Thermodilution Assessment of Cardiac Index in Patients With Tricuspid Regurgitation.

Background: Disparities between thermodilution (TD) and Fick measurements of cardiac index (CI) are common in real-world clinical practice. Published studies about the effect of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) on TD are small and describe conflicting results. We tested the correlation between TD and Fick across a wide range of TR severity, in a larger group of patients undergoing right heart catheterization (RHC).

Utility of plasma volume status in ambulatory patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Plasma volume status (PVS) is a noninvasive estimate of intravascular volume status. We studied the utility of PVS to predict short-term outcomes in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Patients with lower PVS had decreased risk of hospitalization and death within 90 days of clinic visit, compared to those with higher PVS.

Ventriculoseptal Rupture Caused by Takotsubo Syndrome.

Ventriculoseptal rupture (VSR) is a rare complication of takotsubo syndrome that often requires immediate treatment. Patients with VSR experience a range of outcomes and should be managed at centers with cardiac and surgical expertise. We present 2 cases of VSR complicating takotsubo syndrome that highlight potential outcomes.

Focused Cardiac Ultrasound in Dyspnea of Unclear Etiology in the Emergency Department: Utility of the FLUID Score.

Objectives: We evaluated the utility of focused cardiac ultrasound to predict the length of stay in patients presenting to the emergency department with dyspnea of unclear etiology.

Methods: Patients with focused cardiac ultrasound examinations performed in the emergency department for dyspnea over a 34-month period were retrospectively identified. Patients were excluded if they had a prior diagnosis of heart failure, dialysis requirement, or an etiology of dyspnea unrelated to the volume status.

Automated identification of protein-ligand interaction features using Inductive Logic Programming: a hexose binding case study.

Background: There is a need for automated methods to learn general features of the interactions of a ligand class with its diverse set of protein receptors. An appropriate machine learning approach is Inductive Logic Programming (ILP), which automatically generates comprehensible rules in addition to prediction. The development of ILP systems which can learn rules of the complexity required for studies on protein structure remains a challenge.