Beatriz Díaz Molina

Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias | HUCA · Departamento de Cardiología

Background Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) has shown a good ability to rule out rejection in heart transplant (HT) recipients, but there is scarce information on the utility of NTproBNP (and the combination of both biomarkers) in this setting. Methods We prospectively obtained levels of both biomarkers in all patients included in the FreeDN...

Background There is an increasing body of evidence supporting the potential utility of donor-derived cell-free DNA as a non-invasive biomarker that could allow surveillance of rejection without the need of repeated endomyocardial biopsies (EMB) in heart transplant (HT) recipients. Methods Free-DNA CAR was a multicenter, observational, prospective...

Background Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) appears to be an excellent biomarker for acute cellular rejection (ACR) in heart transplant (HT) recipients. However, a significant rise in the immediate post-transplant phase probably related to direct myocardial damage during harvesting-implantation process has been described, and could potentiall...

Heart transplant (HT) remains the best therapeutic option for patients with advanced heart failure (HF). The allocation criteria aim to guarantee equitable access to HT and prioritize patients with a worse clinical status. To review the HT allocation criteria, the Heart Failure Association of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (HFA-SEC), the Spanish...

Introduction and objectives: Posttransplant outcomes among recipients with a diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) or restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) remain controversial. Methods: Retrospective analysis of a nationwide registry of first-time recipients undergoing isolated heart transplant between 1984 and 2021. One-year and 5-year mor...

Introduction and objectives: Repetitive ambulatory doses of levosimendan are an option as a bridge to heart transplantation (HT), but evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of this treatment is scarce. The objective of the LEVO-T Registry is to describe the profile of patients on the HT list receiving levosimendan, prescription patterns, and c...

In this observational and multicenter study, that included all patients who underwent a heart transplantation (HT) in Spain from 1984 to 2018, we analyzed the incidence, management, and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) after HT. Of 6,244 patients with a HT and a median follow-up of 8.8 years since the procedure, 116 CRC cases (11.5% of noncutan...

Background: Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) still affects 2% to 28% of heart transplants (HT). Severe PGD requires mechanical circulatory support (MCS) and is the main cause of death early after HT. Earlier initiation has been suggested to improve prognosis but the best cannulation strategy is unknown. Methods: Analysis of all HT in Spain betwee...

Heart transplantation remains the gold standard for the treatment of advanced heart failure (HF). Identification of the etiology of HF is mandatory, as the specific pathology can determine subsequent treatment. Early identification of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), the most common genetic disorder associated with premature cardiovascular disea...

Objective: In patients with advanced heart failure, the intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) of subsegmental pulmonary artery measurements is correlated with right heart catheterization parameters. Our aim was to study the prognostic value of pulmonary OCT, right heart catheterization data, and the echocardiographic estimation of pulmo...

Introduction and objectives: Pulmonary vascular remodeling is common among patients with advanced heart failure. Right heart catheterization is the gold standard to assess pulmonary hypertension, but is limited by indirect measurement assumptions, a steady-flow view, load-dependency, and interpretation variability. We aimed to assess pulmonary vasc...

Resumen Introducción y objetivos Se presentan las características clínicas, los resultados y las complicaciones de todos los pacientes a los que se implantó un dispositivo de asistencia circulatoria mecánica de larga duración en España entre 2007 y 2020. Métodos Análisis a partir del registro español de asistencia ventricular de larga duración (REG...

Introduction and objectives: The Index for Mortality Prediction After Cardiac Transplantation (IMPACT) score was derived and validated as a predictor of mortality after heart transplantation (HT). The primary objective of this work is to externally validate the IMPACT score in a contemporary Spanish cohort. Methods: Spanish Heart Transplant Regi...

The cardiopulmonary exercise (CPET) test is an essential tool to determine the severity, prognosis, and need for invasive treatments in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) but disregards the exercise modality. The present study aimed at analyzing the differences between treadmill and cycle-ergometer exercises. This was a prospectiv...

