Luigi Adamo

Surgical threshold for bicuspid aortic valve aneurysm: a case for individual decision-making

The bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) affects 1–2% of the population and may be associated with important valvular disease and an increased risk of aortic root and/or ascending aortic aneurysm and dissection. BAV aortic aneurysm and dissection occur earlier in life than when these disorders are associated with a tricuspid aortic valve (TAV). Alterations in the aortic media and differences in aortic elastic properties and wall stress also accompany BAV aortopathy. With appropriate follow-up and timely surgery, population studies have documented a survival rate for patients with BAV no different from age-matched controls. Guidelines have previously recommended prophylactic aortic surgery at a smaller aortic aneurysm size for patients with BAV compared with aneurysms in patients with a TAV. Recent guidelines have presented differing indications regarding the appropriate timing of prophylactic surgery for BAV aneurysms, giving the recommendation for surgery when the aortic root and/or ascending aortic exceeds 5.5 cm (unless certain factors are present), the same size for which TAV-associated aortic aneurysm surgery is recommended. We review the pathophysiology of BAV aortopathy, the clinical history of BAV ascending aortic disease, areas of uncertainty and make a case for a patient-centered, individualised decision regarding the optimal timing of aortic aneurysm surgery in BAV disease.

Generalised insulin oedema after intensification of treatment with insulin analogues.

We report a case of generalised insulin oedema after intensification of treatment with genetically modified insulin. This is the first case of generalised oedema in response to treatment with insulin analogues in a patient not insulin naive.

Abnormal Global Longitudinal Strain Predicts Future Deterioration of Left Ventricular Function in Heart Failure Patients With a Recovered Left Ventricular Ejection FractionCLINICAL PERSPECTIVE

Background— Patients with recovery of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) remain at risk for future deterioration of LVEF. However, there are no tools to risk stratify these patients. We hypothesized that global longitudinal strain (GLS) could predict sustained recovery within this population. Methods and Results— We retrospectively identified 96 patients with a reduced LVEF <50% (screening echocardiogram), whose LVEF had increased by at least 10% and normalized (>50%) on evidence-based medical therapies (baseline echocardiogram). We examined absolute GLS on the baseline echocardiogram in relation to changes in LVEF on a follow-up echocardiogram. Patients with recovered LVEF had a wide range of GLS. The GLS on the baseline study correlated with the LVEF at the time of follow-up (r=0.33; P<0.001). The likelihood of having an LVEF >50% on follow-up increased by 24% for each point increase in absolute GLS on the baseline study (odds ratio, 1.24; P=0.001). An abnormal GLS (⩽16%) at baseline had a sensitivity of 88%, a specificity of 46%, and an accuracy of 0.67 (P<0.001) as a predictor of a decrease in LVEF >5% during follow-up. A normal GLS (>16%) on the baseline study had a sensitivity of 47%, a specificity of 83%, and an accuracy of 0.65 (P=0.002) for predicting a stable LVEF (−5% to 5%) on follow-up. Conclusions— In patients with a recovered LVEF, an abnormal GLS predicts the likelihood of having a decreased LVEF during follow-up, whereas a normal GLS predicts the likelihood of stable LVEF during recovery.

Prevalence of lactic acidaemia in patients with advanced heart failure and depressed cardiac output

Heart failure (HF) has been defined classically as a condition in which the heart is unable to deliver sufficient oxygen to match the needs of the metabolizing tissues. Surprisingly, this definition has never been validated. The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of elevated lactate levels in a cohort of patients with advanced heart failure.

Modulation of subsets of cardiac B lymphocytes improves cardiac function after acute injury

Despite the long-standing recognition that the immune response to acute myocardial injury contributes to adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling, it has not been possible to effectively target this clinically. Using 2 different in vivo models of acute myocardial injury, we show that pirfenidone confers beneficial effects in the murine heart through an unexpected mechanism that depends on cardiac B lymphocytes. Naive hearts contained a large population of CD19+CD11b-CD23-CD21-IgD+IgMlo lymphocytes, and 2 smaller populations of CD19+CD11b+ B1a and B1b cells. In response to tissue injury, there was an increase in neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, as well as an increase in CD19+ CD11b- B lymphocytes. Treatment with pirfenidone had no effect on the number of neutrophils, monocytes, or macrophages, but decreased CD19+CD11b- lymphocytes. B cell depletion abrogated the beneficial effects of pirfenidone. In vitro studies demonstrated that stimulation with lipopolysaccharide and extracts from necrotic cells activated CD19+ lymphocytes through a TIRAP-dependent pathway. Treatment with pirfenidone attenuated this activation of B cells. These findings reveal a previously unappreciated complexity of myocardial B lymphocytes within the inflammatory infiltrate triggered by cardiac injury and suggest that pirfenidone exerts beneficial effects in the heart through a unique mechanism that involves modulation of cardiac B lymphocytes.

GLOBAL LONGITUDINAL STRAIN PREDICTS SUSTAINED RECOVERY OF LV EJECTION FRACTION IN HEART FAILURE PATIENTS ON EVIDENCE BASED MEDICAL THERAPIES

Background: Recovered LVEF often returns sub-normal during follow up but there are no tools to stratify the risk of this event. We sought to characterize Global Longitudinal Strain (GLS) in patients with recovered LVEF and to test the hypothesis that GLS at the time of recovery might be able to risk