Mitral Valve Disease Patients Research Articles

Percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion in mitral valve disease: A Nationwide Readmission Database analysis

BackgroundPercutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) has emerged as a non-pharmacologic alternative to oral anticoagulation in reducing stroke risk in AF patients. However, patients with mitral valve disease (MVD), who are expected to have a significantly greater risk of left atrium (LA) thrombus formation and embolic stroke were excluded from randomized trials examining percutaneous LAAO. To address this gap, we present a national registry analysis of the use of LAAO among patients with MVD. MethodsUsing the National Readmissions Database, we performed a retrospective review of all hospitalizations for LAAO identified between September 2015 and November 2019. Of these, patients with ICD-10 codes for MVD were identified. Propensity matched (PSM) analysis was used to compare patients with MVD with a matched sample of patients undergoing LAAO with non-valvular AF. Outcomes examined included all-cause mortality, stroke, major bleeding, pericardial effusion (PE), and tamponade. Results51,540 patients who underwent LAAO without a history of MVD and 3777 with a history of MVD were identified. Crude analysis demonstrated the odds of mortality, PE, and cardiac tamponade during index hospitalization to be higher in the MVD group. The length of stay and cost of index hospitalization were also slightly greater for the MVD group. A sample of 7649 patients (MVD: 3777 MVD and no MVD: 3872) were selected for PSM analysis with similar comorbidities across the two groups. In the PSM comparison, MVD was associated with higher risk of PE. The MVD group had a slightly higher rate of readmissions the association with PE remained at 30-day readmission (OR: 2.099 [1.360–3.238], p-value: <0.001). ConclusionTo our knowledge, this is the first study examining the use of LAAO among MVD patients. Our findings suggest that patients with MVD who underwent LAAO had a higher risk of post-procedural PE without an increase in mortality, stroke, or major bleeding. These results provide a rationale for considering LAAO as part of the stroke prevention strategy among patients with valvular AF.

Prediction of Surgical Approach in Mitral Valve Disease by XGBoost Algorithm Based on Echocardiographic Features.

In this study, we aimed to develop a prediction model to assist surgeons in choosing an appropriate surgical approach for mitral valve disease patients. We retrospectively analyzed a total of 143 patients who underwent surgery for mitral valve disease. The XGBoost algorithm was used to establish a predictive model to decide a surgical approach (mitral valve repair or replacement) based on the echocardiographic features of the mitral valve apparatus, such as leaflets, the annulus, and sub-valvular structures. The results showed that the accuracy of the predictive model was 81.09% in predicting the appropriate surgical approach based on the patient's preoperative echocardiography. The result of the predictive model was superior to the traditional complexity score (81.09% vs. 75%). Additionally, the predictive model showed that the three main factors affecting the choice of surgical approach were leaflet restriction, calcification of the leaflet, and perforation or cleft of the leaflet. We developed a novel predictive model using the XGBoost algorithm based on echocardiographic features to assist surgeons in choosing an appropriate surgical approach for patients with mitral valve disease.

Mitral Annular Disjunction in Mitral Leaflet Prolapse: Prevalence, Clinical Profile and Echocardiographic Features at Tertiary Cardiac Care Centre, Rawalpindi

Objective: To determine the prevalence of Echocardiographically-recognizable Mitral Annular Disjunction in patients of Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease/Mitral Leaflet Prolapse.&#x0D; Study design: Analytical Cross sectional .&#x0D; Place &amp; Duration of study: Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology/National Institute of Heart Disease (AFIC/NIHD),Rawalpindi Pakistan from Jul 2021 to Sep 2021.&#x0D; Methodology: A total (n=45) diagnosed patients of Myxomatous Mitral Valve disease, were included through non-probability consecutive sampling. Mitral Annular Disjunction (MAD) was assessed by 2D TTE imaging as the distance between the point of insertion of the posterior leaflet into the left atrial wall (upper boundary of the disjunction) and the link between the left atrium and the left ventricle myocardium (lower border of the disjunction)at end-systole in parasternal long axis view. A distance equal to or greater than 2mm was used as a threshold for diagnosing the presence of MAD. The data analysis was done with the help of computer software programme SPSS version 24.&#x0D; Results: Total number of patients were 45 patients with males being 32 (71.11%) while females being 13 (28.88%), with a mean age of 30.24 + 5.21 years. MAD was present in 26 (57.8%) of the patients with mean length of 2.88mm + 2.77 mm. Patients with MAD had more chest pain, palpitations and dyspnoea than those without MAD. Mitral regurgitation was more severe in patients with MAD than without. The MAD severity correlated with the presence of Non Sustained Ventricular Tachycardia.&#x0D; Conclusion: MAD is not an uncommon finding in patients having myxomatous mitral valve disease/mitral valve prolapse........