In this study we performed a next generation sequencing of 210 genes in 140 patients with cardiac failure requiring a heart transplantation. We identified a total of 48 candidate variants in 47 patients. Forty-three patients (90%) presented a single variant, and fourpatients (10%) were carriers of two variants. After refining the classification, we...

Hyperkalaemia is a growing concern in the treatment of patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) as it limits the use of some prognostic-modifying drugs and has a negative impact on prognosis. The objective of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of hyperkalaemia in outpatients with HFrEF and its impact on achiev...

Resumen Introducción y objetivos El tratamiento óptimo disminuye la mortalidad y hospitalizaciones por insuficiencia cardiaca (IC) en pacientes con IC y fracción de eyección reducida. En los ensayos clínicos las mujeres estuvieron infrarrepresentadas y no fueron evaluadas específicamente. Este estudio buscó comparar la seguridad y efectividad de t...

Aims To perform a comprehensive characterization of acute heart failure (AHF) with preserved (HFpEF), vs. mildly reduced (HFmrEF) vs. reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Methods and Results Of 5951 participants in the ESC HF Long-Term Registry hospitalized for AHF (acute coronary syndromes excluded), 29% had HFpEF, 18% HFmrEF, and 53% HFrEF. Hospit...

Introduction and objectives HeartLogic is a multiparametric algorithm incorporated into implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD). The associated alerts predict impending heart failure (HF) decompensations. Our objective was to analyze the association between alerts and clinical events and to describe the implementation of a protocol for remote...

Introduction and objectives Optimal medical therapy decreases mortality and heart failure (HF) hospitalizations in HF patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Women have been underrepresented in clinical trials and not specifically evaluated. This study aimed to compare the safety and effectiveness of drug titration in women vs men...

Resumen Introducción y objetivos Se actualizan las características y los resultados del trasplante cardiaco en España con los hallazgos de los procedimientos realizados en 2020. Métodos Se describen las características de receptores, donantes, procedimiento quirúrgico e inmunosupresión en el año 2020. Se analizan las tendencias de estas caracterí...

Resumen Introducción y objetivos HeartLogic es un algoritmo multiparamétrico incorporado a desfibriladores automáticos implantables (DAI). La alerta asociada predice descompensaciones de insuficiencia cardiaca (IC). Nuestro objetivo es analizar la asociación entre alertas y eventos clínicos bajo un protocolo de seguimiento común en un registro mul...

Resumen Introducción y objetivos El retrasplante cardiaco (ReTC) representa un tema controvertido actualmente. Nuestro objetivo es describir y analizar los resultados del ReTC en España. Métodos Análisis retrospectivo del Registro Español de Trasplante Cardiaco de 1984 a 2018. Se recogieron datos sobre donante, receptor, cirugía, inmunosupresión...

High levels of inflammation play an important role in chronic heart failure (CHF). Patients with CHF have elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines circulating systemically, mainly TNF and IL-6. However, there are almost no studies that relate these levels to the functional status of patients in CHF, much less to their CMV serostatus. In this s...

Introduction and objectives Heart retransplantation (ReHT) is controversial in the current era. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the results of ReHT in Spain. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort analysis from the Spanish Heart Transplant Registry from 1984 to 2018. Data were collected on donors, recipients, surgical proced...

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women in developed countries. Heart failure (HF) contributes to significant morbidity and mortality and continues to remain on the rise. While advances in pharmacological therapies have improved its prognosis, there remain a number of unanswered questions regarding the impact of these ther...

Resumen Introducción y objetivos El objetivo es estudiar el impacto clínico de la variabilidad intrapaciente (VIP) de la concentración sanguínea de los anticalcineurínicos en el trasplante cardiaco, pues la información actual es escasa. Métodos Se analizó retrospectivamente a pacientes de edad ≥ 18 años con un trasplante cardiaco realizado entre...

Introduction and objectives Intrapatient blood level variability (IPV) of calcineurin inhibitors has been associated with poor outcomes in solid-organ transplant, but data for heart transplant are scarce. Our purpose was to ascertain the clinical impact of IPV in a multi-institutional cohort of heart transplant recipients. Methods We retrospective...

