Short Communication: Prolonged COVID-19 Infection in a Patient with Newly Diagnosed HIV/AIDS.

A 38-year-old male patient presented to the emergency department with fever and dyspnea. Hospitalization was warranted and soon coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was diagnosed based on a positive SARS-CoV-2-PCR. Over the following weeks his condition gradually worsened, leading to admission at the intensive care unit.

Effects of targeted temperature management at 33 °C vs. 36 °C on comatose patients after cardiac arrest stratified by the severity of encephalopathy.

Objectives: To assess neurological outcome after targeted temperature management (TTM) at 33 °C vs. 36 °C, stratified by the severity of encephalopathy based on EEG-patterns at 12 and 24 h.

Design: Post hoc analysis of prospective cohort study.

Thresholds for Arterial Wall Inflammation Quantified by F-FDG PET Imaging: Implications for Vascular Interventional Studies.

Objectives: This study assessed 5 frequently applied arterial fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) uptake metrics in healthy control subjects, those with risk factors and patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD), to derive uptake thresholds in each subject group. Additionally, we tested the reproducibility of these measures and produced recommended sample sizes for interventional drug studies.

Background: F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) can identify plaque inflammation as a surrogate endpoint for vascular interventional drug trials.

Unexpected arterial wall and cellular inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in remission using biological therapy: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Increasing numbers of patients (up to 40 %) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) achieve remission, yet it remains to be elucidated whether this also normalizes their cardiovascular risk. Short-term treatment with TNF inhibitors lowers arterial wall inflammation, but not to levels of healthy controls. We investigated whether RA patients in long-term remission are characterized by normalized inflammatory activity of the arterial wall and if this is dependent on type of medication used (TNF-inhibitor versus nonbiological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs)).

Increased arterial wall inflammation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis is reduced by statin therapy.

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease with involvement of axial and sacroiliac joints. In addition, patients with AS have increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which might be attributed to enhanced inflammatory activity of the arterial wall. In the present study, we compared the level of carotid arterial wall inflammation in patients with AS with healthy controls using (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography with CT.

Stents Eluting 6-Mercaptopurine Reduce Neointima Formation and Inflammation while Enhancing Strut Coverage in Rabbits.

Background: The introduction of drug-eluting stents (DES) has dramatically reduced restenosis rates compared with bare metal stents, but in-stent thrombosis remains a safety concern, necessitating prolonged dual anti-platelet therapy. The drug 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) has been shown to have beneficial effects in a cell-specific fashion on smooth muscle cells (SMC), endothelial cells and macrophages. We generated and analyzed a novel bioresorbable polymer coated DES, releasing 6-MP into the vessel wall, to reduce restenosis by inhibiting SMC proliferation and decreasing inflammation, without negatively affecting endothelialization of the stent surface.

Increasing the Spatial Resolution of 3T Carotid MRI Has No Beneficial Effect for Plaque Component Measurement Reproducibility.

Purpose: Different in-plane resolutions have been used for carotid 3T MRI. We compared the reproducibility, as well as the within- and between reader variability of high and routinely used spatial resolution in scans of patients with atherosclerotic carotid artery disease. Since no consensus exists about the optimal segmentation method, we analysed all imaging data using two different segmentation methods.

Effect of anti-ApoA-I antibody-coating of stents on neointima formation in a rabbit balloon-injury model.

Background And Aims: Since high-density lipoprotein (HDL) has pro-endothelial and anti-thrombotic effects, a HDL recruiting stent may prevent restenosis. In the present study we address the functional characteristics of an apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) antibody coating in vitro. Subsequently, we tested its biological performance applied on stents in vivo in rabbits.

Guideline treatment results in regression of atherosclerosis in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Efficacy of guideline cardiovascular disease prevention regimens may differ between patients with or without type II diabetes mellitus. We therefore compared change in carotid artery wall dimensions in type II diabetes mellitus and non-type II diabetes mellitus patients with a history of a major cardiovascular disease event, using magnetic resonance imaging.

Methods: Thirty type II diabetes mellitus patients and 29 age- and sex-matched non-diabetes mellitus patients with a history of stroke or myocardial infarction and a carotid artery stenosis (15%-70%) were included.

Increasing spatial resolution of 3T MRI scanning improves reproducibility of carotid arterial wall dimension measurements.

Objective: To improve carotid 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dimension measurements in patients with overt atherosclerotic carotid artery disease.

Materials And Methods: In 31 patients with advanced atherosclerotic carotid artery disease, two high resolution (0.25 × 0.

Pro-atherogenic lipid changes and decreased hepatic LDL receptor expression by tocilizumab in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: Blocking the interleukin-6 pathway by tocilizumab (TCZ) has been associated with changes in the lipoprotein profile, which could adversely impact cardiovascular (CV) risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In the present study, we addressed the effect of TCZ on lipoproteins in both fasting and non-fasting state in RA patients and tested the effect of TCZ on LDL receptor (LDLr) expression in vitro.

Methods: Twenty patients with active RA and an inadequate response to TNF blockers received monthly TCZ intravenously.

The genetics of high-density lipoprotein metabolism: clinical relevance for therapeutic approaches.

The risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) is inversely correlated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol plasma levels. These plasma HDL cholesterol levels are influenced by the activity of a number of enzymes and receptors, and therefore, variations in the genes encoding for these proteins may consequently result in an altered CAD risk. Identification of such pivotal players in HDL cholesterol metabolism that are also strongly associated with CAD risk is crucial for the materialization of novel therapeutic modalities.

Noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging of the development of individual colon cancer tumors in rat liver.

Monitoring tumor development is essential for the understanding of mechanisms involved in tumor progression and to determine efficacy of therapy. One of the evolving approaches is longitudinal noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of tumors in experimental models. We applied high-resolution MRI at 7 Tesla to study the development of colon cancer tumors in rat liver.