Real-world characteristics and treatment of cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis: A multicentre, observational study.

Aims: Data on the clinical profiles of patients with transthyretin amyloidosis cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) in the post-approval era of tafamidis 61 mg are lacking. Study aims were characterization of contemporary ATTR-CM patients, analysis of potential eligibility for the 'Transthyretin Amyloidosis Cardiomyopathy Clinical Trial' (ATTR-ACT) and identification of factors associated with the decision on tafamidis 61 mg treatment.

Methods And Results: This retrospective study analysed ATTR-CM patients seen at eight University Hospitals in the first year after approval of tafamidis 61 mg for ATTR-CM in Germany (April 2020 to March 2021).

3D-speckle-tracking echocardiography correlates with cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging diagnosis of acute myocarditis - An observational study.

Background: The diagnostic importance of three-dimensional (3D) speckle-tracking strain-imaging echocardiography in patients with acute myocarditis remains unclear. The aim of this study was to test the diagnostic performance of 3D-speckle-tracking echocardiography compared to CMR (cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging) for the diagnosis of acute myocarditis.

Methods And Results: 45 patients with clinically suspected myocarditis were enrolled in our study (29% female, mean age: 43.

Effects of Medical Face Masks on Physical Performance in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease or Hypertension.

In this randomized, prospective monocentric study, 40 subjects with coronary artery disease or hypertension (cardiovascular disease [CVD] group) were assigned to either surgical mask (SM) or class 2 filtering facepiece mask (FFP2). They performed cycle ergometry exercise tests with progressive intensity until exhaustion with the assigned mask and another test with no mask (NM) in random order. A control group of 10 healthy subjects randomly performed 3 exercise tests with NM, SM, and FFP2, respectively.

Effects of face masks on performance and cardiorespiratory response in well-trained athletes.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, compulsory masks became an integral part of outdoor sports such as jogging in crowded areas (e.g. city parks) as well as indoor sports in gyms and sports centers.

HDAC4 controls histone methylation in response to elevated cardiac load.

In patients with heart failure, reactivation of a fetal gene program, including atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), is a hallmark for maladaptive remodeling of the LV. The mechanisms that regulate this reactivation are incompletely understood. Histone acetylation and methylation affect the conformation of chromatin, which in turn governs the accessibility of DNA for transcription factors.