Ferric carboxymaltose in reducing blood transfusions and infections after cardiac surgery.

Objective: Iron supplementation may reduce postoperative anemia, blood transfusions, and infections in patients undergoing surgery. We sought to assess efficacy and safety of prophylactic intravenous iron supplementation in patients without anemia undergoing cardiac surgery.

Methods: In this investigator-initiated industry-sponsored single-center randomized double-blind parallel group trial, we enrolled patients undergoing coronary bypass, aortic or mitral valve or ascending aortic surgery who fulfilled prespecified iron blood test safety criteria.

Long-term outcome after surgical correction of sinus venosus defect in a nationwide register-based cohort study.

Objectives: Long-term results after sinus venosus defect (SVD) closure are sparse and many studies lack a proper control cohort. This nationwide cohort evaluated the long-term outcome after SVD surgery.

Methods: The study enrolled every surgical SVD correction from the nationwide hospital discharge registry (FHDR) and surgical registries of two tertiary centers.

Healthcare-associated infective endocarditis: source of infection and burden of previous healthcare exposure.

Objective: Prevention of healthcare-associated infective endocarditis (HAIE) is based on characterization of underlying factors. Our object was to describe the source of infection, microbiological etiology, and healthcare-related risk factors for HAIE.

Design: Retrospective population-based study.

Remote ischemic preconditioning and hypoxia-induced biomarkers in acute myocardial infarction: study on a porcine model.

Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) mitigates acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We hypothesized that RIPC reduces the size and severity of AMI and explored molecular mechanisms behind this phenomenon. In two series of experiments, piglets underwent 60 min of the circumflex coronary artery occlusion, resulting in AMI.

Elective Cardiac Procedure Patients Have Low Preoperative Cardiorespiratory Fitness.

Preoperative cardiorespiratory fitness may influence the recovery after cardiac procedure. The aim of this study was to investigate the cardiorespiratory fitness of patients scheduled for elective cardiac procedures, using a six-minute walk test, and compare the results with a population-based sample of Finnish adults. Patients (n=234) awaiting percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary angiography, coronary artery bypass grafting, aortic valve replacement or mitral valve surgery performed the six-minute walk test.

Antithrombotic Medication and Major Complications After Mechanical Aortic Valve Replacement.

Patients with mechanical aortic valve replacement (AVR) require lifelong vitamin K antagonist (VKA) therapy for stroke and systemic embolism prevention. However, VKA treatment predisposes patients to various types of bleeding. In the present study, we sought to assess the success of antithrombotic therapy and the occurrence and timing of strokes and bleeding events after mechanical AVR.

Genomic epidemiology of nosocomial carbapenemase-producing in sewerage systems in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland.

Multi-drug resistance is emerging in , which is the third most common carbapenemase-producing (CP) in humans in Finland due to recent outbreaks. The objective of this study was to determine if wastewater surveillance (WWS) could detect CP strains causing infections in humans. Selective culturing was used to isolate CP from the hospital environment, hospital wastewater, and untreated municipal wastewater in Helsinki, Finland, between 2019 and 2022.

Atrial septal defect patients have an elevated risk for infective endocarditis.

. It has been unclear whether simple atrial septal defect (ASD) is an independent risk factor for infective endocarditis (IE). This study aimed to untangle the risk of endocarditis in a large nationwide cohort.

Immunogenicity and safety of the non-typable - (NTHi-Mcat) vaccine administered following the recombinant zoster vaccine versus administration alone: Results from a randomized, phase 2a, non-inferiority trial.

A candidate AS01-adjuvanted vaccine containing four surface proteins from non-typable and (NTHi-Mcat) has been developed to help prevent exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Sequential administration of different vaccines containing the same AS01-adjuvant system could lead to immune interference. We compared administration of NTHi-Mcat following AS01-adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) versus NTHi-Mcat alone.

Retrospective observational analysis of a coronary artery bypass grafting surgery patient cohort: Off-pump versus on-pump.

Objectives: To determine whether surgical technique has an effect on prognosis in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Design: Retrospective observational.

Setting: Single center.

Transcatheter and surgical aortic valve replacement in patients with left ventricular dysfunction.

Background: Patients with severe aortic stenosis and left ventricular systolic dysfunction have a poor prognosis, and this may result in inferior survival also after aortic valve replacement. The outcomes of transcatheter and surgical aortic valve replacement were investigated in this comparative analysis.

Methods: The retrospective nationwide FinnValve registry included data on patients who underwent transcatheter or surgical aortic valve replacement with a bioprosthesis for severe aortic stenosis.

Direct intramyocardial injection of VEGF mRNA in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.

Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) has therapeutic cardiovascular effects, but delivery challenges have impeded clinical development. We report the first clinical study of naked mRNA encoding VEGF-A (AZD8601) injected into the human heart. EPICCURE (ClinicalTrials.

Mental well-being of healthcare workers in 2 hospital districts during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unseen pressure on healthcare systems in many countries, jeopardizing the mental well-being of healthcare workers. The authors aimed to assess the mental well-being of Finnish healthcare workers from 2 hospital districts (Helsinki University Hospital [HUS] and Social and Health Services in Kymenlaakso [Kymsote]) with differing COVID-19 incidence rates during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020.

Material And Methods: A total number of 996 healthcare workers (HUS N = 862, Kymsote N = 134) participated in this prospectively conducted survey study during summer 2020.

Objectively measured preoperative physical activity and sedentary behaviour among Finnish patients scheduled for elective cardiac procedures: baseline results from randomized controlled trial.

Background: We investigated preoperative physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) in patients scheduled for elective cardiac procedures and compared them with population-based sample of Finnish adults.

Methods: Cardiac patients (n = 139) undergoing cardiac operations carried a triaxial accelerometer for seven days during the month before the procedure. Patients were categorised into four groups according to the procedure: percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary angiography (PCI-CA), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), aortic valve replacement (AVR) and mitral valve surgery (MVS).

Long-term outcomes of mechanical versus biological valve prosthesis in native mitral valve infective endocarditis.

. To study the long-term outcomes of mitral valve replacement with mechanical or biological valve prostheses in native mitral valve infective endocarditis patients. .

Sex-Specific Clinical Outcomes After Treatment of Left Main Coronary Artery Disease. A NOBLE Substudy.

Background: While female sex has been associated with worse outcomes following coronary revascularization, previous analyses in left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease have been conflicting. In addition, a signal that increased mortality may be specific to women treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) requires further investigation.

Methods: Nordic-Baltic-British left main revascularization study (NOBLE) was a randomized trial comparing PCI to coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) in patients with LMCA disease.

Perioperative Bleeding Requiring Blood Transfusions is Associated With Increased Risk of Stroke After Transcatheter and Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement.

Objectives: The authors aimed to investigate the impact of severe bleeding and use of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion on the development of postoperative stroke after surgical (SAVR) and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), taken from the FinnValve registry.

Design: Nationwide, retrospective observational study.

Setting: Five Finnish university hospitals participated in the registry.

A machine learning approach to predict resilience and sickness absence in the healthcare workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) have faced unprecedented workloads and personal health risks leading to mental disorders and surges in sickness absence. Previous work has shown that interindividual differences in psychological resilience might explain why only some individuals are vulnerable to these consequences. However, no prognostic tools to predict individual HCW resilience during the pandemic have been developed.

Aerosol generation during coughing: an observational study.

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 has highlighted the lack of knowledge on aerosol exposure during respiratory activity and aerosol-generating procedures. This study sought to determine the aerosol concentrations generated by coughing to better understand, and to set a standard for studying, aerosols generated in medical procedures.

Methods: Aerosol exposure during coughing was measured in 37 healthy volunteers in the operating theatre with an optical particle sizer, from 40 cm, 70 cm and 100 cm distances.

Outbreak of delta variant SARS-CoV-2 virus on a psychogeriatric ward in Helsinki, Finland, August 2021; two-dose vaccination reduces mortality and disease severity amongst the elderly.

We describe an outbreak of delta variant SARS-CoV-2 on a psychogeriatric ward of elderly patients. Retrospectively collected data was analysed using Fisher's exact test to assess the association between patients’ vaccination status and infection rates, severity of disease and mortality. Vaccination with two doses was shown to reduce severity of disease (5% 75%, < 0.

Low efficacy of three non-alcohol-based hand disinfectants utilizing silver polymer, lactic acid and benzalkonium chloride on inactivation of bacteria on the fingertips of healthcare workers.

Background: Recently, new non-alcohol-based hand disinfection formulae have come to the market. Although they have passed the EN1500 test, data on their clinical efficacy compared with alcohol-based hand rubs are scarce, mainly covering benzalkonium chloride (BAC).

Aim: To test the efficacy of silver-polymer-based, lactic-acid-based and BAC-based hand disinfectant foams and an alcohol-based hand rub gel to reduce bacterial counts on the fingertips of healthcare workers working on hospital wards.

Successful treatment with a short course of remdesivir in a case of prolonged COVID-19 in a lymphoma patient.

Background: Patients with haematological malignancies have an increased susceptibility for COVID-19 and higher mortality. They may also have prolonged symptoms and viral shedding. Clinical trials have not specifically addressed the management of this patient group.