Impact of Guideline-Directed Drug Therapy after ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction on Outcome in Young Patients-Age and Sex-Specific Factors.

: Specifically young women are at risk for a poor outcome after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We aimed to investigate sex- and age-specific differences in outcome and associate these results with adherence to a guideline-directed optimal medical therapy (OMT). : Administrative insurance data (≈26 million insured) were screened for patients aged 18-60 years with STEMI.

Occurrence and Outcome of Infective Endocarditis after Surgical Compared to Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Implantation in Congenital Heart Disease.

: Conflicting data exist on the occurrence and outcome of infective endocarditis (IE) after pulmonary valve implantation. Objectives: This study sought to assess the differences between transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation (TPVI) and surgical pulmonary valve replacement (SPVR). : All patients ≥ 4 years who underwent isolated pulmonary valve replacement between 2005 and 2018 were analyzed based on the data of a major German health insurer (≈9.

Impact of COVID-19 Infections among Unvaccinated Patients with Congenital Heart Disease: Results of a Nationwide Analysis in the First Phase of the Pandemic.

: The outcome data and predictors for mortality among patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) affected by COVID-19 are limited. A more detailed understanding may aid in implementing targeted prevention measures in potential future pandemic events. : Based on nationwide administrative health insurance data, all the recorded in-hospital cases of patients with CHD with COVID-19 in 2020 were analyzed.

Contemporary in-hospital and long-term prognosis of patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction depending on renal function: a retrospective analysis.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is often associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD), resulting in an increased risk for poor outcome. We sought to determine short-term mortality and overall survival in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients with different stages of CKD.

Methods: In our retrospective cohort study with health insurance claims data of the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (AOK), anonymized data of all STEMI patients hospitalized between 2010 and 2017 were analyzed regarding presence and severity of concomitant CKD.

Sudden cardiac death in adults with congenital heart disease: Lessons to Learn from the ATROPOS registry.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is one of the most frequent causes of death in adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD). Despite the rare frequency of its occurrence, the incident appears often when unexpected, and many affected patients had not been identified priorly. Data on predictors for SCD are limited since the total number of ACHD is low.

Thyroid Dysfunction under Amiodarone in Patients with and without Congenital Heart Disease: Results of a Nationwide Analysis.

Background: Amiodarone has a profound adverse toxicity profile. Large population-based analyses quantifying the risk of thyroid dysfunction (TD) in adults with and without congenital heart disease (ACHD) are lacking. Methods: All adults registered with a major German health insurer (≈9.

ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction as a First Event.

Background: Survival after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) as a first event in Germany was analyzed.

Methods: Adults with a first-event STEMI were included for analysis on the basis of insurance data from a German health insurance provider (AOK; approximately 26 million members; median follow-up 48.5 months).

Erectile Dysfunction in Men With Adult Congenital Heart Disease: A Prevalent but Neglected Issue.

Background And Objectives: For adult men with congenital heart disease (ACHD), data on erectile dysfunction (ED) is limited. We aimed to assess the frequency of ED, its role in patient-physician communication and to identify parameters predicting ED.

Methods: Male ACHD ≥18 years registered at the German National Register for Congenital Heart Defects were invited to participate in an online questionnaire about sexual health.

Impact of specialized electrophysiological care on the outcome of catheter ablation for supraventricular tachycardias in adults with congenital heart disease: Independent risk factors and gender aspects.

Background: Limited data exist on the impact of gender and specialized care on the requirement of repeat treatment of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) in adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHDs).

Objective: The study aimed to assess independent predictors of a combined end point of re-catheter ablation (CA) or cardioversion at 3 years of follow-up, including the impact of gender and specialized ACHD care.

Methods: All ACHDs registered in a database of one of the largest German health insurers (≈9.

Antiarrhythmic drugs-safety and efficacy during pregnancy.

When deciding on antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) treatment, a thorough knowledge of the physiological adaptation processes that occur during pregnancy and their effect on metabolism and the efficacy of AAD is mandatory. Beyond the desired effects of AAD therapy, side effects can occur in pregnant women. Furthermore, potential harm to fetal development-depending on gestational age-needs to be considered.

Utility of deep learning networks for the generation of artificial cardiac magnetic resonance images in congenital heart disease.

Background: Deep learning algorithms are increasingly used for automatic medical imaging analysis and cardiac chamber segmentation. Especially in congenital heart disease, obtaining a sufficient number of training images and data anonymity issues remain of concern.

Methods: Progressive generative adversarial networks (PG-GAN) were trained on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) frames from a nationwide prospective study to generate synthetic MRI frames.

[Anatomic pitfalls and challenges of His bundle pacing].

Long-term right ventricular apical pacing is known to be deleterious for left ventricular function leading to the clinical picture of heart failure with all the possibly associated complications, ranging up to death of the affected patient. This led to the ambition to find alternative pacing sites such as pacing at the right ventricular outflow tract or septal pacing. An attractive alternative is selective His bundle pacing with the goal to use the physiologic His-Purkinje system in order to enable intrinsic conduction and physiologic myocardial contraction.

Management of obese patients with respiratory failure - A practical approach to a health care issue of increasing significance.

In the general population, prevalence of obesity is increasing continuously. Concomitantly, a growing number of obese patients with severe illnesses presents at intensive care units (ICU). Particularly respiratory management of this patient group poses a challenge to intensive care physicians because of differences in respiratory anatomy and physiology in obese compared to non-obese individuals.