OBJECTIVE: Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE)-derived measures of myocardial mechanics, referred to herewithin as strain measurements, directly assess myocardial contractility and provide a nuanced assessment of ventricular function. This review provides an overview of strain measurements and their current clinical value and utility in decision making in pediatric cardiology.
RESULTS: Strain measurements are advancing understanding of how cardiac dysfunction occurs in children with acquired and congenital heart disease (CHD). Global strain measurements can detect early changes in cardiac function and are reliable methods of serially monitoring systolic function in children. Global strain measurements are increasingly reported in echocardiographic assessment of ventricular function alongside ejection fraction. Research is increasingly focused on how strain measurements can help improve clinical management, risk stratification, and prognostic insight. Although more research is needed, preliminary studies provide hope that there will be clinical benefit for strain in pediatric cardiology management.
CONCLUSIONS: Strain measurements provide a more detailed assessment of ventricular function than conventional measures of echocardiographic functional assessment. Strain measurements are increasingly being used to advance understanding of normal and abnormal myocardial contractility, to increase sensitivity to detect early cardiac dysfunction, and to improve prognostic management in children with acquired and CHD.

Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin type-9 (PCSK-9) inhibitors have recently used in the management of different cardiac complications. Several clinical trials demonstrated their effectiveness in patients with hypercholesterolemia. However, the effectiveness of these medications in patients with heart diseases is still controversial. To review and summarize the clinical trials pertaining to the use and effectiveness of PCSK-9 inhibitors in heart diseases and to discuss the pharmacotherapy of these agents. A review was conducted of all clinical trials with PCSK-9 inhibitors for heart diseases registered at ClinicalTrials.gov since inception up to and including January 19th, 2024. These trials were retrieved. Data from these trials were extracted manually, categorized and analyzed. The number of identified clinical trials was 25,371. After screening and excluding irrelevant studies, 12 studies met the search criteria. The majority of these studies were conducted in the US. The total number of patients in these studies was 27,700. Alirocumab and Evolocumab were the most frequently used PCSK-9 inhibitors. This review identified only a few clinical trials on PCSK-9 inhibitors in heart disease patients. Therefore, it is recommended to conduct more randomized controlled clinical trials on PCSK-9 inhibitors in this patient population.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop a Quality of Life (QOL) assessment scale for older patients with Neuro-co-Cardiological Diseases (NCCD) and to evaluate the reliability and validity of the scale.
METHODS: The study participants were derived from the Elderly Individuals with NCCD Registered Cohort Study (EINCCDRCS), a multicenter registry of patients with NCCD. The preliminary testing of the questionnaire was conducted among 10 older individuals aged 65 years and older who had NCCD and were recruited from the registry. Other patients who met the inclusion criteria participated in the field testing. After verifying the unidimensionality, local independence, and monotonicity assumptions of the scale, we employed the Rasch model within Item Response Theory framework to assess the quality of the scale through methods including internal consistency, criterion validity, Wright map, and item functioning differential. Subsequently, we assessed the construct validity of the scale by combining exploratory factor analysis with confirmatory factor analysis.
RESULTS: Based on well-validated scales such as the short-form WHOQOL-OLD, HeartQOL, IQCODE, and SF-36, an original Neuro-co-Cardiological Diseases Quality of Life scale (NCCDQOL) was developed. 196 individuals from the EINCCDRCS were included in the study, with 10 participating in the preliminary testing and 186 in the field testing. Based on the results of the preliminary testing, the original questionnaire was refined through item deletion and adjustment, resulting in an 11-item NCCDQOL questionnaire. The Rasch analysis of the field testing data led to the removal of 21 misfitting individuals. The NCCDQOL demonstrated a four-category structure, achieved by combining two response categories. This structure aligned with the assumptions of unidimensionality, local independence, and monotonicity. The NCCDQOL also exhibited good validity and reliability.
CONCLUSIONS: The revised NCCDQOL questionnaire demonstrated good reliability and validity in the Rasch model, indicating promising potential for clinical application.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the influencing factors of postoperative thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients with heart disease and construct a nomogram prediction model.
METHODS: From October 2022 to October 2023, 319 critically ill patients with heart disease who visited our hospital were collected and separated into postoperative thrombocytopenia group (n = 142) and no postoperative thrombocytopenia group (n = 177) based on their postoperative thrombocytopenia, Logistic regression analysis was applied to screen risk factors for postoperative thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients with heart disease; R software was applied to construct a nomogram for predicting postoperative thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients with heart disease, and ROC curves, calibration curves, and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit tests were applied to evaluate nomogram.
RESULTS: A total of 142 out of 319 critically ill patients had postoperative thrombocytopenia, accounting for 44.51%. Logistic regression analysis showed that gender (95% CI 1.607-4.402, P = 0.000), age ≥ 60 years (95% CI 1.380-3.697, P = 0.001), preoperative antiplatelet therapy (95% CI 1.254-3.420, P = 0.004), and extracorporeal circulation time > 120 min (95% CI 1.681-4.652, P = 0.000) were independent risk factors for postoperative thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients with heart disease. The area under the ROC curve was 0.719 (95% CI: 0.663-0.774). The slope of the calibration curve was close to 1, and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test was χ2 = 6.422, P = 0.491.
CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients with heart disease is influenced by gender, age ≥ 60 years, preoperative antiplatelet therapy, and extracorporeal circulation time > 120 min. A nomogram established based on above multiple independent risk factors provides a method for clinical prediction of the risk of postoperative thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients with heart disease.

