Percutaneous closure of symptomatic paravalvular leaks, facilitated by integrated imaging modalities has a high rate of acute and long-term success and appears to be effective in managing symptoms of heart failure and hemolytic anemia.

Aims  Myocardial scar detected by cardiovascular magnetic resonance has been associated with sudden cardiac death in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Certain genetic causes of DCM may cause a malignant arrhythmogenic phenotype. The concepts of arrhythmogenic left ventricular (LV) cardiomyopathy (ALVC) and arrhythmogenic DCM are currently ill-defined. We hypothesized that a distinctive imaging phenotype defines ALVC. Methods and results  Eighty-nine patients with DCM-associated mutations [desmoplakin (DSP) n = 25, filamin C (FLNC) n = 7, titin n = 30, lamin A/C n = 12, bcl2-associated athanogene 3 n = 3, RNA binding motif protein 20 n = 3, cardiac sodium channel NAv1.5 n = 2, and sarcomeric genes n = 7] were comprehensively phenotyped. Clustering analysis resulted in two groups: ‘DSP/FLNC genotypes’ and ‘non-DSP/FLNC’. There were no significant differences in age, sex, symptoms, baseline electrocardiography, arrhythmia burden, or ventricular volumes between the two groups. Subepicardial LV late gadolinium enhancement with ring-like pattern (at least three contiguous segments in the same short-axis slice) was observed in 78.1% of DSP/FLNC genotypes but was absent in the other DCM genotypes (P < 0.001). Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and global longitudinal strain were lower in other DCM genotypes (P = 0.053 and P = 0.015, respectively), but LV regional wall motion abnormalities were more common in DSP/FLNC genotypes (P < 0.001). DSP/FLNC patients with non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) had more LV scar (P = 0.010), whereas other DCM genotypes patients with NSVT had lower LVEF (P = 0.001) than patients without NSVT. Conclusion DSP/FLNC genotypes cause more regionality in LV impairment. The most defining characteristic is a subepicardial ring-like scar pattern in DSP/FLNC, which should be considered in future diagnostic criteria for ALVC.

Paravalvular leak (PVL) is an uncommon yet serious complication associated with surgical prosthetic valve implantation. Paravalvular leak can have significant clinical consequence such as congestive heart failure, haemolytic anaemia, and infective endocarditis. Recently, transcatheter therapy has been applied to the treatment of this disorder with reasonable procedural and clinical success. This review discusses the current state of PVLs, the utilization of multi-modality imaging in their diagnosis and treatment, and the available therapeutic options. Further aim of this review is to examine transcatheter therapy of PVLs including the principles, outcomes, and procedural-related complications.

Background: Cardiac sequelae of past SARS-CoV-2 infection are still poorly documented. We conducted a cross-sectional study in health-care workers to report evidence of pericarditis and myocarditis after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods We studied 139 health-care workers with confirmed past SARS-CoV-2 infection (103 diagnosed by RT-PCR and 36 by serology). Participants underwent clinical assessment, electrocardiography, laboratory tests including immune cell profiling and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. Pericarditis was diagnosed when classical criteria were present, and the diagnosis of myocarditis was based on the updated CMR Lake-Louise-Criteria. Results: Median age was 52 years (IQR 41-57), 100 (72%) were women, and 23 (16%) were previously hospitalized for Covid-19 pneumonia. At examination (10.4 [9.3-11.0] weeks after infection-like symptoms), all participants presented hemodynamic stability. Chest pain, dyspnoea or palpitations were observed in 58 (42%) participants; electrocardiographic abnormalities in 69 (50%); NT-pro-BNP was elevated in 11 (8%); troponin in 1 (1%); and CMR abnormalities in 104 (75%). Isolated pericarditis was diagnosed in 4 (3%) participants, myopericarditis in 15 (11%) and isolated myocarditis in 36 (26%). Participants diagnosed by RT-PCR were more likely to still present symptoms than participants diagnosed by serology (73 [71%] vs 18 [50%]; p=0.027); nonetheless, the prevalence of pericarditis or myocarditis was high in both groups (44 [43%] vs 11 [31%]; p=0.238). Most participants (101 [73%]) showed altered immune cell counts in blood, particularly decreased eosinophil (37 [27%]; p<0.001) and increased CD4-CD8-/loT alpha beta-cell numbers (24 [17%]; p<0.001). Pericarditis was associated with elevated CD4-CD8-/loT alpha beta-cell numbers (p=0.011), while participants diagnosed with myopericarditis or myocarditis had lower (p<0.05) plasmacytoid dendritic cell, NK-cell and plasma cell counts and lower anti-SARS-CoV-2-IgG antibody levels (p=0.027). Conclusions: Pericarditis and myocarditis with clinical stability are frequent long after SARS-CoV-2 infection, even in presently asymptomatic subjects. These observations will probably apply to the general population infected and may indicate that cardiac sequelae might occur late in association with an altered (delayed) innate and adaptative immune response.