Acute effects of singing on cardiovascular biomarkers.

Background: Singing is a physical activity involving components of the vagal nerves manifested as changes in cardiac autonomic regulation.

Aims: The aim of this pilot study is to investigate the acute effects of singing on biomarkers of cardiovascular health.

Methods: Adult subjects were recruited from cardiology clinics to participate in a single 90-min study visit.

A Systematic Review of Dietary Supplements and Alternative Therapies for Weight Loss.

Objective: Dietary supplements and alternative therapies are commercialized as a panacea for obesity/weight gain as a result of the minimal regulatory requirements in demonstrating efficacy. These products may indirectly undermine the value of guideline-driven obesity treatments. Included in this study is a systematic review of the literature of purported dietary supplements and alternative therapies for weight loss.

A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials Comparing Renal Sympathetic Denervation Versus Sham Procedure for the Management of Uncontrolled Hypertension.

The efficacy of renal sympathetic denervation (RSD) in the treatment of uncontrolled hypertension (HTN) remains uncertain. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials was performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of RSD for resistant HTN. PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane, Directory of Open Access Journals, CINAHL, and Google Scholar were searched from January 01, 2001, through July 30, 2020.

Femoral Artery Chronic Total Occlusion Revascularization (FACTOR) Score and Algorithm: Feasibility and Validation in a Single-Center Study of Femoropopliteal Occlusions.

Objectives: To develop and validate a hybrid algorithm to approach complex superficial femoral artery (SFA) chronic total occlusions (CTOs) in a step-wise fashion.

Background: SFA-CTO represents one of the most challenging subsets of lower-extremity peripheral arterial disease. Depending on lesion characteristics, successful percutaneous crossing of the occluded segment may prove to be very difficult.

Intravascular Lithotripsy for Severe Calcium-Mediated Peripheral Vascular Stent Underexpansion.

Severely calcified lesions are the leading cause of stent under-expansion in peripheral vascular interventions. Current approved treatment options are limited to high pressure balloon angioplasty and laser atherectomy, both of which often yield sub-optimal results. Intravascular Lithotripsy offers a promising new treatment option for calcium-mediated peripheral vascular stent under-expansion.

Robotic-assisted percutaneous coronary intervention in a COVID-19 patient.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the biggest global health threat in the 21st century. We describe a case of a patient with suspected COVID-19 who needed urgent coronary artery interrogation, in which we utilized robotic assistance to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19 and reduced personal protective equipment needed by the procedural team.

Robotic-assisted balloon angioplasty and stent placement with distal embolic protection device for severe carotid artery stenosis in a high-risk surgical patient.

The use of robotic assistance in endovascular interventions may facilitate smoother procedures with fewer device manipulations, improve precision and accuracy of device deployment, and reduce exposure to fluoroscopic radiation. We used the CorPath GRX Robotic System for carotid balloon angioplasty and stent placement in a patient with limited surgical options.

Stent crush: A novel endovascular approach for treatment of complex in-stent femoropopliteal chronic total occlusion.

Femoropopliteal in-stent chronic total occlusions (CTOs) remain one of the most challenging subsets of peripheral arterial disease to treat percutaneously. Advances in available CTO crossing technology and operator experience have increased percutaneous intervention success rates. We report a case of critical limb ischemia in a patient with chronically occluded femoropopliteal nonoverlapping stents treated with a novel percutaneous approach of subintimal retrograde angioplasty using high compression resistant nitinol stents to crush the occluded previous stents to create a neo-lumen.