Health Care Language Models and Their Fine-Tuning for Information Extraction: Scoping Review.

Background: In response to the intricate language, specialized terminology outside everyday life, and the frequent presence of abbreviations and acronyms inherent in health care text data, domain adaptation techniques have emerged as crucial to transformer-based models. This refinement in the knowledge of the language models (LMs) allows for a better understanding of the medical textual data, which results in an improvement in medical downstream tasks, such as information extraction (IE). We have identified a gap in the literature regarding health care LMs.

Enhancing EHR Interoperability and Security through Distributed Ledger Technology: A Review.

The management and exchange of electronic health records (EHRs) remain critical challenges in healthcare, with fragmented systems, varied standards, and security concerns hindering seamless interoperability. These challenges compromise patient care and operational efficiency. This paper proposes a novel solution to address these issues by leveraging distributed ledger technology (DLT), including blockchain, to enhance data security, integrity, and transparency in healthcare systems.

MediAlbertina: An European Portuguese medical language model.

Background: Patient medical information often exists in unstructured text containing abbreviations and acronyms deemed essential to conserve time and space but posing challenges for automated interpretation. Leveraging the efficacy of Transformers in natural language processing, our objective was to use the knowledge acquired by a language model and continue its pre-training to develop an European Portuguese (PT-PT) healthcare-domain language model.

Methods: After carrying out a filtering process, Albertina PT-PT 900M was selected as our base language model, and we continued its pre-training using more than 2.

Deep learning for automatic calcium detection in echocardiography.

Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death in the world and cardiovascular imaging techniques are the mainstay of noninvasive diagnosis. Aortic stenosis is a lethal cardiac disease preceded by aortic valve calcification for several years. Data-driven tools developed with Deep Learning (DL) algorithms can process and categorize medical images data, providing fast diagnoses with considered reliability, to improve healthcare effectiveness.

Predictors of systolic function recovery after atrial fibrillation ablation in heart failure patients.

Introduction And Objectives: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) often coexist. AF catheter ablation improves left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), but its impact varies between patients. We aimed to identify predictors of LVEF improvement in HF patients with impaired LVEF undergoing AF ablation.

Can Pre-Ablation Biomarkers Be Used to Predict Arrhythmia Recurrence after Ablation Index-Guided Atrial Fibrillation Ablation?

Background: Ablation Index (AI) software has allowed better atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation results, but recurrence rates remain significant. Specific serum biomarkers have been associated with this recurrence.

Objectives: To evaluate whether certain biomarkers could be used (either individually or combined) to predict arrhythmia recurrence after AI-guided AF ablation.

The Effect of Oral Simethicone in a Bowel Preparation in a Colorectal Cancer Screening Colonoscopy Setting: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Current guidelines suggest adding oral simethicone to bowel preparation for colonoscopy. However, its effect on key quality indicators for screening colonoscopy remains unclear. The primary aim was to assess the rate of adequate bowel preparation in split-dose high-volume polyethylene glycol (PEG), with or without simethicone.

"Real-world" analysis of battery longevity of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators: an in-depth analysis of a prospective defibrillator database.

Background: There is a lack of evidence regarding contemporary implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) battery longevity. Our aim was to assess battery longevity in ICDs in a real-world setting.

Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional single center study of a prospectively collected database of consecutive patients who underwent ICD implantation from January 2010 to December 2015.

Mid-term outcomes after catheter ablation in patients with congenital heart disease.

Introduction: Cardiac arrhythmias are a major concern in patients with CHD. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term outcomes in patients with CHD submitted to catheter ablation.

Materials And Methods: Observational retrospective study of patients with CHD referred for catheter ablation from January 2016 to December 2021 in a tertiary referral centre.

AI-Driven Decision Support for Early Detection of Cardiac Events: Unveiling Patterns and Predicting Myocardial Ischemia.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) account for a significant portion of global mortality, emphasizing the need for effective strategies. This study focuses on myocardial infarction, pulmonary thromboembolism, and aortic stenosis, aiming to empower medical practitioners with tools for informed decision making and timely interventions. Drawing from data at Hospital Santa Maria, our approach combines exploratory data analysis (EDA) and predictive machine learning (ML) models, guided by the Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM) methodology.

