Anemia as a Significant Predictor of Adverse Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients With Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Analysis of National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample Database.

Background: Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) has significant health implications. Anemia is usually an unseen comorbidity, which could significantly affect outcomes in AECOPD patients, and there is limited data to support this. We conducted this study to assess the effect of anemia on this patient population.

Cost-Effectiveness of Portable Electrocardiogram for Screening Cardiovascular Diseases at a Primary Health Center in Ahmedabad District, India.

District Health Authority in Ahmedabad, Gujarat has introduced Project Lifeline, 12-lead portable ECG devices across all primary health centers (PHC) in the district to screen cardiac abnormalities among high-risk and symptomatic adults for providing primary management and proper timely referral. The prime purpose of the study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of portable ECG for the screening of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among high-risk and symptomatic adults at the PHC in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Cost-effective analysis was conducted using a societal perspective.

Is Anatomical Healing Essential for Better Clinical Outcome in Type II SLAP Repair? Clinico-Radiological Outcome after Type II SLAP Repair.

Background: We hypothesized that anatomical healing in superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) repair is associated with good clinical outcome. The purposes of this study were to assess the failure rate of anatomical healing after arthroscopic repair of SLAP lesions using computed tomography arthrography (CTA), investigate correlation of the rate with clinical outcomes, and identify prognostic factors for anatomical failure following SLAP repair.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the outcome of 43 patients at a minimum follow-up of 1 year after arthroscopic surgery for SLAP lesions or SLAP lesions associated with Bankart lesions.

Prevalence and Prognostic Implications of Coronary Artery Calcification in Low-Risk Women: A Meta-analysis.

Importance: The role of coronary artery calcium (CAC) testing for guiding preventive strategies among women at low cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk based on the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association CVD prevention guidelines is unclear.

Objective: To assess the potential utility of CAC testing for CVD risk estimation and stratification among low-risk women.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Women with 10-year atherosclerotic CVD (ASCVD) risk lower than 7.

Usefulness of Left Ventricular Mass and Geometry for Determining 10-Year Prediction of Cardiovascular Disease in Adults Aged >65 Years (from the Cardiovascular Health Study).

Left ventricular (LV) mass and geometry are associated with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We sought to determine whether LV mass and geometry contribute to risk prediction for CVD in adults aged ≥65 years of the Cardiovascular Health Study. We indexed LV mass to body size, denoted as LV mass index (echo-LVMI), and we defined LV geometry as normal, concentric remodeling, and eccentric or concentric LV hypertrophy.

The Association of Coronary Artery Calcium With Noncardiovascular Disease: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Objectives: This study sought to determine if coronary artery calcium (CAC) is associated with incident noncardiovascular disease.

Background: CAC is considered a measure of vascular aging, associated with increased risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. The relationship with noncardiovascular disease is not well defined.

Hydrophobic forces as a key factor in crystalline biofilm formation on ureteral stents.

Background: Current discussions about biofilm formation focus on the solid/liquid interface between a medical device and body fluids. Yet it has been shown that gas bubbles (GB) can stably form on ureteral stents in artificial urine and that their fate depends on the stent's surface properties. The liquid/gas interface constitutes an adhesion site for precipitating salts as well as hydrophobic organic molecules.

Cardiovascular Health in Young Adulthood and Association with Left Ventricular Structure and Function Later in Life: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the association between cardiovascular health (CVH) in young adulthood and left ventricular (LV) structure and function later in life.

Methods: Participants from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, which recruited black and white participants aged 18 to 30 years at baseline, were included; echocardiography was performed at year 25. CVH at year 0 was defined on the basis of blood pressure, total cholesterol, fasting glucose, body mass index, smoking status, diet, and physical activity.

Pathways Forward in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention One and a Half Years After Publication of the 2013 ACC/AHA Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Guidelines.

The 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association cardiovascular disease prevention guidelines represent an important step forward in the risk assessment and management of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in clinical practice. Differentiated risk prediction equations for women and black individuals were developed, and convenient 10-year and lifetime risk assessment tools were provided, facilitating their implementation. Lifestyle modification was portrayed as the foundation of preventive therapy.

Ureteral stents should be soaked for several minutes before placement.

Purpose: Placement of ureteral stents (DJ-stents) may lead to complications. Inappropriate friction properties of the implant are, inter alia, made responsible for primary injuries, injury-related inflammation and a cascade of consecutive side effects. Hydrophilicity is considered to be related to low friction.

