Safety of beta-blocker discontinuation after acute coronary syndromes with preserved or mildly reduced left ventricular ejection fraction: a target trial emulation from a real-world cohort.

Aims: The benefit of long-term beta-blocker therapy after acute coronary syndromes (ACS) without heart failure in the reperfusion era is uncertain. Two recent randomized trials found conflicting results. The present study assessed the safety of beta-blocker discontinuation within 12 months following ACS with LVEF ≥40%.

Association Between Patient Sex and Familial Hypercholesterolemia and Long-Term Cardiovascular Risk Factor Management 5 Years After Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Background: Long-term control of cardiovascular risk factors after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is the cornerstone for preventing recurrence. We investigated the extent of cardiovascular risk factor management in males and females with and without familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) 5 years after ACS.

Methods: We studied patients hospitalized for ACS between 2009 and 2017 in a Swiss multicenter prospective cohort study.

Effects of SARS-COV-2 infection on outcomes in patients hospitalized for acute cardiac conditions. A prospective, multicenter cohort study (Swiss Cardiovascular SARS-CoV-2 Consortium).

Background: Although the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) primarily affects the respiratory system, the disease entity has been associated with cardiovascular complications. This study sought to assess the effect of concomitant SARS-COV-2 infection on clinical outcomes of patients hospitalized primarily for acute cardiac conditions on cardiology wards in Switzerland.

Methods: In this prospective, observational study conducted in 5 Swiss cardiology centers during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients hospitalized due to acute cardiac conditions underwent a reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction test at the time of admission and were categorized as SARS-COV-2 positive (cases) or negative (controls).

[Acetazolamide in acute heart failure].

Acute heart failure is a leading cause of hospitalisations with an increasing economic and public health burden. Management of acute heart failure involves the use of diuretics to treat congestion and improve morbimortality. Despite current guidelines, numerous patients maintain congestion and often leave the hospital setting with incomplete volume depletion, leading to an increased risk of rehospitalisation.

Mesoamerican urbanism revisited: Environmental change, adaptation, resilience, persistence, and collapse.

Urban adaptation to climate change is a global challenge requiring a broad response that can be informed by how urban societies in the past responded to environmental shocks. Yet, interdisciplinary efforts to leverage insights from the urban past have been stymied by disciplinary silos and entrenched misconceptions regarding the nature and diversity of premodern human settlements and institutions, especially in the case of prehispanic Mesoamerica. Long recognized as a distinct cultural region, prehispanic Mesoamerica was the setting for one of the world's original urbanization episodes despite the impediments to communication and resource extraction due to the lack of beasts of burden and wheeled transport, and the limited and relatively late use of metal implements.

Risks and benefits of urinary catheterisation during inpatient diuretic therapy for acute heart failure: a retrospective, non-inferiority, cohort study.

Objectives: Patients with acute congestive heart failure (HF) regularly undergo urinary catheterisation (UC) at hospital admission. We hypothesised that UC has no clinical benefits with regard to weight loss during inpatient diuretic therapy for acute congestive HF and increases the risk of urinary tract infection (UTI).

Design: Retrospective, non-inferiority study.

The longitudinal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health behaviors, psychosocial factors, and cognitive functioning in older adults.

Older adults are at a greater risk for contracting and experiencing severe illness from COVID-19 and may be further affected by pandemic-related precautions (e.g., social distancing and isolation in quarantine).

Cardiovascular therapy use, modification, and in-hospital death in patients with COVID-19: A cohort study.

Aims: To assess the associations of exposure and modifications in exposure (i.e., discontinuation on admission, initiation during hospitalization) to eight common cardiovascular therapies with the risk of in-hospital death among inpatients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Inhibition in Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

Background: Early inflammation following acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) affects myocardial infarct (MI) size and left ventricular remodeling. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is involved in the enhanced inflammatory response and its inhibition has exerted beneficial effects on MI size in preclinical models of acute MI.

Objectives: The CLEVER-ACS (Controlled Level Everolimus in Acute Coronary Syndromes) trial evaluated the effects of targeting inflammation by mTOR inhibition in patients with STEMI undergoing PCI.

