3D
: three-dimensional
AIDS
: acquired immune deficiency syndrome
b.i.d.
: bis in die (twice daily)
BCNIE
: blood culture-negative infective endocarditis
CDRIE
: cardiac device-related infective endocarditis
CHD
: congenital heart disease
CIED
: cardiac implantable electronic device

/pdf/2015-esc-guidelines-for-the-management-of-infective-2z2r1c1flx.pdf

2015 ESC Guidelines for the management of infective endocarditis

2010 ACCF/AHA/AATS/ACR/ASA/SCA/SCAI/SIR/STS/SVM guidelines for the diagnosis and management of patients with thoracic aortic disease: Executive summary: A report of the american college of cardiology foundation/american heart association task force on practice guidelines, american association for thoracic surgery, american college of radiology, american stroke association

Guidelines and Expert Consensus Documents summarize and evaluate all currently available evidence on a particular issue with the aim of assisting physicians in selecting the best management strategy for an individual patient suffering from a given condition, taking into account the impact on outcome, as well as the risk/benefit ratio of particular diagnostic or therapeutic means. Guidelines are no substitutes for textbooks. The legal implications of medical guidelines have been discussed previously.

A great number of Guidelines and Expert Consensus Documents have been issued in recent years by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) as well as by other societies and organizations. Because of the impact on clinical practice, quality criteria for development of guidelines have been established in order to make all decisions transparent to the user. The recommendations for formulating and issuing ESC Guidelines and Expert Consensus Documents can be found on the ESC website (http://www.escardio.org/knowledge/guidelines/rules).

In brief, experts in the field are selected and undertake a comprehensive review of the published evidence for management and/or prevention of a given condition. A critical evaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is performed including assessment of the risk/ benefit ratio. Estimates of expected health outcomes for larger societies are included, where data exist. The level of evidence and the strength of recommendation of particular treatment options are weighed and graded according to predefined scales, as outlined in Tables 1 and 2 .

View this table:

Table 1 
Classes of recommendations



View this table:

Table 2 
Levels of evidence



The experts of the writing panels have provided disclosure statements of all relationships they may have which might be perceived as real or potential sources of conflicts of interest. These disclosure forms are kept on file at the European Heart House, headquarters of the ESC. Any changes in conflict of interest that arise during the writing period must be notified to …

/pdf/guidelines-on-the-prevention-diagnosis-and-treatment-of-5jifq6zm1x.pdf

Guidelines on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infective endocarditis (new version 2009)

Guidelines on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infective endocarditis (new version 2009).

/pdf/guidelines-on-the-prevention-diagnosis-and-treatment-of-4wglwiwvag.pdf

https://www.suscch.eu/e107_files/public/Aorta/Guidelines_for_the_Diagnosis_and_Management_of_Patients_with_Thoracic_Aortic_Disease,_2010.pdf

2010 ACCF/AHA/AATS/ACR/ASA/SCA/SCAI/SIR/STS/SVM Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Patients With Thoracic Aortic Disease

Natural history and serial morphology of aortic intramural hematoma: A novel variant of aortic dissection

Penetrating atherosclerotic aortic ulcer: documentation by transesophageal echocardiography

This study describes the clinical, anatomic, echocardiographic, and Doppler features of 13 patients with mitral valve aneurysms. Eleven patients had definitive criteria for infective endocarditis. Transesophageal echocardiography was superior to conventional echocardiography in detecting and assessing aneurysms. Patients with heart failure required surgery. Echocardiographic detection of this lesion should not be, by itself, an immediate surgical indication.

Clinical, anatomic, and echocardiographic characteristics of aneurysms of the mitral valve.

Whether periannular extension of prosthetic valve endocarditis (abscesses, pseudoaneurysms, fistulas) is related to the etiologic agent, the clinical course and the prognosis is still unknown. Likewise, transesophageal echocardiographic accuracy in detecting periannular complications in prosthetic recipients remains unsettled. We retrospectively analyzed data from 87 patients with anatomically proven prosthetic valve endocarditis who underwent a transesophageal echocardiographic examination. Periannular complications (30 abscesses, 18 pseudoaneurysms, 8 fistulas; 8 with >1) were found in 46 patients; results were compared with the remaining 41 without complications. Transesophageal echocardiography correctly identified 27 abscesses (90%) and all pseudoaneurysms and fistulas. One diagnosis of pseudoaneurysm by echocardiography was not found at surgery. No statistical differences were found regarding age, sex, type of prosthesis (mechanical vs biologic), and etiologic agent. Periannular complications were more frequent in aortic location (70% vs 20% in mitral position; p <0.001) and in early (within 6 months after surgery) endocarditis (63% vs 38% in late endocarditis; p = 0.04). The same percentage of patients from both groups underwent surgery (98% with and 90% without complications). At discharge, 62% and 67% of patients were alive, respectively. Thus, periannular complications in prosthetic valve endocarditis are more frequent in aortic location and within 6 months after surgery. Neither the type of prosthesis nor the etiologic agent are related to the presence of periannular complications. Short-term prognosis in patients who underwent surgery is not affected by the presence of periannular complications.

Clinical course, microbiologic profile, and diagnosis of periannular complications in prosthetic valve endocarditis.

/pdf/coronary-dissection-associated-with-hepatitis-c-virus-26kvbp1cuy.pdf

Elena Batlle

Papers

Natural history and serial morphology of aortic intramural hematoma: A novel variant of aortic dissection

Penetrating atherosclerotic aortic ulcer: documentation by transesophageal echocardiography

Clinical, anatomic, and echocardiographic characteristics of aneurysms of the mitral valve.

Clinical course, microbiologic profile, and diagnosis of periannular complications in prosthetic valve endocarditis.

Coronary dissection associated with hepatitis C virus-related cryoglobulinaemia