Atrial Fibrillation as an Independent Predictor of Myocardial Ischemia.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and coronary artery disease (CAD) are highly prevalent cardiovascular conditions. This study investigated the role of AF in myocardial ischemia, as assessed with myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), in patients with suspected stable CAD. Our retrospective study included 259 individuals with a negative medical history of CAD who underwent 99mTc tetrofosmin MPI-single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)-for nonspecific symptoms to rule out stable CAD.

Psychotic experiences and disorders in adolescents and young adults with borderline intellectual functioning and intellectual disabilities: evidence from a population-based birth cohort in the United Kingdom.

Background: Individuals with borderline intellectual functioning and intellectual disabilities (intellectual impairment) may be at increased risk of psychosis. However, studies have been limited by small and selected samples. Moreover, the role of early life trauma, a key risk factor for psychosis, in the associations is unknown.

Mechanical Barrier for Prevention of Dislodged Stent Embolization in Saphenous Vein Graft.

Percutaneous coronary interventions in vein grafts can be quite challenging, and many complications can occur during the procedure. We present a case of stent dislodgment during percutaneous coronary intervention in a vein graft. It was migrating to the proximal part of the graft and a covered stent was placed in the native vessel in order to isolate the graft.

The Role of Prognostic Scores in Assessing the Prognosis of Patients Admitted in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit: Emphasis on Heart Failure Patients.

: Patient care in Cardiac Intensive Care Units (CICU) has evolved but data on patient characteristics and outcomes are sparse. This retrospective observational study aimed to define clinical characteristics and risk factors of CICU patients, their in-hospital and 30-day mortality, and compare it with established risk scores. : Consecutive patients ( = 294, mean age 70 years, 74% males) hospitalized within 15 months were studied; APACHE II, EHMRG, GWTG-HF, and GRACE II were calculated on admission.

Large pericardial effusion in a woman in the second trimester of pregnancy: a case report.

Background: Pericardial effusion is common in pregnancy, with causes similar to the general population. Usually, it is found in the third trimester and disappears spontaneously after labour; however, there is a risk of progression to tamponade. Management is based on expert opinion, since few studies have been published.

Myocardial Perfusion Imaging and C-Reactive Protein in Myocardial Ischemia: A Retrospective Single-Center Study.

Background: Inflammation is an important mechanism in atherosclerosis and plaque formation. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a common inflammatory biomarker associated with the risk of coronary heart disease. We investigated the relationship of CRP with findings from myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI).

The Potential Role of Salivary NT-proBNP in Heart Failure.

Background: Serum natriuretic peptides (NPs) have an established role in heart failure (HF) diagnosis. Saliva NT-proBNP that may be easily acquired has been studied little.

Methods: Ninety-nine subjects were enrolled; thirty-six obese or hypertensive with dyspnoea but no echocardiographic HF findings or raised NPs served as controls, thirteen chronic HF (CHF) patients and fifty patients with acute decompensated HF (ADHF) requiring hospital admission.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation with the Portico Valve: 2-Year Outcomes of a Multicenter, Real-World Registry.

Introduction: The self-expanding, resheathable, repositionable transcatheter aortic heart valve Portico is being used successfully for transcatheter aortic valve implantation procedures (TAVI) in patients with severe aortic stenosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate outcomes at 2 years after TAVI with the Portico valve.

Methods: Multicenter registry of clinical, echocardiographic and survival data from consecutive patients treated with the Portico TAVI system (Abbott, Chicago, IL, USA) in three cath labs in Northern Greece and Epirus during 2017-2020.

The Role of Myocardial Perfusion Imaging in the Prediction of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events at 1 Year Follow-Up: A Single Center's Experience.

Background: Myocardial perfusion imaging via single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT MPI) is a well-established method of diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD). The purpose of this study was to assess the role of SPECT MPI in predicting major cardiovascular events.

Methods: The study population was composed of 614 consecutive patients (mean age: 67 years, 55% male) referred for SPECT MPI due to symptoms of stable CAD.

Family-based analysis of the contribution of rare and common genetic variants to school performance in schizophrenia.

Impaired cognition in schizophrenia is associated with worse functional outcomes. While genetic factors are known to contribute to variation in cognition in schizophrenia, few rare coding variants with strong effects have been identified, and the relative effects from de novo, inherited and non-transmitted alleles are unknown. We used array and exome sequencing data from 656 proband-parent trios to examine the contribution of common and rare variants to school performance, and by implication cognitive function, in schizophrenia.

Body Mass Index Is Independently Associated with the Presence of Ischemia in Myocardial Perfusion Imaging.

Background and Objectives: Obesity has been linked to various cardiovascular risk factors, increased incidence of coronary artery disease, and myocardial perfusion defects. The aim of this study was to investigate if body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were associated with myocardial perfusion defects. Materials and Methods: A total of 308 consecutive patients who had myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and a complete medical record on file were studied retrospectively.

Two Cases of Arrhythmic Mitral Valve Prolapse: Evil Has Many Faces.

