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Arterial stiffening, which occurs when conduit arteries thicken and lose elasticity, has been associated with cardiovascular disease and increased risk for future cardiovascular events. Specifically, aortic stiffening plays a large role in the pathogenesis of vascular diseases, such as aneurysm formation and dissection. Current parameters used to assess risk of aortic rupture include absolute diameter and growth rate. However, these properties lack the reliability required to accurately risk-stratify patients. As with any elastic conduit, it is important to assess the biomechanical properties of the aorta in order to assess cardiovascular risk and prevent disease progression. There are several invasive and noninvasive methods by which stiffness of the large arteries can be assessed. Of particular interest are ultrasound-based methods, such as tissue Doppler imaging and speckle-tracking echocardiography, due to their noninvasive and feasible nature. In this review, we summarize studies demonstrating utility of noninvasive ultrasound imaging methods for measuring aortic biomechanics for the assessment and management of aortic aneurysms.

Autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) can lead to early cardiac complications as well as late sequelae. A cardiac evaluation is essential in the pre-transplant assessment given the patient's comorbidities and previous chemotherapy treatments received. Various thresholds of cardiac function are recommended as eligibility criteria. The rise of haplo-identical transplantation with the use of post-transplant high-dose cyclophosphamide (PT-Cy) as a prophylaxis against graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is accompanied by a resurgence of cardiological concerns. Arrhythmias are also a concern and the list of drugs implicated in this complication is growing. The rare occurrence of cardiac GVHD has been reported, although the entity is not well defined. Finally, although long-term follow-up recommendations exist, they are not accompanied by specific targets for cardiovascular risk factors, the presence of which is nevertheless increased after HSCT. In the framework of the Francophone Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (SFGM-TC) practice harmonization workshops held in Lille in September 2019, the prophylaxis, the diagnostic approach and the treatments of cardiac complication following HSCT were reviewed after analysis of published studies.

Background: Comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography (CTE) provides information vital to the care of acutely ill and unstable patients, but may not be readily available. Cardiac point of care ultrasound (POCUS) is well suited to providing key information at the bedside to expedite decision making. Our objective was to evaluate the feasibility of expedited-POCUS (e-POCUS) provided by the echo lab for internal medicine, cardiology and intensive care services. Methods: A new e-POCUS service was developed by the Kingston Health Sciences Center Echo Lab, whereby focused information relevant to 4 clinical situations (acute heart failure, tamponade, shock and suspected acute valvulopathy) would be provided urgently at the bedside. Requests were acquired over a 4 month period. Sonographers were immediately deployed on request and followed a standard POCUS protocol for each scenario. Staff echocardiographers provided immediate interpretation and arranged for further imaging at their discretion. The response time, diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility of e-POCUS was assessed. Results: A total of 18 patients were evaluated. The average time of an e-POCUS exam was 10 minutes and the average e-POCUS to formal CTE timing was 1.3 days. The agreement between e-POCUS and CTE for the presence of segmental wall motion abnormalities was 83% (Kappa=0.61, p=0.009) and 72% for the detection of right ventricular dilatation (Kappa =0.44, p=0.058). The e-POCUS results altered the working diagnosis in 72% of cases. Conclusion: The provision of an e-POCUS service by the Echo Lab is a feasible workflow solution meeting the demands of a new practice pattern.

The Seattle Heart Failure Model (SHFM) is 1 of the most widely used tools to predict survival in patients with heart failure. However, it does not accommodate very elderly patients. We decided to assess the applicability of the SHFM in patients >80 years old enrolled in a tertiary care heart failure clinic. We evaluated the difference between observed survival and mean life expectancy as predicted by the SHFM on 261 patients >80 years old enrolled in a heart failure clinic at the Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada from January 2002 through March 2010. Average age of the patient population was 85 ± 4 years (range 80 to 105). Sixty-two percent of the population consisted of men, 63% had ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM), and average ejection fraction was 36 ± 18%. Median observed survival was 1.91 years (interquartile range 0.68 to 5.53) for the total population (n = 261). The SHFM (predicted median survival 6.7 years, interquartile range 3.8 to 11.2) overestimated life expectancy by an average of 4.79 years. For patients with ICM (n = 164) versus non-ICM (n = 97), the score overestimated survival by 4.29 versus 5.69 years, respectively. In conclusion, the SHFM overestimates life expectancy in elderly patients followed in a tertiary care heart failure clinic. Further studies are needed to more accurately estimate prognosis in this patient population.

1Department of Medicine; 2Department of Pathology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec Correspondence: Dr Hanane Benbarkat, 687 Pine Avenue, Room 10.02, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A1. Telephone 514-843-1506, fax 514-843-1725, e-mail hanane.benbarkat@mail.mcgill.ca case presentation A 69-year-old man with aortic stenosis underwent coronary artery bypass grafting and bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement (AVR) in November 2007. His medical history was remarkable for a polypectomy in 2007, gout and chronic kidney disease (creatinine level at presentation 150 μmol/L). In September 2008, the patient presented to the hospital with fever and a right middle cerebral artery infarct. His neurological symptoms ultimately resolved. An echocardiogram demonstrated vegetation on the aortic valve bioprosthesis with a periaortic abscess. Blood cultures grew Staphylococcus epidermidis. An increase in the size of the periaortic abscess one month later, despite appropriate intravenous antibiotic therapy, required another AVR (Carpentier Edwards Magna 23 bioprosthesis, Edwards Lifesciences LLC, USA). He was then treated with antibiotics for an additional six weeks. The prosthesis culture grew Penicillium species 11 days after his surgery, and valve pathology showed fungal hyphae one month later (Figure 1). The patient was asymptomatic. He was offered amphotericin B treatment but refused. He remained asymptomatic until May 2010 when he presented with a two-week history of exertional dyspnea. He developed a cold right leg two days before this presentation. On examination, he was afebrile with normal blood pressure and heart rate. Chest examination was unremarkable. Cardiovascular examination revealed a 2/6 systolic ejection murmur at the left second intercostal space with radiation to the right supraclavicular space. There was no diastolic murmur. The jugular venous pressure was normal. The right leg was cold and peripheral pulses were nonpalpable. Laboratory investigations showed a normal white blood cell count, an erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 82 mm/h and his chest x-ray was normal. The PR interval on the electrocardiogram was 280 ms compared with 200 ms in October 2008. A repeat echocardiogram demonstrated a 27 mm × 15 mm vegetation on the aortic bioprosthesis with a periaortic mass highly suggestive of an aortic root abscess. The mean gradient across the aortic valve had increased to 43 mmHg from 14 mmHg in June 2009. The patient was empirically treated for prosthetic valve endocarditis with vancomycin, gentamycin and rifampin.