I Campos’s research while affiliated with Hospital Braga and other places

Resumo Reportamos o caso de um jovem desportista de 17 anos que recorreu ao serviço de urgência por palpitações e tonturas durante o exercício físico. Referia dois episódios de síncope com o exercício nos últimos seis meses. Na admissão apresentava-se taquicárdico e hipotenso. O eletrocardiograma mostrava taquicardia regular de complexos largos com morfologia de bloqueio completo de ramo esquerdo e eixo superior, com necessidade de cardioversão elétrica. Em ritmo sinusal evidenciava inversão da onda T de V1-V5. O ecocardiograma transtorácico demonstrava dilatação e disfunção ligeira do ventrículo direito (VD) por hipocontratilidade global. A RMC revelava um volume telediastólico do VD indexado para a superfície de área corporal de 180 ml/m2, hipocinésia global e dessincronia do VD, realce tardio subepicárdico no septo distal e no segmento médio da parede infero-septal. O doente realizou estudo genético que mostrou mutação no gene DSC2 que codifica a proteína desmocolina-2 implicada na patogénese da miocardiopatia arritmogénica do ventrículo direito (MAVD). De acordo com os critérios Task Force modificados de 2010, o doente apresentava quatro critérios major para o diagnóstico de MAVD. O doente implantou cardiodesfibrilhador subcutâneo, encontrando-se em seguimento na consulta de Cardiologia. O diagnóstico de MAVD assenta em critérios estruturais, funcionais, genéticos e eletrofisiológicos que traduzam as alterações histológicas subjacentes. Este caso reflete as características essenciais ao seu reconhecimento.

Introduction Infective endocarditis (IE) is associated with high morbidity and mortality, despite advances in diagnosis and treatment. Objective To assess changes in the epidemiological profile of IE, to perform a time-trend analysis and to define short-term and long-term prognostic predictors of IE. Methods Retrospective analysis of 173 patients admitted with a diagnosis of IE to a Portuguese level II Hospital between January 1998 and December 2013. The patients were divided into two groups according to the period of occurrence of the IE episode (1998-2007 vs. 2008-2013). The clinical event studied was the occurrence of death or the need for urgent surgery during hospitalization, and death in the follow-up period. Independent predictors of short-term and long-term prognosis were identified. Results In the first portion of the study, IE occurred in younger individuals, often drug addicts, users of intravenous drugs and with gastrointestinal disease, human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B infection. In the second portion of the study, IE occurred more frequently in individuals of an older age with concomitant cardiovascular disease; enterococcus was isolated more frequently. The independent predictors of in-hospital death or need for urgent valve surgery were septic shock and the occurrence of peri-annular complications. The independent predictors of long-term mortality were age, chronic kidney disease and IE due to multidrug-resistant microorganisms. Conclusion Differences were found in the epidemiological profile of IE during the study period. Referral for valve surgery increased slightly, but mortality remained high.

Introduction: Stroke causes disability and pain, especially shoulder pain. Often, shoulder pain, has a not completely known mechanism and evolution.1,2 Objectives: Assess shoulder pain and its impact in upper limb function, in patients who had suffered a stroke within 6 months. Methods: Observational study. Included patients at discharge from an inpatient rehabilitation centre, from November 2019 until February 2020. Assessment was done using validated Portuguese versions of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and Fugl Meyer Assessment Scale (FMAS). Results: Of 32 patients screened, 26 fulfilled the inclusion criteria, 7 were females (26,9 %), with mean age of 60,7±10 years. Mean values of BPI Severity and Interference were 3,2±1,6 and 2,4±1,8, respectively. The mean values of the FMAS Motor Function and Passive Articular Movement were 38,8±23,2 and 20,3±2,3, respectively. Analysing the association between both subscales of BPI and both Subscales of FMAS negative correlations were found to be statistically significant with a confidence interval of 95% but there was no correlation between BPI Severity and FMAS motor function. Six patients (23%) received a local injection for shoulder pain. Analysing both groups, BPI Severity and both subscales of FMAS showed a statistically significant difference (p values of 0,0083, 0,0031 and 0,0056, respectively) for a Wilcoxon/Kruskal-Wallis test with a confidence interval of 95%. Discussion/Conclusions: Patients with voluntary upper limb movements after a stroke tend to have less shoulder pain. Local injection was an effective intervention for shoulder pain. The greatest limitation of this study is the small sample size.