Mitral annular calcification in patients with significant mitral valve disease: An old problem with new solutions.

Mitral annular calcification (MAC) is a chronic process involving mitral valve annulus, linked with an increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Since its first autoptic description, a progressive evolution in diagnostic tools brought cardiac computed tomography (CT) scan to become the gold standard in MAC detection and classification. The treatment of significant mitral valve disease in patients with annular calcifications has always represented an issue for cardiac surgeons, being it linked with an increased risk of atrioventricular groove rupture, circumflex artery injury, or embolism. As a consequence, different surgical techniques have been developed over time in order to reduce the incidence of these fearsome complications. Recently, transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) has emerged as a valid alternative to surgery in high-risk patients. Both hybrid transatrial, transfemoral, or transapical approaches have been described to deliver balloon-expandable or self-expanding aortic transcatheter valves into the calcified annulus, with conflicting early and long-term results. Tendyne (Abbott Structural Heart, Santa Clara, CA, USA) is a promising transapical-delivered option. Early results have shown effectiveness and safety of this device in patients with MAC and severe mitral valve disease, with the lowest rate of embolization, mortality, and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) reported so far.

Prevalence and Hemodynamic Consequences of Mitral Valve Abnormalities in Atrial Septal Defect

Background: Atrial septal defect (ASD) is a common congenital heart disease in adults. Concomitant mitral valve disease in patients with ASD could have significant hemodynamic effects whit a great impact on managing this congenital defect. Objectives: This study evaluated the prevalence of mitral valve abnormalities and the hemodynamic burden associated with different types of ASD. Methods: This retrospective study reanalyzed 1,006 consecutive patients referred to Rajaie Heart Center in Tehran from March 2019 to February 2022. We evaluated adult patients with the diagnosis of a shunt at the atrial level. Diagnoses were made with 2D and 3D transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). 3D analysis was performed with 3D zoom, mitral valve navigation (MVN), and full-volume and multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) modalities. We performed statistical analysis by SPSS version 22.0. The qualitative data were expressed as frequency and percentage. Data were compared between subgroups via Mann-Whitney U/Kruskal-Wallis tests for the interval variables, Pearson's chi-square test for nominal variables, and chi-square for trends test for ordinal variables. Results: The distribution of different ASD types was ostium secundum in 88.8% of cases, primum ASD in 0.9%, SVC-type sinus venosus ASD in 9%, IVC-type sinus venosus in 0.4%, and unroofed coronary sinus in 0.9%. We found mitral valve abnormalities in 21.1% of cases, and the most common mitral valve abnormality were prolaptic lesions (17.4%). Conclusions: Age, ASD size, estimated Systolic Pulmonary Artery Pressure (SPAP), and severity of mitral regurgitation (MR) were markedly higher were markedly higher among patients with MV anomalies, more over left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was significantly lower among this group (P-value &lt; 0.05).

A simple Four- parameter scoring system for predicting post-operative course in Rheumatic Mitral valve disease patients with Pulmonary Artery Hypertension undergoing MVR using SHAP machine-learning analysis

A simple Four- parameter scoring system for predicting post-operative course in Rheumatic Mitral valve disease patients with Pulmonary Artery Hypertension undergoing MVR using SHAP machine-learning analysis

Restricted T-Cell Repertoire in the Epicardial Adipose Tissue of Non-ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients

