A randomized study of cryoablation of intercostal nerves in patients undergoing minimally invasive thoracic surgery.

Objectives: Minimally invasive thoracic surgery can cause significant pain, and optimizing pain control after surgery is highly desirable. We examined pain control after intercostal nerve block with or without cryoablation of the intercostal nerves.

Methods: This was a randomized study (NCT05348447) of adults scheduled for a minimally invasive thoracic procedure.

Echocardiographic Differences in Women Across Subtypes of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy.

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) can be classified into gestational hypertension, preeclampsia (PRE), and chronic hypertension with superimposed preeclampsia (SPE).

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively examine the echocardiographic differences in biventricular structure and function in 3 HDP groups of women in comparison to normotensive pregnant controls.

Methods: Women with an echocardiogram during or within the first year of pregnancy were identified within our integrated health network.

Association between diseases of despair and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease among insured adults in the USA: a retrospective cohort study from 2017 to 2021.

Objectives: To assess associations between diseases of despair (DoD) and incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) among insured adults in the USA.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Highmark insurance claims data in the USA from 2017 to 2021.

Temporal trends in cardiovascular outcomes and costs among patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) disease. CV outcomes in T2D have generally been improving over time but recent data from the US suggest attenuation of trends in older adults with reversal of trends in younger adults. However, published data are only reported through 2015.

Association between the diagnostic classification of newly diagnosed coronary artery disease and future heart failure development.

Objective: The first clinical manifestation of coronary artery disease (CAD) varies widely from unheralded myocardial infarction (MI) to mild, incidentally detected disease. The primary objective of this study was to quantify the association between different initial CAD diagnostic classifications and future heart failure.

Methods: This retrospective study incorporated the electronic health record of a single integrated health care system.

Establishing a National Cardiovascular Disease Surveillance System in the United States Using Electronic Health Record Data: Key Strengths and Limitations.

Cardiovascular disease surveillance involves quantifying the evolving population-level burden of cardiovascular outcomes and risk factors as a data-driven initial step followed by the implementation of interventional strategies designed to alleviate this burden in the target population. Despite widespread acknowledgement of its potential value, a national surveillance system dedicated specifically to cardiovascular disease does not currently exist in the United States. Routinely collected health care data such as from electronic health records (EHRs) are a possible means of achieving national surveillance.

Changes over time in the cardiovascular risk profile of type 2 diabetes from 2007 to 2020: A community-based study.

Aims: To quantify changes over time in cardiovascular (CV) risk factor control and in the uptake of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors from 2007 to 2020 in a real-world community-based cohort of type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients.

Materials And Methods: This study identified 95 461 T2D patients, who were followed for an average of 6.4 years through a single healthcare organization's electronic health record.

Constructing Epidemiologic Cohorts from Electronic Health Record Data.

In the United States, electronic health records (EHR) are increasingly being incorporated into healthcare organizations to document patient health and services rendered. EHRs serve as a vast repository of demographic, diagnostic, procedural, therapeutic, and laboratory test data generated during the routine provision of health care. The appeal of using EHR data for epidemiologic research is clear: EHRs generate large datasets on real-world patient populations in an easily retrievable form permitting the cost-efficient execution of epidemiologic studies on a wide array of topics.

Burden and Predictors of Chest Pain-Related Health-Care Utilization Following Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

Chest pain (CP) has been reported in 20% to 40% of patients 1 year after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), though rates of post-PCI health-care utilization (HCU) for CP in nonclinical trial populations are unknown. Furthermore, the contribution of noncardiac factors - such as pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and psychological - to post-PCI CP HCU is unclear. Accordingly, the objectives of this study were to describe long-term trajectories and identify predictors of post-PCI CP-related HCU in real-world patients undergoing PCI for any indication.

Quantifying the Risk Continuum for Cardiovascular Death in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.

Objectives: In type 2 diabetes (T2D), the most common causes of death are cardiovascular (CV) related, accounting for >50% of deaths in some reports. As novel diabetes therapies reduce CV death risk, identifying patients with T2D at highest CV death risk allows for cost-effective prioritization of these therapies. Accordingly, the primary goal of this study was to quantify the risk continuum for CV death in a real-world T2D population as a means to identify patients with the greatest expected benefit from cardioprotective antidiabetes therapies.

Trends in Atrial Fibrillation Incidence Rates Within an Integrated Health Care Delivery System, 2006 to 2018.

Importance: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and multiple studies have reported increasing AF incidence rates over time, although the underlying explanations remain unclear.

Objectives: To estimate AF incidence rates from 2006 to 2018 in a community-based setting and to investigate possible explanations for increasing AF by evaluating the changing features of incident AF cases and the pool of patients at risk for AF over time.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study included 500 684 patients who received primary care and other health care services for more than 2 years through a single integrated health care delivery network in Pennsylvania.

A Clinical Tool to Identify Candidates for Stress-First Myocardial Perfusion Imaging.

Objectives: This study sought to develop a clinical model that identifies a lower-risk population for coronary artery disease that could benefit from stress-first myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) protocols and that can be used at point of care to risk stratify patients.

Background: There is an increasing interest in stress-first and stress-only imaging to reduce patient radiation exposure and improve patient workflow and experience.

Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted on a single-center cohort of patients undergoing single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) studies.

A risk prediction model for heart failure hospitalization in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Antidiabetic therapies have shown disparate effects on hospitalization for heart failure (HHF) in clinical trials. This study developed a prediction model for HHF in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) using real world data to identify patients at high risk for HHF.

Hypothesis: Type 2 diabetics at high risk for HHF can be identified using information generated during usual clinical care.

Antibody Therapies for Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Unconjugated, Toxin-Conjugated, Radio-Conjugated and Multivalent Formats.

In recent decades, therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has remained relatively unchanged, with chemotherapy regimens primarily consisting of an induction regimen based on a daunorubicin and cytarabine backbone, followed by consolidation chemotherapy. Patients who are relapsed or refractory can be treated with allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation with modest benefits to event-free and overall survival. Other modalities of immunotherapy include antibody therapies, which hold considerable promise and can be categorized into unconjugated classical antibodies, multivalent recombinant antibodies (bi-, tri- and quad-specific), toxin-conjugated antibodies and radio-conjugated antibodies.

Clinical Outcomes of Selective Versus Nonselective His Bundle Pacing.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of nonselective (NS) His bundle pacing (HBP) compared with selective (S) HBP.

Background: HBP is the most physiologic form of ventricular pacing. NS-HBP results in right ventricular septal pre-excitation due to fusion with myocardial capture in addition to His bundle capture resulting in widened QRS duration compared with S-HBP wherein there is exclusive His bundle capture and conduction.

Humanized anti-CD123 antibody facilitates NK cell antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) of Hodgkin lymphoma targets via ARF6/PLD-1.

CD123 (IL-3Rα) is frequently expressed by malignant Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) cells. Naked monoclonal antibodies (mAb) against HL lack clinical benefit, partially due to absence of natural killer (NK) cells in the tumor microenvironment. Here we show that the combination of a fully humanized anti-CD123 mAb (CSL362) and high-affinity Fcγ-receptor NK-92 cells (haNK) effectively target and kill HL cells in vitro.

Quantifying Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Care Among Patients Evaluated for Suspected Ischemic Heart Disease.

Cardiovascular care sex differences are controversial. We examined sex differences in management and clinical outcomes among patients undergoing noninvasive testing for ischemic heart disease (IHD). In a rural integrated healthcare system, we identified adults age 40-79 without diagnosed IHD who underwent initial evaluation with a cardiac stress test with imaging or coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA), 2013-2014.

Is There an Age When Myocardial Perfusion Imaging May No Longer Be Prognostically Useful?

Background: Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death, and the prevalence of coronary artery disease is expected to increase as the population ages. It is important to understand the clinical utility of medical tests, or its lack thereof, in the aging population. The objective of this study was to understand the incremental prognostic value of positron emission tomographic (PET) myocardial perfusion imaging in the elderly (≥85 years of age).

CD16NK-92 and anti-CD123 monoclonal antibody prolongs survival in primary human acute myeloid leukemia xenografted mice.

Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) often relapse after initial therapy because of persistence of leukemic stem cells that frequently express the IL-3 receptor alpha chain CD123. Natural killer (NK) cell-based therapeutic strategies for AML show promise and we explore the NK cell lines, NK-92 and CD16 NK-92, as a treatment for AML. NK-92 has been tested in phase I clinical trials with minimal toxicity; irradiation prior to infusion prevents risk of engraftment.

External validation of the TIMI risk score for secondary cardiovascular events among patients with recent myocardial infarction.

Background And Aims: Risk stratification of patients with recent myocardial infarction (MI) for subsequent cardiovascular (CV) events helps identify patients most likely to benefit from secondary prevention therapies. This study externally validated a new risk score (TRS2˚P) for secondary events derived from the TRA2°P-TIMI 50 trial among post-MI patients from two large health care systems.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 9618 patients treated for acute MI at either the Cleveland Clinic (CC) or Geisinger Health System (GHS) between 2008 and 2013.

Applying the Seattle Heart Failure Model in the Office Setting in the Era of Electronic Medical Records.

Background: Prediction models such as the Seattle Heart Failure Model (SHFM) can help guide management of heart failure (HF) patients, but the SHFM has not been validated in the office environment. This retrospective cohort study assessed the predictive performance of the SHFM among patients with new or pre-existing HF in the context of an office visit.

Methods and results: SHFM elements were ascertained through electronic medical records at an office visit.

A phase I trial of NK-92 cells for refractory hematological malignancies relapsing after autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation shows safety and evidence of efficacy.

Background: Autologous NK cell therapy can treat a variety of malignancies, but is limited by patient-specific variations in potency and cell number expansion. In contrast, allogeneic NK cell lines can overcome many of these limitations. Cells from the permanent NK-92 line are constitutively activated, lack inhibitory receptors and appear to be safe based on two prior phase I trials.

Prognostic value of vasodilator response using rubidium-82 positron emission tomography myocardial perfusion imaging in patients with coronary artery disease.

Background: Prognostic value of positron emission tomography (PET) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is well established. There is paucity of data on how the prognostic value of PET relates to the hemodynamic response to vasodilator stress. We hypothesize that inadequate hemodynamic response will affect the prognostic value of PET MPI.