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is one of the most common valvular heart diseases. Although MVP is generally considered benign, it can be associated with important complications, including sudden cardiac death (SCD), owing to ventricular arrhythmias (VAs). Several clinical, electrocardiographic, and imaging findings have been associated with MVP-related SCD, including female sex, T-wave inversions in the inferior leads, complex ventricular ectopy, leaflet redundancy (classic MVP), mitral annular disjunction, pickelhaube sign (a spiked configuration of the lateral annular velocities), and evidence of myocardial fibrosis in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging.

Three-vessel spontaneous coronary artery dissection in a patient with hyperhomocysteinemia.

Increased homocysteine has been related to the occurrence of dissections in the coronary circulation, aorta, and cervical arteries. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a relatively rare phenomenon, and data on the long-term follow-up of patients with SCAD are extremely limited. Herein, we describe a case of a young male patient with 3-vessel SCAD (presence of radiolucent linear defects indicating the presence of dissections in all three major coronary arteries) who was found to have hyperhomocysteinemia and a concurrent methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase prothrombotic mutation.

Precursors and correlates of transient and persistent longitudinal profiles of psychotic experiences from late childhood through early adulthood.

Background: Psychotic experiences are reported by 5-10% of young people, although only a minority persist and develop into psychotic disorders. It is unclear what characteristics differentiate those with transient psychotic experiences from those with persistent psychotic experiences that are more likely to be of clinical relevance.

Aims: To investigate how longitudinal profiles of psychotic experiences, created from assessments at three different time points, are influenced by early life and co-occurring factors.

Heart Failure diagnosis based on deep learning techniques.

The aim of the study is to address the heart failure (HF) diagnosis with the application of deep learning approaches. Seven deep learning architectures are implemented, where stacked Restricted Boltzman Machines (RBMs) and stacked Autoencoders (AEs) are used to pre-train Deep Belief Networks (DBN) and Deep Neural Networks (DNN). The data is provided by the University College Dublin and the 2nd Department of Cardiology from the University Hospital of Ioannina.

A Machine Learning Approach for Chronic Heart Failure Diagnosis.

The aim of this study was to address chronic heart failure (HF) diagnosis with the application of machine learning (ML) approaches. In the present study, we simulated the procedure that is followed in clinical practice, as the models we built are based on various combinations of feature categories, e.g.

Venous Thromboembolism in Patients with Heart Failure.

Heart failure (HF) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) are common clinical entities, closely interrelated, sharing multiple pathophysiological mechanisms. Their co-incidence is associated with further worsening of the prognosis of one another. Despite their frequent co-existence, important clinical questions still remain unanswered.

Salivary Biomarkers for Diagnosis and Therapy Monitoring in Patients with Heart Failure. A Systematic Review.

The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review on the potential value of saliva biomarkers in the diagnosis, management and prognosis of heart failure (HF). The correlation between saliva and plasma values of these biomarkers was also studied. PubMed was searched to collect relevant literature, i.

KardiaSoft Architecture - A Software Supporting Diagnosis and Therapy Monitoring of Heart Failure Patients Exploiting Saliva Biomarkers.

The aim of this work is to present the architecture of the KardiaSoft software, a clinical decision support tool allowing the healthcare professionals to monitor patients with heart failure by providing useful information and suggestions in terms of the estimation of the presence of heart failure (heart failure diagnosis), stratification-patient profiling, long term patient condition evaluation and therapy response monitoring. KardiaSoft is based on predictive modeling techniques that analyze data that correspond to four saliva biomarkers, measured by a point-of-care device, along with other patient's data. The KardiaSoft is designed based on the results of a user requirements elicitation process.

A Population-Based Cohort Study Examining the Incidence and Impact of Psychotic Experiences From Childhood to Adulthood, and Prediction of Psychotic Disorder.

Objective: The authors investigated the incidence, course, and outcome of psychotic experiences from childhood through early adulthood in the general population and examined prediction of psychotic disorder.

Methods: This was a population-based cohort study using the semistructured Psychosis-Like Symptoms Interview at ages 12, 18, and 24 (N=7,900 with any data). Incidence rates were estimated using flexible parametric modeling, and positive predictive values (PPVs), sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve were estimated for prediction.

The role of polygenic risk score gene-set analysis in the context of the omnigenic model of schizophrenia.

A recent development in the genetic architecture of schizophrenia suggested that an omnigenic model may underlie the risk for this disorder. The aim of our study was to use polygenic profile scoring to quantitatively assess whether a number of experimentally derived sets would contribute to the disorder above and beyond the omnigenic effect. Using the PGC2 secondary analysis schizophrenia case-control cohort (N = 29,125 cases and 34,836 controls), a robust polygenic signal was observed from gene sets based on TCF4, FMR1, upregulation from MIR137 and downregulation from CHD8.

Point-of-Care Testing Devices for Heart Failure Analyzing Blood and Saliva Samples.

Heart failure (HF) is the most rapidly growing cardiovascular condition with an estimated prevalence of >37.7 million individuals globally. HF is associated with increased mortality and morbidity and confers a substantial burden, in terms of cost and quality of life, for the individuals and the healthcare systems, highlighting thus the need for early and accurate diagnosis of HF.