The association of brown adipose tissue (BAT) and body fat distribution and their combined effects on metabolic health in humans remains unknown. Here, we retrospectively identify individuals with and without BAT on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) and assemble a propensity score-matched study cohort to compare body fat distribution and determine its role in mediating the benefits of brown fat. We find that BAT is associated with lower amounts of visceral adipose tissue and higher amounts of subcutaneous adipose tissue, resulting in less central obesity. In addition, BAT is independently associated with lower blood glucose and white blood cell count, improved lipids, lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus, and decreased liver fat accumulation. These observations are most prominent in individuals with central obesity. Our results support a role of BAT in protection from visceral adiposity and improved metabolic health.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) represents an important alternative to coronary bypass surgery for the treatment of patients with complex coronary artery disease and high perioperative risk. Protected percutaneous coronary intervention applies temporary percutaneous ventricular assist devices to mitigate potential hemodynamic compromise in high-risk patients. The Impella system is currently the most commonly used device for protected percutaneous coronary intervention and showed improved hemodynamic parameters in earlier trials. Methods: This study was designed as a retrospective, observational multi-center registry conducted in ten hospitals in Germany. We included consecutive patients undergoing protected high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention with Impella support. The primary endpoint was defined as the occurrence of a major adverse cardiac event defined as all-cause mortality, ST-elevation myocardial infarction, or stroke during a postprocedural 180-day follow-up period. Results: In total, 157 patients (80.3% male; mean age 71.8 ± 10.8 years) were included in the present study, and 180-day follow-up was complete for 149 patients (94.9%). At baseline, the patients had a median left ventricular ejection fraction of 39.0% (interquartile range, 25.0–50.0%). The median SYNergy between PCI with TAXUS and Cardiac Surgery-Score I was 33.0 (interquartile range, 24.0–40.5) and the median EuroSCORE II was 7.2% (interquartile range, 3.2-17.1%). During postprocedural follow-up, 34 patients (22.8%) suffered a major adverse cardiac event. All-cause mortality was 18.1% (27 patients). Nine patients (6.0%) sustained a ST-elevation myocardial infarction, while 4 patients (2.7%) had a stroke. Conclusions: Patients undergoing protected high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention with Impella support showed an acceptable 180-day clinical outcome regarding major adverse cardiac event and mortality.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) has a low risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD). The ESC clinical risk prediction model estimates the risk of SCD using clinical and echocardiographical parameters without taking into account cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) parameters. Therefore, we compared the CMR characteristics of 149 patients with low, intermediate and high ESC risk scores. In these patients left and right ventricular ejection fraction and volumes were comparable. Patients with a high ESC risk score revealed a significantly higher extent of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) compared to patients with intermediate or a low risk scores. During follow-up of 4 years an extent of LGE ≥20% identified patients at a higher risk for major adverse cardiac arrhythmic events in the low and intermediate ESC risk group whereas an extent of LGE <20% was associated with a low risk of major adverse cardiac arrhythmic events despite a high ESC risk score ≥6%. Hence, we hypothesize that the extent of fibrosis might be an additional risk marker.

Selecting a revascularization strategy in patients with multivessel disease (MVD) and severely reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) remains a challenge. PCI with Impella 2.5 may facilitate high-risk PCI, however long-term results comparing unprotected versus protected PCI are currently unknown. We sought to evaluate the outcome of patients undergoing protected compared to unprotected percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the setting of MVD and severely reduced LVEF. We included patients with MVD and severely reduced LVEF (≤35%) in this retrospective, single-centre study. Patients that underwent unprotected PCI before the start of a dedicated protected PCI program with Impella 2.5 were compared to patients that were treated with protected PCI after the start of the program. The primary endpoint was defined as major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) during a 1-year follow-up. The secondary endpoints consisted of in-hospital MACCE and adverse events. A total of 61 patients (mean age 70.7 ± 10.9 years, 83.6% male) were included in our study, of which 28 (45.9%) underwent protected PCI. The primary endpoint was reached by 26.7% and did not differ between groups (P = .90). In-hospital MACCE (P = 1.00) and in-hospital adverse events (P = .12) also demonstrated no significant differences. Multivariate logistic regression identified procedural success defined as complete revascularization and absence of in-hospital major clinical complications as protective parameter for MACCE (OR 0.17, 95% CI 0.04–0.70, P = .02). Patients with MVD and severely depressed LVEF undergoing protected PCI with Impella 2.5 demonstrate similar in-hospital and one-year outcomes compared to unprotected PCI.