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Objective: To quantify by cardiovascular magnetic resonance the salvaged myocardium in the myocardium supplied by the infarct-related artery in reperfused and non-reperfused patients with a first ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)., Patients and Method: Twenty-five patients with a first STEMI (non-reperfused, ten patients; thrombolysis, ten patients; primary angioplasty, five patients) underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging 3 to 6 days after coronary angiography. Myocardial salvage and myocardial salvage index were quantified., Results: Peak troponin values were lower in patients with primary angioplasty than in thrombolysis and non-reperfused patients (14,1 ng/ mL versus 515,4 ng/mL and 123,1 ng/mL, respectively; p < 0,007) and smaller infarct size (14,1 g versus 31,2 g and 31,5 g, respectively; p < 0,003). Myocardial salvage mass and myocardial salvage index were higher in patients with primary angioplasty than in thrombolysis and non-reperfused patients (27,4 g versus 4,7 g and 2,1 g, respectively; p < 0,003) and (65,2% versus 14,9% and 6,6%, respectively; p < 0,0001)., Conclusions: The results of this study indicate the need to reassess the performance of coronary angioplasty and stent implantation in patients with a first STEMI, thrombolysis, and non-thrombolysis without prior myocardial viability studies. Cardiac magnetic resonance allows the quantification of salvaged myocardium and could be considered an emerging clinical application for the early evaluation of myocardial viability.

Takotsubo syndrome is an acute cardiomyopathy with a clinical presentation resembling an acute coronary syndrome. It is characterized by transient segmental ventricular dysfunction with a normal underlying coronary tree or coronary lesions that cannot explain the ventricular dysfunction. It is usually seen in postmenopausal women, triggered by severe emotional or physical stress, and is clinically challenging to diagnose. This article provides an exhaustive review of the risk factors, triggers, and main hypotheses to explain this disease. In addition, it provides an updated review of the diagnostic tests that must be performed, the diagnostic algorithms, their complications, and current therapeutic management.

Ejection fraction (EF) is defined by the ratio of end-systolic volume (ESV) and end-diastolic volume (EDV). The resulting fraction is a dimensionless number whose interpretation is ambiguous and most likely misleading. Despite this limitation, EF is widely accepted as a clinical marker of cardiac function. In this article we analyze the role of ESV, a fundamental variable of ventricular mechanics, compared with the popular EF. Common physiology-based mathematics can explain a simple association between EF and ESV. This concept is illustrated by a detailed analysis of the information obtained from angiocardiography, echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance studies. EF versus ESV produces a non-linear curve. For a small ESV, the EF approaches 100%, while for a large ESV, the EF gradually decreases toward zero. This elemental relationship is commonly observed in innervated natural hearts. Thus, the popularity of EF mostly derives from a fortuitous connection with the pivotal variable ESV. Alongside this finding, we unfold historical events that facilitated the emergence of EF as a result of serendipity. Our physiology-based approach denounces the circumstantial theories invoked to justify the importance of EF as an index of cardiac function, which are critically discussed. EF appears to be nothing more than a blessing in disguise. For this reason, we propose the ESV as a more logical metric for the analysis of ventricular function.

