Feasibility of Canine Therapy Among Hospitalized Pre-Heart Transplant Patients.

Objectives: Canine-assisted therapy (CAT) has been used in many settings with much success, yet no study has assessed its feasibility and receptiveness in hospitalized patients awaiting heart transplantation.

Methods: Patients admitted to our institution with a status I for heart transplantation during a 12-month period (April 2014-April 2015) were prospectively included in a feasibility pilot study. Patients were included if there was no history of transmittable disease or active infectious process and consented for study participation.

Residents' knowledge of quality improvement: the impact of using a group project curriculum.

Background: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires residents to learn and demonstrate proficiency in practice improvement. Quality improvement (QI) projects are a way to improve patient care as well as facilitate education on this core competency. There are inherent barriers to completing these goals in the structure of residency training including rigorous resident schedules and a limited number of projects and resources.

Relationship of Troponin T and Age- and Sex-Adjusted BNP Elevation Following Subarachnoid Hemorrhage with 30-Day Mortality.

Background: Troponin and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels are predictors of mortality following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Prior studies used strict cutoffs for BNP elevation; however, normal levels of BNP are increased in older persons and women. We explored the association of troponin elevation and BNP elevation adjusted for sex and age with 30-day mortality.

Echocardiographic assessment of estimated right atrial pressure and size predicts mortality in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: Elevated mean right atrial pressure (RAP) measured by cardiac catheterization is an independent risk factor for mortality. Prior studies have demonstrated a modest correlation with invasive and noninvasive echocardiographic RAP, but the prognostic impact of estimated right atrial pressure (eRAP) has not been previously evaluated in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 121 consecutive patients with PAH based on right-sided heart catheterization and echocardiography was performed.