Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic that has affected more than 1.8 million people worldwide, overwhelmed health care systems owing to the high proportion of critical presentations, and resulted in more than 100,000 deaths. Since the first data analyses in China, elevated cardiac troponin has been noted in a substantial proportion of patients, implicating myocardial injury as a possible pathogenic mechanism contributing to severe illness and mortality. Accordingly, high troponin levels are associated with increased mortality in patients with COVID-19. This brief review explores the available evidence regarding the association between COVID-19 and myocardial injury.
Background:
Sizing for transcatheter aortic valve implantation in bicuspid aortic valves (BAV) remains controversial.
Methods and Results:
The aim of the BAVARD (Bicuspid Aortic Valve Anatomy and Relationship With Devices) retrospective registry is to capture the sizing ratios used for transcatheter aortic valve implantation in BAV and analyze the second-generation prostheses geometry postimplantation. About 101 patients with BAV along with available pre- and post-transcatheter aortic valve implantation multidetector computed tomography were compared with 88 tricuspid aortic valves (TAV) patients. Preprocedural multidetector computed tomography diagnosed type 0 and type 1 BAV in, respectively, 12.9% and 86.1 % of BAV. At baseline, the ellipticity index was similar between BAV and TAV patients: 1.2±0.1 versus 1.2±0.1,
P
=0.09. The mean annular oversizing was, respectively, 1.14±0.04 and 1.04±0.04,
P
<0.001, in TAV and BAV patients. The mean prosthesis intercommissural distance, ratio was 1.03±0.1. The mean diameter of the prostheses at the annulus matched the mean perimeter-derived diameter of the aortic annulus at baseline with TAV (23.3±2.2 versus 23.6±1.9,
P
=0.4) and was smaller with BAV (24±2.8 versus 26.8±3.1,
P
<0.01), confirming 11% underexpansion in BAV. Finally, in situ, prosthesis diameter and ellipticity followed the same pattern, with stable values from the distal edge to 12 mm above, in both groups.
Conclusions:
Second-generation prostheses similarly reshape the aortic annulus in TAV and BAV. Prostheses keep consistent diameters from distal edge to 12 mm in TAV and BAV. Prosthesis underexpansion is constantly observed in BAV. Annular-based sizing is accurate in BAV with minimal oversizing. The intercommissural distance, 4 mm above the annulus, could be integrated in gray zones.
Clinical Trial Registration:
URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier: NCT03495050.
TAVR for pure NAVR remains a challenging condition, with old-generation THVs being associated with THV embolization and migration and significant paravalvular regurgitation. Newer generation THVs show more promising outcomes. For those patients with severe AR due to failing SHVs, TAVR is a valuable therapeutic option.
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