Objectives: Mitral regurgitation (MR) and microvascular obstruction (MVO) are common complications of myocardial infarction (MI). This study aimed to investigate the association between MR in ST... Show moreObjectives: Mitral regurgitation (MR) and microvascular obstruction (MVO) are common complications of myocardial infarction (MI). This study aimed to investigate the association between MR in ST-elevation MI (STEMI) subjects with MVO post-reperfusion. STEMI subjects undergoing primary percutaneous intervention were enrolled. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging was performed within 48-hours of initial presentation. 4D flow images of CMR were analysed using a retrospective valve tracking technique to quantify MR volume, and late gadolinium enhancement images of CMR to assess MVO. Results: Among 69 patients in the study cohort, 41 had MVO (59%). Patients with MVO had lower left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) (42 +/- 10% vs. 52 +/- 8%, P < 0.01), higher end-systolic volume (98 +/- 49 ml vs. 73 +/- 28 ml, P < 0.001) and larger scar volume (26 +/- 19% vs. 11 +/- 9%, P < 0.001). Extent of MVO was associated with the degree of MR quantified by 4D flow (R = 0.54, P = 0.0003). In uni-variate regression analysis, investigating the association of CMR variables to the degree of acute MR, only the extent of MVO was associated (coefficient = 0.27, P = 0.001). The area under the curve for the presence of MVO was 0.66 (P = 0.01) for MR > 2.5 ml. We conclude that in patients with reperfused STEMI, the degree of acute MR is associated with the degree of MVO. Show less
Aims The clinical reliability of echocardiographic surrogate markers of left ventricular filling pressures (LVFPs) across different cardiovascular pathologies remains unanswered. The main objective... Show moreAims The clinical reliability of echocardiographic surrogate markers of left ventricular filling pressures (LVFPs) across different cardiovascular pathologies remains unanswered. The main objective was to evaluate the evidence of how effectively different echocardiographic indices estimate true LVFP.Methods and results Design: this is a systematic review and meta-analysis. Data source: Scopus, PubMed and Embase. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies were those that used echocardiography to predict or estimate pulmonary capillary wedge pressure or left ventricular end-diastolic pressures. Twenty-seven studies met criteria. Only eight studies (30%) reported both correlation coefficient and bias between non-invasive and invasively measured LVFPs. The majority of studies (74%) recorded invasive pulmonary capillary wedge pressure as a surrogate for left ventricular end-diastolic pressures. The pooled correlation coefficient overall was r = 0.69 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63-0.75, P < 0.01]. Evaluation by cohort demonstrated varying association: heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (11 studies, n = 575, r = 0.59, 95% CI 0.53-0.64) and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (8 studies, n = 381, r = 0.67, 95% CI 0.61-0.72).Conclusions Echocardiographic indices show moderate pooled association to invasively measured LVFP; however, this varies widely with disease state. In heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, no single echocardiography-based metric offers a reliable estimate. In heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, mitral inflow-derived indices (E/e ', E/A, E/Vp, and EDcT) have reasonable clinical applicability. While an integrated approach of several echocardiographic metrics provides the most promise for estimating LVFP reliably, such strategies need further validation in larger, patient-specific studies. Show less
Background:There is an emerging body of evidence that supports the potential clinical value of left ventricular (LV) intracavity blood flow kinetic energy (KE) assessment using four-dimensional... Show moreBackground:There is an emerging body of evidence that supports the potential clinical value of left ventricular (LV) intracavity blood flow kinetic energy (KE) assessment using four-dimensional flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (4D flow CMR). The aim of this systematic review is to summarize studies evaluating LV intracavity blood flow KE quantification methods and its potential clinical significance.Methods:A systematic review search was carried out on Medline, Pubmed, EMBASE and CINAHL.Results:Of the 677 articles screened, 16 studies met eligibility. These included six (37%) studies on LV diastolic function, another six (37%) studies on heart failure or cardiomyopathies, three (19%) studies on ischemic heart disease or myocardial infarction and finally, one (6%) study on valvular heart disease, namely, mitral regurgitation. One of the main strengths identified by these studies is high reproducibility of LV blood flow KE hemodynamic assessment (mean coefficient of variability = 6 +/- 2%) for the evaluation of LV diastolic function.Conclusions:The evidence gathered in this systematic review suggests that LV blood flow KE has great promise for LV hemodynamic assessment. Studies showed increased diagnostic confidence at no cost of additional time. Results were highly reproducible with low intraobserver variability. Show less
