Clinical and research applications of natural language processing for heart failure.

Natural language processing (NLP) is a burgeoning field of machine learning/artificial intelligence that focuses on the computational processing of human language. Researchers and clinicians are using NLP methods to advance the field of medicine in general and in heart failure (HF), in particular, by processing vast amounts of previously untapped semi-structured and unstructured textual data in electronic health records. NLP has several applications to clinical research, including dramatically improving processes for cohort assembly, disease phenotyping, and outcome ascertainment, among others.

ISHLT consensus statement: Perioperative management of patients with pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure undergoing surgery.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing surgery and anesthesia. This document represents the first international consensus statement for the perioperative management of patients with pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure. It includes recommendations for managing patients with PH being considered for surgery, including preoperative risk assessment, planning, intra- and postoperative monitoring and management strategies that can improve outcomes in this vulnerable population.

Long-Term Electrocardiographic and Echocardiographic Progression of Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy and Their Correlation With Ventricular Tachyarrhythmias.

Background: Prior studies of structural and electrocardiographic changes in arrhythmogenic right ventricular (RV) cardiomyopathy and their role in predicting ventricular arrhythmias (ventricular tachycardia) have shown conflicting results.

Methods: We reviewed 405 ECGs, 315 transthoracic echocardiographies, and 441 implantable cardioverter defibrillator interrogations in 64 arrhythmogenic RV cardiomyopathy patients (56% men, mean age [SD], 44.2 [14.

Atrial arrhythmias in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy: Prevalence, echocardiographic predictors, and treatment.

Introduction: The clinical role of atrial arrhythmias (AA) in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and the echocardiographic variables that predict them are not well defined. We describe the prevalence, types, echocardiographic predictors, and management of AA in patients with ARVC.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated medical records of 117 patients with definite ARVC (2010 Task Force Criteria) from two tertiary care centers.

Special Situations in Pulmonary Hypertension: Pregnancy and Right Ventricular Failure.

Despite rapid advances in medical therapy, pregnancy and right ventricular (RV) failure predicts a poor prognosis in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Evidence-based therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension should be initiated early in the disease course to decrease RV wall stress and prevent RV remodeling and fibrosis. In patients with acutely decompensated RV failure, an aggressive and multifaceted approach must be used; a thorough search for triggering factors for the decompensation is a key part of the successful management strategy.

Neoadjuvant use of sunitinib in locally advanced GIST with intolerance to imatinib.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) arise from precursor cells in the myenteric plexus and comprise the most common mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. Surgical resection is the mainstay of therapy for localized disease. Recurrent, unresectable, and metastatic tumors are associated with a poor prognosis given their resistance to conventional chemotherapy and radiation.

Atrial fibrillation in elderly patients with heart failure: convergence of two cardiovascular epidemics in the 21st Century.

Atrial fibrillation and heart failure have been called the twin cardiovascular epidemics of the 21st Century. The prevalence of both conditions is increasing in the elderly and often the two conditions coexist in the same patients, leading to worse outcomes. Current data show that rate control and rhythm control are both reasonable strategies for the treatment of atrial fibrillation in heart failure patients.