Riociguat in pulmonary hypertension and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: the haemoDYNAMIC trial.

Aims: The presence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) severely aggravates the clinical course of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). To date, neither established heart failure therapies nor pulmonary vasodilators proved beneficial. This study investigated the efficacy of chronic treatment with the oral soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator riociguat in patients with PH-HFpEF.

Soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 as outcome predictor after cardiopulmonary resuscitation: an observational prospective study.

Prognostication after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is complex. Novel biomarkers like soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) may provide an objective approach. A total of 106 post-CPR patients were included in this single-center observational prospective study.

Thinking fast and slow: lactate and MELD-XI (model for end-stage liver disease excluding INR) are useful for estimating mortality after cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Background: Intensivists keep getting challenged with prognostication after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The model for end-stage liver disease, excluding INR (MELD-XI) Score has proven valuable for assessing illness severity. Serum lactate is a readily available and established indicator of general stress and tissue hypoxia.

Mortality after cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a medical ICU : A sex-specific outcome analysis.

Background: Performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and postresuscitation care in the intensive care unit (ICU) are standardized procedures; however, there is evidence suggesting sex-dependent differences in clinical management and outcome variables after cardiac arrest (CA).

Methods: A prospective analysis of patients who were hospitalized at a medical ICU after CPR between December 2018 and March 2020 was conducted. Exclusion criteria were age < 18 years, hospital length of stay < 24 h and traumatic CA.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation in a patient with suspected hereditary von Willebrand disease and severe gastrointestinal bleeding - a case report.

Introduction: von Willebrand disease is the most common hereditary coagulopathy and is characterised by a deficiency in the quantity or quality of the von Willebrand factor. Heyde Syndrome, in contrast, is an acquired form of von Willebrand syndrome (AVWS) due to calcific aortic valve stenosis, characterised by gastrointestinal bleeding from angiodysplasia.

Case Presentation: A 73-year-old patient presented with severe gastrointestinal bleeding and stated that she suffered from hereditary von Willebrand disease.

Successful long-term antibiotic suppressive therapy in a case of prosthetic valve endocarditis and a case of extensive aortic and subclavian graft infection.

Introduction: The indication for surgical valve replacement in cases of infective endocarditis is well defined in current guidelines. However, some patients are not fit or willing to undergo major surgical procedures. Interestingly, to the best of our knowledge, there is scarce information in the literature on how to deal with such cases and what might be the outcome.

Mechanical circulatory support with Impella versus intra-aortic balloon pump or medical treatment in cardiogenic shock-a critical appraisal of current data.

Aims: Patients suffering from cardiogenic shock (CS) have a high mortality and morbidity. The Impella percutaneous left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) decreases LV preload, increases cardiac output, and improves coronary blood flow. We aimed to review and meta-analyze available data comparing Impella versus intra-aortic pump (IABP) counterpulsation or medical treatment in CS due to acute myocardial infarction or post-cardiac arrest.

Two cases of serious rhabdomyolysis during linezolid treatment.

Linezolid is an oxazolidinone antibiotic with activity against gram-positive organisms, particularly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). To the best of our knowledge, there are only two case reports on rhabdomyolysis in patients treated with linezolid. Here, we describe two cases of serious rhabdomyolysis: one in a patient with septic community-acquired (CA)-MRSA pneumonia and a second case in a patient with suspected catheter-related blood stream infection.

Pilot Study of Endothelin Receptor Blockade in Heart Failure with Diastolic Dysfunction and Pulmonary Hypertension (BADDHY-Trial).

Background: In this multi-centre, randomised, placebo-controlled pilot trial, we investigated the clinical and haemodynamic effects of the endothelin-receptor blocker Bosentan in patients with heart failure, preserved ejection fraction and pulmonary hypertension (PH-HFpEF).

Materials And Methods: Eligible patients received either 12 weeks of Bosentan therapy, or a placebo drug. Patients were thereafter followed for a further period of 12 weeks without the study medication.

Evaluation of the pharmacoDYNAMIC effects of riociguat in subjects with pulmonary hypertension and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction : Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The presence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) severely aggravates the clinical course of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) resulting in substantial morbidity and mortality. So far, neither established heart failure therapies nor pulmonary vasodilators have proven to be effective for this condition. Riociguat (Adempas®, BAY 63-2521), a stimulator of soluble guanylate cyclase, is a novel pulmonary and systemic vasodilator that has been approved for the treatment of precapillary forms of PH.

Global research trends in the medical therapy of pulmonary arterial hypertension 2000-2014.

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a progressive disease of the pulmonary vasculature that affects more than 200.000 patients worldwide. Without medical treatment it leads to right heart failure and death.

[Use of ECMO in adult patients with cardiogenic shock: a position paper of the Austrian Society of Cardiology].

The use of ECMO to stabilize critically ill patients with severely depressed cardiac function and hemodynamics increased in the last years due to broader availability, better performance and easier implantation of the devices. The present guidelines of the Austrian Society of Cardiology focus on the use of ECMO in adult non-operated patients with cardiac diseases. Not only indications and contraindications are highlighted, but also the equally important issues of monitoring, complication management, measures during implantation and operation, and weaning of the devices are treated in detail.

[Use of ECMO in adult patients with cardiogenic shock: a position paper of the Austrian Society of Cardiology].

The use of ECMO to stabilize critically ill patients with severely depressed cardiac function and hemodynamics increased in the last years due to broader availability, better performance and easier implantation of the devices. The present guidelines of the Austrian Society of Cardiology focus on the use of ECMO in adult non-operated patients with cardiac diseases. Not only indications and contraindications are highlighted, but also the equally important issues of monitoring, complication management, measures during implantation and operation, and weaning of the devices are treated in detail.

Acute hemodynamic effects of riociguat in patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with diastolic heart failure (DILATE-1): a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dose study.

Background: Deficient nitric oxide-soluble guanylate cyclase-cyclic guanosine monophosphate signaling results from endothelial dysfunction and may underlie impaired cardiac relaxation in patients with heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFpEF) and pulmonary hypertension (PH). The acute hemodynamic effects of riociguat, a novel soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator, were characterized in patients with PH and HFpEF.

Methods: Clinically stable patients receiving standard HF therapy with a left ventricular ejection fraction > 50%, mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) ≥ 25 mm Hg, and pulmonary arterial wedge pressure (PAWP) > 15 mm Hg at rest were randomized to single oral doses of placebo or riociguat (0.

[Blood glucose self-monitoring in intensified insulin therapy: acceptance of frequent measurements and effect on quality of diabetic control].

In intensive insulin therapy frequent measurements of blood glucose are necessary for daily insulin adjustments. The aim of our study was to determine acceptance of frequent blood glucose measurements and its relation to quality of glycemic control over a period of 5 years. We report on 57 unselected patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, who were at least half a year under intensive insulin therapy when entering the study.

[The status of managing the type I diabetic patient in Austria. Organization].

During the Annual Meeting of the Austrian Diabetes Association various diabetic centres presented their success and failure rates with respect to metabolic control and prevention of late complications in diabetic patients on a country-wide basis. The analysis revealed that only 30% of all type I diabetic patients are adequately controlled. Intensive education in diabetes self-management, capable of leading to optimal metabolic control in up to 50% of the instructed patients, is however available only to a small minority of the diabetic patients to date.