International journal of cardiology
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Survival from cardiac arrest is a medical success but simultaneously produces psychological challenges related to perception of safety and threat. The current study evaluated symptoms of cardiac-specific anxiety in sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survivors and examined predictors of cardiac anxiety secondary to cardiac arrest. ⋯ SCA survivors endorse high levels of cardiac-specific fear, avoidance and preoccupation with cardiac symptoms. Successful management of SCA patients requires attention to anxiety about cardiac functioning and security.
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Observational Study
Right anterior mini-thoracotomy direct aortic self-expanding trans-catheter aortic valve implantation: A single center experience.
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has been designed to treat elderly patients with severe aortic stenosis at high risk for surgery. These patients are also often affected by severe iliac-femoral arteriopathy, rendering the trans-femoral approach unusable. We report our experience with the direct-aortic approach to treat these patients. ⋯ Transcatheter aortic valve implantation with the direct aortic approach is safe and feasible, offering a new attractive option to treat selected high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis and peripheral vasculopathy, including those requiring a re-do procedure.
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Obese patients with chronic Heart Failure (HF) have better outcome than their lean counterparts, although little is known about the pathophysiology of this obesity paradox. Our aim was to evaluate the hypothesis that patients with chronic HF and obesity (defined as body mass index (BMI)≥30kg/m(2)), may have an attenuated neurohormonal activation in comparison with non-obese patients. ⋯ Patients with chronic HF and obesity have significantly lower sympathetic activation. This finding may partially explain the obesity paradox described in chronic HF patients.
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Hypertension is one of the most prevalent cardiovascular disorders in athletes. The aims of our study were to assess the impact of elevated blood pressure (BP) on exercise capacity in athletes and evaluate the differences in left ventricular structure and function. ⋯ Even in the absence of structural or functional heart damage, elevated BP in elite athletes, together with the presence of autonomic dysfunction, leads to decrease in exercise capacity. Staging of hypertension according to the BP level, on the one hand, and reflexion of BP on cardiopulmonary capacity, on the other, may be coupled for further risk stratification.