AimsHuman epicardial adipose tissue, a dynamic source of multiple bioactive factors, holds a close functional and anatomic relationship with the epicardial coronary arteries and communicates with the coronary artery wall through paracrine and vasocrine secretions. We explored the hypothesis that T-cell recruitment into epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) in patients with non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) could be part of a specific antigen-driven response implicated in acute coronary syndrome onset and progression.Methods and ResultsWe enrolled 32 NSTEMI patients and 34 chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and 12 mitral valve disease (MVD) patients undergoing surgery. We performed EAT proteome profiling on pooled specimens from three NSTEMI and three CCS patients. We performed T-cell receptor (TCR) spectratyping and CDR3 sequencing in EAT and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 29 NSTEMI, 31 CCS, and 12 MVD patients. We then used computational modeling studies to predict interactions of the TCR beta chain variable region (TRBV) and explore sequence alignments. The EAT proteome profiling displayed a higher content of pro-inflammatory molecules (CD31, CHI3L1, CRP, EMPRINN, ENG, IL-17, IL-33, MMP-9, MPO, NGAL, RBP-4, RETN, VDB) in NSTEMI as compared to CCS (P < 0.0001). CDR3-beta spectratyping showed a TRBV21 enrichment in EAT of NSTEMI (12/29 patients; 41%) as compared with CCS (1/31 patients; 3%) and MVD (none) (ANOVA for trend P < 0.001). Of note, 11/12 (92%) NSTEMI patients with TRBV21 perturbation were at their first manifestation of ACS. Four patients with the first event shared a distinctive TRBV21-CDR3 sequence of 178 bp length and 2/4 were carriers of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*03:01 allele. A 3D analysis predicted the most likely epitope able to bind HLA-A3*01 and interact with the TRBV21-CDR3 sequence of 178 bp length, while the alignment results were consistent with microbial DNA sequences.ConclusionsOur study revealed a unique immune signature of the epicardial adipose tissue, which led to a 3D modeling of the TCRBV/peptide/HLA-A3 complex, in acute coronary syndrome patients at their first event, paving the way for epitope-driven therapeutic strategies.

Profile of adult patients presenting for rheumatic mitral valve surgery at a tertiary academic hospital.

Peri-operative morbidity and mortality are increased in patients with rheumatic heart disease. Pre-operative risk stratification is imperative for optimisation and a better outcome. This was a descriptive, retrospective, contextual study. A consecutive convenience sampling method was used. Eighty-nine patients who underwent mitral valve surgery at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital between January 2014 and December 2015 were enrolled. The objectives of the study were to describe the demographic profile of the patients presenting for rheumatic mitral valve surgery, describe their peri-operative cardiovascular and echocardiographic parameters, and risk stratify according to their clinical and echocardiographic parameters. Demographic, echocardiographic and laboratory data as well as the cardiovascular examination were analysed. Descriptive statistics using proportions (percentages), means (standard deviations) or medians (interquartile ranges) were used where appropriate. A total of 102 patients were reviewed. Thirteen were excluded due to significant missing data. Of the 89 analysed, all had demographic data, 81 had cardiovascular clinical examination data, 82 had echocardiographic data and 52 had laboratory data. Forty-seven patients presented with mitral regurgitation (MR) and 35 had mitral stenosis (MS). Data included two mixed mitral valve disease patients with predominant regurgitation who were classified under the MR group. In total, 45% (39 patients) had arrhythmias and 49% (42 patients) had congestive cardiac failure at presentation for surgery. The overall mean (SD) pulmonary artery systolic pressure was 57 (20) mmHg and mean (SD) left atrial size was 53 (11) mm. Those with MS presented with mean (SD) mitral valve area of 0.9 (0.2) cm2. Of the analysed MR patients, 51% presented with left ventricular ejection fraction < 60% and 55% with left ventricular end-systolic diameter > 40 mm. Among the analysed MS patients, 59% had mitral valve area < 1 cm2. A substantial number (49% MR and 54% MS) of collected records were not eligible for analysis and stratification using the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology (ACC/AHA) guidelines for valvular heart disease due to missing vital information. Of the 24 MR patients analysed utilising the 2014/2017 AHA/ACC guidelines, 13 had asymptomatic severe MR (stage C) and 11 had symptomatic severe MR (stage D). One patient had progressive MS (stage B), eight had asymptomatic severe MS (stage C) and seven had symptomatic severe MS (stage D). The majority of those who could be stratified presented in stages C and D of disease progression; however, they also presented with concomitant clinical and echocardiographic features that placed them at high risk of perioperative morbidity.

