Impact of the pandemic on hospital care for chronic pain patients in Germany.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic affected patients' access to health services, including patients with severe chronic pain. Since limited data on pandemic-caused changes in pain therapy is available, we analyzed its effect on hospital-based pain treatment.

Methods: For this retrospective claims data analysis conducted in  = 37 hospitals, we included patients treated for a chronic pain-related diagnosis.

The severity of respiratory syncytial virus infection in children during the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic: A nationwide study of 11,915 cases in Germany.

Purpose: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a major cause of childhood hospitalization. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the usual seasonal pattern of RSV, resulting in high activity during the off-season. This study aims to evaluate the effects of the pandemic on the severity of RSV infections.

Patient Characteristics and Outcomes of Hospitalized Chronic Kidney Disease Patients with and without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Observations from the German Claims Data-Based Cohort of the CaReMe-CKD Multinational Study.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) globally. Both conditions substantially worsen patients' prognosis. Current data on German in-hospital CKD cohorts are scarce.

Timely cholecystectomy: important factors to improve guideline adherence and patient treatment.

Objective: Cholecystectomy is one of the most frequently performed surgeries in Germany and is performed as a treatment of acute cholecystitis (guideline S3 IIIB.8) and after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography for choledocholithiasis with simultaneous cholecystolithiasis (guideline S3 IIIC.6).

Characteristics and outcome of hospitalized patients with heart failure stratified for chronic kidney disease.

Aims: Heart failure (HF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) place significant challenges on the healthcare system, and their co-existence is associated with shared adverse outcomes. The multinational CaReMe project was initiated to provide contemporary, real-world epidemiological data on cardiovascular and reno-metabolic diseases. Utilizing data from the German CaReMe cohort, we characterize a multicentric HF population and describe in-hospital outcomes stratified for co-morbid CKD.

Retrospective, Observational Analysis on the Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Variant Omicron in Hospitalized Immunocompromised Patients in a German Hospital Network-The VISAGE Study.

Aims: Endemic SARS-CoV-2 infections still burden the healthcare system and represent a considerable threat to vulnerable patient cohorts, in particular immunocompromised (IC) patients. This study aimed to analyze the in-hospital outcome of IC patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in Germany.

Methods: This retrospective, observational study, analyzed administrative data from inpatient cases ( = 146,324) in 84 German Helios hospitals between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022 with regard to in-hospital outcome and health care burden in IC patients during the first 12 months of Omicron dominance.

A Comparison of Different Intensive Care Unit Definitions Derived from the German Administrative Data Set: A Methodological, Real-World Data Analysis from 86 Helios Hospitals.

The intensive care unit (ICU) is a scarce resource in all health care systems, necessitating a well-defined utilization. Therefore, benchmarks are essential; and yet, they are limited due to heterogenous definitions of what an ICU is. This study analyzed the case distribution, patient characteristics, and hospital course and outcomes of 6,204,093 patients in the German Helios Hospital Group according to 10 derived ICU definitions.

App-Based Mental Training to Reduce Atrial Fibrillation-Related Symptoms After Pulmonary Vein Isolation: .

Background: Even after atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation, many patients still experience relevant symptom burden. The objective of the MENTAL AF trial was to determine whether app-based mental training (MT) during the 3 months following pulmonary vein isolation reduces AF-related symptoms.

Methods And Results: Patients scheduled for pulmonary vein isolation were enrolled and randomized 1:1 to either app-based MT or usual care.

Incidence and predictors of thermal oesophageal and vagus nerve injuries in Ablation Index-guided high-power-short-duration ablation of atrial fibrillation: a prospective study.

Aims: High-power-short-duration (HPSD) ablation is an effective treatment for atrial fibrillation but poses risks of thermal injuries to the oesophagus and vagus nerve. This study aims to investigate incidence and predictors of thermal injuries, employing machine learning.

Methods And Results: A prospective observational study was conducted at Leipzig Heart Centre, Germany, excluding patients with multiple prior ablations.

Artificial intelligence-based identification of left ventricular systolic dysfunction from 12-lead electrocardiograms: external validation and advanced application of an existing model.

Aims: The diagnostic application of artificial intelligence (AI)-based models to detect cardiovascular diseases from electrocardiograms (ECGs) evolves, and promising results were reported. However, external validation is not available for all published algorithms. The aim of this study was to validate an existing algorithm for the detection of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) from 12-lead ECGs.

Single catheter approach for treatment of premature ventricular contractions.

Background: Catheter ablation has become one of the main treatment strategies in patients with premature ventricular complexes (PVC). The successful mapping and ablation can be performed with an ablation catheter without additional diagnostic catheters.

Hypothesis: We hypothesize that using a single catheter for PVC ablation may decrease complications, procedure time, and fluoroscopy exposure while maintaining comparable success rates.

Corrigendum: Case Report: Four cases of cardiac sarcoidosis in patients with inherited cardiomyopathy-a phenotypic overlap, co-existence of two rare cardiomyopathies or a second-hit disease.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.

Competition between ammonia-oxidizing archaea and complete ammonia oxidizers from freshwater environments.

