Le medicament du moi. Dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa): anticoagulant oral, inhibiteur direct selectif de la thrombine

in Revue Médicale de Liège (2010), 65(10), 588-92

Dabigatran (Pradaxa) is a new oral, direct, selective and reversible thrombin inhibitor (factor IIa) acting as anticoagulant. Pradaxa does not require monitoring or dose adjustment, except in cases of ... [more ▼]

Dabigatran (Pradaxa) is a new oral, direct, selective and reversible thrombin inhibitor (factor IIa) acting as anticoagulant. Pradaxa does not require monitoring or dose adjustment, except in cases of moderate renal insufficiency or in elderly patients (>75 years old). It is currently indicated for prophylaxis against venous thromboembolism after total hip or knee replacement surgery. Pradaxa has been shown to be as effective as enoxaparin in reducing the risk of venous thromboembolism after total hip or knee replacement surgery, with a similar safety profile. The recommended dose of 220 mg is administered once-daily, starting with a half-dose 1-4 h after surgery. The total duration of treatment is 10 days for knee surgery and 28-35 days in case of hip replacement. Contrary to enoxaparin, with Pradaxa there is no risk of drug-related thrombocytopenia. Of note, this promising new anticoagulant has also shown to be more effective than warfarin for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation and as effective as warfarin for the treatment of acute venous thromboembolism (indications not recognized yet). [less ▲]

The Emerging Role of Exercise Testing and Stress Echocardiography in Valvular Heart Disease

in Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2009), 54(24), 2251-60

Exercise testing has an established role in the evaluation of patients with valvular heart disease and can aid clinical decision making. Because symptoms may develop slowly and indolently in chronic valve ... [more ▼]

Exercise testing has an established role in the evaluation of patients with valvular heart disease and can aid clinical decision making. Because symptoms may develop slowly and indolently in chronic valve diseases and are often not recognized by patients and their physicians, the symptomatic, blood pressure, and electrocardiographic responses to exercise can help identify patients who would benefit from early valve repair or replacement. In addition, stress echocardiography has emerged as an important component of stress testing in patients with valvular heart disease, with relevant established and potential applications. Stress echocardiography has the advantages of its wide availability, low cost, and versatility for the assessment of disease severity. The versatile applications of stress echocardiography can be tailored to the individual patient with aortic or mitral valve disease, both before and after valve replacement or repair. Hence, exercise-induced changes in valve hemodynamics, ventricular function, and pulmonary artery pressure, together with exercise capacity and symptomatic responses to exercise, provide the clinician with diagnostic and prognostic information that can contribute to subsequent clinical decisions. Nevertheless, there is a lack of convincing evidence that the results of stress echocardiography lead to clinical decisions that result in better outcomes, and therefore large-scale prospective randomized studies focusing on patient outcomes are needed in the future. [less ▲]

Analysis of regional wall motion during contrast-enhanced dobutamine stress echocardiography: effect of contrast imaging settings.

in European Journal of Echocardiography (2009), 10(8), 956-60

Aims: Myocardial contrast perfusion echocardiography (MCE) allows simultaneous assessment of perfusion and function. However, low frame rate during MCE may reduce the viewer's ability to discern ... [more ▼]

Aims: Myocardial contrast perfusion echocardiography (MCE) allows simultaneous assessment of perfusion and function. However, low frame rate during MCE may reduce the viewer's ability to discern contractile dysfunction. This study sought to compare MCE and left ventricular opacification (LVO) settings with regard to wall motion abnormalities (WMA) at rest and during dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). Methods and results: In 50 patients scheduled for coronary angiography and with poor baseline image quality, MCE and LVO were performed during DSE. Regional wall motion was assessed and inter-observer agreement was determined for each imaging modality. The endocardial border score index was similar for both modalities. The wall motion score index (WMSCI) at peak stress using MCE was well correlated with WMSCI obtained with LVO (r2 = 0.9, P < 0.001). However, WMSCI at peak stress was underestimated by MCE (1.66 ± 0.58 with DSE-LVO vs. 1.535 ± 0.50 with DSE-MCE; P < 0.001). Inter-observer agreement on the presence of WMA was 0.65 for MCE and 0.67 for LVO at peak stress. Conclusion: Myocardial contrast perfusion echocardiography provides equal endocardial border delineation compared with LVO modality. Although the inter-observer agreement is slightly higher with LVO compared with MCE, it is not significantly different with MCE at peak stress. Despite the similar improvement in endocardial border delineation, LVO settings allow the detection of more WMA than MCE at peak stress, leading to a significantly higher accuracy for the detection of ischaemia in patients suspected of coronary artery disease when only wall motion is taken into account. [less ▲]

