B a c k g r o u n d: Heart failure (HF) is a life-threatening condition which aff ects up to 2% of contemporary populations. Generally, it is a chronic and progressive disease, however in many cases it can be prevented or treated. Nevertheless, effective control of this disease requires awareness of symptoms in the society.

A i m s: The aim of the study was to assess the level of HF knowledge in the Polish population.

M e t h o d s: The questionnaire concerning knowledge about HF prepared by the Competence Network HF under the patronage of the European Heart Failure Association of the ESC, was used. The survey included 534 contributors who formed three groups: medical students — in vast majority at fi rst half of the study course (MS) — 198 (37.1%), HF Awareness Day participants (HFDP) — 134 (25.1%) and other (OP) — 202 (37.8%).

R e s u l t s: Study groups diff ered in terms of gender, age and level of education. As predicted, MS achieved the highest score (22.5 [20.0–24.0]), compared to HFDP (20.0 [17.0–22.0], P <0.001) and OP (19.0 [16.0– 21.0], P <0.001). Knowledge on typical HF symptoms was alarmingly low in the analyzed groups — dyspnea (MS — 96.0%, HFDP — 78.4%, OP — 74.6%), ankle edema (MS — 79.8%, HFDP — 50.6%, OP — 32.2%), body weight gain (MS — 14.1%, HFDP — 17.2%, OP — 4.5%). By multivariate model medical education (β 3.372, 95% CI 2.738–4.005) and own illness or having relatives or friends with HF (β 0.654, 95% CI 0.066–1.242) independently aff ected the score of awareness questionnaire.

C on c l u s i o n s: The basic knowledge on HF in Poland is not sufficient. It is moderately better among MS. Further campaigns improving HF awareness are necessary.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is the fi nal stage in several heart diseases. The diagnosis of CHF in older patients is a challenge. Preserved left ventricular systolic function is a characteristic type of CHF in seniors. The purpose of the study was to characterize elderly patients with CHF and to highlight specific features of the conditions in seniors. The most common etiology of HF in this group of patients is hypertension and coronary heart disease. In seniors atypical presentations of chronic heart failure is much more common than in younger patients. Malnutrition, limitations of exercise and sedentary lifestyles or comorbid diseases have an influence on asymptomatic, early stage of HF. Th ere are better outcomes of treatment in obese individuals. It is called the obesity paradox. Open communication with a patient and his/her family may improve their response to therapy. When heart failure becomes an incurable disease and aggressive treatment is ineffective, palliative care should be considered in end-of-life heart failure patients. The goal of treatment in the remaining moments of life last moments of life should be maximizing the patient’s comfort.

Mitral regurgitation is the second most common valvular disease. The etiology is either primary or functional-secondary to the left ventricle dysfunction in the course of coronary artery disease, arterial hypertension and diabetes. Along with the population aging and increasing number of comorbidities the number of patients with mitral regurgitation soars. In patients with heart failure the mitral regurgitation significantly decreases the quality of life and worsens the survival prognosis. Surgical correction is the treatment of choice in patients with mitral regurgitation. However, up to 50% of potential candidates are denied surgery for its prohibitive risk. The minimally invasive, percutaneus procedures are potential solution for those subjects. Currently the „edge to edge” technique with use of the MitraClip system is most commonly performed. This procedure is less efficient in MR reduction than open heart surgery. However, the number of periprocedural complications is smaller. It has been shown the MR correction with the MitraClip device improves the duration and quality of life. There are several ongoing preclinical studies on the percutaneusly implanted mitral valve prosthesis. First in men procedures have been performed. However the mitral valve anatomy is much more complex as compared to aortic. Therefore the breakthrough comparable to TAVI procedure will not occur in the very close future.

