Clonal Hematopoiesis Is Associated With Long-Term Adverse Outcomes Following Cardiac Surgery.

Background: Cardiac surgery triggers sterile innate immune responses leading to postoperative complications. Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) is associated with short-term inflammation-mediated outcomes after cardiac surgery. The impact of CH on long-term postoperative outcomes remains unknown.

Unveiling an Asymptomatic Cardiac Air-Gunshot Injury.

Interventricular septum pellet retention after air-gunshot injury in a persistently asymptomatic patient is a rare, clinically significant occurrence. Management involved monitoring, echocardiography, and computed tomography scans. After risk-benefit analysis, we favored a nonsurgical management without prophylactic antibiotics or colchicine.

Autotransplantation or In Situ Surgical Treatment of Complex Renal Artery Aneurysm: Surgical Technique and Outcomes.

Background And Objective: Renal artery aneurysm (RAA) is a rare condition. Our study investigates the effectiveness and outcomes of surgical treatments for complex RAA, comparing the in situ (IS) and ex vivo autotransplantation (AT) methods.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study from June 2015 to March 2023, including all consecutive patients treated surgically for complex RAA in our center.

Hematopoietic Somatic Mosaicism Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation.

Background: On-pump cardiac surgery triggers sterile inflammation and postoperative complications such as postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF). Hematopoietic somatic mosaicism (HSM) is a recently identified risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and results in a shift toward a chronic proinflammatory monocyte transcriptome and phenotype.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, characteristics, and impact of HSM on preoperative blood and myocardial myeloid cells as well as on outcomes after cardiac surgery.

Preliminary results of a simplified aortic valve-sparing technique: A feasibility study.

Background And Aim Of The Study: To evaluate whether the simplified valve-sparing technique (SVST) implies clinical outcomes comparable or not with those of established David technique in the surgery of aortic root.

Methods: We collected the records of patients who had undergone aortic root surgery with the SVST or standard David technique (SDT) at our institution between January 2009 and December 2018. The primary endpoints were the incidence of all-cause death, reoperation for any reason, and postoperative complications.

Impact of positive vascular margins status after surgical resection of non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma with caval tumour thrombus: a propensity score multicentre study.

Background: Data evaluating the impact of positive vascular margins (PVMs) following surgical resection of non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with inferior vena cava (IVC) tumor thrombus are lacking.

Objective: To analyze the oncological impact of positive vascular margins following surgical resection of RCC with IVC tumor thrombus.

Methods: Patients who underwent radical nephrectomy with the removal of IVC tumour thrombus for RCC between 2000 and 2019 were included.

Feasibility and safety of transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation performed with a percutaneous coronary intervention-like approach.

Background: Transfemoral percutaneous transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TF-TAVI) is a safe, reproducible and established procedure, mainly performed under local anaesthesia, which is mostly administered and monitored by a dedicated anaesthesia team (regular approach). Our centre has developed a standardized pathway of care, and eligible patients are selected for a minimalist TF-TAVI, entirely managed by operators without the presence of the anaesthesia team in the operating room, like most interventional coronary procedures ("percutaneous coronary intervention-like" approach [PCI approach]).

Aim: To compare the safety and efficacy of TF-TAVI performed with the PCI approach versus the regular approach.

Single-molecule force spectroscopy reveals the dynamic strength of the hair-cell tip-link connection.

The conversion of auditory and vestibular stimuli into electrical signals is initiated by force transmitted to a mechanotransduction channel through the tip link, a double stranded protein filament held together by two adhesion bonds in the middle. Although thought to form a relatively static structure, the dynamics of the tip-link connection has not been measured. Here, we biophysically characterize the strength of the tip-link connection at single-molecule resolution.

Dynamics of non-communicable disease prevention, diagnosis and control in Lebanon, a fragile setting.

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCD) present an increasing global health challenge, particularly for settings affected by fragility where access to care may be disrupted, and where high-quality continuous care delivery is difficult to achieve. This study documents the complex dynamics of NCD prevention and management in the fragile setting of rural Beqaa, Lebanon.

Methods: Participatory system dynamics methods were used, including 30 semi-structured interviews and three Group Model Building (GMB) workshops.

Prognostic value of aerobic capacity and exercise oxygen pulse in postaortic dissection patients.

Background: Although recommendations encourage daily moderate activities in post aortic dissection, very little data exists regarding cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) to personalize those patient's physical rehabilitation and assess their cardiovascular prognosis.

Design: We aimed at testing the prognostic insight of CPET regarding aortic and cardiovascular events by exploring a prospective cohort of patients followed-up after acute aortic dissection.

Methods: Patients referred to our department after an acute (type A or B) aortic dissection were prospectively included in a cohort between September 2012 and October 2017.

Evaluation of global health capacity building initiatives in low-and middle-income countries: A systematic review.

Background: Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are in dire need to improve their health outcomes. Although Global Health Capacity Building (GHCB) initiatives are recommended approaches, they risk being ineffective in the absence of standardized evaluation methods. This study systematically reviews evaluation approaches for GHCB initiatives in LMICs.

A systematic review of global health capacity building initiatives in low-to middle-income countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Introduction: Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are facing increasing global health challenges with a reduced ability to manage them. Global Health Capacity Building (GHCB) initiatives have the potential to improve health workforce performance and health outcomes, however little is known about the GHCB topics and approaches implemented in this region. This is the first systematic review of GHCB initiatives among LMICs in the MENA region.

