Comparison of the Effectiveness of Body Surface Area Estimation Formulas in Predicting the Risk of Death in Patients with Heart Failure.

: Body surface area is one of the most important anthropometric parameters in medicine. The study's primary objective is to compare the consistency of the BSA estimation results through applying available formulas. Other objectives include determining the ability of these formulas to discriminate between death and survival in patients, comparing the formulas' diagnostic features, and investigating whether the risk associated with a low BSA is independent of BMI.

Serum Vitamin D3 as a Potential Biomarker for Neuronal Damage in Smoldering Multiple Sclerosis.

Permanent inflammatory demyelinating and neurodegenerative processes lead to neurological disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The anti-inflammatory properties of vitamin D (VitD) are well established, but its role in neurodegeneration is still uncertain. The usefulness of the serum concentration of VitD as a potential biomarker in evaluating brain injury in terms of recently known smoldering MS was under consideration.

Can Selected Parameters of Brain Injury Reflect Neuronal Damage in Smoldering Multiple Sclerosis?

Background: Inflammatory demyelination and impaired recovery processes result in permanent neurodegeneration and neurological disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). In terms of smoldering MS, chronic neuroinflammation develops in the early period of the disease and leads to confirmed disability accumulation. There is a great need to identify biomarkers of neurodegeneration and disease progression.

Evaluation of the Levels of Selected Cytokines and Their Possible Influence on the Development of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Complications in Patients after COVID-19.

: The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of selected cytokines and their possible influence on the development of cardiovascular and pulmonary complications in patients hospitalized at the Silesian Centre for Heart Disease in Zabrze after having undergone COVID-19. : The study included 76 randomly selected patients from the SILCOVID-19 database. The median time from symptom onset to the study visit was 102 (86-118) days.

Characteristics and outcomes for patients with heart failure diagnosed according to the universal definition and classification of heart failure. Data from a single-center registry.

Background: There are no data on the characteristics and outcomes for patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced (HFrEF), mildly reduced (HFmrEF), and preserved (HFpEF) ejection fraction diagnosed according to the universal definition and classification of HF.

Aims: We used the universal HF definition to compare baseline characteristics, hospital readmission and mortality rates in individuals with HFrEF, HFmrEF, and HFpEF diagnosed retrospectively.

Results: The study was designed as a single-center retrospective analysis of all consecutive 40732 hospital admissions between 2013 and 2021 in a tertiary department of cardiology.

Long-term prognostic scores may underestimate the risk of death in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in whom red cell distribution width is elevated.

Introduction: Risk prediction in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is one of the key challenges for clinicians. Novel biomarkers aggregating several important pathophysiological pathways may modify the diagnostic discrimination of validated scores. The red cell distribution width (RDW) is a cheap and easily available measure of anisocytosis, and was shown to have a strong independent prognostic power in short- and medium‑term prognosis in HFrEF.

Death without Previous Hospital Readmission in Patients with Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction-A New Endpoint from Old Clinical Trials.

Background: Most of the drugs approved and registered for use in heart failure (HF) therapy were examined in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) with the primary composite endpoint of death or hospital readmission. This study aimed to analyze the rates of the newly calculated event: death without prior hospital readmission, in HFrEF patients in large RCTs to show that the newly defined endpoint probably delivers additional data on the structure of the composite endpoint and helps to interpret the results of interventional studies.

Methods: This study included RCTs on therapeutic interventions in HF patients.

Post-COVID‑19 complications in hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients: the Silesian database of COVID‑19 complications (SILCOV‑19).

Introduction: Due to the extent of the pandemic, high prevalence and severity of complications in the early post‑recovery period are expected.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the scope of early post-COVID‑19 complications in patients who had the disease and were or were not hospitalized.

Patients And Methods: This was a prospective, observational, registry‑based cohort study conducted at a tertiary cardiovascular hospital in Silesia, Poland.

Baseline characteristics, management and long-term outcomes of different etiologies of cardiac tamponade evaluated in a cohort of 340 patients.

Introduction: Studies on the etiology of cardiac tamponade (CT) are scarce or lacking follow-up, and usually include small or highly selected groups of patients.

Aim: To evaluate the various etiologies and outcomes of CT in a cohort of patients treated in a tertiary care hospital encompassing cardiology, cardiac surgery and intensive care units.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed all adult patients hospitalized in the Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases in Zabrze (Poland) between January 2008 and December 2018, who required therapeutic pericardiocentesis or pericardiotomy due to CT.

Is neural network better than logistic regression in death prediction in patients after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction?

Background: There is a need to develop patient classification methods and adjust post-discharge care to improve survival after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Aims: The study aimed to determine whether a neural network (NN) is better than logistic regression (LR) in mortality prediction in STEMI patients.

Methods: The study included patients from the Polish Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes (PL-ACS).

Prevalence, management and outcomes of cardiac tamponade complicating 66,812 invasive cardiac procedures: single-center clinical registry.

Introduction: There are numerous studies concerning iatrogenic cardiac tamponade. Those studies are predominantly focused on one cardiac procedure and the follow-up is not always presented.

Aim: To estimate the rate of cardiac tamponade following 66,812 percutaneous invasive cardiac interventions depending on the procedure.

Radiation therapy in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices.

Background: The number of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) treated with radiation therapy (RT) as an oncological treatment is expected to increase.

Aims: The aim of the study was to assess whether cancer treatment with radiation therapy is associated with any device dysfunctions and device‑related threats in patients with CIEDs.

Methods: The risk of all patients with CIEDs undergoing RT was assessed according to guidelines.

Two professions against two killer diseases: the rationale, organization, and initial experience of a cardio-oncology service.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the most common factor affecting prognosis in cancer survivors. Cardio‑oncology (CO) services have been developed to solve this issue. The outcomes regarding patient demographics and clinical findings are limited and the available data include CO services evaluating patients undergoing only chemotherapy as opposed to those also undergoing radiation therapy.

Patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices undergoing radiotherapy in Poland. Expert opinion of the Heart Rhythm Section of the Polish Cardiac Society and the Polish Society of Radiation Oncology.

Older age and high morbidity of the society contribute to a growing number of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) requiring effective cancer treatment, including radiotherapy (RT). The effect of RT on a CIED may vary depending on the type and physical parameters of radiation, location of the treated lesion, indications for electrotherapy, and the type of CIED. In the most dramatic scenarios, it may cause an irreversible damage to the CIED, with serious clinical consequences.