Impact of concomitant tricuspid annuloplasty on right ventricular remodeling in patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease

BackgroundStudies on the management of functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) during mitral valve operations have drawn inconsistent conclusions. This study was designed to compare the treatment strategy of concomitant tricuspid annuloplasty (TAP) against isolated mitral valve replacement (MVR) in rheumatic mitral valve disease patients, and to assess the effect of concomitant TAP on postoperative right ventricular (RV) remodeling and function.MethodsOne hundred-seventy patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease receiving MVR were categorized into TAP group (n = 124) and non-TAP group (n = 46). Clinical and echocardiographic data were collected preoperatively and at 1-year follow-up. Three-dimensional echocardiographic indices of RV geometry and function were analyzed.ResultsAt baseline, concomitant TAP group had larger RV end-diastolic volume, more decreased RV ejection fraction and RV longitudinal strain than non-TAP group (all P < 0.001). At 1-year follow-up, TAP group had improved RV geometry and function. While adverse changes were observed in non-TAP group. In analysis of variance, the above indices demonstrated significant interaction with different treatment group (all P < 0.001). In multivariate regression analysis, independent of age and Maze procedure, concomitant TAP was associated with postoperative RV volume reduction (P < 0.001), improvement of RV ejection fraction (P < 0.001), and relieved postoperative functional TR severity (P = 0.025).ConclusionsOur results suggest that concomitant TAP could improve RV remodeling and function for rheumatic mitral valve disease patients, while those with mild preoperative functional TR who had isolated MVR might experience RV dilation and deterioration of RV function at follow-up. Concomitant surgery for functional TR could be considered for patients undergoing MVR with rheumatic mitral valve disease.

Sinus rhythm voltage fingerprinting in patients with mitral valve disease using a high-density epicardial mapping approach

AimsUnipolar voltage (UV) mapping is increasingly used for guiding ablative therapy of atrial fibrillation (AF) as unipolar electrograms (U-EGMs) are independent of electrode orientation and atrial wavefront direction. This study was aimed at constructing individual, high-resolution sinus rhythm (SR) UV fingerprints to identify low-voltage areas and study the effect of AF episodes in patients with mitral valve disease (MVD).Methods and resultsIntra-operative epicardial mapping (interelectrode distance 2 mm) of the right and left atrium, Bachmann’s bundle (BB), and pulmonary vein area was performed in 67 patients (27 male, 67 ± 11 years) with or without a history of paroxysmal AF (PAF). In all patients, there were considerable regional variations in voltages. UVs at BB were lower in patients with PAF compared with those without [no AF: 4.94 (3.56–5.98) mV, PAF: 3.30 (2.25–4.57) mV, P = 0.006]. A larger number of low-voltage potentials were recorded at BB in the PAF group [no AF: 2.13 (0.52–7.68) %, PAF: 12.86 (3.18–23.59) %, P = 0.001]. In addition, areas with low-voltage potentials were present in all patients, yet we did not find any predilection sites for low-voltage potentials to occur.ConclusionEven in SR, advanced atrial remodelling in MVD patients shows marked inter-individual and regional variation. Low UVs are even present during SR in patients without a history of AF indicating that low UVs should carefully be used as target sites for ablative therapy.

Aortic and mitral flow quantification using dynamic valve tracking and machine learning: Prospective study assessing static and dynamic plane repeatability, variability and agreement.

BackgroundBlood flow is a crucial measurement in the assessment of heart valve disease. Time-resolved flow using magnetic resonance imaging (4 D flow MRI) can provide a comprehensive assessment of heart valve hemodynamics but it relies in manual plane analysis. In this study, we aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of automate the detection and tracking of aortic and mitral valve planes to assess blood flow from 4 D flow MRI.MethodsIn this prospective study, a total of n = 106 subjects were enrolled: 19 patients with mitral disease, 65 aortic disease patients and 22 healthy controls. Machine learning was employed to detect aortic and mitral location and motion in a cine three-chamber plane and a perpendicular projection was co-registered to the 4 D flow MRI dataset to quantify flow volume, regurgitant fraction, and a peak velocity. Static and dynamic plane association and agreement were evaluated. Intra- and inter-observer, and scan-rescan reproducibility were also assessed.ResultsAortic regurgitant fraction was elevated in aortic valve disease patients as compared with controls and mitral valve disease patients (p < 0.05). Similarly, mitral regurgitant fraction was higher in mitral valve patients (p < 0.05). Both aortic and mitral total flow were high in aortic patients. Static and dynamic were good (r > 0.6, p < 0.005) for aortic total flow and peak velocity, and mitral peak velocity and regurgitant fraction. All measurements showed good inter- and intra-observer, and scan-rescan reproducibility.ConclusionWe demonstrated that aortic and mitral hemodynamics can efficiently be quantified from 4 D flow MRI using assisted valve detection with machine learning.

