Catheter Ablation for Hospitalized Atrial Fibrillation Patients with Reduced Systolic Function: Analysis of Inpatient Mortality, Resource Utilization and Complications.

Background: Randomized trials have shown improvement in hard clinical end points when catheter ablation (CA) is employed as a management strategy for certain atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Limited data, however, exist in this realm outside the controlled clinical trial settings. We sought to determine real-world data on mortality and complications after utilization of CA in such patients.

Trends, Predictors and Outcomes After Utilization of Targeted Temperature Management in Cardiac Arrest Patients With Anoxic Brain Injury.

Background: Targeted Temperature Management (TTM) is a class I recommendation for the management of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) patients with presumed brain injury. We aimed to study trends, predictors and outcomes in SCA patients from a nationally represented US population sample.

Methods: We utilized the National Inpatient Sample from years 2005 to 2014 for the purpose of our study.

Atrial Fibrillation is a Risk Factor for Worse Outcomes in Patients with End Stage Liver Disease.

Background: Liver disease is a risk factor for development of atrial fibrillation (AF). We aim to study inpatient mortality and resource utilization of end-stage liver disease (ESLD) patients with AF from a nationally representative United States population sample.

Methods: For the purpose of our study, we utilized data from National Inpatient Sample for calendar years 2005-2015.

The Feasibility and Safety of Same-Day Discharge for All Comers after Elective Percutaneous Coronary Interventions.

Background: The safety of same day discharge (SDD) after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) has been demonstrated in several studies. However, SDD was only allowed in patients meeting strict criteria. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility and safety of SDD following elective-PCI in all comers.

Aorto-cardiac fistula etiology, presentation, and management: A systematic review.

Background: Aorto-cardiac fistulae are a rare but increasingly reported entity, and data are scarce.

Method: The authors performed a systematic review of ACFs to characterize the underlying etiology, clinical presentation, and compare outcomes of treatment strategies.

Results: 3,733 publications were identified in the search.

Isolated Pulmonic Valve Endocarditis: Case Report and Review of Existing Literature on Diagnosis and Therapy.

• Pulmonic valve endocarditis (PVE) is a rare complication of infective endocarditis. • It is occasionally associated with significant pulmonic insufficiency (PI). • PVE usually has a benign course, but it can sometimes be complicated.

Trial Sequential Analysis Comparing Bleeding and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Acute Coronary Syndrome on Dual versus Triple Therapy.

Objective To assess efficacy and safety of dual therapy (DT) and triple therapy (TT) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) with or without percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and evaluate the quality of evidence with respect to said outcomes based on contemporary randomized trials (RCTs). The efficacy outcome taken was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) while safety outcome was major bleeding events. Introduction Appropriate anti-thrombotic therapy is still controversial in patients with AF and concomitant ACS or PCI.

Story of an Unfortunate Fall: Cardiac Contusion Presenting with an Atrioventricular Block.

Blunt cardiac injury (BCI), also referred to in the literature as a cardiac contusion, is a known cause of myocardial injury. It is often challenging to diagnose this condition in the absence of clear diagnostic criteria. Furthermore, its clinical presentation is highly variable depending on the severity, type, and duration of the trauma, as well as the timing from the initial insult.

Third-degree atrioventricular block followed by syncope, labile hypertension, and orthostatic hypotension in a patient with nasopharyngeal cancer: baroreflex failure.

Baroreflex failure is a rare cause of syncope and labile blood pressures. Here, we present a case of baroreflex failure in a patient with history of nasopharyngeal cancer, status-post neck radiation. A 76-year-old male presented from an outside facility for possible pacemaker placement as he was found to have symptomatic third-degree atrioventricular (AV) block.

Early-onset Lyme carditis with concurrent disseminated erythema migrans.

Background: Lyme disease is an infection that is estimated to affect over 300,000 people in the United States annually. Typically, it presents with erythema migrans (EM), an annular rash at the site of tick attachment, within 3 to 30 days of inoculation. Untreated patients may progress to early disseminated disease.

The Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV)-induced 5-lipoxygenase-leukotriene B4 cascade plays key roles in KSHV latency, monocyte recruitment, and lipogenesis.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is etiologically associated with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and primary effusion lymphoma (PEL). KS lesions are characterized by endothelial cells with multiple copies of the latent KSHV episomal genome, lytic replication in a low percentage of infiltrating monocytes, and inflammatory cytokines plus growth factors. We demonstrated that KSHV utilizes inflammatory cyclooxygenase 2/prostaglandin E2 to establish and maintain latency (Sharma-Walia, N.

Phosphorylation and polyubiquitination of transforming growth factor beta-activated kinase 1 are necessary for activation of NF-kappaB by the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus G protein-coupled receptor.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) G protein-coupled receptor (vGPCR) protein has been shown to induce several signaling pathways leading to the modulation of host gene expression. The hijacking of these pathways facilitates the viral life cycle and leads to tumorigenesis. In the present work, we show that transforming growth factor β (TGF-β)-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) is an important player in NF-κB activation induced by vGPCR.

NFAT and CREB regulate Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-induced cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2).

COX-2 has been implicated in Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) latency and pathogenesis (A. George Paul, N. Sharma-Walia, N.