Dear friends from the Cardiology and Cardiovascular scientific community in Brazil and abroad, please allow me this short editorial with extraordinary news on the ABC Cardiol Journal, accompanied by data, of course. We are delighted to announce that our peer-reviewed journal of The Brazilian Society of Cardiology, the ABC Cardiol (Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia), has seen significant increase in its impact factor rating in the latest Journal of Citation Reports (JCR) release. Our impact factor went up from 1.318, released […]

The purpose of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology (SBC) is to expand and disseminate knowledge on Cardiovascular Science and to make each cardiologist aware of the activities intended to promote cardiovascular health in Brazilian society. Since its foundation, SBC has been stimulating research and dissemination, among civil society, of epidemiological and preventive matters related to the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure (HF). HF has been identified as a cardiovascular epidemic throughout the world and involves important aspects on […]

Cardiovascular diseases are currently the major health problem and are directly involved in more than 17 million deaths each year, which represents 50% of all deaths from noncommunicable diseases. In addition to their effects on individual well-being, cardiovascular diseases are responsible for a high economic impact. A recently published study showed that in Brazil, only four diseases – arterial hypertension, myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation and heart failure – reached an estimated total financial cost of 56.2 billion reais in the […]

Background: Pericardium tissue allograft can be used for surgical repair in several procedures. One of the tissue engineering strategies is the process of decellularization. This process decreases immunogenic response, but it may modify the natural extracellular matrix composition and behavior. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of cell removal, maintenance of extracellular matrix properties and mechanical integrity of decellularized human pericardium using a low concentration solution of sodium dodecyl sulfate. Methods: Decellularization was performed with […]

Background: Multiple risk scores (RS) are approved in the prediction of worse prognosis in acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Recently, the Portuguese Journal of Cardiology has proposed the ProACS RS. Objective: Application of several validated RS, as well as ProACS in patients, admitted for ACS. Evaluation of each RS’s performance in predicting in-hospital mortality and the occurrence of all-cause mortality or non-fatal ACS at one-year follow-up and compare them to the ProACS RS. Methods: A retrospective study of ACS was performed. […]

Background: Sirtuins may act in many cellular processes like apoptosis, DNA repair and lipid/glucose metabolism. Experimental studies suggested some sirtuin types may have protective effects against endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis, cardiac hypertrophy and reperfusion injury. Data about sirtuins in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients are scarce. Objectives: To investigate temporal changes of serum sirtuin 1,3 and 6 levels in AMI patients; to compare the serum sirtuin 1,3 and 6 levels between AMI patients and control subjects; and to investigate the association […]

Background: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is responsible for high rates of hospital admission and readmission, which are associated with increased costs for the patient and the health system, and increased in-hospital mortality rates. Objective: To evaluate readmission in patients with ACS and its determinants. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of adult and elderly patients with ACS, readmitted to public and private referral cardiology hospitals within one year after the first hospitalization for ACS. The occurrence of readmissions, the […]

Background: Obesity is a multifactorial disease and a serious public health problem. Some of the associated factors are modifiable and, among them, the diet is highlighted. Objective: To evaluate the association of dietary patterns of schoolchildren with obesity and body adiposity. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 378 children aged 8 and 9 years, enrolled in urban schools in the city of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. A semi-structured questionnaire was applied to the children and their caregivers on […]

Background: Data from the international literature have shown changes in the profile of cardiologists and in their medical practices. However, there is no data on this in Brazilian cardiologists. Objective: To evaluate professional and personal characteristics of a sample of Brazilian cardiologists. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study; a questionnaire was sent by e-mail to cardiologists, active members of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology in 2017. The results were analyzed, and the level of significance set at p < 0.05. […]

Background: Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is an abnormal connection that links a coronary artery to a cardiac chamber or another major blood vessel. Several studies have shown the association between mean platelet volume (MPV) and cardiovascular diseases. In the literature, there is no previous study about the association between hematologic parameters and congenital CAF. For this reason, we aimed to investigate the association of MPV with CAF. Methods: 70 patients with normal coronary arteries and 50 with coronary artery fistulas […]

Background: Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by mutations in the alpha galactosidase A gene (GLA) that lead to the enzymatic deficiency of alpha galactosidase (?-Gal A), resulting in the accumulation of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) and globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb3), causing multiple organ dysfunctions. Objective: To perform GLA gene screening in a group of patients with echocardiographic diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted with HCM patients from a university hospital. Patients with coronary artery […]

The electrocardiogram (ECG) has been reinvigorated by the identification of electrical alterations that were not definitely clarified before. In this context, and mainly regarding the definition of arrhythmogenic substrates, the association of the ECG with the vectorcardiogram (VCG) has gathered much more information about the cardiac electrical phenomena, thus allowing us to differentiate potentially fatal cases from benign ones. Obtaining a VCG concomitantly with the performance of an ECG has led to a significant gain in the definition of extremely […]

Introduction A.C., a friendly Italian man, received coronary stents 8 years ago and had been feeling well until 3 months ago. He then had progressive breathing difficulty with tightness in his chest. He had loss of appetite and lost 4 kg in that period, but continued to work with good disposition. He had been to two hospital visits, in which he was informed that his lung was normal, based on X-ray. They had not reached final diagnosis, so he came […]

Clinical data The patient had no symptoms from birth to young adulthood, when he developed more severe hypoxia, which required a Blalock-Taussig anastomosis on the right. Five years ago, worsening of hypoxia was again observed, with hemapheresis every 6 months, in addition to fatigue on small to medium exertion and with associated ventricular dysfunction. He used f warfarin, carvedilol and enalapril, in addition to nasal oxygen at night. […]

A 69-year-old male with hypertension, dyslipemia and no previous cardiovascular disease presented a transient ST-segment elevation on electrographic (ECG) monitoring during a planned ureteroscopy. The patient remained asymptomatic during the postoperative period. He only referred very sporadic episodes of effort chest pain in the last years without progression or events at rest. Given the lack of ECG registry, an exercise stress echocardiogram was indicated. The study was clinical and echocardiographically positive for inducible ischemia, with hypokinesia of the mid and […]

Dear Editor We read the article “Baseline Prolonged PR Interval and Outcome of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis” by Rattanawong et al. with great interest. The authors investigated the effect of prolonged PR interval on composite outcome among patients who received cardio resynchronized therapy. The authors conclude that prolonged PR is associated with worse outcome in this population. […]

1. Introduction In 2013, the Brazilian Cardiology Society published the “Brazilian Guidelines on Antiplatelet and Anticoagulant Agents in Cardiology.” Over the past years, new studies have been carried out, providing important information on the use of these medications, administered alone and in combination with other medications. It is, therefore, time to review our guidelines and update them with this new knowledge which has been produced. We have carried out an extensive review of the literature, and for this update we […]

1. Introduction In accordance with the “Standards for the Elaboration of Guidelines, Positions and Normations” sanctioned by the Brazilian Society of Cardiology, this document was written to update the “Echocardiography Indication Guidelines” of 2009. The new document is not intended to be a comprehensive review of echocardiography, but rather an indispensable basic guide to support the rational clinical decision-making of the physician requesting the exam for adult patients. Although it considers the recent technological advances of echocardiography, its purpose is […]

May issue of 2019, vol. 112 (5), pages 577-587 In review article “Kidney Disease in Diabetes Mellitus: Cross-Linking between Hyperglycemia, Redox Imbalance and Inflammation”, consider Sandra Mary Lima Vasconcelos as the correct form for the name of the author Sandra Mary de Lima Vasconcelos. […]