PSU3 Clinical Outcomes and Economics Associated with Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Taiwan

Currently aortic valve replacement is the gold standard treatment for Severe Symptomatic Aortic Valve Disease (SSAVD) and can be performed using 1 of 3 types of valves: mechanical (MV), porcine (PV), and bovine (BV). However, national-based research on mortality and medical resource utilization of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) are lacking in Taiwan. The objective of this study is to understand the clinical outcomes and costs associated with SAVR for each valve type, amongst the Taiwanese population. Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) was used to conduct a retrospective cohort study investigating patients who received an isolated SAVR in Taiwan from 2000 to 2017. 10,725 patients with International Classification of Diseases (ICD) diagnosis codes associated with aortic valve disorders in inpatient care settings whom received a valve replacement were included. Mitral valve disease patients were excluded. We built Kaplan-Meier curves for each group and compared unadjusted survival statistics using Log-rank test. Patients receiving a BV or MV showed lower all-cause mortality rates than those receiving a PV (p<0.001). We subdivided these patients into three age groups (≦50, 51-70 and ≧71) to analyse their mortality rates separately. In all age groups, the mortality rate of patients with BV replacement was lower than PV and MV (p<0.001). PV patients had the highest length of stay in patients between year 2014 to 2017 at 22.6 days (p<0.001); Mean hospital costs in patients receiving a BV were $16,292, versus $18,117 and $18,771 for PV and MV respectively (p<0.001). These findings indicate there are statistically significant differences in key clinical and economic outcomes depending on what type of valve is used to treat SSAVD. Further studies are needed to understand which valve types optimize clinical and economic outcomes.

Mitral Valve Repair in Children Below Age 10 Years: Trouble or Success?

Mitral valve (MV) repair in children is challenging because of the broad spectrum of lesions and anticipated patient growth. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the outcome of MV repair in children below 10 years of age. We reviewed all MV repair procedures performed in children below 10 years of age. Endpoints of the study were survival after MV repair and cumulative incidence of reoperation. MV repair was performed in 40 patients with congenital MV disease (MVD) and in 10 patients with acquired MVD. Median age at time of repair for congenital MVD was 1.2 years (range, 14 days to 9.8 years) and for acquired MVD 1.9 years (range, 10 days to9.9 years). Indication for MV repair was mitral regurgitation in 31 congenital MVD patients (77.5%) and in all acquired MVD patients. In patients with congenital MVD operative mortality was 5% and late mortality was 10%. No deaths occurred in patients with acquired MVD. Patients with congenital mitral regurgitation showed a better, yet not significant, 6-year survival than patients with congenital mitral stenosis (85.3% ± 8.2% vs 60% ± 18.2%, P= .1). In patients with congenital MVD cumulative incidence of reoperation at 6 years was 38.6% ± 8.3%. In children below 10 years of age, MV repair is an effective treatment option for MVD. However it often just delays the time to valve replacement.

Functional tricuspid regurgitation in rheumatic mitral valve disease patients with and without tricuspid annuloplasty: a three-dimensional echocardiography study with one year follow up.

The aim of this study is to analyze the clinical and echocardiographic determinants of functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) before and after surgical intervention of rheumatic mitral valve disease, with focus on effectiveness of different methods of tricuspid valve annuloplasty (TAP). Three-dimensional echocardiographic images were obtained in 170 patients with mitral valve rheumatic disease before and 1year after mitral valve replacement, with and without concomitant TAP. Together with standard cardiac chamber quantification, multiplanar reconstruction images of the tricuspid valve (TV) apparatus were analyzed in the septal-lateral and antero-posterior directions, end-diastolic TV annular diameter, TV tenting height and tenting area were measured. By multivariate logistic regression, septal-lateral TV tenting area (p < 0.001) were independently correlated with preoperative FTR severity while postoperative septal-lateral TV annular diameter (p < 0.001) independently determined residual TR at 1-year follow-up. Both ring and suture TAP groups had postoperative reduction of S-L TV diameters, but isolated MVR group had an 11% increase in S-L TV diameters. Compared with TAP of size 26mm and 28mm rings group, suture TAP group had more common significant residual TR (29% vs. 3%, p = 0.001). Our study demonstrated that ring annuloplasty could provide effective reduction of the TV annulus and prevent postoperative TR progression, and for rheumatic mitral valve disease patients with mild functional TR, prophylactic TAP concomitant with MVR might be considered to address the postoperative TV annulus dilation.