Biological differences between males and females change the course of different diseases and affect therapeutic measures' responses. Heart failure is not an exception to these differences. Women account for a minority of patients on the waiting list for heart transplantation or other advanced heart failure therapies. The reason for this under-repre...

Male patients are at increased risk for developing malignancy post‐heart transplantation (HT); however, real incidence and prognosis in both genders remains unknown. The aim of this study was to assess differences in incidence and mortality related to malignancy between genders in a large cohort of HT patients. Incidence and mortality rates were ca...

Introduction and objectives The present report describes the clinical characteristics and outcomes of heart transplants in Spain and updates the data to 2019. Methods We describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of heart transplants performed in Spain in 2019, as well as trends in this procedure from 2010 to 2018. Results In 2019, 300 tr...

Background Intravenous ferric carboxymaltose has been shown to improve symptoms and quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure and iron deficiency. We aimed to evaluate the effect of ferric carboxymaltose, compared with placebo, on outcomes in patients who were stabilised after an episode of acute heart failure. Methods AFFIRM-AHF was...

The study of gender differences may lead into improvement in patient care. We have aimed to identify the gender differences in heart transplantation (HT) of adult HT recipients in Spain and their evolution in a study covering the years 1993-2017 in which 6740 HT (20.6% in women) were performed. HT indication rate per million inhabitants was lower i...

Left ventricle non-compaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC) has gained great interest in recent years, being one of the most controversial cardiomyopathies. There are several open debates, not only about its genetic heterogeneity, or about the possibility to be an acquired cardiomyopathy, but also about its possible overdiagnosis based on imaging technique...

Resumen Introducción y objetivos Se presentan las características clínicas y los resultados de los trasplantes cardiacos realizados en España con la actualización correspondiente a 2019. Métodos Se describen las características clínicas y los resultados de los trasplantes cardiacos realizados en 2019, así como las tendencias de estos en el period...

Background Cold ischemia time (CIT) has been associated to heart transplantation (HT) prognosis. However, there is still uncertainty regarding the CIT cutoff value that might have relevant clinical implications. Methods We analyzed all adults that received a first HT during the period 2008–2018. CIT was defined as the time between the cross-clamp...

Aims Guidelines recommend down‐titration of loop diuretics (LD) once euvolaemia is achieved. In outpatients with heart failure (HF), we investigated LD dose changes in daily cardiology practice, agreement with guideline recommendations, predictors of successful LD down‐titration and association between dose changes and outcomes. Methods and resul...

Resumen Introducción y objetivos La insuficiencia cardiaca (IC) es un problema creciente de salud y una carga importante para la sociedad. Pese a ello, con frecuencia se minusvalora globalmente la gravedad del pronóstico. Este estudio estima el pronóstico al año en pacientes con IC aguda y crónica en España y resto de Europa. Métodos Un total de...

Evidence on the impact of MCS on pediatric heart transplant survival is still scarce related to congenital heart disease patients including univentricular physiology as well as the risk factors for complications. We performed a retrospective review of all urgent pediatric (aged ≤16 years) HT from 2004 to 2014 in the Spanish Pediatric Heart Transpla...

Heart failure is a complex entity, with high morbidity and mortality. The clinical course and outcome are uncertain and difficult to predict. This document, instigated by the Heart Failure and Geriatric Cardiology Working Groups of the Spanish Society of Cardiology, addresses various aspects related to palliative care, where most cardiovascular dis...

Background Malignancy is one of the leading causes of mortality in the long term follow up after heart transplantation (HT). Male sex has been described as an independent risk factor for developing cancer in this group of patients. However, the real incidence of all type of neoplasm and its impact prognosis in mortality in both group of sex remains...

Background: Anticoagulation in heart transplant (HT) recipients increases the risk of hemorrhagic complications, so correct reversal of anticoagulation is needed. Dabigatran, a direct thrombin inhibitor is increasingly used for anticoagulation in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) whose effect can be reversed by idarucizumab. A...

