Nursing Home Admission and Home Care Initiation After Acute Aortic Dissection: A Nationwide Registry-Based Cohort Study.

Background: Little is known about long-term outcomes beyond survival following acute aortic dissection. The aim of this research was to evaluate rates of home care initiation and nursing home admission during the first year after discharge and to assess factors associated with these needs.

Methods: All patients in Denmark with a first-time diagnosis of acute aortic dissection type A or B between 2006 and 2015 were identified using national registries.

Management of aortic disease in children with FBN1-related Marfan syndrome.

Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a hereditary connective tissue disorder with an estimated prevalence of 1:5000-1:10 000 individuals. It is a pleiotropic disease characterized by specific ocular, cardiovascular, and skeletal features. The most common cardiovascular complication is aortic root dilatation which untreated can lead to life-threatening aortic root dissection, mainly occurring in adult patients.

Endocrine, cardiac and neuropsychological aspects of adult congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Objective: To investigate the metabolic, cardiovascular, and neuropsychological phenotype, quality of life (QoL), and hormonal regulation in individuals with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a group of autosomal recessive disorders characterized by impaired synthesis of cortisol in the adrenal cortex and, if untreated compensatory hyperandrogenism. CAH is associated with an increased cardiovascular and metabolic morbidity, possibly due to overtreatment with glucocorticoids, leading to weight gain, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome.

Design, Participants, Measurements: Thirty-seven individuals with CAH and 33 age- and sex-matched controls were evaluated at a single centre at Aarhus University Hospital with echocardiography, electrocardiogram, 24-h blood pressure, biochemistry, anthropometrics, and autism spectrum, anxiety, depression, personality, cognitive failures, and QoL were assessed using questionnaires.

Pulmonary Valve Replacement in Tetralogy of Fallot: Procedural Volume and Durability of Bioprosthetic Pulmonary Valves.

Background: Robust data on changes in pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) procedural volume and predictors of bioprosthetic pulmonary valve (BPV) durability in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) are scarce.

Objectives: This study sought to assess temporal trends in PVR procedural volume and BPV durability in a nationwide, retrospective TOF cohort.

Methods: Data were obtained from patient records.

Quality of Life in the Danish Fontan Population is Unchanged Over the Past Decade-A Nationwide Longitudinal Study.

Knowledge about health-related quality of life (HRQoL) over time in Fontan patients is sparse. We aimed to describe HRQoL over a ten-year period in a population-based Fontan cohort. Further, we compared HRQoL in Fontan patients with the general population.

Characteristics and Outcomes in Patients With Acute Aortic Dissection: A Nationwide Registry Study.

Background: We aimed to describe characteristics and outcomes in a nationwide population of patients with acute type A and type B aortic dissection.

Methods: All patients in Denmark with a first-time diagnosis of acute aortic dissection between 2006 and 2015 were identified by national registries. The main outcomes were in-hospital mortality and long-term survival in hospital survivors.

Exercise capacity in the Danish Fontan population remains stable after ten years of follow-up - is physical activity the key to success?

Background: Most Fontan patients have impaired exercise capacity, and a further decline in exercise capacity over time seems inevitable. However, few longitudinal studies exist, and there is a lack of data from newer eras. We aimed to describe the natural evolution of exercise capacity over a 10-year period in a contemporary, population-based cohort of Danish Fontan patients.

Temporal changes in the surgical management of patients with tetralogy of Fallot in Denmark: a nationwide cohort study.

Objectives: To assess temporal changes in the surgical management of patients with tetralogy of Fallot including the timing of interventions, surgical techniques, reinterventions and survival in a nationwide cohort.

Methods: Patients with tetralogy of Fallot in Denmark were divided into 3 eras based on their year of birth: early (1977-1991), intermediate (1992-2006) and late (2007-2021).

Results: The cohort consisted of 745 patients.

Carriers of COL3A1 pathogenic variants in Denmark: Interfamilial variability in severity and outcome of elective surgical procedures.

The study describes all patients in Denmark with vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (vEDS). Carriers of pathogenic or likely pathogenic COL3A1 variants were retrospectively identified through registries and specialized clinics. Medical records were reviewed for vascular- or organ ruptures and invasive procedures performed.

Long-Term Cardiovascular Health After Pregnancy in Danish Women With Congenital Heart Disease. A Register-Based Cohort Study Between 1993 and 2016.

Background Little is known about the impact of pregnancy on long-term cardiovascular health in individuals with congenital heart disease (CHD). We aimed to determine if giving birth in patients with CHD is associated with higher risk of long-term cardiovascular morbidity. Methods and Results We studied a cohort of 1262 individuals with CHD giving birth (live or still) from 1993 to 2015 using Danish nationwide registers.

Length of hospital stay after delivery among Danish women with congenital heart disease: a register-based cohort study.

Background: The literature about the impact of congenital heart disease (CHD) on the length of hospital stay after delivery is limited, and nonexisting in a country with free and equal access to healthcare. We aimed to examine the hypothesis that Danish women with CHD have a longer hospital stay after delivery compared to women without CHD. Secondarily, we aimed to examine the hypothesis that cesarean section modifies the association.

Advanced maternal age and risk of adverse perinatal outcome among women with congenital heart disease: A nationwide register-based cohort study.

