Use of Ozonized Water in the Prevention of Surgical Site Infection in Children Undergoing Cardiovascular Surgery.

Introduction: Since the reduction of healthcare-associated infections has been a focus for quality patient care, this study aimed to evaluate the surgical site infection rate of children who underwent cardiovascular surgery after implementation of ozonized water system for hand and body hygiene allied to previously implemented preventive measures.

Methods: Two uniformly comparable groups of pediatric patients underwent cardiovascular surgery. Group A (187) patients were operated prior to installation of ozonized water system (March 1 to August 31, 2019), and group B (214) patients were operated after installation of ozonized water system (October 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020).

Detection of DENV-2 and ZIKV coinfection in southeastern Brazil by serum and urine testing.

Purpose: Aedes aegypti mosquito-borne diseases have a significant impact on public health in Brazil. In this study, we investigated the presence of the Zika virus (ZIKV) and dengue virus (DENV) in serum and urine samples from symptomatic participants who attended an Emergency Care Unit located in a city in the northwestern region of São Paulo between February 2018 and April 2019.

Methods: Serum and urine samples were collected from participants suspected of having arbovirus infection.

Inflammatory cytokines are associated to lower glomerular filtration rate in patients with hypertensive crisis.

Introduction: Hypertension and kidney function are closely related. However, there are few studies on renal function during acute elevation of blood pressure (BP), denominated hypertensive crisis (HC).

Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between renal function and inflammatory cytokines in HC, subdivided into hypertensive urgency (HUrg) and emergency (HEmerg).

The impact of chronic cardiovascular disease on COVID-19 clinical course.

Background: According to previous univariate analyses, chronic cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been associated with worse prognoses in severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, in the presence of a complex system, such as a human organism, the use of multivariate analyses is more appropriate and there are still few studies with this approach.

Aim: Using a significant sample of patients hospitalized in a single center, this study aimed to evaluate, whether the presence of CVD was an independent factor in death due to COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Influence of an Early Mobilization Protocol on the Autonomic Behavior of Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty.

Background: Recurrence Plots (RP) enable a nonlinear analysis of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and provide information on the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).

Objectives: To evaluate whether early ambulation in patients undergoing Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA) influences the quantitative and qualitative components of RP.

Methods: A total of 32 participants who underwent PTCA were divided into a Control Group (CG - no physical exercises) and an Early Ambulation Group (EAG - with physical exercises).

Pediatric Heart Transplant: Initial Experience in a Tertiary Center in Brazil.

Introduction: Pediatric heart transplantation is the definitive therapy for children with end-stage heart failure. This paper describes our initial experience in pediatric heart transplantation in a tertiary center in Brazil.

Methods: This is a historical prospective descriptive cohort study based on a review of the medical records of children undergoing heart transplantation at Hospital de Base and Hospital da Criança e Maternidade de São José do Rio Preto.

Characterisation of neonatal cardiac dynamics using ordinal partition network.

The maturation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) starts in the gestation period and it is completed after birth in a variable time, reaching its peak in adulthood. However, the development of ANS maturation is not entirely understood in newborns. Clinically, the ANS condition is evaluated with monitoring of gestational age, Apgar score, heart rate, and by quantification of heart rate variability using linear methods.

Linear and non-linear analyses of autonomic modulation in uncontrolled and controlled elderly resistant hypertensives.

Resistant hypertension (RHT) is associated with worse outcomes among patients, and sympathetic overactivity is a challenge in treating this clinical condition. Here, we evaluated the autonomic modulation (by linear and non-linear analyses), central blood pressure, and pulse wave velocity in controlled and uncontrolled RHT patients, as well as those in use of beta-blockers. We observed that uncontrolled RHT patients display, in addition to an increase in peripheral blood pressure, presented higher central blood pressure values concerning controlled RHT.

Detection of Zika virus in urine from randomly tested individuals in Mirassol, Brazil.

Purpose: Studies show that around 80% of Zika virus (ZIKV) infections are asymptomatic. The present study tested urine samples from volunteers, unsuspected of arboviral infection, which attended an emergency care unit (ECU) in Mirassol, Brazil, from March 2018 to April 2019.

Methods: The volunteers were divided into two groups.

Non-linear analysis of the heart rate variability in characterization of manic and euthymic phases of bipolar disorder.

Background: - Bipolar Disorder (BD) has been associated with autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation, with a consequent increase in mortality. Recent work highlights the non-linear analysis of ANS function. Our objective was to compare ANS modulation using recurrence plots (RP) and symbolic analysis (SA) in manic and euthymic phases of BD to controls.

Heart Rate Variability Assessment and Its Application for Autonomic Function Evaluation in Patients with Hyperhidrosis.

Background: Pathophysiology mechanism of primary focal hyperhidrosis (PFHH) is controversial. Heart rate variability (HRV) could explain if there is a systemic component present. We aimed to investigate the functions of the autonomic nervous system in patients diagnosed with PFHH compared to controls using the analysis of HRV in the domains of time, frequency, and nonlinearity, as well as analysis of the recurrence plots (RPs).