B a c k g r o u n d: A novel paradigm of diastolic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) proposed the induction of coronary microvascular dysfunction by HFpEF comorbidities via a systemic pro-infl ammatory state and associated oxidative stress. Th e consequent nitric oxide deficiency would increase diastolic tension and favor fi brosis of adjacent myocardium, which implies not only left ventricular (LV), but all-chamber myocardial stiff ening. Our aim was to assess relations between low-grade chronic systemic infl ammation and left atrial (LA) pressure-volume relations in real-world HFpEF patients.

Me t h o d s: We retrospectively analyzed medical records of 60 clinically stable HpEFF patients in sinus rhythm with assayed high-sensitive C-reactive protein (CRP) during the index hospitalization. Subjects with CRP >10 mg/L or coexistent diseases, including coronary artery disease, were excluded. LV and LA diameters and mitral E/E’ ratio (an index of LA pressure) were extracted from routine echocardiographic 46 Cyrus M. Sani, Elahn P.L. Pogue, et al. records. A surrogate measure of LA stiff ness was computed as the averaged mitral E/e’ ratio divided by LA diameter.

R e s u l t s: With ascending CRP tertiles, we observed trends for elevated mitral E/e’ ratio (p <0.001), increased relative LV wall thickness (p = 0.01) and higher NYHA functional class (p = 0.02). Th e LA stiffness estimate and log-transformed CRP levels (log-CRP) were interrelated (r = 0.38, p = 0.003). On multivariate analysis, the LA stiff ness index was independently associated with log-CRP (β ± SEM: 0.21 ± 0.07, p = 0.007) and age (β ± SEM: 0.16 ± 0.07, p = 0.03), which was maintained upon adjustment for LV mass index and relative LV wall thickness.

C o n c l u s i o n s: Low-grade chronic infl ammation may contribute to LA stiff ening additively to age and regardless of the magnitude of associated LV hypertrophy and concentricity. LA stiff ening can exacerbate symptoms of congestion in HFpEF jointly with LV remodeling.

T h e a i m: The aim of the study is to present the initial experience with continuous flow left ventricle assist device (CF-LVAD) in pediatric patients with BSA below 1.5 m2.

M a t e ri a l a n d M e t h o d s: Between 2016 and 2017, CF-LVAD (the Heartware System) have been implanted in three pediatric patients in the Department of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. The indications for initiating CF-LVAD were end-stage congestive heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy in all children.

R e s u l t s: Implanted patients have had BSA of 1.09, 1.42, 1.2 m2, and 37, 34, 34 kg of body weight and the age 12, 11, 12 years, respectively. The time of support was 550 days in two patients and 127 in another one, and is ongoing. The main complication has been driveline infection.

C o n c l u s i o n: The outcomes from our single-center experience using the HeartWare CF-LVAD have been excellent with a low incidence of complication and no necessity to reoperation in our patients. Children could be successfully and safely discharged home.

Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is a cardiac condition commonly found in older dogs. The disease process can lead to heart failure (HF). In HF, an increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and abnormal mitochondrial activity, as well as apoptosis, have been reported. Humanin (HN) is a polypeptide that has a cardioprotective effect against apoptosis and oxidative stress. The purposes of this study were (1) to investigate the potential role of plasma HN as a cardiac biomarker to predict disease progression of MMVD, and (2) to compare plasma HN concentrations with plasma NT-pro BNP concentrations. Thirty-one dogs were included in the study. The dogs were separated into four groups: Group 1 was healthy dogs (n = 8), Group 2 was MMVD class B (n = 8), Group 3 was MMVD class C (n = 8), and Group 4 was MMVD class D (n = 7). All dogs were given a physical examination, thoracic radiography, echocardiography, and samples of their blood were collected for hematology and blood chemistry analysis. Levels of plasma HN and plasma NT-proBNP were also investigated. The results showed that plasma HN levels were lower in the dogs with MMVD and that lower plasma HN levels were associated with greater severity of MMVD-induced HF. It was possible to observe changes in plasma HN levels at a less severe disease stage than plasma NT-proBNP in dogs with MMVD. These findings sug- gest that a decreased plasma HN level can be used as a biomarker to identify dogs with MMVD -induced HF.