Background Coronary flow compromise is a significant risk of transcatheter aortic valve therapy. Warranting preservation of coronary flow is even more challenging with transcatheter aortic valve re-intervention since the implantation of a transcatheter valve within a degenerated bioprosthetic or transcatheter valve increases significantly this hazard. Case summary We present a case of heart failure secondary to transcatheter aortic valve degeneration requiring a transcatheter aortic valve re-intervention. Pre-operative imaging studies demonstrated a high risk for iatrogenic coronary flow impairment. The patient underwent a successful surgical removal of the prosthetic valve leaflets followed by direct transcatheter aortic valve implantation. Conclusion We reviewed the literature on the approach to difficult coronaries in transcatheter aortic valve therapy, and we describe an innovative hybrid approach that may represent a viable alternative in cases where catheter techniques of coronary flow preservation are not applicable.

Left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) is a cardiomyopathy characterized by prominent trabeculae and deep intertrabecular recesses in communication with the ventricular cavity. LVNC affects up to 1.3% of the population and is responsible for 3-4% of all heart failure syndromes. CASE PRESENTATION: A 76-year-old male presented to the emergency department due to increasing dyspnea. He endorsed lower extremity swelling and orthopnea. He was tachypneic and hypoxemic. Lung auscultation revealed bibasilar crackles. Bilateral pitting pedal edema was noted. BNP was elevated at 861 pg/mL and troponins were elevated at 0.6 ng/L. Electrocardiogram demonstrated normal sinus rhythm with T-wave inversions in the inferolateral leads. Chest radiograph showed cardiomegaly, vascular congestion and bilateral pleural effusions suggestive of congestive heart failure syndrome. Transthoracic echocardiogram revealed left ventricular ejection fraction of 25-30%. Prominent trabeculae and deep interventricular recesses were noted, concerning for LVNC. Coronary angiography showed moderate nonobstructive coronary artery disease without need for percutaneous coronary intervention. His clinical condition improved with diuretic therapy, blood pressure control, and initiation of guideline-directed medical therapy. During his hospitalization, telemetry captured 6 beats of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia. Lifevest was placed to evaluate need for ICD implantation after optimization of medical therapy. He was scheduled for follow up echocardiogram in 3 months and counseled on the need for family screening.

BackgroundThe ECG diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) has been challenging for over a hundred years. ECG diagnosis of LVH has shown good specificity but lacks sensitivity. In addition, voltage-based criteria can be affected by multiple conditions such as obesity and chronic lung disease. Therefore, we sought to compare Romhilt-Estes (R-E) criteria with commonly used voltage-based criteria in presumptive ECG diagnosis of LVH. MethodsThis is a retrospective electronic medical record study from September 1, 2017, to September 1, 2018, of 499 consecutive ECGs from Boca Raton Regional Hospital. Different ECG criteria were used to identify the presence of LVH, including the Cornell criteria, modified Cornell criteria, Sokolow-Lyon criteria, and Romhilt-Estes criteria. The main study outcome was to compare the R-E criteria in presumptive ECG diagnosis of LVH to the voltage-based criteria (Cornell, modified Cornell, and Sokolow-Lyon). ResultsAfter analyzing the ECGs using the different ECG criteria, R-E criteria were positive with LVH present (score ≥ 5 points) in 162 patients. In contrast, Cornell criteria were positive in 42 patients (8.4%), modified Cornell criteria in 50 patients (10%), and Sokolow-Lyon criteria in 13 patients (2.6%). In addition, R-E criteria showed higher positivity of LVH diagnosis compared to the sum of three voltage-based criteria (32.7% versus 21% respectively, p<0.001). ConclusionWe presume that R-E criteria can help better diagnose LVH by ECG compared to other commonly-used voltage-based criteria. However, further studies are needed using confirmatory imaging to confirm the accuracy of R-E criteria and compare it with other voltage based-criteria.

Prosthetic valve endocarditis after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a rare complication associated with a high mortality rate. Nonetheless, the rapid expansion of TAVI in recent years has proportionally increased the number of patients exposed to the risk of developing transcatheter valve infection. A 71-year-old female with recent history of TAVI was diagnosed with prosthetic valve obstruction secondary to endocarditis. The characteristics of clinical presentation of endocarditis in the balloon-expandable transcatheter valve and the intra-operative findings are discussed with a review of the literature and tips of management.

No abstract