Outcomes with distal transradial access in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease.

Radial artery occlusion (RAO), a complication of transradial access, has an incidence of 4.0% to 9.1% in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) and may preclude its use creation of arteriovenous fistula.

Catheter ablation compared to medical therapy for ventricular tachycardia in sarcoidosis: nationwide outcomes and hospital readmissions.

Background: Catheter ablation (CA) for ventricular tachycardia (VT) can be a useful treatment strategy, however, few studies have compared CA to medical therapy (MT) in the sarcoidosis population.

Objective: To assess in-hospital outcomes and unplanned readmissions following CA for VT compared to MT in patients with sarcoidosis.

Methods: Data was obtained from the Nationwide Readmissions Database between 2010 and 2019 to identify patients with sarcoidosis admitted for VT either undergoing CA or MT during elective and non-elective admission.

Rapidly Progressive Primary Scleroderma Cardiomyopathy in a Young Adult Characterized by Multimodality Imaging.

• Scleroderma-related heart disease is usually secondary to lung disease or PH. • Scleroderma rarely causes systolic HF in young patients or those without CAD. • A multimodality strategy should be used to characterize scleroderma cardiomyopathy.

Pig-to-human heart xenotransplantation in two recently deceased human recipients.

Genetically modified xenografts are one of the most promising solutions to the discrepancy between the numbers of available human organs for transplantation and potential recipients. To date, a porcine heart has been implanted into only one human recipient. Here, using 10-gene-edited pigs, we transplanted porcine hearts into two brain-dead human recipients and monitored xenograft function, hemodynamics and systemic responses over the course of 66 hours.

Acute Myocarditis Associated With Desmosomal Gene Variants.

Background: The risk of adverse cardiovascular events in patients with acute myocarditis (AM) and desmosomal gene variants (DGV) remains unknown.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to ascertain the risk of death, ventricular arrhythmias, recurrent myocarditis, and heart failure (main endpoint) in patients with AM and pathogenic or likely pathogenetic DGV.

Methods: In a retrospective international study from 23 hospitals, 97 patients were included: 36 with AM and DGV (DGV[+]), 25 with AM and negative gene testing (DGV[-]), and 36 with AM without genetics testing.

Pre-transplant immune cell function assay as a predictor of early cardiac allograft rejection.

Introduction: ImmuKnow, an immune cell function assay that quantifies overall immune system activity can assist in post-transplant immunosuppression adjustment. However, the utility of pre-transplant ImmuKnow results representing a patient's baseline immune system activity is unknown. This study sought to assess if pre-transplant ImmuKnow results are predictive of rejection at the time of first biopsy in our cardiac transplant population.

Cardiogenic shock complicating multisystem inflammatory syndrome following COVID-19 infection: a case report.

Background: With the high prevalence of COVID-19 infections worldwide, the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults (MIS-A) is becoming an increasingly recognized entity. This syndrome presents in patients several weeks after infection with COVID-19 and is associated with thrombosis, elevated inflammatory markers, hemodynamic compromise and cardiac dysfunction. Treatment is often with steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg).

Relation of the Mitral Annular Plane Systolic Excursion to Risk for Intervention in Initially Asymptomatic Patients With Aortic Stenosis and Preserved Systolic Function.

Aortic valve intervention (AVI) in patients with a severe aortic stenosis (AS) and a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is controversial. Mitral annular plane systolic excursion (MAPSE) is an easily acquired metric of left ventricular longitudinal shortening. We sought to investigate if an asymptomatic decrease in MAPSE preceded the need for AVI in asymptomatic patients with AS and a preserved LVEF.

Sub-optimal achievement of guideline-derived lipid goals in management of diabetes patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, despite high use of evidence-based therapies.

Guidelines recommend aggressive goals for lipid and blood pressure reduction for high risk patients with diabetes mellitus and atherosclerotic coronary disease. However, it remains unclear how many patients achieve treatment goals versus the number of people merely placed on treatment. We conducted an observational study in an academic cardiology clinic.