Long-term effects of systematic smoking cessation counselling during acute coronary syndrome, a multicentre before-after study.

Trial Design: In the Special Program University Medicine-Acute Coronary Syndromes (SPUM-ACS) observational study (clinical trial registration: NCT01000701), a multicentre before-after clinical trial, we assessed 5-year outcome after acute coronary syndrome, comparing a systematic with an opportunistic smoking cessation counselling phase.

Methods: We studied smokers who were hospitalised for acute coronary syndromes (ACS), and we assessed self-reported smoking cessation, incidence of cardiovascular events and mortality 5 years after hospital discharge. In the observational phase, from August 2009 to October 2010, only smokers who requested smoking cessation counselling received it during hospitalisation.

Smoking cessation and depression after acute coronary syndrome.

Smoking and depression are risk factors for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) that often co-exist. We investigated the evolution of depression according to smoking cessation one-year after ACS. Data from 1822 ACS patients of the Swiss multicenter SPUM-ACS cohort study were analyzed over a one-year follow-up.

Clinical impact of del Nido cardioplegia in adult cardiac surgery: A prospective randomized trial.

Objective: The study objective was to assess the benefits of del Nido cardioplegia compared with cold blood cardioplegia solution in terms of myocardial protection during adult cardiac surgery.

Methods: A total of 474 adult patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, heart valve surgery, thoracic aortic surgery, or combined procedures were randomized to the del Nido cardioplegia group (n = 234) or the cold blood cardioplegia solution group (n = 240) after provided informed consent. The primary end points assessed inotropic support requirements, severe cardiovascular events, and troponin trend within the first 48 hours of intensive care unit stay.

[European guidelines 2021 for the cardiovascular prevention: new concepts].

The latest European guidelines for cardiovascular prevention were published in 2021. As compared to the previous 2016 edition, these guidelines include some new concepts. First, the estimation of cardiovascular risk in apparently healthy persons now encompasses for the first time both fatal and nonfatal events, including myocardial infarction and stroke, using the new SCORE2 and SCORE2-OP.

Controlled-Level EVERolimus in Acute Coronary Syndrome (CLEVER-ACS) - A phase II, randomized, double-blind, multi-center, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Activation of inflammatory pathways during acute myocardial infarction contributes to infarct size and left ventricular (LV) remodeling. The present prospective randomized clinical trial was designed to test the efficacy and safety of broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory therapy with a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor to reduce infarct size.

Design: Controlled-Level EVERolimus in Acute Coronary Syndrome (CLEVER-ACS, clinicaltrials.

High-Throughput Determination of Major Mycotoxins with Human Health Concerns in Urine by LC-Q TOF MS and Its Application to an Exposure Study.

Human biomonitoring constitutes a suitable tool to assess exposure to toxins overcoming the disadvantages of traditional methods. Urine constitutes an accessible biological matrix in biomonitoring studies. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced naturally by filamentous fungi that produce a wide range of adverse health effects.

Symptoms and quality of life at 1-year follow up of patients discharged after an acute COVID-19 episode.

Aim Of The Study: Patients surviving COVID-19 have been described as being at risk of developing sequelae. We aimed to investigate and elicit persistent symptoms, emotional status and quality-of-life in patients discharged after an acute COVID-19 episode.

Methods: Patient-reported outcome measures were collected during a telephone interview 30 days and 1 year after discharge.

Effectiveness, Adherence, and Safety of Evolocumab in a Swiss Multicenter Prospective Observational Study.

Introduction: The aims of this study were to describe patient characteristics, lipid parameters, lipid-lowering drug use, and safety of patients receiving evolocumab in a real-world clinical setting.

Methods: We conducted a 1-year multicenter observational study of adults using evolocumab with confirmed atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) or at high cardiovascular risk, and elevated LDL-C despite maximally tolerated statin doses. An e-health application optionally supported patient management.

High Risk Features of an Anomalous Origin of the Right Coronary Artery.

Anomalous aortic origin of the coronary arteries (AAOCA) is a rare congenital abnormality. It is usually asymptomatic and often found incidentally during coronary angiography. However, it can also be discovered during the autopsy of young healthy adults who have suffered from sudden cardiac death (SCD).