Isidro Moreno

Long-term Follow-up After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation for Severe Aortic Stenosis

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Transcatheter aortic valve implantation is used as an alternative to surgical valve replacement in patients with severe aortic stenosis who are considered high-surgical-risk or inoperable. Two of the main areas of uncertainty in this field are valve durability and long-term survival. METHODS This prospective single-center registry study from a tertiary hospital included all consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous aortic valve implantation between 2008 and 2012. Clinical follow-up lasted a minimum of 2.5 years and a maximum of 6.5 years. Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 definitions were used. RESULTS Seventy-nine patients were included, with an immediate success rate of 94.9%. The median survival was 47.6 months (95% confidence intervals, 37.4-57.9 months), ie, 4 years. One quarter of deaths occurred in the first month, and most were of cardiovascular cause. After the first month, most deaths were due to noncardiovascular causes. The mean values of valve gradients did not increase during follow-up. The cumulative rate of prosthetic valve dysfunction was 15.3%, with no cases of repeat valve replacement. CONCLUSIONS Half of the patients with aortic stenosis who underwent transcatheter aortic valve implantation were alive 4 years after the procedure. There was a 15.3% prosthetic valve dysfunction rate in cumulative follow-up, with no cases of repeat valve replacement.

Aortic Wall Erosion after Percutaneous Closure of Atrial Septal Defect

A 26-year-old woman presented with acute hemolysis 1 month after percutaneous closure of an atrial septal defect. Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography was used to establish the diagnosis of a fistula from the aorta, toward the device and both atria. The patient required urgent surgical correction. Transcatheter closure of atrial septal defects has proven to be a highly successful alternative to surgery in the appropriate patient. Cardiac perforation and device erosion of the aortic wall are infrequent but potentially lethal complications of percutaneous occluder device insertion. Supportive features of device erosion include a wrong preimplantation assessment of the rims, the device extends across the atrial septum, and the device encroaches on the surrounding structures. In this case, the presumed mechanism of aortic fistula was aortic erosion by the left atrial disk of the occluder device.

Thrombocytopaenia and neutropaenia associated with daptomycin USE

Daptomycin is a lipopeptide antibiotic active against gram-positive bacteria indicated for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections and Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections, including endocarditis. Thrombocytopaenia, but not neutropaenia, is described as a possible or probable adverse effect in the product information. Up to now, two case reports of daptomycin-induced thrombocytopaenia have been published and a single case of neutropaenia associated with prolonged daptomycin use. We report a case of simultaneous thrombocytopaenia and neutropaenia associated with prolonged daptomycin use for a culture-negative endocarditis.