Ostial vs. wide area circumferential ablation guided by the Ablation Index in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Aims: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) guided by the Ablation Index (AI) has shown high acute and mid-term efficacy in the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). Previous data before the AI-era had suggested that wide-area circumferential ablation (WACA) was preferable to ostial ablation. However, with the use of AI, we hypothesize that ostial circumferential ablation is non-inferior to WACA and can improve outcomes in paroxysmal AF.

Multielectrode mapping for premature ventricular contraction ablation - A prospective, multicenter study.

Purpose: We aim to evaluate whether the use of a multielectrode mapping catheter could lead to higher efficacy of premature ventricular contraction (PVC) ablation.

Methods: Prospective, multicenter nonrandomized study of consecutive patients referred for PVC ablation from January 2018 to June 2021. Patients were separated into two groups: activation map performed with the PentaRay catheter (Study group) or with the ablation catheter (Control group).

Cap-Assisted Endoscopic Mucosal Resection for Rectal Neuroendocrine Tumors: An Effective Option.

Introduction: The incidence of rectal neuroendocrine tumors (r-NETs) is increasing, and most small r-NETs can be treated endoscopically. The optimal endoscopic approach is still debatable. Conventional endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) leads to frequent incomplete resection.

VDD pacemaker: An effective and reliable physiological pacing modality in elderly patients.

Background: In elderly patients, single chamber pacing may be considered. For sinus rhythm patients, VDD pacemaker (PM), by preserving atrial sensing, is a more physiological mode than VVI devices. This study aims to evaluate the long-term performance of VDD PM in elderly patients with atrioventricular block (AVB).

Can white-light endoscopy or narrow-band imaging avoid biopsy of colorectal endoscopic mucosal resection scars? A multicenter randomized single-blind crossover trial.

BACKGROUND : Current guidelines suggest that routine biopsy of post-endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) scars can be abandoned, provided that a standardized imaging protocol with virtual chromoendoscopy is used. However, few studies have examined the accuracy of advanced endoscopic imaging, such as narrow-band imaging (NBI) vs. white-light endoscopy (WLE) for prediction of histological recurrence.

Sharing Health Information Using a Blockchain.

Data sharing in the health sector represents a big problem due to privacy and security issues. Health data have tremendous value for organisations and criminals. The European Commission has classified health data as a unique resource owing to their ability to enable both retrospective and prospective research at a low cost.

Vaginal lesion as first manifestation of colorectal disease.

A 73-year-old woman presented at Gyneacology Consultation with vaginal sensation of a lump. Physical examination revealed a vaginal exophytic lesion with 3 cm located at the right inner lip. The lesion was biopsied and histologic examination revealed infiltration by a mucinous adenocarcinoma.

High-power short-duration versus low-power long-duration ablation guided by the ablation index.

Aims: To compare the two different ablation strategies, both guided by the Ablation Index (AI), in the setting of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation: high-power short-duration (HPSD) ablation using 40 W on the posterior wall and 50 W elsewhere versus low-power long-duration (LPLD) using 25 W posteriorly and 35 W elsewhere.

Methods: Prospective, multicenter nonrandomized, noninferiority study of consecutive patients referred for paroxysmal AF ablation from January 2018 to July 2019. Ablation was guided by the AI (≥500 for anterior segments, ≥450 for the roof and inferior segments and 400 posteriorly) and an interlesion distance (ILD) ≤ 6 mm.

Outcomes of radiofrequency catheter ablation for persistent and long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation.

Objective: To assess one-year outcomes in patients with persistent and long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) treated by catheter ablation.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted of consecutive patients referred for catheter ablation of persistent or long-standing persistent AF between May 2016 and October 2018. Patients underwent two different ablation strategies: pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) plus complex fractionated atrial electrograms (CFAE) (from May 2016 to June 2017) or a tailored approach (from July 2017 to October 2018).

Two years after pulmonary vein isolation guided by ablation index-a multicenter study.

Background: The use of the Ablation Index (AI) software for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) has been associated with higher acute effectiveness and higher 1-year arrhythmia freedom. There is, however, a lack of data concerning longer follow-up. We aim to evaluate the 2-year outcomes after a standardized AI-guided pulmonary vein isolation (PVI).