The Prognostic Role of Spot Urinary Sodium and Chloride in a Cohort of Hospitalized Advanced Heart Failure Patients: A Pilot Study.

Recent studies have demonstrated the prognostic value of spot urinary sodium (UNa) in acutely decompensated chronic HF (ADCHF) patients. However, data on the prognostic role of UNa and spot urinary chloride (UCl) in patients with advanced HF are limited. In the present prospective pilot study, we examined the predictive value of UNa and UCl concentration at baseline, at 2 h and at 24 h after admission for all-cause mortality and HF rehospitalization up to 3 months post-discharge.

A novel design of a noncylindric stent with beneficial effects on flow characteristics: an experimental and numerical flow study in an axisymmetric arterial model with sequential mild stenoses.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether a novel noncylindric "stent," implanted upstream of one or more mild arterial stenoses could be beneficial, by increasing in-stent wall shear stresses (WSS) and by limiting the flow recirculation zones in the vicinity of the stenoses. An in vitro model employing flow visualization, and computational fluid dynamics were used for the study of steady and unsteady flow fields in a model of a coronary artery with two sequential 50% stenoses. Two different tube-entrance geometries (a cylindric and a convergent nozzle), modeling an ostial stented arterial segment, were studied regarding their effect on flow patterns and WSS at various Reynolds numbers (Re = 200-800).