Unlabelled: Aerobic ammonia oxidizers (AOs) are prokaryotic microorganisms that contribute to the global nitrogen cycle by performing the first step of nitrification, the oxidation of ammonium to nitrite and nitrate. While aerobic AOs are found ubiquitously, their distribution is controlled by key environmental conditions such as substrate (ammonium) availability. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) are generally found in oligotrophic environments with low ammonium availability.

Metagenome-assembled genomes of two nitrifying microorganisms from the freshwater archaeal ammonia-oxidizing enrichment culture BO1.

Two metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were recovered from the ammonia-oxidizing enrichment culture BO1 obtained from the sediment of the freshwater reservoir Lake Burr Oak, Ohio, USA. High quality MAGs were assembled for the archaeal ammonia oxidizer sp. BO1 and the canonical nitrite oxidizer sp.

Case Report: Four cases of cardiac sarcoidosis in patients with inherited cardiomyopathy-a phenotypic overlap, co-existence of two rare cardiomyopathies or a second-hit disease.

Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS), a rare condition characterized by non-caseating granulomas, can manifest with symptoms such as atrioventricular block and ventricular tachycardia (VT), as well as mimic inherited cardiomyopathies. A 48-year-old male presented with recurrent VT. The initial F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan showed uptake of the mediastinal lymph node.

Impact of repeat ablation of ventricular tachycardia in patients with structural heart disease.

Aims: Recurrences of ventricular tachycardia (VT) after initial catheter ablation is a significant clinical problem. In this study, we report the efficacy and risks of repeat VT ablation in patients with structural heart disease (SHD) in a tertiary single centre over a 7-year period.

Methods And Results: Two hundred ten consecutive patients referred for repeat VT ablation after previous ablation in our institution were included in the analysis (53% ischaemic cardiomyopathy, 91% males, median age 65 years, mean left ventricular ejection fraction 35%).

Left atrial total emptying fraction measured by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging predicts low-voltage areas detected during electroanatomical mapping.

Aims: Low-voltage areas (LVAs) found during left atrial (LA) electroanatomical mapping are increasingly targeted by radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) on top of pulmonary vein isolation to improve arrhythmia-free survival in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, pre-procedural prediction of LVAs remains challenging. The purpose of the present study was to describe the association between parameters of LA function and dimensions, respectively, derived from pre-procedural cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, and the presence of LVAs on LA voltage mapping.

Trends in frailty in brain tumor care during the COVID-19 pandemic in a nationwide hospital network in Germany.

Purpose: Among brain tumor patients, frailty is associated with poor outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased frailty in the general population. To date, evidence on changes in frailty among brain tumor patients during the pandemic is lacking.

C-kit cells in the human left atrial appendage.

Background: Subpopulations of myocardial c-kit cells have the ability to stimulate regeneration in ischemic heart disease by paracrine effects. The left atrial appendage (LAA), which is easy accessible during cardiac surgery, may represent a perfect source for c-kit cell extraction for autologous cell therapies in the living human. So far, frequency and distribution of c-kit cells in LAA are unknown.

Neurosurgical care for patients with high-grade gliomas during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: Analysis of routine billing data of a German nationwide hospital network.

Background: Little is known about delivery of neurosurgical care, complication rate and outcome of patients with high-grade glioma (HGG) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

Methods: This observational, retrospective cohort study analyzed routine administrative data of all patients admitted for neurosurgical treatment of an HGG within the Helios Hospital network in Germany. Data of the Covid-19 pandemic (March 1, 2020-May 31, 2022) were compared to the pre-pandemic period (January 1, 2016-February 29, 2020).

Patient perspectives on same-day discharge following catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation: results from a patient survey as part of the monocentric FAST AFA trial.

Aims: Same-day discharge (SDD) following catheter ablation (CA) of atrial fibrillation (AF) was already introduced in selected facilities in Europe, but a widespread implementation has not yet succeeded. Data on patients' perspectives are lacking. Therefore, we conducted a survey to address patients' beliefs towards SDD and identify variables that are associated with their evaluation.

Decompressive Surgery in the Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke during the First Four Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany: A Nationwide Observational Cohort Study.

Background:  The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected acute ischemic stroke (AIS) care. In this study, we examined the effects of the pandemic on neurosurgical AIS care by means of decompressive surgery (DS).

Methods:  In this retrospective observational study, we compared the characteristics, in-hospital processes, and in-hospital mortality rates among patients hospitalized for AIS during the first four waves of the pandemic (between January 1, 2020 and October 26, 2021) versus the corresponding periods in 2019 (prepandemic).

The Postoperative Utilization of Intensive Care Beds After Visceral Surgery Procedures.

Background: The necessary number of intensive care beds has been under debate in recent years. This study aims to provide a descriptive analysis of postoperative intensive care for visceral surgery patients based on three indicator procedures, with particular attention to the frequency and duration of intensive care among these patients, trends in the occupancy of intensive care units, and the course during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Routine data from inpatient cases of the Helios group (24 888 cases from 71 acute care hospitals) from 01.