Three-dimensional echocardiographic assessments of exercise-induced changes in left ventricular shape and dyssynchrony in patients with dynamic functional mitral regurgitation.

in European Journal of Echocardiography (2009), 10(8), 961-7

Aims: Left ventricular (LV) shape and LV dyssynchrony are two cofactors associated with functional mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients with heart failure. Both can be accurately examined by real-time ... [more ▼]

Aims: Left ventricular (LV) shape and LV dyssynchrony are two cofactors associated with functional mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients with heart failure. Both can be accurately examined by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE). We examined the relationship between dynamic MR and exercise-induced changes in LV shape and synchronicity using 3DE. Methods and results: Fifty patients with systolic LV dysfunction underwent 2D and 3D quantitative assessment of LV function, shape, and synchronicity at rest and during symptom-limited exercise test. According to the magnitude of change in MR, patients were divided into EMR group (15 patients, 30%), if the degree of MR increased during test, and NEMR group. During exercise, the changes in LV volumes and ejection fraction were similar in both groups, whereas changes in mitral valvular deformation parameters, in LV sphericity index, and in the extent of LV dyssynchrony were more pronounced in the EMR group. At rest, only the 3D sphericity index could distinguish the two groups. By stepwise multiple regression model, dynamic changes in the systolic dyssynchrony index, sphericity index, and coaptation distance were associated with dynamic MR (r2 = 0.45, P = 0.012). Conclusion: Dynamic MR during exercise is related to the 3D changes in LV shape and in LV synchronicity. [less ▲]

An alien in the heart: giant infective endocarditis.

in Acta Cardiologica (2009), 64(6), 807-9

Ischaemic mitral regurgitation: mechanisms and diagnosis.

in Heart (2009), 95(20), 1711-8

Risk Score for Predicting Outcome in Patients With Asymptomatic Aortic Stenosis

in Circulation (2009), 120(1), 69-75

Background— The management of patients with asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis remains controversial. We sought to develop a continuous risk score for predicting the midterm development of symptoms or ... [more ▼]

Background— The management of patients with asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis remains controversial. We sought to develop a continuous risk score for predicting the midterm development of symptoms or adverse events in this setting. Methods and Results— We prospectively followed 107 patients with asymptomatic aortic stenosis (aged 72 years [63 to 77]; 35 women; aortic-jet velocity, 4.1 m/s [3.5 to 4.4]) at a single center in France. Predefined end points for assessing outcome were the occurrence within 24 months of death or aortic valve replacement necessitated by symptoms or by a positive exercise test. Variables independently associated with outcome were used to build a score that was validated in an independent cohort of 107 patients from Belgium. Independent predictors of outcome were female sex, peak aortic-jet velocity, and B-type natriuretic peptide at baseline. Accordingly, the score could be calculated as follows: Score=[peak velocity (m/s)x2]+(natural logarithm of B-type natriuretic peptidex1.5)+1.5 (if female sex). Event-free survival after 20 months was 80% for patients within the first score quartile compared with only 7% for the fourth quartile. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the score were 0.90 and 0.89 in the development and validation cohorts, respectively. Conclusions— If further validation is achieved, this score may be useful to predict outcome in individual patients with asymptomatic aortic stenosis to select those who might benefit from early surgery. [less ▲]

Dynamic left ventricular dyssynchrony: a potential cause of no contractile reserve in patients with low-gradient aortic stenosis

in European Journal of Echocardiography (2009)

Mitral regurgitation in patients with aortic stenosis undergoing valve replacement.

in Heart (2009)

Stress echocardiography expert consensus statement-executive summary: european association of echocardiography (a registrated branch of the ESC).

in European Heart Journal (2009), 30(3), 278-89