Comparing outcomes after pulmonary vein isolation in patients with systolic and diastolic heart failure.

Background: The benefit of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is well established; its efficacy in patients with heart failure preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is less clear.

Objective: The objective of the study was to compare AF and heart failure (HF) rehospitalizations after PVI in patients with HFpEF vs HFrEF.

Methods: The IBM MarketScan Database was used to identify patients undergoing PVI for AF.

A Revised Definition of Left Bundle Branch Block Using Time to Notch in Lead I.

Importance: Current left bundle branch block (LBBB) criteria are based on animal experiments or mathematical models of cardiac tissue conduction and may misclassify patients. Improved criteria would impact referral decisions and device type for cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Objective: To develop a simple new criterion for LBBB based on electrophysiological studies of human patients, and then to validate this criterion in an independent population.

Aberrant function of pathogenic STAT3 mutant proteins is linked to altered stability of monomers and homodimers.

STAT3 mutations, predominantly in the DNA-binding domain (DBD) and Src-homology 2 domain (SH2D), cause rare cases of immunodeficiency, malignancy, and autoimmunity. The exact mechanisms by which these mutations abrogate or enhance STAT3 function are not completely understood. Here, we examined how loss-of-function (LOF) and gain-of-function (GOF) STAT3 mutations within the DBD and SH2D affect monomer and homodimer protein stability as well as their effect on key STAT3 activation events, including recruitment to phosphotyrosine (pY) sites within peptide hormone receptors, tyrosine phosphorylation at Y705, dimerization, nuclear translocation, and DNA binding.

Population-Level Impact of the Guidelines Update on Patient Selection and Outcomes After Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy.

Objectives: This study sought to analyze the impact of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and Heart Rhythm Society (ACC/AHA/HRS) guidelines for cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) update on utilization and efficacy of CRT-D.

Background: In September 2012, the ACC/AHA/HRS guidelines for CRT-D were modified to include left bundle branch block (LBBB) as a Class I indication.

Methods: The IBM Watson MarketScan Database was queried between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2018, for CRT-D implants or upgrades.

Psychosocial Stress Exposure Disrupts Mammary Gland Development.

Exposure to psychosocial stressors and ensuing stress physiology have been associated with spontaneous invasive mammary tumors in the Sprague-Dawley rat model of human breast cancer. Mammary gland (MG) development is a time when physiologic and environmental exposures influence breast cancer risk. However, the effect of psychosocial stress exposure on MG development remains unknown.