Resumen La insuficiencia cardiaca (IC) presenta aspectos diferenciales entre géneros en la epidemiología, fisiopatología, formas clínicas de presentación y tratamiento que han sido previamente estudiados. En primer lugar, la IC es una causa frecuente de muerte en la mujer (5,8 frente a 3,2% en los varones, según datos del Instituto Nacional de Esta...

Resumen La insuficiencia cardiaca es una entidad compleja, que conlleva elevada morbilidad y mortalidad y cuyo curso y evolución son inciertos y difíciles de predecir. Este trabajo, impulsado por las Secciones de Insuficiencia Cardiaca y Cardiología Geriátrica de la Sociedad Española de Cardiología, aborda los diferentes aspectos relacionados con l...

Background: Coronary allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is the main factor limiting long-term survival after cardiac transplantation. Dual imaging stress echocardiography with wall motion and Doppler-derived coronary flow reserve (CRF) of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) is a state-of-the-art methodology during dipyridamole stress echocardiogra...

The Cardiology of the Future is a project of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC) whose objectives are as follows: to define the action policies of the SEC; to analyze the trends and changes in the environment that will influence the practice of cardiology in Spain; to define the profile of the cardiologists needed in the future; to propose poli...

Background: Lifelong adherence with post-transplant immunosuppression is challenging, with nonadherence associated with greater acute rejection (AR) risk. Methods: This retrospective study evaluated conversion from immediate-release tacrolimus (IRT) to prolonged-release tacrolimus (PRT), between January 2008 and December 2012 in stable adult hea...

Aims To assess the proportion of patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) who are eligible for LCZ696 based on EMA/FDA label, the PARADIGM‐HF trial and ESC‐Heart Failure Association (ESC‐HFA) Guidelines, and the association between eligibility and outcomes. Methods and results Outpatients with HFrEF in the ESC‐HFA Long‐Ter...

Abstract Introduction and objectives: Mitral regurgitation is one society’s most prevalent valvular diseases. Transcatheter mitral valve repair with the MitraClip system has become more widely used for the management of this condition. The endpoints of the study were the changes in the mitral annular morphology, the recurrent grade III-IV mitral va...

Resumen Introducción y objetivos: La insuficiencia mitral es una de las enfermedades valvulares más prevalentes en nuestro medio. La reparación mitral transcatéter con el sistema MitraClip es un procedimiento cada vez más utilizado en este contexto. Los objetivos del estudio fueron evaluar los cambios morfológicos anulares, la recurrencia de la ins...

The nuclear-factor kappa-beta (NF-KB) is a driver of inflammation, and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease (CAD). Early-onset CAD is defined as a coronary ischaemic episode at an age ≤55 years, and in our population was strongly associated with male sex and smoking. Our aim was to determine whe...

Resumen «La Cardiología del Futuro» es un proyecto de la Sociedad Española de Cardiología (SEC) que tiene como objetivos definir hacia dónde, desde la posición actual, deben dirigirse las políticas de acción de la SEC, analizar las tendencias y los cambios del entorno que influirán en la práctica de la cardiología en España, definir el perfil de lo...

The positive long-term effects of conversion to everolimus (EVL) after heart transplantation (HT) have been evaluated in several studies. However, the timing of EVL initiation, the best way to combine it with other immunosuppressive treatments, and the impact of these combinations on the immune response are poorly understood aspects. Here, we analy...

Immune phenotype in peripheral blood of HT patients by treatment group. The absolute number (cells/μl) of the immune cell subsets was determined in 50 μl of peripheral blood obtained from HT patients at >1 year post-transplant who were receiving therapy with MMF (MMF group, n = 20) or who converted to EVL early (EVL-E, n = 12) or late (EVL-L, n = 8...

Immunophenotype of HT patients from prospective study at indicated times.

Gating strategy used for peripheral blood immunophenotyping. Live peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were selected according to physical parameters (forward and side scatter) and by negative 7-AAD staining. (A) T lymphocytes were selected according to the CD3+ expression, then CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were identified. Further, combined express...

Monoclonal antibodies used in flow cytometry.

Correlation between DNA methylation levels and cytotoxic immune cell subsets.