Background: Women with maternal congenital heart disease have a higher risk of preterm birth (PTB) and giving birth to a small for gestational age (SGA) infant. Advanced maternal age (≥35 years) likewise increases the risk of PTB and SGA, probably explained by poorer cardiovascular status. It is likely that advanced maternal age is particularly detrimental in women with congenital heart disease.

[Diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of tuberous sclerosis complex].

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder with highly varying disease manifestations, many of which cause extensive morbidity. There are international consensus criteria for the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of TSC, and approved medical treatment for some of the most serious disease manifestations. However, organisation of a rational and coordinated care of TSC patients involves many different medical specialities and is only sparsely described.

Neonatal Risk in Children of Women With Congenital Heart Disease: A Cohort Study With Focus on Socioeconomic Status.

Background We hypothesized that women with congenital heart disease (CHD) are at increased risk of giving birth preterm, including very and moderately preterm and giving birth to infants small for gestational age (SGA). We aimed to investigate this in a nation-wide study with focus on the potential modifying effect of socioeconomic status. Methods and Results We performed a cohort study using Danish nation-wide registers between 1997 and 2014.

A national needs assessment study to determine procedures for simulation-based training in cardiology in Denmark.

Objectives: New training methods such as simulation have been introduced in cardiology as in other specialties; however, the development of effective simulation-based training programs is challenging. They are often unstructured and based on convenience or coincidence. The objective of this study was to perform a nationwide general needs assessment to identify and prioritize technical procedures that should be included in a simulation-based curriculum for cardiology residency in Denmark.

Rupture of an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in a Young Man with Marfan Syndrome.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are very rare in Marfan syndrome. We present a case with a young nonsmoking and normotensive male with Marfan syndrome, who developed an infrarenal AAA that presented with rupture to the retroperitoneal cavity causing life-threatening bleeding shock. The patient had acute aortic surgery and survived.

Prolonged QT interval and cardiac arrest after a single dose of amiodarone in a woman with Turner's syndrome.

Low-dose QT-prolonging drugs may have detrimental effects on women with Turner's syndrome. Preventive measures would be to use potential QT-prolonging drugs with precaution and ensure that both before and during treatment, ECGs are evaluated and drug treatment stopped if the QT interval increases.

[Consensus on national criteria for transthoracic echocardiography competence].

Standardised competence assessment in transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is increasingly demanded. Danish Cardiology Society working group on echocardiography initiated a Delphi study among departments involved in resident TTE training to obtain consensus on national criteria for TTE competence. Consensus was obtained on a list of 21 items relevant for TTE competence assessment.

[Consensus on national criteria for transthoracic echocardiography competence].

Standardised competence assessment in transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is increasingly demanded. Danish Cardiology Society working group on echocardiography initiated a Delphi study among departments involved in resident TTE training to obtain consensus on national criteria for TTE competence. Consensus was obtained on a list of 21 items relevant for TTE competence assessment.

Objective structured assessment of technical competence in transthoracic echocardiography: a validity study in a standardised setting.

Background: Competence in transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is unrelated to traditional measures of TTE competence, such as duration of training and number of examinations performed. This study aims to explore aspects of validity of an instrument for structured assessment of echocardiographic technical skills.

Methods: The study included 45 physicians with three different clinical levels of echocardiography competence who all scanned the same healthy male following national guidelines.

Limited intervention improves technical skill in focus assessed transthoracic echocardiography among novice examiners.

Background: Previous studies addressing teaching and learning in point-of-care ultrasound have primarily focussed on image interpretation and not on the technical quality of the images. We hypothesized that a limited intervention of 10 supervised examinations would improve the technical skills in Focus Assessed Transthoracic Echocardiography (FATE) and that physicians with no experience in FATE would quickly adopt technical skills allowing for image quality suitable for interpretation.

Methods: Twenty-one physicians with no previous training in FATE or echocardiography (Novices) participated in the study and a reference group of three examiners with more than 10 years of experience in echocardiography (Experts) was included.

Medical graduates feel well-prepared for clinical work.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to assess the coherence between the undergraduate medical program at Aarhus University and the foundation year.

Material And Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire survey included 503 doctors graduated from Aarhus University from the winter of 2007/2008 to the summer of 2009.

Results: The response rate was 73%.

The relationship between immediate relevant basic science knowledge and clinical knowledge: physiology knowledge and transthoracic echocardiography image interpretation.

Two major views on the relationship between basic science knowledge and clinical knowledge stand out; the Two-world view seeing basic science and clinical science as two separate knowledge bases and the encapsulated knowledge view stating that basic science knowledge plays an overt role being encapsulated in the clinical knowledge. However, resent research has implied that a more complex relationship between the two knowledge bases exists. In this study, we explore the relationship between immediate relevant basic science (physiology) and clinical knowledge within a specific domain of medicine (echocardiography).

[Active student participation at the medical school at the University of Aarhus shall be increased].

In this paper we describe the first four phases of a curriculum reform covering the three clinical years of medical school at Aarhus University. The reform intends to ease students' transition from medical school to the foundation year, increase focus on communication, create more coherence between subjects, increase students' active participation, and align learning outcomes and assessments. More than 80 stakeholders participated in the first phases and five task forces gave their recommendations on how to achieve the intentions.