BACKGROUND: Ball thrombus is rare and life-threatening. The correct diagnosis and timely management are key to improving patient prognosis. Here, we present a case report and literature review of ball thrombus.
METHODS: A 75-year-old woman presented to our outpatient clinic because of palpitations and chest distress for 8 months. She was diagnosed mitral stenosis, and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) showed a round mass attached to the left atrial (LA) wall. Before anesthesia induction, TTE found that the mass has dropped from the LA wall, and was spinning in the LA causing intermittent obstruction of the valve. Anesthesia induction was then carried out under TTE monitoring, and transesophageal echocardiograph found another mass in the LA appendage after intubation. She underwent LA mass removal and mitral valve replacement, and was discharged uneventfully. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of thrombus. Our literature review identified 19 cases of ball thrombus between 2015 and 2024. The average age was 54.8 (range 3-88) years. Heart failure was present as the initial symptom in 11 cases, and most patients had mitral valve disease or concomitant with atrial fibrillation. 12 cases received surgery, and 7 received medical treatment only. 2 deaths occurred, one due to the obstruction of left ventricular inflow tract and the other due to the worsening of heart failure.
CONCLUSIONS: Ball thrombus is rare in clinical settings. Urgent thrombectomy should be performed as soon as possible, and echocardiography can be used for real-time monitoring during surgery.

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BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of mortality worldwide, highlighting the urgent need for accurate and efficient diagnostic tools. Echocardiography, a non-invasive imaging technique, plays a central role in the diagnosis of heart diseases, yet the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on its accuracy and speed has not yet been reviewed and summarized. This scoping review aims to address this research gap by synthesizing existing evidence on AI-assisted echocardiography\'s.
METHODS: The study followed Arksey and O\'Malley\'s six-stage model for scoping reviews and searched the databases PubMed, Web of Science and Livivo. Inclusion criteria encompassed studies from cardiology utilizing AI for heart diseases diagnosis in adults, published from 2018 to 2023. Data extraction focused on study characteristics, AI models employed, accuracy metrics, and diagnostic speed.
RESULTS: From 1059 identified studies, nine records met the inclusion criteria, categorized into view classification, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) quantification, and diseases classification. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) were commonly used. While 44% of studies compared AI with cardiologists, those studies indicated AI\'s high diagnostic accuracy, with mean accuracy ranging from 87% to 92%. Three studies assessed AI\'s speed, demonstrating significant time savings.
CONCLUSIONS: The review highlights AI\'s potential in enhancing diagnostic accuracy and efficiency in echocardiography, particularly in regions with limited access to specialized cardiologists. However, further research is needed to assess AI\'s specific added value compared to cardiologists, optimize training data quality, and enable real-time image processing.

