Publications by authors named "Ana Cristina Perez-Moreno"
Background: We aimed to elucidate clinical implications of genetic variant interpretation in assessing disease severity and progression in thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection (TAAD) patients.
Methods: Consecutive TAAD patients with aortic root and/or ascending aortic aneurysms seen between 2011 and 2020 were included. Serial echocardiography, family history of TAAD, and management information were retrospectively collected and analyzed.
Objectives: The aim of the study is to evaluate current trends and long-term durability of both drug-eluting stents (DES) and drug-coated balloons (DCB) in the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD).
Background: PAD affects more than 200 million people worldwide. Endovascular treatment of critical PAD has advanced in recent years.
Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented demands on health care. This study aimed to characterize COVID-19 inpatients and examine trends and risk factors associated with hospitalization duration, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and in-hospital mortality.
Methods: This retrospective study analyzed patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection hospitalized at an integrated health system between February 2, 2020, and December 12, 2020.
Article Synopsis
- The study compares patients with new-onset cardiomyopathy (CM) who have atrial fibrillation (AF) to those without AF, focusing on their demographics, clinical characteristics, and treatment outcomes.
- Patients in the AF-CM group were generally older, had more comorbidities, and presented with atypical symptoms, leading to higher mortality rates compared to those in the CM group without AF.
- Despite the presence of AF, only a small percentage of patients in the AF-CM group received rhythm control treatments like cardioversion or ablation, highlighting a significant gap in treatment practices.
Integrated, data-driven criteria are necessary to evaluate delivery outcomes in pregnancies affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This study analyzed maternal demographics, clinical characteristics, treatments, and delivery outcomes of 85 ethnically diverse, adult pregnant women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 at the time of delivery. Median maternal and gestational ages were 27 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 23-31) and 39 weeks (IQR: 37.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBusiness Cards as a Mechanism to Encourage Patient Feedback About Trainees.
J Patient Cent Res Rev
July 2021
Article Synopsis
- - The project aimed to see if distributing business cards by medical trainees would increase the response rate for HCAHPS surveys, which evaluate patient satisfaction and provide feedback.
- - During the study, patient encounters were logged before and after business cards were distributed, showing an increase in survey returns from 11.1% to 19.1% with no specific feedback for the fellows.
- - While the business cards improved survey response rates, they did not enhance patient satisfaction scores or provide useful feedback for training; the research suggested a need for better communication between patients and the medical education programs.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a nationwide shutdown of elective medical procedures. Upon resumption of services, preprocedure nasopharyngeal swab testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was introduced for all patients requiring surgical or other aerosol-generating procedures. We investigated preprocedure COVID-19 testing in one of the largest U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Myocardial work (MW) is a novel parameter that can be used in a clinical setting to assess left ventricular (LV) pressures and deformation. We sought to distinguish patterns of global MW index in hypertensive vs. non-hypertensive patients and to look at differences between categories of hypertension.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents with a spectrum of disease severity, the most serious cases requiring intensive care. Echocardiography is a front-line tool in evaluating cardiovascular complications of COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU); we analyzed transthoracic echocardiograms obtained from this patient population with state-of-the-art ultrasound technology.
Methods: All patients with COVID-19 requiring ICU admission on whom a transthoracic echocardiogram was obtained were included in the study.
Myocardial work assessment in severe aortic stenosis undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement.
Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging
May 2021
Aims: Myocardial work is a novel echocardiographic algorithm that corrects speckle-tracking-derived global longitudinal strain (GLS) for afterload using non-invasive systolic blood pressure as a surrogate for left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP). Yet, in patients with severe aortic stenosis, non-invasive systolic blood pressure does not equal LVSP.
Methods And Results: We evaluated 35 patients with severe aortic stenosis who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
Importance: Malignant arrhythmic mitral valve prolapse (MVP) phenotype poses a substantial risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD), and an estimated 26 000 individuals in the United States are at risk of SCD per year. Thus, identifying risk-stratification strategies for SCD is imperative.
Observations: Patients with MVP have a heterogenous clinical spectrum, ranging from a benign course to a devastating complication such as SCD.
Article Synopsis
- Cognitive impairment and dementia are commonly linked to heart failure, with studies indicating a higher prevalence and risk in these patients.
- A comprehensive review included data from 37 studies and found that approximately 43% of individuals with heart failure also experience cognitive impairment.
- The findings highlight the need for increased awareness in treatment planning, but further research is necessary to understand the underlying mechanisms connecting heart failure and cognitive decline.
Background: The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between coronary artery disease (CAD), angina, and clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction enrolled in the irbesartan in patients with heart failure and preserved systolic function (I-Preserve) trial.
Methods And Results: The mean follow-up period for the 4128 patients enrolled in I-Preserve was 49.5 months.
Aim: Angina pectoris is common in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HF-REF) but its relationship with outcomes has not been well defined. This relationship was investigated further in a retrospective analysis of the Controlled Rosuvastatin Multinational Trial in Heart Failure (CORONA).
Methods And Results: Four thousand, eight hundred and seventy-eight patients were divided into three categories: no history of angina and no chest pain at baseline (Group A; n = 1240), past history of angina but no chest pain at baseline (Group B; n = 1353) and both a history of angina and chest pain at baseline (Group C; n = 2285).
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between fatigue and clinical outcomes, using dyspnea as a comparator, in patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤35% enrolled in the CORONA (Controlled Rosuvastatin Multinational Trial in Heart Failure) study.
Background: Although fatigue is a common symptom in heart failure (HF), little is known about its association with prognosis.
Methods: At baseline in CORONA, fatigue "during the past few days" was measured using a 5-point exertion scale (0 = none, 1 = heavy exertion, 2 = moderate exertion, 3 = slight exertion, 4 = rest); a 4-point scale was used for dyspnea (1 to 4 as for fatigue).