Репозитарій

Objective: Red blood cell (RBC) role is both passive action, oxygen delivery to the tissues as well as carbon dioxide to the lungs and active action involvement in the regulation of vascular tone.

The aim was to investigate pathophysiological and ultrastructural changes of RBC in heart failure (HF) patients with hypertension (HT) and long Covid.

Design and method: In total 12 patients with HF of Coronary Artery Disease origin, HT, and long Covid were examined. Mean age of patients was 62 ± 5.8 years. The control group consisted of 10 apparently healthy people. The functional state and ultrastructure of RBC were studied using electron microscopy.

Results: During ultrastructure examination, structural pathologies of RBC in HF patients with HT and long Covid were revealed. RBC anisocytosis and poikilocytosis as structural damage variations in size and shape were found respectively. Reticulocytes were found much more often in HF patients with HT and long Covid than in the control group. In healthy control group, RBC had a typical discoid shape. In the presence of long Covid, both calcification as a marker of RBC apoptosis and destruction was also detected (Fig.1). Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) were found in RBC surrounding (Fig.1).

Conclusions: Altered RBC function has important implications for HF patients with HT and long Covid. RBC has been shown to induce endothelial cell dysfunction and to increase cardiac injury as well as increased inflammatory processes in long Covid. The presence of HF, HT and long Covid leads to RBC calcification and activation of blood cell apoptosis. Prognostic role of RBC calcium distribution in combination with other important prognostic measures, such as biomarkers like Thrombospondin - 1, NT-proBNP and ST2 is subject of interest and requires further research.

A congenital anomaly of coronary vessels in the form of myocardial muscle bridges (MBs) is most commonly located in the left coronary artery’s system, specifically in the middle segment of the anterior interventricular branch. Typically considered a benign condition, it can be asymptomatic. However, the presence of MBs has been associated with various clinical manifestations, some of which pose threats to the life and health of patients, unresolved issues that include medical management tactics for handling such patients, specifics of assisting during complications and determining the need for intervention in asymptomatic cases. This article presents contemporary perspectives on the clinic, diagnosis, and treatment of symptomatic patients with MBs, considering concomitant myocardial ischemia. We presented a case of a 41-year-old male with the myocardial bridge in the left coronary artery characterized by a high degree of systolic compression of the vessel, widespread exercise-induced subendocardial ischemia with abdominal pain and WPW phenomenon.

Background: Data on the results and management strategies in patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock (AMI-CS) in the Low and Lower-Middle Income Countries (LLMICs) are limited. This lack of understanding of the situation partially hinders the development of effective cardiogenic shock treatment programs in this part of the world.
Materials and methods: The Ukrainian Multicentre Cardiogenic Shock Registry was analyzed, covering patient data from 2021 to 2022 in 6 major Ukrainian reperfusion centres from different parts of the country. Analysis was focusing on outcomes, therapeutic modalities and mortality predictors in AMI-CS patients.
Results: We analyzed data from 221 consecutive patients with CS from 6 hospitals across Ukraine. The causes of CS were ST-elevated myocardial infarction (85.1%), non-ST-elevated myocardial infarction (5.9%), decompensated chronic heart failure (7.7%) and arrhythmia (1.3%), with a total in-hospital mortality rate for CS of 57.1%. The prevalence of CS was 6.3% of all AMI with reperfusion rate of 90.5% for AMI-CS. In 23.5% of cases, CS developed in the hospital after admission. Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) utilization was 19.9% using intra-aortic balloon pump alone. Left main stem occlusion, reperfusion deterioration, Charlson Comorbidity Index >4, and cardiac arrest were found to be independent predictors for hospital mortality in AMI-СS.
Conclusions: Despite the wide adoption of primary percutaneous coronary intervention as the main reperfusion strategy for AMI, СS remains a significant problem in LLMICs, associated with high in-hospital mortality. There is an unmet need for the development and implementation of a nationwide protocol for CS management and the creation of reference CS centers based on the country-wide reperfusion network, equipped with modern technologies for MCS.

УДК 616.127-085-2

У 2022 році кількість проведених у клініках України процедур коронарної ангіографії становила 51 084, що на 27,6 % більше, ніж у 2019 році, стентування при всіх формах ішемічної хвороби серця (планове та ургентне) - 27 513, що на 19,7 % більше, ніж у 2019 році, стентування при інфаркті міокарда з елевацією сегмента ST (STEMI) у першу добу від початку симптомів - 16847, що на 12,9 % більше, ніж у 2019 році.

Answer to quiz: A round cyst-like structure in the right atrium Correct answer is #2: Atrial septal aneurysm (ASA)
protruding from the left atrium into the right atrium. This conclusion became clear after receiving other
echocardiographic images, particularly the apical fourchamber view (Fig. 1). It is possible to notice on this
image that in fact this formation is not a cyst, but a deep protrusion of the atrial septum in its central part
from left to right. This protrusion remains practically the same by its size during both systole and diastole.
Using the color Doppler we could not visualize the shunt of blood in the atrium from left to right side or
vice versa, so it was not possible to prove the presence of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) or atrial
septal defect, which often happens in such cases.