BACKGROUND: Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome was officially documented in 2014. Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome is an extremely rare complex neurodegenerative disorder characterized by reduced intellectual capacity, motor dysfunction, facial dysmorphism, impaired development, and an increased predisposition to autism spectrum disorder. In addition, many patients also present with neuropsychiatric disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, and various behavioral abnormalities. Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome is challenging to identify solely on the basis of symptoms, and genetic investigations, including exome sequencing, may facilitate diagnosis.
METHODS: We report a case of 13-year-old Saudi patient who presented with dysmorphic features as illustrated in Fig. 1, severe mental retardation, autism spectrum disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Initial genetic testing was unremarkable; thus, a clinical exome analysis was performed to identify the genetic basis of the condition.
CONCLUSIONS: Clinical exome analysis indicated an autosomal dominant Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome with a likely pathogenic de novo variant within the activity-dependent neuroprotector homeobox (ADNP) gene not previously reported in Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome. The patient had a right-sided solitary kidney and polycystic ovaries, conditions that were not previously associated with HVDAS.

In this study, we analyzed pooled data from two prospective population-based cohorts-the Health Retirement Study (HRS) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)-to explore the association between trajectories of depressive symptoms and the risk of cardiac events. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 8-item CES-D scale and categorized into somatic and cognitive-affective subtypes. Trajectories were tracked for four surveys from baseline. Heart disease was identified based on self-reported physician-diagnosed conditions. Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated with Cox proportional risk models that adjusted for potential confounders. In total, 17,787 subjects (59.7% female, median age 63 years) were enrolled at baseline. During a 10-year follow-up, 2409 cases of heart disease were identified. Participants with fluctuating (HR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.06-1.20), increasing (HR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.25-1.64), and consistently high (HR = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.45-1.84) depressive symptom trajectories exhibited an increased risk of heart disease compared to those with consistently low depressive symptoms, while a decreasing (HR = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.96-1.19) depressive symptom trajectory did not significantly affect the risk of heart disease. Moreover, the association between heart disease and somatic depressive symptoms was found to be stronger than with cognitive-affective symptoms. These findings suggest a significant link between depressive symptom trajectories and heart disease, with particular emphasis on stronger associations with somatic symptoms. It is recommended that the identification and management of depressive symptoms be incorporated into heart disease prevention strategies.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac surgery is considered a contraindication in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis (LC) due to increased mortality and morbidity. There are limited data on the treatment strategy and management of this population. We aimed to present our strategy and evaluate the clinical outcome of cardiac surgery in patients with LC.
METHODS: Our strategy was (i) to list patients for liver transplant (LT) at the time of cardiac surgery; (ii) to maintain high cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) flow (index up to 3.0 L/min/m2) based on hyper-dynamic states due to LC; and (iii) to proceed to LT if patients\' liver function deteriorated with an increasing model for end-stage liver disease Na (MELD-Na) score after cardiac surgery. Thirteen patients (12 male and 1 female [mean age, 63.0]) with LC who underwent cardiac surgery between 2017 and 2024 were retrospectively analyzed.
RESULTS: Six patients were listed for LT. Indications for cardiac surgery included coronary artery disease (N = 7), endocarditis (N = 2), and tricuspid regurgitation (N = 1), tricuspid stenosis (N = 1), mitral regurgitation (N = 1), and hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (N = 1). The Child-Pugh score was A in five, B in six, and C in one patient. The procedure included coronary artery bypass grafting (N = 6), single valve surgery (mitral valve [N = 2] and tricuspid valve [N = 1]), concomitant aortic and tricuspid valve surgery (N = 2), and septal myectomy (N = 1). Two patients had a history of previous sternotomy. The perfusion index during CPB was 3.1 ± 0.5 L/min/m2. Postoperative complications include pleural effusion (N = 6), bleeding events (N = 3), acute kidney injury (N = 1), respiratory failure requiring tracheostomy (N = 2), tamponade (N = 1), and sternal infection (N = 1). There was no in-hospital death. There was one remote death due to COVID-19 complication. Preoperative and postoperative highest MELD-Na score among listed patients was 15.8 ± 5.1 and 19.3 ± 5.3, respectively. Five patients underwent LT (1, 5, 8, 16, and 24 months following cardiac surgery) and one patient remains on the list. Survival rates at 1 and 3 years are 100% and 75.0%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac surgery maintaining high CPB flow with LT backup is a feasible strategy in an otherwise inoperable patient population with an acceptable early and midterm survival when performed in a center with an experienced cardiac surgery and LT program.