Heart valve operations associated with reduced risk of death from mitral valve disease but other operations associated with increased risk of death: a national population-based case\u2013control study

BackgroundMitral valve disease is the most common heart valve disease worldwide. Heart valve operation is the predominant treatment strategy for heart valve disease. This study analyzed the death risk from heart valve disease with respect to the frequency of heart valve operation and other operations in patients with mitral valve disease.Materials and methodsWe conducted a retrospective nationwide population-based case–control study using a claims dataset from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. The case and control groups enrolled mitral valve disease patients from 2002 to 2013 who had either underwent an heart valve operation procedure or not, respectively. Conditional logistic regression was estimated the odds ratios (ORs) associated with various risk factors for heart valve operation-related death, including other operations and comorbidities.ResultsA total of 25,964 patients with mitral valve disease were recruited for the study and divided into heart valve operation (600 patients) and non-heart valve operation (25,364 patients) groups. After matching, a total of 1800 non-heart valve operation patients were selected for final analysis. Heart valve operation was associated with decreased risk of death (adjusted OR [aOR] 0.439), but operations related to other cardiovascular disease (CVD, aOR 3.691), respiratory conditions (aOR 3.210), and the urinary system (aOR 1.925) were associated with increased risk of death for patients with mitral valve disease. Patients with mitral valve disease and diabetes (aOR 1.505), chronic kidney disease (CKD, aOR 3.760), or emphysema (aOR 2.623) also had a higher risk of death. Patients who underwent more heart valve operations had a lower risk of death from mitral valve disease, but patients who underwent more other operations had a higher risk of death from mitral valve disease.ConclusionsThe death risk for patients with mitral valve disease patients could be lowered by more frequently performing heart valve operations. However, the risk of death is increased for patients with mitral valve disease who more frequently undergo other operations, chiefly those for other CVD system, respiratory conditions, and urinary system, or have comorbidities such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and emphysema.

Left atrial mechanics in moderate mitral valve disease: earlier markers of damage.

While the impairment of left atrial (LA) mechanics in mitral valve disease is well known, the exact onset of reservoir, conduit, and contractile dysfunction in mitral stenosis (MS) and mitral regurgitation (MR) remains unclear. We aimed to clarify the LA deformation mechanics in patients with moderate mitral valve disease. We conducted a prospective observational study of 80 patients with moderate isolated MR, 80 patients with moderate isolated MS, and 64 age-matched controls without mitral valve disease. Strain (ɛ) and strain rate (SR) on speckle tracking echocardiography were assessed as indicators of LA and right atrium (RA) reservoir (ɛsys, SRs), conduit (ɛe, SRe), and contractile (ɛa, SRa) functions. Conventional echocardiographic parameters of the left ventricle (LV) were also assessed. Comparisons were conducted according to mitral valve pathology (MR patients, MS patients, controls). The mean LV ejection fraction, end-diastolic diameter, and global longitudinal strain did not differ across the groups. The pulmonary artery systolic pressure, LA volume indexed to body surface area, and LA mechanics were significantly impaired in mitral valve disease (patients vs controls). While LA ɛ did not vary between MR and MS, MR patients had better LA SRs and SRe but worse SRa (p < 0.01). SRe > - 0.65% had higher specificity for MS, with an area under the curve of 0.85 (p < 0.01). RA mechanics were significantly impaired in mitral valve disease (patients vs controls) but did not vary significantly with disease pathology (MS vs MR). Patients with moderate mitral valve disease exhibit early and pathology-specific changes in the LA deformation mechanics, manifesting mainly as impaired contractile-phase SR in MR and impaired conduit-phase SR in MS. Our findings highlight SR as a potentially useful early marker of LA dysfunction in relation to mitral valve disease.

