Most Recent

A substantial proportion of cardiovascular (CV) events occurs in individuals without previously diagnosed CV disease, underscoring the need for improved primary prevention strategies. Traditional risk scores provide probabilistic estimates but fail t...

Background: Refractory cardiac arrest, cardiogenic shock, and severe acute respiratory failure remain associated with substantial mortality despite advances in advanced life support and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Transportable ECMO p...

Aim: To investigate self-care behaviors and their associated factors in adult patients with congenital heart disease. Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: This study was conducted among 225 adult patients with congenital heart disease. Data on d...

Background/Objectives: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), a visceral fat depot located between the myocardium and the visceral pericardium, has emerged as a potential imaging biomarker of cardiometabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular health. This stud...

Background: An aorto-right ventricular fistula (ARVF) secondary to membranous septum rupture is an exceptionally rare complication after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). While sutureless prostheses such as the Perceval valve have gained wide...

Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability and mortality worldwide, and approximately 87% of cases are acute ischemic stroke (AIS). For patients with AIS, rapid administration of reperfusion therapy within the therapeutic time window remains t...

Objective: Kawasaki disease (KD) is characterized as an acute systemic vasculitis predominantly affecting young children, with coronary artery lesions (CALs) representing the most serious complication. Therapeutic resistance to intravenous immunoglob...

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with adverse outcomes after heart transplantation (HT). In 2022, the European Society of Cardiology introduced lower thresholds for pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) to distinguish isolated post-capillary P...

In many countries, patients’ access to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is limited by reimbursement issues or delayed admission to heart valve centers, thus increasing the risk of adverse events in wait-listed patients. The TAVI A...

Background: Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) are at markedly increased risk of infective endocarditis (IE); however, data comparing clinical characteristics and outcomes in surgically treated IE patients with and without CHD remain limited....

Background: Immune dysregulation and clinical immunosuppression are biologically plausible contributors to thoracic aortic wall vulnerability through endothelial injury, protease-mediated extracellular matrix remodeling, vascular smooth muscle cell d...

Background: Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium with multiple causes and evolutions. The aim of our study was to design a prognostic multiparametric score in patients with myocarditis, to identify those at higher risk of cardiova...

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) are major causes of morbidity and mortality. Systemic inflammation contributes to both, suggesting potential benefit from colchicine, though data in...

Arterial wall fragility represents a unifying pathophysiological substrate underlying a broad spectrum of aortic diseases, including aneurysms, dissections, intramural hematoma, penetrating atherosclerotic ulcers, and aortitis. Rather than distinct e...

Background: Although less frequently encountered, aortic valve stenosis is associated with complications separate from its hemodynamic burdens, such as infective endocarditis. Case Summary: We report the case of a 77-year-old female patient with regu...

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a significant health burden worldwide. One of the key pathological processes underlying CVD is thrombosis–the formation of a blood clot (thrombus) within the blood vessel. Thrombus composition typically includ...

Recurrent pericarditis (RP) remains challenging, especially in tuberculosis (TB)-endemic regions where empirical anti-TB therapy is often unnecessarily prolonged. We report a 35-year-old woman with three RP episodes over six months, presenting with p...

Background: Interventional occlusion procedures for congenital heart disease (CHD) carry the risk of complications requiring reintervention, yet predictive factors remain unclear. Methods: This retrospective case–control study included patients...

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) contributes significantly to global mortality. Its burden is rising, but regional differences remain. We assessed AF prevalence, incidence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and risk factors in th...

Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence and cardiac CT features of inferior left atrial diverticula (ILAD) communicating with the right atrium (RA) or inferior vena cava (IVC), a novel type of interatrial communication. Materials and Methods: This retros...

Objective: The prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) continues to rise, and there is a lack of methods for early detection. To identify biomarkers for CHD, we analyzed the CACNA2D1 protein concentration in patients with different degrees of coro...

Background: Atherosclerosis preferentially develops at arterial regions exposed to low shear stress (LSS), highlighting the critical role of local hemodynamic forces in disease initiation and progression. Emerging evidence indicates that endothelial...

The influence of COVID-19 infection on the association between ABO blood groups and early outcomes in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) remains uncertain. We conducted a retrospective, single-center cohort study including adult patients adm...

Heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome characterized by structural or functional cardiac abnormalities that impair ventricular filling or ejection, leading to inadequate systemic perfusion and elevated intracardiac pressures. Current epidemiologic...

The association of a major aortopulmonary collateral artery (MAPCA) with simple transposition of the great arteries (TGA) is uncommon. Such high-flow lesions in the postoperative period following arterial switch operation (ASO) may lead to pulmonary...

Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is a persistent organic pollutant linked in epidemiological studies to increased coronary artery disease (CAD) risk, higher LDL-cholesterol, hypertension, and other adverse outcomes. However, the mechanisms by whic...

Background: This study aimed to develop and validate a machine learning model to predict postoperative complications in pediatric simple congenital heart disease (CHD) patients undergoing right vertical infra-axillary incision (RVIAI). Methods: A ret...

Background. Atherosclerosis is a long-standing process that starts in childhood and leads to a number of major adverse cardiovascular events in adulthood. It is therefore crucial that children at potential risk of atherosclerosis-related harmful cons...

(1) Background and Objectives: Current risk stratification strategies for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD) have limited sensitivity and specificity. Artificial intelligence (AI) applied to electrocardiograms (ECGs) has emerged as a pr...

Transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis is a systemic, progressive, and fatal disease. TTR is integral in vitamin A (retinol) transport via its binding to retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4). Current and emerging therapies for TTR amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-C...

Background: Post-sternotomy mediastinitis remains a devastating complication of cardiac surgery. Although most cases are bacterial, fungal mediastinitis due to Candida albicans is rare, aggressive, and particularly difficult to treat because of biofi...

The coarctation of the aorta is a congenital anomaly characterized by a local narrowing of the aortic lumen localized near the ductus arteriosus. Typically diagnosed in childhood, but it can remain until symptoms become evident. This aortic anomaly c...

Background: Carotid contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) provides a noninvasive means of assessing plaque vulnerability and may reflect the systemic burden of atherosclerosis. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of carotid CEUS cha...

Aspirin has been the default backbone of antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for over two decades, anchored by landmark trials that established 12-month dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) as the standard of care. Three d...

Background: This study investigated the role of lymphocyte-based inflammatory indices (LBIIs) in predicting severe coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients undergoing coronary angiography (CAG) for unstable angina pectoris (USAP). Methods: Records o...

Background: A physically active lifestyle is crucial for long-term cardiovascular health; however, access to supervised exercise programs for children and adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD) remains limited. Although prior digital exercis...

In its three decades of existence, cardiovascular computed tomography (CT) has profoundly transformed patient assessment and established itself as one of the most recommended non-invasive imaging modalities in contemporary cardiology and radiology pr...

Background: Post-infarction heart failure (HF) remains a major contributor to morbidity and mortality despite advances in reperfusion and pharmacological management. However, the combined influence of clinical background, myocardial injury, neuro-hor...

Scimitar syndrome is a rare congenital cardiopulmonary anomaly with marked anatomical and clinical heterogeneity, and long-term outcome data remain limited. We reviewed our single-center experience over a 33-year period. Patients evaluated between 19...

(1) Aim: The incidence of high-altitude pulmonary hypertension (HAPH) has risen in recent years and is expected to continue increasing; however, its diagnosis remains challenging. In this study, we employed proteomics and metabolomics to identify the...

Background: Recent studies have shown that catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation leads to an improvement in mortality and a reduction in hospitalization in patients with end-stage heart failure. It is therefore hypothesized that in an end-stage he...

Patients with left ventricular dysfunction undergoing cardiac surgery face a heightened risk of perioperative complications, including postcardiotomy shock (PCS). Conventional management with inotropes and vasopressors can exacerbate end-organ dysfun...

Background: the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) remain incompletely understood. Inflammation may play a pivotal role by promoting vascular susceptibility to SCAD. This study aimed to evaluate per...

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) has shown promise in the interpretation of electrocardiograms (ECGs) using signal-based deep learning models. In parallel, large language models (LLMs) have gained increasing visibility in clinical practice, i...

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an important non-atherosclerotic cause of acute coronary syndrome, predominantly affecting younger women without traditional cardiovascular risk factors. In hemodynamically stable patients, accumulatin...

Background: Reintervention after mitral valve repair represents a relevant clinical challenge, yet the mechanisms and timing of repair failure remain incompletely defined. Understanding how the interval between index repair and reoperation affects fa...

The management of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) has been transformed by the advent of cardiac myosin inhibitors (CMIs), such as mavacamten and aficamten. Unlike traditional pharmacotherapy, which primarily addresses symptoms, CMIs tar...

(1) Background: Exercise intolerance is a nearly ubiquitous consequence among patients who have undergone the total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) or modified Fontan procedure; however, the specific factors influencing this condition—especiall...

Mitral valve prolapse represents the most common cause of primary mitral regurgitation in Western countries and has traditionally been viewed as a disorder driven by valvular incompetence and chronic volume overload. Within this paradigm, left ventri...

Ventricular repolarization abnormalities are among the most frequent electrocardiographic findings in pediatric athletes undergoing cardiovascular screening, yet their clinical significance remains a major source of diagnostic uncertainty. While most...