Abstract
Background
Concerns on monkeypox as a disease impacting global public health first emerged in May, 2022, and, since that time, has been identified in more than 50 countries. The condition ...mainly affects men who have sex with other men. Cardiac disease is a rare complication of monkeypox infection. Here, we describe a case of myocarditis in a young male subsequently diagnosed with monkeypox infection.
Case summary
A 42-year-old male reported engaging in high-risk sexual behaviours with another male 10 days before presenting to the emergency department with chest pain, fever, maculopapular rash, and a necrotic chin lesion. Electrocardiography revealed diffuse concave ST-segment elevation associated with elevated cardiac biomarkers. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed normal biventricular systolic function without wall motion abnormalities. We excluded other sexually transmitted diseases or viral infections. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings suggested myopericarditis involving the lateral wall and adjacent pericardium. The results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests of pharyngeal, urethral, and blood samples were positive for monkeypox. The patient was treated with high-dose non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and colchicine and he recovered soon.
Discussion
Monkeypox infections are generally self-limited, with most patients experiencing benign clinical outcomes, no hospitalizations, and few complications. This is a rare report of monkeypox complicated with myopericarditis. Management with high-dose NSAIDs and colchicine relieved our patient’s symptoms, suggesting a similar clinical outcome as other idiopathic or virus-related myopericarditis.
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) conveys a worse prognosis in heart failure (HF), in particular when right ventricular (RV) dysfunction ensues. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) non-invasively ...estimates pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), which has shown prognostic value in HF. Importantly, RV to pulmonary artery (PA) coupling is altered early in HF, before significant rise in PV resistance occurs. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic value of mean velocity at the pulmonary artery (mvPA), a novel non-invasive parameter determined by CMR, in HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) with and without associated PH.
Prospective inclusion of 238 patients admitted for new-onset HFrEF. MvPA was measured with CMR during index admission. The primary endpoint was defined as a composite of HF readmissions and all-cause mortality.
During a median follow-up of 25 months, 91 patients presented with the primary endpoint. Optimal cut-off value of mvPA calculated by the receiver operator curve for the prediction of the primary endpoint was 9 cm/s. The primary endpoint occurred more frequently in patients with mvPA≤9 cm/s, as indicated by Kaplan-Meier survival curves; Log Rank 16.0, p < 0.001. Importantly, mvPA maintained its prognostic value regardless of RV function and also when considering mortality and HF readmissions separately. On Cox proportional hazard analysis, reduced mvPA≤9 cm/s emerged as an independent prognostic marker, together with NYHA III-IV/IV class, stage 3-4 renal failure and ischemic cardiomyopathy.
In our HFrEF cohort, mvPA emerged as an independent prognostic indicator independent of RV function, allowing identification of a higher-risk population before structural damage onset. Moreover, mvPA emerged as a surrogate marker of the RV-PA unit coupling status.
Right ventricular (RV) to pulmonary circulation (PC) coupling can stratify prognosis in heart failure (HF). In this study, we assessed the prognostic role of the mean velocity of the pulmonary artery ...(mvPA) determined by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
Inclusion of 58 HFpEF outpatients that underwent CMR with measurement of RV-PC coupling parameters including mvPA between 2016 and 2019. The primary combined endpoint was a composite of HF readmissions and all-cause mortality.
Optimal cut-off value of mvPA calculated by receiver operating curve for the prediction of the primary endpoint was 9 cm/s. Over a median follow-up of 23 months (interquartile range: 24), 21 patients met the primary endpoint. The primary endpoint was more frequent in patients with mvPA ≤ 9 cm/s, as indicated by Kaplan-Meier survival curves; Log-Rank: 9.193,
= 0.02, regardless of RV dysfunction. On Cox multivariate analysis, mvPA ≤ 9 cm/s emerged as an independent prognostic predictor of the primary endpoint (HR: 4.11, 95% CI: 1.28-13.19,
= 0.017), together with left atrial area by CMR (HR: 1.08, 95% CI: 1.01-1.24,
= 0.034).
