Antonella Galeone

The objective of this study was to evaluate early and long-term outcomes of patients with aortic prosthetic valve endocarditis (a-PVE) treated with a prosthetic aortic valve (PAV), prosthetic valved conduit (PVC), or cryopreserved aortic homograft (CAH). A total of 144 patients, 115 male and 29 female, aged 67 ± 12 years, underwent surgery for a-PVE at our institution between 1994 and 2021. Median time from the original cardiac surgery was 1.9 [0.6–5.6] years, and 47 (33%) patients developed an early a-PVE. Of these patients, 73 (51%) underwent aortic valve replacement (AVR) with a biological or mechanical PAV, 12 (8%) underwent aortic root replacement (ARR) with a biological or mechanical PVC, and 59 (42%) underwent AVR or ARR with a CAH. Patients treated with a CAH had significantly more circumferential annular abscess multiple valve involvement, longer CPB and aortic cross-clamping times, and needed more postoperative pacemaker implantation than patients treated with a PAV. No difference was observed in survival, reoperation rates, or recurrence of IE between patients treated with a PAV, a PVC, or a CAH. CAHs are technically more demanding and more often used in patients who have extensive annular abscess and multiple valve involvement. However, the use of CAH is safe in patients with complex a-PVE, and it shows excellent early and long-term outcomes.

ST2 is a member of interleukin 1 receptor family with soluble sST2 and transmembrane ST2L isoforms. The ligand of ST2 is IL-33, which determines the activation of numerous intracytoplasmic mediators following the binding with ST2L and IL-1RAcP, leading to nuclear signal and cardiovascular effect. Differently, sST2 is released in the blood and works as a decoy receptor, binding IL-33 and blocking IL-33/ST2L interaction. sST2 is mainly involved in maintaining homeostasis and/or alterations of different tissues, as counterbalance/activation of IL-33/ST2L axis is typically involved in the development of fibrosis, tissue damage, inflammation and remodeling. sST2 has been described in different clinical reports as a fundamental prognostic marker in patients with cardiovascular disease, as well as marker for the treatment monitoring of patients with heart failure; however, further studies are needed to better elucidate its role. In this review we reported the current knowledge about its role in coronary artery disease, heart failure, heart transplantation, heart valve disease, pulmonary arterial hypertension, and cardiovascular interventions.

Background: During the past decade, the Perimount Magna Ease (PME) bioprosthesis has been implanted worldwide for aortic valve replacement (AVR). Recently, the INSPIRIS Resilia (IR) valve has been introduced as the newest generation of pericardial bioprostheses. However, few data have been reported about patients ≤70 years, and no comparisons in terms of hemodynamic performance between these two bioprostheses have been ever reported. Methods: Patients aged <70 years undergoing AVR were considered for comparison between PME (n = 238) and IR (n = 192). Propensity score (PS) matching was performed by logistic regression with adjustment for eight key baseline variables. The two prostheses were compared in terms of hemodynamic performances up to 3 years postoperatively. Sub-analysis according to prosthetic size-category was accomplished. Results: A total of 122 pairs with similar baseline characteristics were obtained from the PS-matching. The two prostheses showed comparable hemodynamic performances at one year (Gmean: 11.3 ± 3.5 mmHg vs. 11.9 ± 5.4 mmHg; p = 0.8) and at 3 years postoperatively (Gmean: 12.2 ± 7.9 mmHg vs. 12.8 ± 5.2 mmHg for; p = 0.3). The sub-analysis of size-category confirmed no statistical differences concerning the hemodynamic performances for each annulus size. Conclusions: This first PS-matched analysis demonstrated that the newly developed IR valve achieves the same safety and efficacy of the PME valve during mid-term follow-up in patients aged <70 years.