Background There were gaps between guidelines and practice when surgery was the only treatment for aortic stenosis (AS). Objectives This study analyzed the decision to intervene in patients with severe AS in the EORP VHD (EURObservational Research Programme Valvular Heart Disease) II survey. Methods Among 2,152 patients with severe AS, 1,271 patients with high-gradient AS who were symptomatic fulfilled a Class I recommendation for intervention according to the 2012 European Society of Cardiology guidelines; the primary end point was the decision for intervention. Results A decision not to intervene was taken in 262 patients (20.6%). In multivariate analysis, the decision not to intervene was associated with older age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.34 per 10-year increase; 95% CI: 1.11 to 1.61; P = 0.002), New York Heart Association functional classes I and II versus III (OR: 1.63; 95% CI: 1.16 to 2.30; P = 0.005), higher age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (OR: 1.09 per 1-point increase; 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.17; P = 0.03), and a lower transaortic mean gradient (OR: 0.81 per 10–mm Hg decrease; 95% CI: 0.71 to 0.92; P < 0.001). During the study period, 346 patients (40.2%, median age 84 years, median EuroSCORE II [European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation II] 3.1%) underwent transcatheter intervention and 515 (59.8%, median age 69 years, median EuroSCORE II 1.5%) underwent surgery. A decision not to intervene versus intervention was associated with lower 6-month survival (87.4%; 95% CI: 82.0 to 91.3 vs 94.6%; 95% CI: 92.8 to 95.9; P < 0.001). Conclusions A decision not to intervene was taken in 1 in 5 patients with severe symptomatic AS despite a Class I recommendation for intervention and the decision was particularly associated with older age and combined comorbidities. Transcatheter intervention was extensively used in octogenarians.

Introduction In ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients, emergency medical system delays importantly affect outcomes. The effect of admission time in STEMI patients is dubious when percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the preferred reperfusion strategy. Aims The authors aimed to retrospectively describe the association between admission time and STEMI patient's care standards and outcomes. Methods Characteristics and outcomes of 1222 consecutive STEMI patients treated in a PCI-centre were collected. On-hours were defined as admission on non-national-holidays from Monday to Friday from 8 AM to 6 PM. Time delays, in-hospital and one-year all-cause mortality were assessed. Results A total of 439 patients (36%) were admitted on-hours and 783 patients (64%) were admitted off-hours. Baseline characteristics were well-balanced between groups, including the percentage of patients admitted in cardiogenic shock (on-hours: 4.6% vs off-hours 4%; p=0.62). Median emergency system dependent time to reperfusion (i.e. first-medical contact to reperfusion) did not differ between the two groups (on-hours: 120 min vs. off-hours 123 min, p=0.54). The authors observed no association between admission time and in-hospital mortality (on-hours: 5% vs. off-hours 4.9%, p=0.90) or 1-year mortality (on-hours: 10% vs. off-hours 10%, p=0.97). In patients admitted directly in the PCI-centre, median time from first-medical contact to reperfusion (on-hours: 87 min vs off-hours: 88 min, p=0.54), in-hospital mortality (on-hours: 4% vs off-hours: 7%, p=0.30) and 1 year mortality (on-hours: 9% vs off-hours: 13%, p=0.27) did not differ between the two groups. Survival analysis showed no survival benefit of on-hours PCI over off-hours PCI (HR 1.01; 95% CI [0.77–1.46], p=0.95). Conclusion In a contemporary well-organized emergency network, STEMI patients admission time in the PCI-centre was not associated with reperfusion delays or increased mortality. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Kaplan-Meier curve

