Diagnostic performance of contemporary transesophageal echocardiography with modern imaging for infective endocarditis.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Following an initial negative transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), high clinical suspicion warrants repeat examination. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of contemporary TEE imaging for IE.

Association of therapeutic and recreational reasons for alcohol use with alcohol demand.

Motives for alcohol use and behavioral economic measures of demand are associated with alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. However, it is unclear how differences in reasons for alcohol use may affect alcohol demand. Additionally, although alcohol is commonly used to self-manage conditions such as pain and sleep problems, the impact of these reasons for alcohol use on alcohol demand is not well characterized.

The Failed Bidirectional Glenn Shunt: Risk Factors for Poor Outcomes and the Role of Early Reoperation.

Bidirectional Glenn shunt (BDG) failure carries high morbidity and mortality but the clinical factors associated with failure and the optimal management strategy are understudied. A total of 217 patients undergoing BDG at our institution between 1989 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed and categorized as success or failure. Failure was defined as the need for reoperation (BDG takedown, reoperation for correction of cardiac defect, and/or transplantation) at any time postoperatively; operative mortality (death attributable to BDG malfunction occurring during the index hospitalization for BDG or within 30 days of discharge); or late mortality (death directly attributable to BDG malfunction occurring prior to Fontan or next-stage palliation).

Subjective Cognitive Complaints: Predictors and Health Outcomes in People Living with HIV.

There is a paucity of research on the prevalence of subjective cognitive complaints in people living with human immunodeficiency virus, along with the predictors and outcomes related to these complaints. We assessed demographics, substance use and psychiatric predictors, and HIV-related outcomes associated with subjective cognitive complaint items from the Cognitive Difficulties Scale. The sample consisted of 889 people living with HIV in the survey-based Florida Cohort.

Optimal Tricuspid Regurgitation Velocity to Screen for Pulmonary Hypertension in Tertiary Referral Centers.

Background: A mean pulmonary artery pressure >20 mm Hg now defines pulmonary hypertension. We hypothesize that echocardiographic thresholds must be adjusted.

Research Question: Should tricuspid regurgitation velocity thresholds to screen for pulmonary hypertension be revised, given the new hemodynamic definition?

Study Design And Methods: This multicenter retrospective study included 1,608 patients who underwent both echocardiography and right heart catherization within 4 weeks.

Unicuspid Aortic Valve Repair Using Geometric Ring Annuloplasty.

Background: Unicuspid aortic valves (Sievers type 2 bicuspid) are characterized by major fusion and clefting of the right-left coronary commissure, and minor fusion of the right-noncoronary commissure. Repair has been difficult because of two fusions, variable relative sinus sizes, and peripheral leaflet deficiencies or tears after balloon valvuloplasty.

Methods: Twenty unicuspid aortic valves patients underwent valve repair in nine institutions.

Extracardiac Fontan Fenestration Device Closure with Amplatzer Vascular Plug II and Septal Occluder: Procedure Results and Medium-Term Follow-Up.

The objective of this study was to determine medium-term morbidity and mortality of patients who have undergone device closure of an extracardiac Fontan fenestration with an Amplatzer Vascular Plug II (AVPII) or Septal Occluder (ASO). A secondary objective was to compare medium-term morbidity and mortality between these patients and other fenestrated Fontan patients. A retrospective chart review was performed on patients who underwent an extracardiac fenestrated Fontan procedure between 1992 and 2015 at Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center.

Health Impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria on St Thomas and St John, US Virgin Islands, 2017-2018.

To assess the health impact of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria on St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. We collected data from interviews conducted 6 and 9 months after the hurricanes, a review of 597 randomly selected emergency department (ED) encounters, and administrative records from 10 716 ED visits 3 months before, between, and 3 months after the hurricanes. Informants described damaged hospital infrastructure, including flooding, structural damage, and lost staff.

Perceptions of water insecurity from urban and peri-urban Haiti: A quantitative analysis.