In our HFpEF cohort, mvPA was associated with a higher rate of the primary endpoint, regardless of RV function, thus enabling identification of patients at higher risk of cardiovascular events before structural damage onset.
Following acute myocardial infarction (MI), cardiomyocyte survival depends on its mitochondrial oxidative capacity. Cell death is normally followed by activation of the immune system. Peroxisome ...proliferator activated receptor γ-coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) is a transcriptional coactivator and a master regulator of cardiac oxidative metabolism. PGC-1α is induced by hypoxia and facilitates the recovery of the contractile capacity of the cardiac muscle following an artery ligation procedure. We hypothesized that PGC-1α activity could serve as a good molecular marker of cardiac recovery after a coronary event. The objective of the present study was to monitor the levels of PGC-1α following an ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) episode in blood samples of the affected patients. Analysis of blood mononuclear cells from human patients following an STEMI showed that PGC-1α expression was increased and the level of induction correlated with the infarct size. Infarct size was determined by LGE-CMR (late gadolinium enhancement on cardiac magnetic resonance), used to estimate the percentage of necrotic area. Cardiac markers, maximum creatine kinase (CK-MB) and Troponin I (TnI) levels, left ventricular ejection function (LVEF) and regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA) as determined by echocardiography were also used to monitor cardiac injury. We also found that PGC-1α is present and active in mouse lymphocytes where its expression is induced upon activation and can be detected in the nuclear fraction of blood samples. These results support the notion that induction of PGC-1α expression can be part of the recovery response to an STEMI and could serve as a prognosis factor of cardiac recovery.
Pulmonary hypertension is associated with poor prognosis in heart failure. However, non-invasive diagnosis is still challenging in clinical practice.
We sought to assess the prognostic utility of ...non-invasive estimation of pulmonary vascular resistances (PVR) by cardiovascular magnetic resonance to predict adverse cardiovascular outcomes in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).
Prospective registry of patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 40% and recently admitted for decompensated heart failure during three years. PVR were calculated based on right ventricular ejection fraction and average velocity of the pulmonary artery estimated during cardiac magnetic resonance. Readmission for heart failure and all-cause mortality were considered as adverse events at follow-up.
105 patients (average LVEF 26.0 ± 7.7%, ischemic etiology 43%) were included. Patients with adverse events at long-term follow-up had higher values of PVR (6.93 ± 1.9 vs. 4.6 ± 1.7 estimated Wood Units (eWu), p < 0.001). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, PVR ≥ 5 eWu(cutoff value according to ROC curve) was independently associated with increased risk of adverse events at 9 months follow-up (HR2.98; 95% CI 1.12-7.88; p < 0.03).
In patients with HFrEF, the presence of PVR ≥ 5.0 Wu is associated with significantly worse clinical outcome at follow-up. Non-invasive estimation of PVR by cardiac magnetic resonance might be useful for risk stratification in HFrEF, irrespective of etiology, presence of late gadolinium enhancement or LVEF.
Abstract Acquired left ventricular-right atrial communication ( Gerbode-type defect) is a rare complication of infective endocarditis. Although transesophageal echocardiography remains the technique ...of choice for the evaluation of complications of endocarditis this case highlights the usefulness of cardiac computed tomography in this scenario, particularly in cases where assessment of coronary anatomy is required before surgery.
Abstract This case shows a rare complication of a migrated atrial lead into the pulmonary artery incidentally detected during a comprehensive evaluation of coronary CT angiography.
At a mean follow-up of 16±15 months, patients with mPAv values < 9cm/s had a significant worse prognosis, independently of RV function, as indicated by Kaplan-Meier survival curves (Figure 1). ......mPAv values < 9cm/s independently predicted cardiovascular events in Cox regression analysis.
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