Takotsubo syndrome is an acute heart disease usually triggered by significant emotional or physical stress, very occasionally described in association with natural disasters such as earthquakes. Clinically, it simulates an acute myocardial infarction with similar symptoms, laboratory tests, and electrocardiographic changes. Coronary angiography shows the absence of significant coronary disease. We report two women, aged 71 and 80 years, and who developed a Takotsubo syndrome after an earthquake. In both, the syndrome was diagnosed with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Acute myocarditis frequently mimics an acute myocardial infarction, and its diagnosis is a clinical challenge., Aim: To describe the characteristics of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in patients with acute myocarditis hospitalized with a diagnosis of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction., Patients and Methods: Twenty-four patients aged 33 ± 11 years (21 men) with a definitive diagnosis of acute myocarditis hospitalized with a presumptive diagnosis of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, in whom a coronary angiogram excluded significant atherosclerotic coronary lesions, were included. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging with cine-resonance images was performed to assess global and regional ventricular function, and to study myocardial tissue characteristics. T2-STIR sequences were used for the assessment of oedema and late gadolinium enhancement for necrosis/fibrosis., Results: Patients had high levels of total CK, CK-MB, troponin I, brain natriuretic peptide and C-reactive protein. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging revealed myocardial edema and late gadolinium enhancement was identified in all patients. The edema was transmural in 86% and subepicardial in 14%. Enhancement was subepicardial in 74% of patients and intramural in 26%. It was located in the inferior and lateral walls of the left ventricle in 93%, without affecting the endocardium. In all patients, two of three Lake Louise criteria were met, and an acute myocarditis was diagnosed., Conclusions: Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging is the diagnostic method of choice for diagnosing acute myocarditis when it mimics an acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Patients hospitalized with suspected ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who have normal coronary arteries (CAs) on invasive coronary angiography (ICA) may have an AMI or another acute cardiac disease that mimics it., Aim: To evaluate the usefulness of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) for diagnosing conditions resembling AMI with normal CAs., Material and Methods: We studied 424 consecutive patients admitted with suspected STEMI who underwent ICA. Those with normal CAs underwent CMRI involving cine-CMRI sequences to evaluate segmental wall motion, T2-weighted short-tau inversion-recovery imaging to detect oedema and delayed contrast enhancement (DCE) after gadolinium administration to identify necrosis/fibrosis. Patients with previous myocardial infarction were excluded., Results: Twenty-six patients (6.1%) had normal CAs. Definitive diagnosis after CMRI was acute myocarditis in 11 patients (42.3%) whose DCE was localized in the subepicardium or intramyocardially but not in the endocardium, AMI in nine patients (34.6%) who had subendocardial or transmural DCE, and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) in six patients (23.1%), whose CMRI showed regional contractility abnormalities of the left ventricle and myocardial oedema but not DCE., Conclusions: Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging allows a precise diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries.

Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries is a rare congenital anomaly that can remain asymptomatic until adulthood, especially when there are no other associated congenital anomalies. We report two patients in their sixth decade of life with corrected transposition of the great arteries incidentally diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography in a preventive medical check-up. The complementary use of cardiac computed tomography confirmed the diagnosis.

Heart failure is one of the first diseases in which stem cells were used for regenerative medicine. Since 2001, many publications have shown that stem cell therapy has the potential to mitigate heart diseases, but there is no solid scientific evidence to fully support its clinical application at present. The future of regenerative medicine requires validated clinical trials with standardized platforms and transdisciplinary efforts to enable the development of safe and effective regenerative therapies to protect patients and to promote the ethical application of this new and highly promising therapy. Doctors and scientists have a responsibility to discuss with patients the current reality of regenerative therapies. They also have a responsibility to discourage the indiscriminate and commercial use of these therapies, which are sometimes based on false hopes, since their inappropriate use can harm vulnerable patients as well as research efforts. Although regenerative medicine may be the medicine of the future and might bring the hope of cure for chronic diseases, it is not yet ready for its wide clinical application.

The usefulness of echocardiography and the new noninvasive cardiac techniques in assessing heart failure is analyzed. The usefulness of non-invasive CT coronary angiography, as well as the growing applications of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the study of ischemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia is considered. For this puspose, some clinical cases are used. The combined use of these techniques, especially in patients in whom the etiology of heart failure is ischemic heart disease or cardiomyopathy is emphasized.

This article provides an overview of stroke genetics studies ranging from the candidate gene approach to more recent studies by the genome wide association. It highlights the complexity of stroke owing to its different aetiopathogenic mechanisms, the difficulties in studying its genetic component, and the solutions provided to date. The study emphasises the importance of cooperation between the different centres, whether this takes places occasionally or through the creation of lasting consortiums. This strategy is currently essential to the completion of high-quality scientific studies that allow researchers to gain a better knowledge of the genetic component of stroke as it relates to aetiology, treatment, and prevention., (Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)