Cardiology Research

BACKGROUND: Post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) syndrome derives from lingering symptoms after an acute COVID-19 infection. Palpitation was one of the most common symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome that correlated with objective data such as persisting sinus tachycardia; but to our best knowledge, there is a scarcity of research regarding the association of COVID-19 and sinus tachycardia in the post-acute setting. Therefore, the purpose was to identify if there is an association between COVID-19 infection and sinus tachycardia in the post-acute phase, namely post-COVID-19 tachycardia (PCT) other than inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)...

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) represent conditions that commonly coexist. The impact of AF in HF has yet to be well studied in Latin America. This study aimed to characterize the sociodemographic and clinical features, along with patients' outcomes with AF and HF from the Colombian Heart Failure Registry (RECOLFACA). METHODS: Patients with ambulatory HF and AF were included in RECOLFACA, mainly with persistent or permanent AF. A 6-month follow-up was performed...

BACKGROUND: The partial pressure of end-tidal oxygen (PETO2 ) and end-tidal oxygen concentration (ETO2 ) are among the indices that can be measured by exhaled gas analysis. Several observational studies have shown that skeletal muscle function is impaired in patients with cardiac disease; thus, the assessment of skeletal muscle function is important. Additionally, although it has recently been suggested that the difference in PETO2 from rest to the ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT) reflects oxygen availability in peripheral factors, primarily skeletal muscle, the evidence for this is not well established...

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of respiratory sarcopenia and its effect on respiratory muscle strength (RMS) in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD), who are transferred to a convalescent rehabilitation hospital after acute care and require continuous cardiac rehabilitation (CR), is currently unclear. This study aimed to assess changes in RMS, physical function, and activities of daily living (ADL) before and after CR performed in a rehabilitation hospital. METHODS: Of 50 consecutive patients transferred to a rehabilitation hospital for ongoing CR, 30 fulfilled the inclusion criteria...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity has increased globally over the past 50 years, affecting over 500 million adults worldwide in 2023. A novel class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists have emerged as a beacon of hope in treating the pandemic of diabetes and obesity. This analysis' objective was to draw comparisons of how these medications reduce cardiovascular outcomes. The review revealed unique differences in GLP-1s, highlighting some of their strengths and weaknesses and which populations they can cater to preferentially...

BACKGROUND: Supervised exercise training decreases total and cardiac mortality and increases quality of life of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) patients. However, response to training is variable from one patient to another and factors responsible for a positive response to training remain unclear. The aims of the study were to compare cardiac hemodynamic changes after an exercise training program in responders (R) versus non-responders (NR) HFrEF patients, and to compare different discriminators used to assess response to training...

BACKGROUND: Remimazolam is a benzodiazepine which, like midazolam, has sedative, anxiolytic, and amnestic properties. Ester metabolism results in a half-life of 5 - 10 min, a limited context sensitive half-life, and rapid recovery when the infusion is discontinued. METHODS: Following the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, we performed a retrospective chart review of patients who received remimazolam in the cardiac catheterization, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and electrophysiology suites...

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous hypertension is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases morbidity and mortality. Glycine betaine (GB) is a natural vitamin that has the potential to lower blood pressure. This work attempted to investigate the role and mechanisms of GB in spontaneous hypertension. METHODS: Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were administrated with 100, 200, or 400 mg/kg of GB by gavage or combined with by injection of lentivirus-mediated STIM1 overexpression vector...

Commonly identified risk factors for perioperative cardiac arrest in pediatric-aged patients include cardiac surgery, younger age, comorbid conditions including pulmonary hypertension and cyanotic congenital heart disease, and emergency surgery. Although medication-related etiologies formerly predominated, the elimination of halothane from anesthetic care has resulted in a shift in etiology to hemodynamic events related to blood loss or hyperkalemia associated with the rapid administration of blood products...

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a deadly cardiopulmonary disease with multi-organ involvement including impaired liver function. Liver dysfunction in PAH is poorly understood but significantly associated with morbidity and mortality. Hispanics have a significantly higher prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and evidence of more advanced disease in comparison to other ethnic groups. The clinical impact of NAFLD in Hispanic PAH patients is unknown...

