American Journal of Cardiology

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A substantial number of patients may experience a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and related adverse events after transcatheter aortic valve implantation and endovascular aortic aneurysm repair. Although a clear etiology has not been established, endothelial disruption and tissue-ischemic response secondary to the foreign material may represent the trigger events. A latency period (0-48 hours) may occur between the initial injury and onset of symptoms mirroring an initial local response followed by a systemic response...

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Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is commonly seen in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), increasing the risk of morbidity, mortality and hospital expenses. This study is aimed to evaluate the effect of partial cardiac denervation, which is achieved by cutting off the ligament of Marshall and resecting the fat pad along the Waterston groove, on the prevention of POAF after CABG. Patients planned for CABG at our center will be screened for eligibility for this study. A total of 430 patients will be randomized into intervention (partial cardiac denervation) group and control group...

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Atrial fibrillation was largely ignored by cardiac electrophysiologists until it was first suggested in 1998 that it might be amenable to catheter ablation. In the 25 years since then, a vast literature has emerged, initially reporting the 'hypes and hopes' that ablation was appropriate for all, but more recently acknowledging that not all patients benefit from this approach. The atrial fibrillation 'epidemic' and more holistic understanding of the complex contributors to its development question whether, it is even meaningful, to consider atrial fibrillation a single condition that is always responsive to ablation management...

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BACKGROUND: Right ventricular (RV) to pulmonary arterial (PA) coupling describes the ability of the RV to augment contractility in response to increased afterload. Several echocardiographic indexes of RV-PA coupling have been defined; however, the optimal numerator in the coupling ratio is unclear. We sought to establish which of these ratios is best for assessing RV-PA coupling based on their relationships with 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) in aging adults...

Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) has emerged as an alternative to transesophageal echo (TEE) to guide left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO). We established a protocol to select patients appropriate for ICE guidance. Patients undergoing LAAO with the Watchman or Watchman FLX device (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA) from January 2018-March 2022 at a large United States center were included. The novel protocol prospectively selected TEE or ICE guidance beginning in January 2020; previous LAAO procedures were retrospectively included...

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) represents the most severe complication of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, the relationship between strain, strain rate, and risk factors in SCD risk stratification remains elusive. The study aimed to assess the attenuation of strain and strain rate in HCM by feature-tracking cardiac magnetic resonance (FT-CMR). All strain and strain rates were obtained automatically by FT, with manual adjustment of endocardial and epicardial borders. Strain indicators included left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal (GLS), circumferential (GCS), radial strain (GRS), peak diastolic-longitudinal (PD-LSR), circumferential (PD-CSR), and radial strain rate (PD-RSR)...

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Despite a 30% decline in the rate over the last decade, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery remains a common major surgical procedure with significant morbidity and mortality. Chronic liver disease (CLD) patients, with increased survival rates due to medical advancements, are now frequently being considered for CABG, bearing higher perioperative risks. This study investigates the association between CLD and in-hospital outcomes in CABG patients using retrospective data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database (2016-2020) including 7,945 CLD patients undergoing CABG that were propensity score matched with an equivalent number of patients with no CLD undergoing CABG...

Placebo-controlled trials of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) demonstrate kidney and cardiovascular benefits for people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). We used real-world data to compare the kidney and cardiovascular effectiveness of empagliflozin to dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4i), a commonly prescribed antiglycemic medication, in a diverse population with and without CKD. Using electronic health record data from 20 large US health systems, we leveraged propensity overlap weighting to compare outcomes for empagliflozin and DPP4i initiators with T2D between 2016 and 2020...

The number of different methodologies of reperfusion therapy to treat venous thromboembolism (VTE) has increased substantially. Nevertheless, investigation of data representativeness and device-level usage in administrative databases has been limited. Using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) and the PINC AI Healthcare Database (PHD), all hospital encounters with a diagnosis code of VTE were identified between 1/1/2016 and 12/31/2020. Patient demographics and trends in treatment modalities were evaluated over time...

There are limited data from randomized controlled trials assessing the impact of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgery in women with aortic stenosis and small aortic annuli. We evaluated 2-year clinical and hemodynamic outcomes following AVR to understand acute valve performance and early and mid-term clinical outcomes. This post hoc analysis pooled women enrolled in the randomized, prospective, multicenter Evolut Low Risk and SURTAVI intermediate risk trials. Women with severe aortic stenosis at low or intermediate surgical risk who had a computed-tomography-measured annular perimeter of ≤ 72...

OBJECTIVE: Guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) for peripheral artery disease (PAD) remains severely underutilized. Prevention of Amputation in Veterans Everywhere (PAVE) is a screening program designed to prevent or delay major lower extremity amputation. The primary objective of this study was to determine if diagnosis of PAD through the PAVE program improves prescription of GDMT in Veterans with asymptomatic PAD. METHODS: Patients enrolled into the PAVE program from our institution from 2020-2021 were included...

Patients with small aortic annuli (SAA) pose a challenge in aortic valve replacement patients due to potential for prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM). The objective of this study was to compare clinical and hemodynamic outcomes of self-expandable valves (SEV) versus balloon-expandable valves (BEV) transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients with severe aortic stenosis and SAA. All patients who underwent TAVI for severe native aortic stenosis with a SAA between January 2018 and December 2022 were retrospectively included in the study from a single center...

Atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF) is the most common dysrhythmia in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Unexplained left ventricular hypertrophy and left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction are integral components of HCM pathology which can cause increased left atrial pressure and atrial myopathy contributing to the substrate for AF. Our aim was to determine the impact of AF on hospital readmissions in patients with HCM. We conducted a retrospective analysis using the 2015 - 2019 Nationwide Readmission Database to analyze the effect of AF on 30-day readmission and causes of 30-day readmission in patients with HCM...

The impact of inconsistent enhancement within the patent false lumen on the occurrence of late aortic events remains uncertain. We enrolled a total of 55patients who exhibited a patent false lumen following hemiarch replacement. The Hounsfield unit(HU) measurements in the patent false lumen were obtained at two specific locations: the aortic arch(a) and the descending aorta(b). "The false lumen HU score" was calculated as the absolute value of 1-a/b, representing the discrepancy in Hounsfield units within the patent false lumen...

OBJECTIVES: Bioprosthetic MVR use is on the rise, but data regarding long term durability is lacking. We sought to perform a reconstructed individual patient data meta-analysis from published Kaplan Meier curves to ascertain survival, freedom from valve degeneration and reoperation in studies published since 2010. We explored the effects of age and valve type (bovine pericardial or porcine valve) on outcomes. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, OVID, Embase and Cochrane CENTRAL for studies reporting at least 3 years of follow-up after bMVR and published since 2010...