Erratum to "Identification of atrial fibrillation-associated microRNAs in left and right atria of rheumatic mitral valve disease patients" [Genes Genet. Syst. (2019) 94, p. 23-34

The article appeared in Genes & Genetic Systems Vol. 94, No. 1 (p. 23-34) was listed under the incorrect category. We apologize for this error. The correction is as follows: Incorrect: Mini review Identification of atrial fibrillation-associated microRNAs in left and right atria of rheumatic mitral valve disease patients Yang Yan, Rui Shi, Xiaojiang Yu, Chaofeng Sun, Weijin Zang and Hongyan Tian Correct: Full paper Identification of atrial fibrillation-associated microRNAs in left and right atria of rheumatic mitral valve disease patients Yang Yan, Rui Shi, Xiaojiang Yu, Chaofeng Sun, Weijin Zang and Hongyan Tian.

Mitral annulus calcification: current management and future challenges.

Mitral annulus calcification is a chronic degenerative process in the fibrous base of the mitral valve. Assessment and treatment of mitral valve disease in patients with severe mitral annulus calcification is challenging, and a multimodal approach is helpful to delineate its severity and anatomic features, and to guide the therapeutic strategy. This article reviews the current literature to provide a clinically relevant description of mitral annulus calcification, analyze the diagnostic pathway of a patient with mitral annulus calcification, and summarize the therapeutic options.

Disturbed energy and amino acid metabolism with their diagnostic potential in mitral valve disease revealed by untargeted plasma metabolic profiling.

Mitral valve disease (MVD), including mitral valve regurgitation (MR) and mitral valve stenosis (MS), is a chronic and progressive cardiac malady. However, the metabolic alterations in MVD is not well-understood till now. The current gold standard diagnostic test, transthoracic echocardiography, has limitations on high-throughput measurement and lacks molecular information for early diagnosis of the disease. The present study aimed to investigate the biochemical alterations and to explore their diagnostic potential for MVD. Plasma metabolic profile derangements and their diagnostic potential were non-invasively explored in 34 MR and 20 MS patients against their corresponding controls, using high-throughput NMR-based untargeted metabolomics. Eighteen differential metabolites were identified for MR and MS patients respectively, on the basis of multivariate and univariate data analysis, which were mainly involved in energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, calcium metabolism and inflammation. These differential metabolites, notably the significantly down-regulated formate and lactate, showed high diagnostic potential for MVD by using Spearman's rank-order correlation analysis and ROC analysis. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first one that explores the metabolic derangements and their diagnostic values in MVD patients using metabolomics. The findings indicated that metabolic disturbance occurred in MVD patients, with plasma formate and lactate emerged as important candidate biomarkers for MVD.

Left Atrial Function Assessment in Patients with Rheumatic Mitral Valve Diseases

AbstractBackground: The assessment of Left Atrial (LA) function is used in various cardiovascular diseases. LA plays a com-plementary role in cardiac performance by modulating Left Ventricular (LV) function. Transthoracic two-dimensional (2D) phasic volumes and Doppler echocardiography can measure LA function non-invasively. However, evaluation of LA deformation derived from 2D Speckle Tracking Echocar-diography (STE) is a new feasible and promising approach for assessment of LA mechanics. These parameters are able to detect subclinical LA dysfunction in different pathological condition.Aim of Study: To assess left atrial function by conventional echo Doppler study and tissue Doppler based strain imaging as well as global longitudinal strain in patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease.Patients and Methods: A total of 50 rheumatic mitral valve disease patients appearing consecutively for echocardi-ogram (ECHO) test at the Cardiology Department in a tertiary care hospital were recruited into the study as per the pre-set inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data were pooled using Microsoft Excel and analysed using SPSS software by appli-cation of appropriate statistical tests.Results: Of the 50 subjects, 22 had Mitral Stenosis (MS), 14 had Mitral Regurgitation (MR), and 14 of them were found to have both MS and MR. The major presenting symptom as observed in 23 patients was dyspnea. LA functions were significantly reduced in double mitral lesion group which was observed in LA indices such as LA emptying fraction, LA passive emptying fraction, atrial fraction, and LA expansion index among groups.Conclusion: LA reservoir, conduit and contractile function were significantly affected in rheumatic mitral valve disease due to increased hemodynamic load. Global longitudinal strain was significantly reduced in patients with MS and MR.