A Virtual Cardiovascular Care Program for Prevention of Heart Failure Readmissions in a Skilled Nursing Facility Population: Retrospective Analysis.

Background: Patients with heart failure (HF) in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) have 30-day hospital readmission rates as high as 43%. A virtual cardiovascular care program, consisting of patient selection, initial televisit, postconsultation care planning, and follow-up televisits, was developed and delivered by Heartbeat Health, Inc., a cardiovascular digital health company, to 11 SNFs (3510 beds) in New York.

Salt Taste Sensitivity and Heart Failure Outcomes Following Heart Failure Hospitalization.

Salt taste sensitivity can change after heart failure (HF) hospitalization, however the relation between changes in salt taste sensitivity with HF symptoms, biomarkers, and outcomes is unknown. We assessed salt taste sensitivity over 12 weeks following HF hospitalization using a validated, point-of-care salt taste test. Subjects were divided into 2 groups: increase or no increase in salt taste sensitivity.

Zinc Deficiency and Heart Failure: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature.

Zinc is an essential micronutrient that impacts the cardiovascular system through modulation of oxidative stress. It is unknown whether zinc levels are affected in heart failure (HF), and whether the association, if present, is causal. A systematic search for publications that report coexisting zinc deficiency in patients with HF was performed to provide an overview of the pathophysiological and epidemiological aspects of this association (last search April 2019).

Salt Taste Recognition in a Heart Failure Cohort.

Background: Heart failure (HF) disproportionately affects older adults. Dietary sodium indiscretion is frequently implicated in HF decompensation. The affinity for and ability to taste salt in this process is unexplored.

Which Intraprocedural Thrombotic Events Impact Clinical Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Acute Coronary Syndromes?: A Pooled Analysis of the HORIZONS-AMI and ACUITY Trials.

Objectives: This study sought to determine the extent to which individual components of intraprocedural thrombotic events (IPTEs) are associated with adverse events.

Background: IPTEs occurring during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are associated with adverse in-hospital and late outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

Methods: A total of 6,591 patients who underwent PCI for non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes/ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction in the ACUITY (Acute Catheterization and Urgent Intervention Triage StrategY) and HORIZONS-AMI (Harmonizing Outcomes with RevascularIZatiON and Stents in Acute Myocardial Infarction) trials underwent detailed frame-by-frame core laboratory angiographic analysis to assess for IPTEs.

Impact of Paclitaxel Dose on Tissue Pharmacokinetics and Vascular Healing: A Comparative Drug-Coated Balloon Study in the Familial Hypercholesterolemic Swine Model of Superficial Femoral In-Stent Restenosis.

Objectives: This study sought to compare the effect of paclitaxel-coated balloon (PCB) concentration on tissue levels and vascular healing using 3 different PCB technologies (In.Pact Pacific = 3 μg/mm(2), Lutonix = 2 μg/mm(2) and Ranger = 2 μg/mm(2)) in the experimental setting.

Background: The optimal therapeutic dose for PCB use has not been determined yet.

Risk of thrombocytopenia with glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors across drugs and patient populations: a meta-analysis of 29 large placebo-controlled randomized trials.

Aims: Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPIs) reduce myocardial infarction and peri-procedural thrombotic complications in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI); however, they may cause bleeding and thrombocytopenia, which are associated with poor clinical outcomes. Although the risk of bleeding has been well characterized, the extent of the risk of thrombocytopenia remains uncertain. In this meta-analysis, we aim to evaluate the risk of thrombocytopenia associated with GPI compared with placebo across drugs and patient populations.

Evaluating the safety and efficacy of sodium-restricted/Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet after acute decompensated heart failure hospitalization: design and rationale for the Geriatric OUt of hospital Randomized MEal Trial in Heart Failure (GOURMET-HF).

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a major public health problem affecting predominantly older adults. Nonadherence to diet remains a significant contributor to acute decompensated HF (ADHF). The sodium-restricted Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH/SRD) eating plan reduces cardiovascular dysfunction that can lead to ADHF and is consistent with current HF guidelines.

Dietary interventions for heart failure in older adults: re-emergence of the hedonic shift.

