In daily practice, C-reactive protein (CRP) may be used to predict recurrence and treatment response in patients with acute pericarditis; however, the predictive role of CRP might be insufficient f...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Atrial fibrosis augments recurrence rate following AF catheter ablation. Osteopontin is a multifunctional molecule involved in several pathophysiological pathways, including fibrosis. Presently described is investigation of relationship between serum osteopontin level and AF recurrence after AF cryoablation. The study was designed to be prospective and observational; 60 patients with paroxysmal (n=47) and persistent (n=13) AF were included. Osteopontin level was measured both before and 6 months after AF ablation with cryoballoon. Preprocedure and postprocedure osteopontin level did not differ between the 2 groups of AF patients (p=0.286, p=0.493, respectively). Postprocedure osteopontin level was significantly higher compared with preprocedure value (32.18 ng/mL vs 15.58 ng/mL; p=<0.001). Left atrial diameter, AF type, and preprocedure osteopontin level were related to AF recurrence (p≤0.05). An age-adjusted multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine independent predictors of AF recurrence. Among these, AF type (ß=2.211; p=0.004; odds ratio [OR]: 9.124; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.026-41.094) was found to be the most important factor related to AF recurrence. Preprocedure osteopontin level also predicted AF recurrence independently (ß=0.059; p=0.048; OR: 1.061; 95% CI 1.001-1.125). Study results revealed persistency of AF and high preprocedure osteopontin level independently predicted AF recurrence in patients undergoing cryoballoon AF ablation. Association of a biochemical marker with AF recurrence might be beneficial to selection of appropriate patients for cryoballoon procedure and assessment of long-term procedural success.

Background and Objectives: Patients with impaired left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remain at high risk for adverse outcomes despite successful procedures. Sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) improve outcomes in heart failure, but their long-term impact after TAVI is not well established. Materials and Methods: This single-center retrospective study included patients with LVEF < 50% who underwent transfemoral TAVI between January 2015 and September 2025. Patients were stratified according to SGLT2i use. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality and heart failure (HF) hospitalization requiring intravenous diuretics. Secondary outcomes included all-cause mortality, HF hospitalization, and changes in echocardiographic parameters at 6 months. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) based on propensity scores was applied to adjust for baseline differences. Time-to-event analyses were performed using IPTW-weighted Cox models and adjusted survival curves. Results: The study included 226 patients (78 SGLT2i users, 148 non-users) with a median follow-up of 37 months. After IPTW adjustment, SGLT2i use was associated with a lower rate of the composite outcome (32.8% vs. 50.8%, p = 0.019) and a lower crude long-term mortality (32.8% vs. 47.4%, p = 0.056). Acute kidney injury after TAVI occurred less frequently among SGLT2i users (3.4% vs. 17.4%, p = 0.013). In IPTW-weighted Cox analyses, SGLT2i use was associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality (HR 0.57, 95% CI 0.32–0.98) and the composite outcome (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.33–0.96). SGLT2i users demonstrated greater reductions in left ventricular end-diastolic diameter at 6 months. Conclusions: In patients with impaired LVEF undergoing TAVI, SGLT2 inhibitor therapy was associated with improved long-term survival, better composite outcome-free survival, and lower rates of post-TAVI acute kidney injury. Larger prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings.

The largest amount of evidence for bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) use in clinical practice derives from Absorb trials and registries. Comparison of Absorb BVS with metallic stents resulted in increased rates of target lesion failure and device thrombosis in the Absorb BVS group. We...