Evaluation of Cardiac Autonomic Modulation Using Symbolic Dynamics After Cardiac Transplantation.

Objective: To characterize the behavior of cardiac autonomic modulation in individuals with different times after orthotopic heart transplantation (HTx) using symbolic dynamics analysis.

Methods: Sixty patients were evaluated after HTx. We recorded their instantaneous R-R intervals (RRi) by cardiac monitor Polar® RS800CX™ (Polar Electro Oy, Kempele, Finland) for 10 minutes.

Effect of Preoperative Creatinine Levels on Mortality after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery: an Observational Study.

Introduction: Renal function is an independent risk factor for mortality among on-pump coronary bypass grafting (ONCABG) patients. This association is well known in the international literature, but there is a lack of knowledge of how admission creatinine (AC) levels modulate each cardiovascular risk factor.

Objective: The aim of this paper was to assess the effect of different AC levels on mortality among ONCABG patients.

Heart rate variability: are you using it properly? Standardisation checklist of procedures.

Background: Heart rate variability is used as an assessment method for cardiac autonomic modulation. Since the Task Force's publication on heart rate variability in 1996, the European Heart Rhythm Association Position Paper in 2015 and a recent publication in 2017, attention has been paid to recommendations on using heart rate variability analysis methods, as well as their applications in different physiological conditions and clinical studies. This analysis has proved to be useful as a complementary tool for clinical evaluation and to assess the effect of non-pharmacological therapeutic interventions, such as physical exercise programmes, on cardiac autonomic modulation.

Surgical Treatment for Congenital Heart Defects in Down Syndrome Patients.

Objective: To analyze data related to surgical treatment in patients with congenital heart defects (CHD) and Down syndrome (DS) based on information from International Quality Improvement Collaborative Database for Congenital Heart Disease (IQIC).

Methods: Between July 1, 2010 and December 31, 2017, 139 patients with CHD and DS underwent surgery at Hospital de Base and Hospital da Criança e Maternidade de São José do Rio Preto (FUNFARME)/Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto - SP (FAMERP). A quantitative, observational and cross-sectional study was performed in which the pre, intra and postoperative data were analyzed in an IQIC database.

MALNUTRITION AND CLINICAL OUTCOMES IN SURGICAL PATIENTS WITH COLORECTAL DISEASE.

Background: Malnutrition is a frequent condition among hospitalized patients and a factor of increased risk of postoperative complication.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of malnutrition on phase angle (PA), body water distribution and clinical outcomes in surgical patients with colorectal disease.

Methods: This retrospective study was performed in a tertiary hospital with 40 patients admitted electively.

Evaluation of the impact of chronic kidney disease on the survival of octogenarian patients submitted to percutaneous coronary intervention.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of chronic kidney disease on the survival of patients - 80 years of age undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the long term.

Methods: 273 subjects who underwent PCI between January 2010 and January 2016 were divided into four categories: (1) stable angina (SA) and creatinine clearance - 30 (n=24); (2) patients with SA and CrCl <30 (n=70); (3) patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and CrCl - 30 (n=51); (4) patients with ACS and ICC <30 (n=128). Mortality curves were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and differences between groups were compared by log-rank statistic.

Does heart rate variability improve prediction of failed extubation in preterm infants?

Background Prematurity and its respective comorbidities may result in longer periods of mechanical ventilation in intensive care units (ICU). A method for the assessment of organic maturity would be useful for this population. Heart rate variability (HRV), as an indicator of homeostasis, is a well-established tool for this approach.

Late Diagnosis of Anomalous Aortic Origin of a Coronary Artery from the Inappropriate Sinus of Valsalva during Investigation of Chest Pain.

In this work are reported two cases of anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery (AAOCA), with the left main coronary artery (LMCA) arising at the right sinus of Valsalva in a 77-year-old woman and in a 79-year-old man submitted to angiography after positive ischemic tests. The origin of the LMCA or the left descendant artery (LDA) from the right sinus of Valsalva has a prevalence of 0.2%, the origin of the circumflex artery (CXA) from the right sinus 0.

Heart rate variability in patients with bipolar disorder: From mania to euthymia.

Bipolar Disorder (BD) is characterized by the occurrence of mania alternating with euthymia. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of BD on the autonomic nervous system, as indicated by heart rate variability (HRV). The study was registered in the Clinical Trials Registration (NCT01272518).

B-Type Natriuretic Peptide as a Predictor of Short-Term Mortality in On-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

Objective: The present study refers to a determination of the preoperative B-type natriuretic peptide is a predictor of short-term all-cause mortality in patients undergoing on-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgeries.

Methods: Two hundred and twenty-one patients undergoing on-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgeries were evaluated prospectively during a 30-day postoperative follow-up period. Serum B-type natriuretic peptide concentration was measured without a 24-hour period prior to the surgical procedure and the value obtained was correlated with a short-term all-cause mortality.