Safe drinking water access has continued to be a growing issue in Haiti. Water accessibility, availability, and quality can have severe implications on health and safety, with those in urban areas often having more access. Key differences relating to water accessibility can be seen between the urban and peri-urban areas of Haiti.

Perceived water insecurity among adults from urban and peri-urban Haiti: A qualitative study.

Water and sanitation services are fundamental in preventing the spread of waterborne and hygiene-related diseases. However, in developing countries, such as Haiti, access to clean water continues to pose major challenges despite efforts to improve quality and reduce distance. With Léogâne being the epicenter of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, there were dozens of interventions aimed to improve access to clean water, specifically well construction and use of water treatment strategies.

A novel mutation of the MYH7 gene in a patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Goel N, Huddleston CB, Fiore AC. A novel mutation of the MYH7 gene in a patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Turk J Pediatr 2018; 60: 315-318.

Type A Aortic Dissection After the Ross Procedure.

We describe a case of type A aortic dissection in a 25-year-old woman who had undergone a Ross procedure for aortic valve endocarditis 13 years previously. She was pregnant and noted to have significant enlargement of the aortic root during the latter portion of the third trimester of her pregnancy. An echocardiogram after delivery demonstrated new aortic valve insufficiency in addition to an aortic root diameter of 6.

Rapid sampling of stochastic displacements in Brownian dynamics simulations with stresslet constraints.

Brownian Dynamics simulations are an important tool for modeling the dynamics of soft matter. However, accurate and rapid computations of the hydrodynamic interactions between suspended, microscopic components in a soft material are a significant computational challenge. Here, we present a new method for Brownian dynamics simulations of suspended colloidal scale particles such as colloids, polymers, surfactants, and proteins subject to a particular and important class of hydrodynamic constraints.

Factors Influencing Outcomes After Cardiac Intervention in Infants with Trisomy 13 and 18.

Cardiac intervention remains controversial in patients with trisomy 13 and 18 and little is known about factors that may affect outcomes. The goal of this study was to evaluate preoperative factors and surgical approach with respect to outcomes in these patients. Patients with congenital heart disease and trisomy 13 or 18 presenting to our institution from 2004 through 2015 were retrospectively reviewed.

CO-Reactive Ionic Liquid Surfactants for the Control of Colloidal Morphology.

This article reports on a new class of stimuli-responsive surfactant generated from commercially available amphiphiles such as dodecyltrimethylammmonium bromide (DTAB) by substitution of the halide counterion with counterions such as 2-cyanopyrrolide, 1,2,3-triazolide, and L-proline that complex reversibly with CO. Through a combination of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), electrical conductivity measurements, thermal gravimetric analysis, and molecular dynamics simulations, we show how small changes in charge reorganization and counterion shape and size induced by complexation with CO allow for fine-tunability of surfactant properties. We then use these findings to demonstrate a range of potential practical uses, from manipulating microemulsion droplet morphology to controlling micellar and vesicular aggregation.

Rapid sampling of stochastic displacements in Brownian dynamics simulations.

We present a new method for sampling stochastic displacements in Brownian Dynamics (BD) simulations of colloidal scale particles. The method relies on a new formulation for Ewald summation of the Rotne-Prager-Yamakawa (RPY) tensor, which guarantees that the real-space and wave-space contributions to the tensor are independently symmetric and positive-definite for all possible particle configurations. Brownian displacements are drawn from a superposition of two independent samples: a wave-space (far-field or long-ranged) contribution, computed using techniques from fluctuating hydrodynamics and non-uniform fast Fourier transforms; and a real-space (near-field or short-ranged) correction, computed using a Krylov subspace method.

Heart transplantation in children with intellectual disability: An analysis of the UNOS database.

Heart transplantation in children with intellectual disability (ID) is an issue of debate due to the shortage of available donor organs. We sought to perform the first large-scale retrospective cohort study describing the prevalence and outcomes of heart transplantation in this population. The United Network of Organ Sharing database was queried from 2008 to 2015 for pediatric patients (age <19 years) receiving first, isolated heart transplant.