Introduction Bifurcation percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is associated with a higher degree of complexity when compared with non-bifurcation procedures. Although 1-stent PCI remains the standard approach for most bifurcation lesions, data is constantly being published on 2-stent PCI. Aim To evaluate and compare the characteristics and outcomes of patients that underwent bifurcation PCI with one or two stents. Methods Single center, retrospective observational study including all patients who underwent bifurcation PCI between January 2015-December 2018. We defined two groups: 1-stent PCI group (1s-PCI) and 2-stent PCI group (2s-PCI). The 2s-PCI group included PCI patients with all the different techniques used in our center: provisional stenting with 2 stents, Cullote, crushing stent and DK Crush. Results 1s-PCI group included 376 individuals and 2s-PCI group included 26. Overall baseline clinical characteristics were balanced between groups. There was no statistically significant difference in age (mean 64 vs 66; p=0.388), gender (79% vs 85% males; p=0.622) and comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, chronic kidney disease, smoking and previous history of coronary artery disease). Also, there was no difference in clinical status (NSTEMI 36% vs 38%; stable disease 32% vs 42%; STEMI 28% vs 19%; unstable angina 5% vs 0%; p=0.419). Coronary angiography and lesion distribution were similar in both groups (p=0.367). However, radiation dose (median 90.5 [IQR=79] vs 156 [IQR=84] mGy cm2; p<0,001) and contrast volume (median 150 [IQR=100] vs 156 [IQR=83] ml; p<0,001) were significantly higher in 2s-PCI group. At 12-month follow-up, mortality rate was higher in 1s-PCI group, but without statistical significance (8% vs 4%; p=0.71); the same is true for acute myocardial infarction at 12 months (3% vs 0%; p=0.368). Target-lesion failure was only reported in 4 patients in the 1s-PCI group. Survival tests showed no significant difference between groups (χ2(1,n=402)=0.634; p=0.426). Conclusion Individuals that underwent 1s-PCI were overall similar to those who underwent 2s-PCI. Predictably, deploying more than 1 stent required more contrast volume and implied a higher radiation dose. We should note that our studied is greatly limited by the 2s-PCI group size, which may justify the lack of difference in the evaluated outcomes. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.

Background Iron deficiency (IDef) is a prevalent condition in patients with heart disease and in those with heart failure (HF). Evidence has shown that this deficit is associated with worse prognosis. Data in literature are scarce on the prognostic impact of IDef in acute coronary syndromes (ACS), which is the main objective of this study. Methods Observational, retrospective study which included 817 patients admitted for ACS. Two groups were defined according to the presence (n=298) or absence of IDef (n=519) on admission. The clinical event under study was the occurrence of death or severe HF in the long term. Independent predictors of prognosis were determined with logistic regression analysis. Results Thirty-six percent of patients had IDef. There was higher mortality (p=0.004), higher incidence of HF (p=0.011) during follow-up and a higher rate of hospital readmissions (p=0.048) in this group. IDef was an independent predictor of death or severe HF in follow-up, along with anemia, left ventricular dysfunction, renal dysfunction and the absence of revascularization. IDef also enabled us to further stratify the prognosis of patients without anemia based on the occurrence of death or severe HF and those with lower Killip classes (≤2) based on the occurrence of death. Conclusion IDef was an independent predictor of death or severe HF in patients admitted with ACS and enabled additional stratification for those without anemia on admission and in those with Killip classes ≤2.

