Pericardiocentesis guided by echocardiography performed in echocardiography laboratory - Safety profile of the single centre prospective registry

Wael El-Husseini, Alena Pravečková, Radka Kočková, Tomáš Marek, Petr Frídl, Josef Kautzner

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):e239-e244 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2015.07.001  

Introduction: Pericardiocentesis is an invasive procedure for treatment of large pericardial effusion or cardiac tamponade and for diagnostics of pericardial effusion of unknown origin. Fluoroscopy navigation has been the preferred method during last decades. Nevertheless, new imaging methods such as echocardiography emerged as an alternative guiding method for pericardiocentesis. These methods may improve safety of the procedure.Methods: All consecutive pericardiocenteses performed in noninvasive cardiology department of a tertiary cardiovascular centre during the period between 1998 and 2012 were prospectively recorded. We focused on the procedural...

The influence of catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation on renal function and renal arteries

Jana Kypusová, Otakar Jiravský, Igor Nykl, Gabriela Rappová, Marian Branny

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):e245-e250 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2015.05.014  

Objective: Currently investigated non-pharmacological minimally invasive method for the treatment of resistant hypertension is percutaneous denervation of renal sympathetic nerve fibres by radiofrequency catheter-based ablation. We assessed its influence on renal function and renal arteries.Methods: The first 38 patients treated with catheter-based renal denervation at our centre between September 2011 and December 2012 were included in the study. Changes in renal function and changes in renal artery morphology at 12 months after the procedure have been analyzed.Results: Mean age was 57.6 ± 11 years, the majority (63.9%) were men. Average...

Assessment of the acute impact of normobaric hypoxia as a part of an intermittent hypoxic training on heart rate variability

Zdravko Taralov, Kiril Terziyski, Peter Dimov, Blagoi Marinov, Mika P. Tarvainen, Renza Perini, Stefan Kostianev

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):e251-e256 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2015.05.010  

Aim: To assess the dynamics of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) by means of heart rate variability (HRV) during and after acute exposure to normobaric hypoxia, representing a single session of an intermittent hypoxic training protocol.Material and methods: Twenty four healthy males aged 28.0 ± 7.2 (mean ± SD) breathed hypoxic air (FIO2 = 12.3 ± 1.5%) for one hour delivered via hypoxicator (AltiPro 8850 Summit+, Altitude Tech, Canada). Pulse oximetry and HRV were measured before, during and after the hypoxic exposure.Results: At the end of the hypoxic session all of the tested subjects had higher low frequency (lnLF) (6.9...

The possibility of reducing the Lp-PLA2 mass level using simvastatin monotherapy and combination therapy with ezetimibe

Sofia Vladimirovna Miklishanskaya, Tatyana N. Vlasik, Gregory I. Kheimets, Valeriy V. Kukharchuk

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):e257-e264 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2015.03.012  

Aim: To assess the impact of combined treatment with simvastatin and ezetimibe or treatment with simvastatin only on lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 mass level in patients with coronary heart disease.Methods: One hundred patients with angiographically documented coronary atherosclerosis took part in the investigation. Lp-PLA2 mass level and cholesterol fractions were determined at baseline and after 6 months of treatment. Lp-PLA2 mass was determined by PLAC Test; DiaDexus, Inc.Results: Combined treatment with ezetimibe and simvastatin led to significantly greater declines in Lp-PLA2 and lipid profile compared with treatment only with...

Surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation as a concomitant cardiac surgery procedure. A single-centre study with 1-year follow-up

Lukáš Mach, Vladimír Horváth, Eva Jakubcová, Katarína Kovačičová, Zdenko Kasáč, Petr Němec, Tomáš Konečný, Marek Orban

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):e323-e328 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2015.03.003  

Introduction: Surgical ablation procedures have been shown to be effective in treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), but convincing evidence showing relationship between clinical confounders, surgical technique and intermediate-to-long term outcomes is still lacking. Therefore we conducted a retrospective single-centre database study to identify predictors of sinus rhythm (SR) maintenance at 12 months after surgery with insights into standard medical care provided by general practitioners and/or outpatient cardiologists in the setting of a newly introduced method.Methods: Data from consecutive 376 patients, who underwent heart surgery which included...

Gender disparity impact on the vascular calcification and pericardial fat volume in patients with suspected coronary artery disease

Hussein Nafakhi, Abdulameer A. Al-Mosawi, Hasan A. Al-Nafakh, Ahmed A. Nafakhi

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):e265-e269 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2015.05.002  

Background: There is no consensus in the literature on the influence of gender on the correlations between coronary artery calcification (CAC) with aortic root calcification (ARC) and pericardial fat volume (PFV).Objective: To investigate the impact of gender on the correlations between PFV, CAC and ARC in Iraqi patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) assessed by multi-detector CT (MDCT).Methods: One hundred thirty consecutive Iraqi patients with intermediate pretest probability of ischemic heart disease who underwent MDCT examination for assessment of CAD were recruited between January and December 2014. Of these, 111 patients...

Comparison of ESC Guidelines 2008 and 2014 - Diagnostic and treatment of acute pulmonary embolism

Michael Aschermann, Jiří Widimský

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):e270-e274 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2015.05.013  

The new revised ESC Guidelines focusing on clinical management of pulmonary embolism have been published in 2014 October issue of EHJ, and it represents current knowledge in respect of optimal diagnosis, assessment and treatment of patients with PE. Czech Society of Cardiology prepared shortened version of the new guidelines, which is published in this issue of Cor et Vasa. In our manuscript we focused on the most important differences between these two guidelines: Recently identified predisposing factors for venous thromboembolism, simplification of clinical prediction rules, age-adjusted D-dimer cut-offs, subsegmental pulmonary embolism, incidental,...

Summary of the 2014 ESC Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of aortic diseases: Prepared by the Czech Society of Cardiology

Josef Šťásek, Petr Němec, Jiří Vítovec

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):e297-e319 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2015.05.001  

2014 ESC Guidelines on the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism. Summary document prepared by the Czech Society of Cardiology

Richard Rokyta, Martin Hutyra, Pavel Jansa

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):e275-e296 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2015.05.009  

Can amyotrophic lateral sclerosis chronically elevate troponin T?

Lukáš Mach, Tomáš Konečný, Allan S. Jaffe, Eric J. Sorenson, Guy S. Reeder

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):e320-e322 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2014.12.006  

A 57-year-old woman with progressive amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) presented repeatedly with atypical chest pain over a period of 4 years. Her initially normal cardiac troponin T (cTnT) value became progressively elevated during subsequent visits in the absence of clinically overt heart disease, and in the absence of alternative explanations for cTnT elevation. In this one patient there appeared to be a relationship between her rising levels of cTnT and increasing severity of ALS.

Darja Jarošová, Renáta Zeleníková: Ošetřovatelství založené na důkazech. Evidence Based Nursing

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):484  

Jan Václavík

Jan Václavík

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):485-486  

Fibrilace síní: argumenty pro použití NOAC v primární i sekundární prevenci jsou velmi silné

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):481-482  

Zápis ze schůze výboru ČKS konané 17. února 2015 v Praze

P. Widimský, T. Bracková, L. Klímová

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):489-490  

Zápis ze schůze výboru ČKS konané 21. dubna 2015 v Praze

P. Widimský, T. Bracková, L. Klímová

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):491-492  

Jan Janoušek a kolektiv: EKG a dysrytmie v dětském věku

Prof. MUDr. Jan Petrášek, DrSc.

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):483  

Editorial Board

Editorial board

Cor Vasa 2015, 57(4):i | DOI: 10.1016/S0010-8650(15)00075-2