Obstructive and flow limiting coronary artery dissections can be a catastrophic clinical scenario, requiring urgent treatment and tailored approach for each case. A 55-year-old female patient, with a history of breast cancer, chest radiation treatments and hypertension presented with episodes of angina and significant area of reversible ischemia on single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT). Coronary angiogram revealed separate ostia of the left coronary arteries and three-vessel disease (SYNTAX (Synergy between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery) = 15); subsequent full revascularization was achieved successfully with two drug-eluting stents (DES) (mid left anterior descending artery (LAD), left circumflex coronary artery (LCx)) and one drug-coated balloon (posterior descending artery (PDA))...

BACKGROUND: The popular wrist-worn wearables recording a variety of health metrics such as blood pressure (BP) in real time could play a potential role to advance precision medicine, but these devices are often insufficiently validated for their performance to enhance confidence in its use across diverse populations. The accuracy of BP-enabled smartwatch is assessed among the multi-ethnic Malaysians, and findings is discussed in comparison with conventional automated upper-arm BP device...

Mitral annular disjunction is a cardiac structural abnormality characterized by the distinct separation between the top of the left ventricular myocardium and the mitral annulus supporting the posterior mitral leaflet occurring during systole. It has recently gained wide attention due to the increasing recognition of the link between mitral annular disjunction and arrhythmogenic mitral valve prolapse, particularly, with the increased risks of ventricular arrhythmias resulting in sudden cardiac death. This review has summarized the recent progress in the diagnostic modalities, clinical implications of mitral annular disjunction, and its specific surgical considerations...

BACKGROUND: Rett syndrome (RTT) is a developmental encephalopathy disorder that is associated with a high incidence of sudden death presumably from cardiorespiratory etiologies. Electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities, such as prolonged heart-rate corrected QT (QTc) interval, are markers of cardiac repolarization and are associated with potentially lethal ventricular arrhythmias. This study investigates the cardiac repolarization characteristics of RTT patients, including QTc and T-wave morphology characteristics...

BACKGROUND: Phase 2 in-patient cardiac rehabilitation (CR) at a rehabilitation hospital is now added the medical service fees in Japan and in light of the recent reimbursement for CR, a study needed to be performed to determine exertional exercise on its effectiveness and benefits to patients. We examined the effects of daily aerobic exercise duration on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) at 6 months after discharge from phase 2 CR. METHODS: Of the 54 consecutive cardiovascular disease patients admitted to a rehabilitation hospital after acute care, 43 were considered acceptable candidates for enrollment according to predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria...

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to explore the value of the left internal mammary artery flow velocity (LIMAV) measured by ultrasound before coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in predicting the prognosis of patients after left internal mammary artery (LIMA) bypass grafting. METHODS: One hundred and four patients who underwent CABG with LIMA as the bridge vessel in the cardiovascular surgery department of our hospital between May 2018 and June 2019 were selected...

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with increased incidence of cardiac arrhythmias and thrombotic events. The adverse cardiovascular outcomes related to ambulatory anticoagulation (AC) therapy in COVID-19 patients are unknown. The goal of this study was to identify the effects of AC use in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. METHODS: This is a multicenter, retrospective study that identified 2,801 hospitalized COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive patients admitted between March 2020 and July 2021...

BACKGROUND: Novel approaches to diagnostics and therapeutics in medical care reflect the scientific community's evolving understanding of disease states and their clinical implications. Marketable and valuable innovations are generally patented for protection of intellectual property. Here, we explore the landscape of cardiology-related patents in the United States. METHODS: All United States patents granted between 2005 and 2020 were included in this study. Keywords filtering was used to identify patents related to cardiovascular medicine...

BACKGROUND: The short-term clinical outcomes of first-generation thicker-strut durable polymer-based drug-eluting stents (DES) have been widely examined. However, there is a scarcity on qualitative research on the long-term usage of DES that evaluated the thinner strut biodegradable stents for coronary artery disease. Hence, we sought to investigate the long-term safety and performance of thinner strut biodegradable polymer-based BioMime sirolimus-eluting coronary stent system in real-world patients with symptomatic ischemic heart disease...

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular mass (LVM) is a critical marker of future cardiovascular risk. We determined the association between LVM measured by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) or peripheral artery disease (PAD) in patients who had undergone CCTA for screening of CAD. METHODS: We enrolled 1,307 consecutive patients (66 ± 12 years old, 49% males) who underwent CCTA for screening of CAD at the Fukuoka University Hospital (FU-CCTA registry), and either were clinically suspected of having CAD or had at least one cardiovascular risk factor...