Effect of EVL, FK506, and MMF on CD4+ and CD8+ T cell proliferation. (A) CD4+ and CD8+ T cells isolated from six healthy donors were stained with CFSE and activated with anti-CD3/CD28 antibodies in the presence of different amounts of EVL (1 and 10 μM), FK506 (100 nM and 1 μM) and MMF (100 nM and 1 μM) for5 days. Proliferation was quantified by gat...

Baseline clinical characteristics of HT patients from the prospective study.

Aim: The long noncoding RNA H19 and its host micro RNA miR-675 have been found deregulated in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure tissues. Our aim was to investigate whether the H19 gene variants were associated with the risk of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Patients & methods: We genotyped two H19 tag single nucleotide polymorphisms in 4...

Objectives: This study compared the performance of major heart failure (HF) risk models in predicting mortality and examined their utilization using data from a contemporary multinational registry. Background: Several prognostic risk scores have been developed for ambulatory HF patients, but their precision is still inadequate and their use limi...

Introduction and objectives: To study the prognostic value of serum lactate in patients under temporary preoperative mechanical circulatory support who underwent urgent heart transplant. Methods: We conducted a subanalysis of a Spanish multicenter registry recording data on patients under temporary mechanical circulatory support listed for highl...

Resumen Introducción y objetivos Analizar el impacto del lactato sérico en receptores de trasplante cardiaco urgente en asistencia circulatoria mecánica de corta duración preoperatoria. Métodos Se realizó un subanálisis de un registro multicéntrico español basado en pacientes incluidos en «urgencia grado 0» para trasplante cardiaco con asistencia...

Immunosenescence in chronic heart failure (CHF) is characterized by a high frequency of differentiated T-lymphocytes, contributing to an inflammatory status and a deficient ability to generate immunocompetent responses. CMV is the best known inducer of T-lymphocyte differentiation, and is associated with the phenomenon of immunosenescence. In this...

Background It's unclear whether pre-transplant T. gondii seropositivity is associated with impaired survival in heart transplant recipients. Objectives To test the above-mentioned hypothesis in the Spanish Heart Transplantation Registry. Methods Post-transplant outcomes of 4048 patients aged > 16 years who underwent first, single-organ heart tran...

Resumen Introducción y objetivos El tacrolimus de liberación prolongada (TLP) permite una dosificación única diaria, lo que simplifica el régimen inmunosupresor. El presente estudio describe la eficacia y la seguridad del uso de TLP de novo y precoz para el trasplante cardiaco. Métodos Se realizó un estudio observacional, retrospectivo y multicén...

Patients with solid-organ transplants usually present at the emergency department with nonspecific symptoms. The physician should consider a great variety of syndromes and diseases, given the greater risk that solid-organ transplant patients carry because of immunosuppression and transplant-related conditions. Myocardial infarction caused by cardia...

Post-infarction ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a rare but potentially lethal complication of acute myocardial infarction. Medical management is usually futile, so definitive surgery remains the treatment of choice but the risk surgery is very high and the optimal timing for surgery is still under debate. A 55-year-old man with no previous medic...

Introduction and objectives: The extended-release formulation of tacrolimus (ERT) allows once-daily dosage, thus simplifying the immunosuppressive regimen. This study aimed to describe the safety and efficacy of the de novo and early use of ERT in heart transplantation. Methods: This was an observational, retrospective, multicenter study compari...

Background: Recent exome sequencing studies identified filamin C (FLNC) as a candidate gene for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Our aim was to determine the rate of FLNC candidate variants in a large cohort of HCM patients who were also sequenced for the main sarcomere genes. Methods and results: A total of 448 HCM patients were next generati...

In accordance with the policy on clinical practice guidelines established by the Executive Committee of the Spanish Society of Cardiology,1 the current article discusses the most notable and novel aspects of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure (HF).2 The aim of the g...

Introduction: Elective heart transplantation (HTX) aims to improve physical ability, increase survival, and improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with chronic heart failure. Nevertheless, most patients who undergo urgent HTX are previously healthy, and a transplant could be perceived as a limitation. The aim of this study is t...