Alda Huqi

Background/Aim: Cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) predict cardiotoxicity in cancer patients but their role in late cardiac toxicity is less clear. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of patients treated with anthracyclines (A) and/or trastuzumab (T) and a correlation with early (≤5 years) or late (>5 years) cardiac toxicity, and baseline CVRFs and CVRFs at toxicity time. Results: A total of 610 patients were included, 422 with (Group A) and 188 without (Group B) baseline CVRFs. In group A toxicity incidence was 4.7% with all events during treatment or immediately after [mean onset time 0.7 years (range=0.2-1.6)]. Events rate was 3.2% in group B with all events after five years [mean time onset 6.9 years (range=5.2-7.5)]. All group B patients who developed late cardiac toxicity presented with CVRFs at the time of toxicity not reported before. Conclusion: CVRFs could predict late cardiac toxicity and their control should be part of the survivorship program.

Stress echocardiography (SE) is an established diagnostic technique. For 40 years, the cornerstone of the technique has been the detection of regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA), due to the underlying physiologically-relevant epicardial coronary artery stenosis. In the last decade, three new parameters (more objective than RWMA) have shown the potential to integrate and complement RWMA: 1) B-lines, also known as ultrasound lung comets, as a marker of extravascular lung water, measured using lung ultrasound with the 4-site simplified scan symmetrically of the antero-lateral thorax on the third intercostal space, from mid-axillary to anterior axillary and mid-clavicular line; 2) left ventricular contractile reserve (LVCR). assessed as the peak stress/rest ratio of left ventricular force, also known as elastance (systolic arterial pressure by cuff sphygmomanometer/end-systolic volume from 2D echocardiography); 3) coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) on left anterior descending coronary artery, calculated as peak stress/rest ratio of diastolic peak flow velocity assessed using pulsed-wave Doppler. The 4 parameters (RWMA, B-lines, LVCR and CFVR) now converge conceptually, logistically, and methodologically in the Integrated Quadruple (IQ)-SE. IQ-SE optimizes the versatility of SF, to include in a one stop shop the core "ABCD" (asynergy+B-lines+contractile reserve+Doppler flowmetry) protocol. It allows a synoptic assessment of parameters mirroring the epicardial artery stenosis (RWMA), interstitial lung water (B-lines), myocardial function (LVCR) and small coronary vessels (CFVR). Each variable has a clear clinical correlate, different and complementary to all others: RWMA identify an ischemic vs. non-ischemic heart; B-lines a wet vs dry lung; LVCR a strong vs. weak heart; CFVR a warm vs. cold heart. IQ-SE is highly feasible, with minimal increase in the imaging and analysis time, and obvious diagnostic and prognostic impact also beyond coronary artery disease - especially in heart failure. Large scale effectiveness studies with IQ-SE are now under way with the Stress Echo 2020 Study, and will provide the necessary evidence base prior to large scale acceptance of the technique.

A dramatic increase in cardiac fatty acid oxidation occurs following birth. However, cardiac hypertrophy secondary to congenital heart diseases (CHDs) delays this process, thereby decreasing cardiac energetic capacity and function. Cardiac lysine acetylation is involved in modulating fatty acid oxidation. We thus investigated what effect cardiac hypertrophy has on protein acetylation during maturation. Eighty-four right ventricular biopsies were collected from CHD patients and stratified according to age and the absence ( n = 44) or presence of hypertrophy ( n = 40). A maturational increase in protein acetylation was evident in nonhypertrophied hearts but not in hypertrophied hearts. The fatty acid β-oxidation enzymes, long-chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase (LCAD) and β-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase (βHAD), were hyperacetylated and their activities positively correlated with their acetylation after birth in nonhypertrophied hearts but not hypertrophied hearts. In line with this, decreased cardiac fatty acid oxidation and reduced acetylation of LCAD and βHAD occurred in newborn rabbits subjected to cardiac hypertrophy due to an aortocaval shunt. Silencing the mRNA of general control of amino acid synthesis 5-like protein 1 reduced acetylation of LCAD and βHAD as well as fatty acid oxidation rates in cardiomyocytes. Thus, hypertrophy in CHDs prevents the postnatal increase in myocardial acetylation, resulting in a delayed maturation of cardiac fatty acid oxidation.

Treatment goals for people with chronic angina should focus on the relief of symptoms and improving mortality rates so the patient can feel better and live longer. The traditional haemodynamic approach to ischaemic heart disease was based on the assumption that increasing oxygen supply and decreasing oxygen demand would improve symptoms. However, data from clinical trials, show that about one third of people continue to have angina despite a successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and medical therapy. Moreover, several trials on chronic stable angina therapy and revascularisation have failed to show benefits in terms of primary outcome (survival, cardiovascular death, all-cause mortality), symptom relief or echocardiographic parameters. Failure to significantly improve quality of life and prognosis may be attributed in part to a limited understanding of ischaemic heart disease, by neglecting the fact that ischaemia is a metabolic disorder. Shifting cardiac metabolism from free fatty acids towards glucose is a promising approach for the treatment of patients with stable angina, independent of the underlying disease (macrovascular and/or microvascular disease). Cardiac metabolic modulators open the way to a greater understanding of ischaemic heart disease and its common clinical manifestations as an energetic disorder rather than an imbalance between the demand and supply of oxygen and metabolites.

AIM: Appropriateness of use criteria (AUC) for transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) provide a simple and practical approach to avoid unneeded testing. METHODS: We collected and analyzed consecutive requests and corresponding reports for TTE in an Italian University Hospital. RESULTS: 500 echocardiographic request and related reports were collected. The mean age was 56 years old with 305 (61%) males. 19% of patients had TTE due to shortness of breath. Inappropriate indications account about 11% of the overall population. 30% of all studies were evaluated as normal 54% as major TTE findings and 16% showed minor TTE findings. CONCLUSION: Application of AUC would improve money expenditure. Understand if our country is going into the right direction is mandatory

Background: Diabetic patients with negative vasodilator stress echo (SE) by wall motion criteria may still suffer intermediate risk (“a wolf in sheep's clothing”). A blunted left ventricular contractile reserve (LVCR) or a reduced coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) may identify troublemakers in the long - run missed by regional wall motion abnormalities.