Dietary non-adherence to sodium restriction is an important contribution to heart failure (HF) symptom burden, particularly in older adults. While knowledge, skills, and attitudes toward sodium restriction are important, sodium intake is closely linked to the ability to taste salt. The 'hedonic shift' occurs when sodium restriction induces changes in an individual's salt taste that lower subsequent salt affinity.

Association between intraprocedural thrombotic events and adverse outcomes after primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (a Harmonizing Outcomes With RevasculariZatiON and Stents in Acute Myocardial Infarction [HORIZONS-AMI] Substudy).

The present study sought to determine the extent to which adverse angiographic events encountered during percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) are associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Patients with STEMI represent a cohort at particularly high risk of intraprocedural thrombotic events (IPTEs). The overall frequency and implications of IPTEs occurring in patients with STEMI have not been systematically quantified in previous studies.

Patients who require non-cardiac surgery in acute coronary syndrome.

The coexistence of an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and non-cardiac surgery (NCS) in an individual patient can be summarized in two challenging clinical scenarios for the treating physician: 1) Post-operative patients who develop ACS and 2) Patients with ACS who subsequently require NCS. Both settings are characterized by a struggle on the part of treating physicians attempting to optimize antithrombotic therapies for ACS while minimizing post-surgical bleeding risk. In this review we address specific clinical issues related to patients with coexistent NCS and ACS, discussing possible management strategies balancing ischemic and bleeding risk in these complex patient scenarios.

The P-glycoprotein transport system and cardiovascular drugs.

Permeability glycoprotein (P-gp) mediates the export of drugs from cells located in the small intestine, blood-brain barrier, hepatocytes, and kidney proximal tubule, serving a protective function for the body against foreign substances. Intestinal absorption, biliary excretion, and urinary excretion of P-gp substrates can therefore be altered by either the inhibition or induction of P-gp. A wide spectrum of drugs, such as anticancer agents and steroids, are known P-gp substrates and/or inhibitors, and many cardiovascular drugs have recently been observed to have clinically relevant interactions as well.

Bridging therapy after recent stent implantation: case report and review of data.

For patients requiring surgery within their first year following coronary stent placement, maximizing the prevention of stent thrombosis with antiplatelet therapy while minimizing the risk of intraoperative bleeding has become a management challenge for cardiologists, surgeons and anesthesiologists. In this manuscript, we describe a case of a patient who received three stents (two of which were drug-eluting) and 7 months later was bridged with intravenous eptifibatide, a short-acting glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitor, for 3 days prior to bronchoscopy and cervical mediastinoscopy for a suspected lung cancer. We then review the current literature for data and guidelines describing the use of short-acting GP IIb/IIIa as bridge therapy.

Retrospective outcome data for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with concurrent coronary artery disease.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) represents an extended period of physiologic stress. It is unknown whether patients with pre-existing coronary artery disease (CAD) may be poor transplant candidates. There are no data analyzing the risk of transplantation in this population.

Dramatic improvement in pulmonary hypertension with rapamycin.

This is a report of a 61-year-old woman with improved pulmonary arterial hypertension following treatment with rapamycin for an islet cell tumor of the pancreas with liver metastases.

Age-period-cohort analysis of colorectal cancer in East Anglia, 1971-2005.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the incidence trends of colorectal cancer by sex and subsite, in East Anglia from 1971 to 2005.

Methods: Using data from the Eastern Cancer Registration and Information Centre, we examined the time trends and the effect of age, period of diagnosis and birth cohort on the incidence of colorectal cancer by sex and subsite.

Results: Between 1971 and 2005, 23875 males and 22651 females were registered with colorectal cancer in East Anglia.

Total synthesis of (-)-hennoxazole A.

An enantioselective, convergent total synthesis of the antiviral marine natural product (-)-hennoxazole A is completed in 14 steps (longest linear sequence) from commercially available 4-methyloxazole-2-carboxylic acid. Synthesis of the C(1)-C(15) pyran/bisoxazole fragment takes advantage of an aldol-like coupling between a dimethyl acetal and an N-acetylthiazolidinethione for the direct, stereoselective installation of the C(8)-methoxy-bearing stereocenter. A one-pot acetoacetate acylation/decarboxylation/cyclodehydration of another elaborate thiazolidinethione allows for rapid assembly of the pyran-based ring system.