Advanced heart failure (HF) is a complex syndrome characterized by the presence of severe and persistent symptoms of HF, important cardiac dysfunction, episodes of pulmonary or systemic congestion requiring high-dose of intravenous diuretics, episodes of low output requiring inotropes or vasoactive drugs, malignant arrhythmias, hospitalization in the past 12 months or severe impairment of exercise capacity. The utility of multiple markers that have good accuracy in the detection of worse prognosis are increasingly being explored in the literature. Brain natriuretic […]

Despite substantially reducing age-adjusted cardiovascular mortality rates in recent decades, cardiovascular disease remains the most common cause of death. Studies estimate that sudden cardiac death is responsible for approximately 50% of all deaths from cardiovascular causes, with ventricular tachycardia with degeneration to ventricular fibrillation and asystole being the most common fatal sequence of pathophysiological events. The hard work done by authors of the article published in the Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia illustrates the role of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in […]

The PRKAG2 gene encodes the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) gamma 2 regulatory subunit. AMPK has a central role in cellular energy homeostasis. Pathogenic variation in PRKAG2 causes an autosomal dominant syndrome comprising ventricular hypertrophy, supraventricular arrhythmias, electrocardiographic pre-excitation and conduction system abnormalities.– The genetic background of this syndromic presentation was discovered in 2001.. Histologically there is myocyte glycogen accumulation, and the typical pattern of hypertrophy is usually described as biventricular and concentric, similar to other metabolic phenocopies of hypertrophic […]

The cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) is a consolidated tool in the functional and prognostic assessment of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrRF), being a cornerstone in the evaluation for the indication of advanced therapies in HFrEF. , Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), in addition to reducing mortality, can improve cardiorespiratory fitness, leading to an increase in peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) and a reduction in the slope of the respiratory equivalent CO2 ratio (VE /VCO2 slope). – In recent […]

The meta-analysis entitled “Diagnostic Role of NT-proBNP in Patients with Cardiac Amyloidosis Involvement: A Meta-Analysis” brings us an important review of the usefulness of NT-proBNP measurement in patients with cardiac involvement by amyloidosis. The demonstration of good sensitivity and specificity of this biomarker reinforces its usefulness in the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis (CA). Cardiac amyloidosis has been increasingly diagnosed, especially in patients with the heart failure phenotype of preserved ejection fraction. Just over half of the patients with symptoms of […]