Publications by authors named "Andrew Cluckey"

Article Synopsis
  • Obesity is linked to insulin resistance, affecting both glucose uptake and the body's blood vessel response to insulin, which is crucial for delivering glucose to tissues.
  • A study tested the role of sympathetic activation in impaired insulin-triggered blood vessel dilation in obese adults using a controlled experiment with insulin and drugs to block sympathetic responses.
  • Results showed that blocking sympathetic activation significantly improved blood flow and microvascular function when insulin was administered, indicating that sympathetic activity may hinder insulin's vascular effects in obesity.
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Background: Transplantation of hearts from hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive donors has increased substantially in recent years following development of highly effective direct-acting antiviral therapies for treatment and cure of HCV. Although historical data from the pre-direct-acting antiviral era demonstrated an association between HCV-positive donors and accelerated cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) in recipients, the relationship between the use of HCV nucleic acid test-positive (NAT+) donors and the development of CAV in the direct-acting antiviral era remains unclear.

Methods And Results: We performed a retrospective, single-center observational study comparing coronary angiographic CAV outcomes during the first year after transplant in 84 heart transplant recipients of HCV NAT+ donors and 231 recipients of HCV NAT- donors.

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The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between ischemia testing prior to ablation for sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) (SMVT) and post-ablation mortality and VT recurrence. As SMVT is generally caused by myocardial scar and not active ischemia, the utility of ischemia testing prior to SMVT ablation is unclear. Patients who underwent ablation for SMVT at 2 tertiary care centers between January 2016 and July 2018 were included in a retrospective study.

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Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common after surgical procedures and a quality improvement target. For non-surgical procedures such as catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF), UTI risk has not been characterized. We sought to determine incidence and risk factors of UTI after AF ablation and risk variation across sites.

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Background The objective was to explore the efficacy of ablation lesion sets in addition to pulmonary vein isolation ( PVI ) for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The optimal strategy for catheter ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation is debated. Methods and Results The SMASH-AF (Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Ablation Strategy Heterogeneity in Atrial Fibrillation) study cohort includes trials and observational studies identified in PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases from January 1 1990, to August 1, 2016.

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Background: Approaches, tools, and technologies for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation have evolved significantly since its inception. We sought to characterize secular trends in AF ablation success rates.

Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of AF ablation from January 1, 1990, to August 1, 2016, searching PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases.

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Introduction: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of geographic and racial representation and reported success rates of studies of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods And Results: We searched PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases from 1/1/1990 to 8/1/2016 for trials and observational studies reporting AF ablation outcomes. Major exclusion criteria were insufficient reporting of outcomes, non-English language articles, and ablation strategies that were not prespecified and uniform.

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Article Synopsis
  • Rare single-gene disorders contribute significantly to chronic diseases, but many causes remain unidentified, especially in conditions like chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children.
  • Whole-exome resequencing is a useful tool for identifying these recessive disease genes, although it often generates many genetic variants that make diagnosis challenging.
  • The study effectively combines homozygosity mapping with whole-exome resequencing in sibling pairs with nephronophthisis-related ciliopathy, leading to the successful identification of causative genes and suggesting a promising method for early detection of rare kidney diseases and potentially other recessive disorders.
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Nephronophthisis-related ciliopathies (NPHP-RC) are degenerative recessive diseases that affect kidney, retina, and brain. Genetic defects in NPHP gene products that localize to cilia and centrosomes defined them as "ciliopathies." However, disease mechanisms remain poorly understood.

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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) represents a major health burden. Its central feature of renal fibrosis is not well understood. By exome sequencing, we identified mutations in FAN1 as a cause of karyomegalic interstitial nephritis (KIN), a disorder that serves as a model for renal fibrosis.

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Tubulin glutamylation is a post-translational modification that occurs predominantly in the ciliary axoneme and has been suggested to be important for ciliary function. However, its relationship to disorders of the primary cilium, termed ciliopathies, has not been explored. Here we mapped a new locus for Joubert syndrome (JBTS), which we have designated as JBTS15, and identified causative mutations in CEP41, which encodes a 41-kDa centrosomal protein.

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