significantly associates with morbidity and mortality. Despite not requiring cardiopulmonary bypass, transcatheter aortic valve replacement patients have an incidence of post-procedural acute kidney injury similar to patients who undergo open surgical aortic valve replacement. Packed red blood cell transfusion has been associated with morbidity and mortality after cardiac surgery. We hypothesized that packed red blood cell transfusion independently associates with acute kidney injury after transcatheter aortic valve replacement, after accounting for other risk factors. Methods This is a single-center retrospective cohort study of 116 patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Post-transcatheter aortic valve replacement acute kidney injury was defined by Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes serum creatinine-based criteria. Univariate comparisons between patients with and without post-transcatheter aortic valve replacement acute kidney injury were made for clinical characteristics. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess independent association of packed red blood cell transfusion with post-transcatheter aortic valve replacement acute kidney injury (adjusting for pre-procedural renal function and other important clinical parameters). Results Acute kidney injury occurred in 20 (17.2%) subjects. Total number of packed red blood cells transfused independently associated with post-procedure acute kidney injury (OR = 1.67 per unit, 95% CI 1.13–2.47, P = 0.01) after adjusting for pre-procedure estimated glomerular filtration rate (OR = 0.97 per ml/min/1.73m 2 , 95% CI 0.94–1.00, P = 0.05), nadir hemoglobin (OR = 0.88 per g/dL increase, CI 0.61–1.27, P = 0.50), and post-procedure maximum number of concurrent inotropes and vasopressors (OR = 2.09 per inotrope or vasopressor, 95% CI 1.19–3.67, P = 0.01). Conclusion Packed red blood cell transfusion, along with post-procedure use of inotropes and vasopressors, independently associate with acute kidney injury after transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Further studies are needed to elucidate the pathobiology underlying these associations.

Background:We sought to examine the temporal variations in the rate of both bare-metal stent (BMS) and drug-eluting stent (DES) use for off-label indications after the reports of an increased risk of very late stent thrombosis in patients with DES at the 2006 meeting of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Hypothesis: To determine whether the decrease in use of DES has affected both on and off-label indications. Methods: The study cohort included patients undergoing coronary intervention in a large regional registry, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Cardiovascular Consortium (BMC2). Patient demographic and clinical characteristics for patients with DES in the third quarter of 2006 (pre-ESC) were compared to those from the fourth quarter of 2008 (post-guideline changes). Use of DES for off-label indications, such as STsegment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), in-stent restenosis (ISR), and saphenous vein graft (SVG) interventions, were evaluated. Results: The overall deployment of DES fell sharply from 83% pre-ESC to a plateau of 58% in the first quarter of 2008. This corresponded to a rise in BMS use, while angioplasty procedures stayed the same. The STEMI subgroup showed the most dramatic change, from 78% to only 36%. Off-label use in SVGs showed a similar trend, from 74% to 43%. Drug-eluting stent deployment for ISR was less affected, though it also fell 25% (from 79%-56%). Conclusions: The use of DES has fallen dramatically from June 2006 to December 2008, particularly for nonapproved indications. Our study provides a real-world assessment of contemporary change in DES use in response to the presentation of negative observational studies.

Paradoxical embolism resulting in cryptogenic stroke has received much attention recently, with the primary focus on patent foramen ovale (PFO). However, it is essential to be vigilant in the search for other causes of paradoxical embolic events, such as pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVM). We describe successful closure of pulmonary AVM with a St Jude Medical (Plymouth, MN) Amplatzer™ vascular plug IV. The newer AVP-IV devices can be used for successful embolization of tortuous pulmonary AVM in remote locations where use of other traditional devices may be technically challenging.

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