Current cardiology reports
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Review
A Bridge to Nowhere? Benefits and Risks for Periprocedural Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation.
In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), oral anticoagulation is used to prevent stroke and systemic embolism. In a common clinical scenario, AF patients frequently undergo invasive procedures requiring temporary interruption of oral anticoagulation, thereby potentially exposing such patients to increased risk of thromboembolism. Bridging anticoagulation has been used clinically to mitigate this perceived thromboembolic risk, though this practice may also increase risk of periprocedural bleeding. ⋯ We discuss recent results from the BRIDGE trial and secondary analyses from recent phase 3 randomized clinical trials of direct-acting oral anticoagulant (DOAC) use in non-valvular AF, that inform periprocedural anticoagulation with bridging strategies in AF patients. Updated data from these current trials favor against a strategy of bridging anticoagulation for elective procedures in the majority of AF patients, low or moderate in thromboembolic risk. Bridging anticoagulation is associated with an increased risk of bleeding and no decreased risk of thromboembolism.
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Recurrent pericarditis is one of the most troublesome complications of pericarditis occurring in about one third of patients with a previous attack of pericarditis. The pathogenesis is presumed to be autoimmune and/or autoinflammatory in most cases. The mainstay of therapy for recurrences is physical restriction and anti-inflammatory therapy based on aspirin or NSAID plus colchicine. ⋯ After failure of all options of medical therapy or for those patients who do not tolerate medical therapy or have serious adverse events related to medical therapy, the last possible option is the surgical removal of the pericardium. Total or radical pericardiectomy is recommended in these cases in experienced centers performing this surgery. A stepwise approach is recommended starting from NSAID and colchicine, corticosteroid and colchicine, a combination of the three options (NSAID, colchicine and corticosteroids), then azathioprine, IVIG, or anakinra as last medical options before pericardiectomy.
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Shared decision-making, central to evidence-based medicine and good patient care, begins and ends with the patient. It is the process by which a clinician and a patient jointly make a health decision after discussing options, potential benefits and harms, and considering the patient's values and preferences. Patient empowerment is crucial to shared decision-making and occurs when a patient accepts responsibility for his or her health. ⋯ Patient empowerment begins with the provider acknowledging that patients are ultimately in control of their care and aims to increase a patient's capacity to think critically and make autonomous, informed decisions about their health. This article explores the various components of shared decision-making in scenarios such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia, heart failure, and diabetes. It explores barriers and the potential for improving medication adherence, disease awareness, and self-management of chronic disease.
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Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common primary valve disorder in the elderly with an increasing prevalence; transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become an accepted alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR) in the high risk or inoperable patient. Appropriate selection of patients for TAVI is crucial and requires a multidisciplinary approach including cardiothoracic surgeons, interventional cardiologists, anaesthetists, imaging experts and specialist nurses. Multimodality imaging including echocardiography, CT and MRI plays a pivotal role in the selection and planning process; however, echocardiography remains the primary imaging modality used for patient selection, intra-procedural guidance, post-procedural assessment and long-term follow-up. The contribution that contemporary transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography make to the selection and planning of TAVI is described in this article.
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Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has become an alternative to surgical intervention for symptomatic or severe aortic valve stenosis in patients with high surgical risk. Successful TAVR requires a multimodality imaging approach for appropriate patient selection and prosthesis sizing. ⋯ To date, echocardiography remains the traditional test for determining patient candidacy and prosthesis selection, but computed tomography (CT) has been taking on an increasingly important role in the evaluation of both the aortic root anatomy and aortoiliofemoral vessels as a single examination. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is useful in grading the severity of aortic stenosis and should be considered a reasonable alternative to CT for the evaluation of the aortic annulus, e.g., when the administration of contrast media is contraindicated.