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. INTRODUCTION Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an adverse prognostic factor during acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Current evidence recommends dual antithrombotic therapy (DAT), 1 antiplatelet drug and 1 anticoagulant drug, as the default strategy after nonST elevation ACS. AIM To identify the clinical differences and prognosis of AF type-new onset (nAF) or pre-existing (pFA)- during ACS, to evaluate antithrombotic strategy at hospital discharge (HD) and its impact on haemorrhagic and ischemic events. METHODS We performed a retrospective observational cohort study including 3241 patients (pts) with ACS (mean age 64 years, 77.5% male) admitted to a single center over a 6-year period, with 12-months follow-up. RESULTS AF rhythm was identified in 11.2% pts, of whom 63.2% presented nAF and 36.8% pAF. When AF types where compared, pts with pAF had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular (Cv) comorbidities, including hypertension (p < 0.001), previous ACS (p = 0.03), valvular disease (p = 0.01) or stroke (p = 0.05), had greater left atrial diameter (p < 0.001) and were less likely to have significant coronary lesions (p = 0.05). Pts with nAF more frequently presented with STelevation ACS (p < 0.001) and had a lower Hemoglobin nadir (p < 0.001). The independent predictors of nAF in ACS were age (OR 1.1, p< =0.001), LVEF ≤ 40% (OR 2.2, p = 0.001), STelevation ACS (OR 2.6, p< =0.001) and previous valvular disease (OR 3.5, p< =0.01). Compared with the population without AF, nAF was a predictor of in-hospital death (OR 2.9, p = 0.027) and in-hospital composite endpoint (death, stroke, reinfarction and cardiogenic shock) (OR 2.5, p = 0.001) in multivariate analysis, but pAF wasn’t. During 12-months follow-up of pts with ACS and AF, there was no difference regarding death or follow-up composite endpoint (death, stroke and ACS) between the AF types.Regarding antithrombotic therapy, nAF pts were less often anticoagulated (p < 0.001) and pAF pts where more often treated with triple antithrombotic therapy (TAT) at HD (<0.001). Most of the pts with TAT stopped the second antiplatelet at agent 6-months (43.8%) or 12 months (25.5%) after HD. During 12-months follow-up, pts discharged with TAT had trend towards more haemorrhagic events (TAT 6.2% vs DAT2.7%,p = 0.69) and both groups had similar ischaemic events (death, ACS, stroke) (TAT 20.9% vs DAT23.7%,p = 0.714). In multivariate analysis the choice of TAT or DAT wasn’t a predictor of ischaemic events. CONCLUSIONS In ACS, pts with nAF had worst in-hospital outcomes than pts with pAF. Regarding antithrombotic strategy at HD pts with nFA were less often anticoagulated and less often treated with TAT. In our study the choice between DAT or TAT had no statistical impact on follow-up outcomes.

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Syncope is a common reason for emergency department attendance. This entity may be associated with significant morbidity and mortality and its differential diagnosis is not straightforward. Arrhythmic causes include tachycardia and bradycardia; the later may require pacemaker implantation. Many hospitals lack a dedicated syncope unit to approach these patients. So, patients’ triage may fall into medical or surgical (trauma) areas. Purpose To describe the population of patients that required permanent pacemaker implantation in the year of 2019, particularly those who had a previous visit to the emergency department with syncope or presyncope. Methods Single-center descriptive analysis of patients that implanted a permanent pacemaker in 2019 (inclusion criteria). Additional information was collected in patients with emergency department visits in the 365 days that preceded the device implantation. Results In 2019, a total of 398 patients were admitted for pacemaker implantation in 2019, 55% male (n = 218), 45% female (n = 180), with mean age of 79 years. Regarding indications for pacing, 41% (n= 156) had complete atrioventricular (AV) block, 26% (n = 105) had a second degree AV block, 16% (n = 64) had sinus node dysfunction, 13.5% (n = 53) had atrial fibrillation with slow ventricular conduction, and 3.5% (n = 14) had other indications. Twenty-two percent (n = 88) of patients had a previous visit to the emergency department (other than the ones that triggered the pacemaker implantation) with complaints of syncope (60%) or presyncope (40%). Of these, 73% (n = 64) were referred to a medical area and 27% (n = 24) were referred to a surgical area; 40 patients presented with traumatic lesions (68% cranioencephalic trauma and 32% other traumas). Of the 88 patients, only 67% (n = 59) performed an ECG and only 23% (n = 20) were referred for observation by a cardiologist in the emergency department. Comparing medical and surgical triage, we observe that patients referred to the surgical area were less likely to perform an ECG and to be observed by a cardiologist (with statistical significance). Conclusions Our work describes a common problem in hospitals without dedicated syncope evaluation units. As all the patients ended up implanting a pacemaker, it is interesting to observe that 22%of these had a "warning" visit to the emergency and 33% of the last did not get and ECG. Also, trauma-oriented approaches result in a lower likelihood of performing a complete evaluation of the cause of the syncopal event. This analysis highlights the need for a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach of patients presenting with syncope and presyncope to promote early identification and treatment of arrhythmic causes, reducing patient morbidity and healthcare costs.