Electrocardiographic abnormalities and coronary artery calcium for coronary heart disease prediction and reclassification: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

Background: Electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities and coronary artery calcium (CAC) identify different aspects of subclinical coronary heart disease (CHD). We sought to determine whether ECG abnormalities improve risk prediction for all CHD and fatal CHD events jointly with CAC measures.

Methods: We included 6,406 men and women from the MESA aged 45 to 84 years who were free of cardiovascular disease at the time of enrollment (2000-2002).

Non-cardiovascular effects associated with statins.

Statins form the pharmacologic cornerstone of the primary and secondary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. In addition to beneficial cardiovascular effects, statins seem to have multiple non-cardiovascular effects. Although early concerns about statin induced hepatotoxicity and cancer have subsided owing to reassuring evidence, two of the most common concerns that clinicians have are myopathy and diabetes.

Screening low-risk individuals for coronary artery disease.

A large proportion of cardiovascular events occur in individuals classified by traditional risk factors as "low-risk." Efforts to improve early detection of coronary artery disease among low-risk individuals, or to improve risk assessment, might be justified by this large population burden. The most promising tests for improving risk assessment, or early detection, include the coronary artery calcium (CAC) score, the ankle-brachial index (ABI), and the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP).

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement: current status and future directions.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a revolutionary therapy for patients with aortic stenosis. Large registries and randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that TAVR is safe and effective in patients considered inoperable because of severe comorbidities and those who are high-risk surgical candidates. As TAVR evolves for lower-risk patients, attention will need to focus on reducing the rates of vascular injury, stroke, and paravalvular regurgitation.

Competing cardiovascular outcomes associated with subclinical atherosclerosis (from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis).

Subclinical atherosclerosis measured by coronary artery calcium (CAC) is associated with increased risk for multiple cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes and non-CVD death simultaneously. The aim of this study was to determine the competing risks of specific CVD events and non-CVD death associated with varying burdens of subclinical atherosclerosis. A total of 3,095 men and 3,486 women from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), aged 45 to 84 years, from 4 ethnic groups were included.

Prevalence, prospective risk markers, and prognosis associated with the presence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in young adults: the coronary artery risk development in young adults study.

The authors sought to determine the prevalence, prospective risk markers, and prognosis associated with diastolic dysfunction in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. The CARDIA Study cohort includes approximately equal proportions of white and black men and women. The authors collected data on risk markers at year 0 (1985-1986), and echocardiography was done at year 5 when the participants were 23-35 years of age.

Prevalence, prognosis, and factors associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in systemic sclerosis.

Objectives: To determine the frequency, associated clinical factors, and prognostic significance of left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction in systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: We studied 153 consecutive patients with SSc and divided the study sample into those with and without LV diastolic dysfunction using established age-based normal cut-offs for lateral tissue Doppler early mitral annular (E') velocity, a marker of impaired relaxation and diastolic dysfunction. We compared clinical characteristics, laboratory tests, pulmonary function tests, and echocardiographic data between those with and without LV diastolic dysfunction.

Competing cardiovascular outcomes associated with electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.

Background: Individuals with electrocardiographically determined left ventricular hypertrophy (ECG LVH) are at risk of multiple cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes simultaneously. The study sought to characterise the competing incidences for subtypes of first CVD events or non-CVD death in those with and without ECG LVH.

Methods: Participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study were included.

Systemic sclerosis and the heart: current diagnosis and management.

Purpose Of Review: When present clinically, cardiac involvement in systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a major risk factor for death. It is therefore vitally important to understand the epidemiology, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of the cardiac manifestations of SSc.

Recent Findings: The epidemiology of cardiac involvement in SSc has been the subject of several recent studies.

Community First Communication: Reversing Information Disparities to Achieve Environmental Justice.

We address how information developed and effectively communicated through community based participatory research (CBPR) can reverse long-standing information disparities, empower a community, and be an agent for sustained change. Substantial information and power disparities existed between the polluted community and both the pollution industry and governmental regulators. An environmental justice partnership between a local community organization, physicians, and university performed CBPR and then developed a novel communication strategy to address a series of information disparities around a local water pollution issue.

Development and successful application of a "Community-First" communication model for community-based environmental health research.

Objectives: Effectively communicate results from a community exposure study to meet predetermined community priorities, maintaining ethical principles of autonomy, empowerment and justice.

Methods: The community established principles for the communications and a plan to inform study participants, community and other stakeholders of results and recommendations in a novel sequence: the "Community-First" communication model.

Results: The communications resulted in positive actions including company sponsored free bottled water, accepted by 77.