Pre-assembled ECMO: Enhancing efficiency and reducing stress in refractory cardiac arrest care.

Aim: Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) by veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) during refractory cardiac arrest presents significant medical and psychological challenges for healthcare providers. Beyond managing cardiac arrest and preparing for potential coronary angiography, the ECMO circuit must be assembled and primed under strictly sterile conditions, contributing to additional psychological stress and potential delays in ECMO cannulation. This pragmatic study thought to evaluate whether pre-assembled and pre-primed ECMO circuits (pre-primed group) maintain sterility over a 21-day period, expedite ECMO initiation in ECPR patients and alleviate the psychological burden on the ECPR team, compared to newly assembled and primed ECMO circuits (on-demand group).

Mortality and healthcare resource utilisation after cardiac arrest in the United States - A 10-year nationwide analysis prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aim: Understanding the public health burden of cardiac arrest (CA) is important to inform healthcare policies, particularly during healthcare crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to analyse outcomes of in-hospital mortality and healthcare resource utilisation in adult patients with CA in the United States over the last decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: The United States (US) National Inpatient Sample was utilised to identify hospitalised adult patients with CA between 2010 and 2019.

Left-ventricular unloading in extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation due to acute myocardial infarction - A multicenter study.

Background: Guidelines advocate the use of extracorporeal cardio-pulmonary resuscitation with veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) in selected patients with cardiac arrest. Effects of concomitant left-ventricular (LV) unloading with Impella® (ECMELLA) remain unclear. This is the first study to investigate whether treatment with ECMELLA was associated with improved outcomes in patients with refractory cardiac arrest caused by acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Case report: Refractory cardiac arrest supported with veno-arterial-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and left-ventricular Impella CP-Physiological insights and pitfalls of ECMELLA.

Introduction: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report which provides insights into patient-specific hemodynamics during veno-arterio-venous-extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VAV ECMO) combined with a left-ventricular (LV) Impella micro-axial pump for therapy-refractory cardiac arrest due to acute myocardial infarction, complicated by acute lung injury (ALI).

Patient Presentation: A 54-year-old male patient presented with ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome complicated by out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with ventricular fibrillation upon arrival of the emergency medical service. As cardiac arrest was refractory to advanced cardiac life support, the patient was transferred to the Cardiac Arrest Center for immediate initiation of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) with peripheral VA ECMO and emergency percutaneous coronary intervention using drug eluting stents in the right coronary artery.

Complement regulation in tenocytes under the influence of leukocytes in an indirect co-culture model.

Introduction: The present in vitro study was undertaken to learn about the effects of leukocytes on tenocytes in respect to complement regulation simulating an inflammatory scenario of the traumatized tissue.

Methods: Human hamstring tendon-derived tenocyte monolayers were co-cultured indirectly with human leukocytes (either Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells [PBMCs] or neutrophils) using a transwell system with/without (+ /) 10 ng/ml tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) for 4 and 24 h. Tenocyte and leukocyte cell survival was assessed by live-dead assay.

Noninvasive Imaging of Endothelial Damage in Patients With Different HbA Levels: A Proof-of-Concept Study.

The aim of this study was to compare endothelial permeability, which is considered a hallmark of coronary artery disease, between patients with different HbA levels using an albumin-binding magnetic resonance (MR) probe. This cross-sectional study included 26 patients with clinical indication for X-ray angiography who were classified into three groups according to HbA level (<5.7% [<39 mmol/mol], 5.

Novel Approach for In Vivo Detection of Vulnerable Coronary Plaques Using Molecular 3-T CMR Imaging With an Albumin-Binding Probe.

Objectives: This study sought to investigate the potential of the noninvasive albumin-binding probe gadofosveset-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (GE-CMR) for detection of coronary plaques that can cause acute coronary syndromes (ACS).

Background: ACS are frequently caused by rupture or erosion of coronary plaques that initially do not cause hemodynamically significant stenosis and are therefore not detected by invasive x-ray coronary angiography (XCA).

Methods: A total of 25 patients with ACS or symptoms of stable coronary artery disease underwent GE-CMR, clinically indicated XCA, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) within 24 h.

Tenocyte activation and regulation of complement factors in response to in vitro cell injury.

Inferior tendon healing can lead to scarring and tendinopathy. The role of complement in tendon healing is still unclear. The aim of this study was to understand tenocytes response to mechanical injury and whether complement is regulated by injury.

Complement gene expression is regulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines and the anaphylatoxin C3a in human tenocytes.

Interplay between complement factors, regulatory proteins, anaphylatoxins and cytokines could be involved in tendon healing and scar formation. The expression and regulation of complement factors by cytokines or anaphylatoxins are completely unclear in tendon. Hence, the gene expression of the anaphylatoxin receptors C3aR, C5aR and cytoprotective complement regulatory proteins (CRPs) was analysed in human tendon, cultured primary tenocytes and to directly compare the general expression level, additionally in human leukocytes.