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Aims: To appraise the early effect of percutaneous mitral valve repair with the MitraClip system on myocardial function using real-time three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (3D-STE)., Methods: Consecutive patients with moderate-to-severe or severe mitral regurgitation, undergoing mitral valve repair with the MitraClip system, were prospectively evaluated during the peri-procedural workout and follow-up. Left ventricular deformation was evaluated by a two-dimensional and 3D speckle-tracking analysis. 3D-STE acquisitions were elaborated obtaining real-time 3D global longitudinal strain evaluation, and by appraising both volumetric and hemodynamic parameters (i.e. left ventricular end-diastolic volume, left ventricular end-systolic volume, left ventricular ejection fraction, cardiac output, and stroke volume)., Results: In all, 30 patients were included. At 1-month follow-up, 3D-STE analysis revealed no changes in left ventricular end-diastolic volume (162.6 ± 73.7 ml at baseline vs. 159.8 ± 64.5 ml at 1-month follow-up; P = 0.63) and a downward trend in left ventricular end-systolic volume (104.7 ± 52.0 vs. 100.1 ± 50.4 ml, respectively; P = 0.06). Left ventricular ejection fraction did not significantly increase (38.1 ± 11.3% at baseline vs. 39.4 ± 11.0% at 1-month follow-up; P = 0.20). No significant changes were reported in cardiac output (4.3 ± 2.0 l/min at baseline vs. 4.0 ± 1.5 l/min at follow-up; P = 0.377) and in stroke volume (59.5 ± 25.5 ml at baseline vs. 59.9 ± 20.7 ml at follow-up; P = 0.867). On the contrary, left ventricular deformation capability significantly improved, with the real-time 3D global longitudinal strain value changing from -9.8 ± 4.1% at baseline to -11.0 ± 4.4% at follow-up (P = 0.018)., Conclusions: Accurately assessing myocardial function by the use of 3D-STE, this study reported irrelevant early changes in left ventricular size, but a positive effect on left ventricular deformation capability following mitral valve repair with the MitraClip system. These preliminary results need to be confirmed in larger series and extended to long-term follow-up.

Aims: To explore the ability of the ACEF score to predict the incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients undergoing coronary angiography with or without percutaneous coronary intervention., Methods: A total of 706 patients undergoing coronary angiography ± percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) between March 2011 and October 2011 were analyzed. CIN using different definitions was termed as CINnarrow (rise in serum creatinine ≥0.5 mg/dl) and CINbroad (rise in serum creatinine ≥0.5 mg/dl and/or ≥25% increase in baseline serum creatinine)., Results: The mean ACEF score was 1.5 ± 0.6. Overall incidences of CINnarrow and CINbroad were 5.5% and 13.6%, respectively. There was a significant gradient in the incidence of CINnarrow (2.9%, 3.9%, 10.6% in the I, II, and III tertiles, respectively, P < 0.001) and CINbroad (9.1%, 14.2%, 17.9% in the I, II, and III tertiles, respectively, P = 0.021) across increasing ACEF tertiles. The ACEF score was independently associated with the risk of CINnarrow (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0-2.7; P = 0.047). Discrimination was more satisfactory when using the ACEF as a predictor of CINnarrow (c-statistic 0.71, 95% 0.63-0.79)., Conclusion: The ACEF score is an independent and potentially useful predictor of CIN defined as rise in serum creatinine ≥0.5 mg/dl.

Periodic echocardiographic evaluation of valve function is recommended in all patients with prosthetic valves. Usually trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE) is satisfactory to assess prosthetic function. Nevertheless when the TTE is suboptimal or in case of strong clinical doubt of prosthetic valve dysfunction, trans-esophageal echocardiography (TEE) remains the gold standard of imaging. Recent advancements in echocardiography, with the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction, provide an incremental diagnostic value as compared to two-dimensional TEE. In addition, 3D-TEE gives unique views that add extra morphological and anatomical information, providing a very accurate presurgical evaluation.