Plasmatic variability of direct oral anticoagulants in people with atrial fibrillation and previous gastric surgery: a pilot case series.

Background: Data on cardioembolic prevention with direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with previous gastric surgery are lacking. We report inter- and intra-individual differences in DOAC concentration in people with gastric surgery, to identify potential treatment options.

Methods: Patients with previous gastric surgery receiving DOAC for AF as stroke secondary prevention, and undergoing peak-trough DOAC plasmatic testing were selected from the regional EDDIE-AF registry.

Monoclonal Anti-PCSK9 Antibodies: Real-World Data.

Real-world data on the use of lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) in clinical practice show that about 80% of (very) high-cardiovascular (CV)-risk patients disregard the 2019 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines' recommendations on dyslipidemias. The availability of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 monoclonal antibodies (PCSK9mAb) should reduce this gap. Our aim was to provide data on PCSK9mAb use in clinical practice, investigating the achievement of the ESC Guidelines' recommendations in the real world.

Whole Exome Sequencing in Vaccine-Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT).

In February 2021, a few cases of unusual, severe thrombotic events associated with thrombocytopenia reported after vaccination with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Vaxzevria) or with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine raise concern about safety. The vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) has been related to the presence of platelet-activating antibodies directed against platelet Factor 4. We investigated VITT subject genetic background by a high-throughput whole exome sequencing (WES) approach in order to investigate VITT genetic predisposition.

Digital droplet PCR versus quantitative PCR for lipoprotein (a) kringle IV type 2 repeat polymorphism genetic characterization.

Background: Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] level variability, related to atherothrombotic risk increase, is mainly attributed to LPA gene, encoding apolipoprotein(a), with kringle IV type 2 (KIV2) copy number variation (CNV) acting as the primary genetic determinant. Genetic characterization of Lp(a) is in continuous growth; nevertheless, the peculiar structural characteristics of this variant constitute a significant challenge to the development of effective detection methods. The aim of the study was to compare quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) in the evaluation of KIV2 repeat polymorphism.