Left atrial appendage occlusion: trends in demographics and in-hospital outcomes-a German nationwide analysis.

Background: LAAO is an interventional, prophylactic treatment to prevent cardioembolic stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess gender differences and age-related in-hospital course of all patients undergoing left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) in Germany.

Methods: The Research Data Center of the Federal Statistical Office accessed interrogation of its Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) statistics database.

AAV library screening identifies novel vector for efficient transduction of human aorta.

Targeted gene delivery to vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) could prevent or improve a variety of diseases affecting the vasculature and particularly the aorta. Thus, we aimed to develop a delivery vector that efficiently targets VSMCs. We selected engineered adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids from a random AAV capsid library and tested the top enriched motifs in parallel screening through individual barcoding.

Assessing Patient Health Dynamics by Comparative CT Analysis: An Automatic Approach to Organ and Body Feature Evaluation.

The integration of machine learning into the domain of radiomics has revolutionized the approach to personalized medicine, particularly in oncology. Our research presents RadTA (RADiomics Trend Analysis), a novel framework developed to facilitate the automatic analysis of quantitative imaging biomarkers (QIBs) from time-series CT volumes. RadTA is designed to bridge a technical gap for medical experts and enable sophisticated radiomic analyses without deep learning expertise.

Implementation of an Atrioventricular Valve Intervention Registry: Comparative Study of REDCap vs. CDR-Based openEHR Registry.

This comparative study examines the transition from isolated registries to a consolidated data-centric approach at University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, focusing on migrating the Atrioventricular Valve Intervention Registry (AVIR) from REDCap to a Medical Data Integration Center based openEHR registry. Through qualitative analysis, we identify key disparities and strategic decisions guiding this transition. While REDCap has historical utility, its limitations in automated data integration and traceability highlight the advantages of a data-centric approach, which include streamlined data (integration) management at a single-point-of-truth based on e.

Allocation Rules and Age-Dependent Waiting Times for Kidney Transplantation.

Background: Rigid age limits in the current allocation system for post-mortem donor kidneys in Germany may have problematic effects. The new German national transplantion registry enables data analysis with respect to this question.

Methods: Using anonymized data from the German national transplantion registry, we extracted and evaluated information on the recipients and postmortem donors of kidneys that were allocated in Germany through Eurotransplant over the period 2006-2020.

The Intersectoral Coordination Unit for the Sustainable Intensification of Peritoneal Dialysis in Schleswig-Holstein (SKIP-SH) cohort study.

Background: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) remains underutilised in Germany, prompting the initiation of the Sustainable Intensification of Peritoneal Dialysis in Schleswig-Holstein (SKIP-SH) project. The SKIP-SH cohort study aims to demonstrate the presumed benefits of PD, including enhanced quality of life and reduced healthcare personnel requirements, and to generate data to strengthen the use of PD.

Methods: The prospective SKIP-SH cohort study recruits patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) and their caregivers.

Epidemiology of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis at the population level in Germany.

We retrospectively analysed all German inpatient cases of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) from 2014 to 2020 to describe the epidemiology, clinical course, and underlying diseases of 4065 HLH patients. The age-standardized incidence rate of HLH in Germany was 0.52/100 000 people in 2014 and steadily increased by 10% per year to 0.

RhoA: a dubious molecule in cardiac pathophysiology.

The Ras homolog gene family member A (RhoA) is the founding member of Rho GTPase superfamily originally studied in cancer cells where it was found to stimulate cell cycle progression and migration. RhoA acts as a master switch control of actin dynamics essential for maintaining cytoarchitecture of a cell. In the last two decades, however, RhoA has been coined and increasingly investigated as an essential molecule involved in signal transduction and regulation of gene transcription thereby affecting physiological functions such as cell division, survival, proliferation and migration.