The Decreasing Incidence of Acute Appendicitis During COVID-19: A Retrospective Multi-centre Study.

Background: As the novel coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) spreads, a decrease in the number of patients with acute appendicitis (AA) has been noted in our institutions. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence and severity of AA before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was performed between December 2019 and April 2020 in the four high-volume centres that provide health care to the municipality of Jerusalem, Israel.

Transaxillary compared with transcarotid access for TAVR: a propensity-matched comparison from a French multicentre registry.

Aims: No randomised study comparing the outcomes of transcarotid (TC) and transaxillary (TAx) TAVR has been conducted to date. The purpose of this study was to understand which approach should be the preferred alternative by comparing their outcomes using a propensity-matched comparison in a French multicentre registry.

Methods And Results: From 2010 to 2018, a French multicentre prospective registry included 502 patients, with 374 undergoing TC-TAVR and 128 TAx-TAVR for symptomatic aortic stenosis.

A community-based system dynamics approach for understanding factors affecting mental Health and Health seeking behaviors in Beirut and Beqaa regions of Lebanon.

Background: Available evidence on mental health and psychosocial problems in Lebanon is limited. Recent quantitative data suggests a high prevalence among Syrian refugees and their Lebanese host communities, with significant treatment gaps in both populations. This study aims to determine how Lebanese host and Syrian refugee communities perceive mental health, and identify health seeking behaviors and barriers to health access in two contrasting contexts of fragility.

Community-based Implementation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Recommended Screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Youth at High Risk for HIV Infection in Los Angeles and New Orleans.

We examined whether the implementation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended screening of Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae with proactive follow-up among high-risk youth recruited from community and clinic settings reduced future C. trachomatis/N. gonorrhoeae diagnoses.

Clinical significance of electrocardiographic markers of myocardial damage prior to aortic valve replacement.

Background: Pre-operative myocardial fibrosis and remodeling impact on outcomes after aortic valve replacement (AVR). We aimed at investigating the prognostic impact of preoperative electrocardiographic (ECG) markers of left ventricular (LV) myocardial damage, i.e.

A Case Study of an Effective and Sustainable Antiretroviral Therapy Program in Rural South Africa.

The delivery of high-quality HIV care in rural settings is a global challenge. Despite the successful expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Africa, viral load (VL) monitoring and ART adherence are poor, especially in rural communities. This article describes a case study of an ART program in the deeply rural Eastern Cape of South Africa.

Sexually Transmitted Infection Positivity Among Adolescents With or at High-Risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Los Angeles and New Orleans.

Background: Gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and homeless youth are at high risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, little recent data exist describing STI positivity by anatomical site among those groups. We determined the positivity of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infection, and syphilis antibody reactivity among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and homeless youth.

Text-Messaging, Online Peer Support Group, and Coaching Strategies to Optimize the HIV Prevention Continuum for Youth: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: America's increasing HIV epidemic among youth suggests the need to identify novel strategies to leverage services and settings where youth at high risk (YAHR) for HIV can be engaged in prevention. Scalable, efficacious, and cost-effective strategies are needed, which support youth during developmental transitions when risks arise. Evidence-based behavioral interventions (EBIs) have typically relied on time-limited, scripted, and manualized protocols that were often delivered with low fidelity and lacked evidence for effectiveness.

Burden of non-communicable diseases among Syrian refugees: a scoping review.

Background: The scarcity of evidence-based research on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among Syrian refugees has hampered efforts to address the high burden of these diseases in host countries. The objective of this study is to examine published research on NCDs among Syrian refugees in order to inform future research, practice, programs, and policy. .

Strategies to Treat and Prevent HIV in the United States for Adolescents and Young Adults: Protocol for a Mixed-Methods Study.

Background: Over 20% of HIV diagnoses in the United States are among youth aged 12-24 years. Furthermore, youth have the lowest rates of uptake and adherence to antiretroviral (ARV) medications and are least aware of their HIV status.

Objective: Our objective was to design a set of interrelated studies to promote completion of each step of the HIV Prevention Continuum by uninfected youth at high risk (YHR), as well as completion of steps in the Treatment Continuum by youth living with HIV (YLH).

Feasibility of a social media/online community support group intervention among chronic pain patients on opioid therapy.

Assess whether the Harnessing Online Peer Education (HOPE) social media-based support group can engage patients on opioids at risk for misuse/overdose to discuss risk reduction strategies. Fifty-one patients on chronic opioid therapy and risk factors for aberrant medication-taking behaviors were randomized to a HOPE intervention or control (Facebook) group. Compared to control group participants, intervention participants had almost 10 times higher posting engagement ( = 411 posts versus 45; 73% versus 52% of participants).

Longitudinal Validity and Reliability of Brief Smartphone Self-Monitoring of Diet, Stress, and Physical Activity in a Diverse Sample of Mothers.

Background: Multiple strategies can be used when self-monitoring diet, physical activity, and perceived stress, but no gold standards are available. Although self-monitoring is a core element of self-management and behavior change, the success of mHealth behavioral tools depends on their validity and reliability, which lack evidence. African American and Latina mothers in the United States are high-priority populations for apps that can be used for self-monitoring of diet, physical activity, and stress because the body mass index (BMI) of mothers typically increases for several years after childbirth and the risks of obesity and its' sequelae diseases are elevated among minority populations.