Publications by authors named "Ree Lu"
Aims: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia among patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), leading to increased symptom burden and risk of thromboembolism. The HCM-AF score was developed to predict new-onset AF in patients with HCM, though sensitivity and specificity of this conventional tool are limited. Thus, there is a need for more accurate tools to predict new-onset AF in HCM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Asthma is a known risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common sustained arrhythmia. Whereas radiofrequency catheter ablation is effective in treating AF, the impact of asthma and its severity on ablation outcomes has not been previously explored.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of asthma and its severity on AF recurrence after ablation.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how cardiac Ca1.2 channels, crucial for heart function, are regulated under different conditions like normal activity, sympathetic activation, and heart failure.
- Researchers created specific transgenic mice to analyze the effects of mutations and splice variants on the channel's behavior and response to β-adrenergic stimulation.
- Findings reveal that the α I-II loop plays a key role in modulating the activity of Ca1.2 channels, with variations impacting both the channel's open probability and its responsiveness to stimulating signals.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to analyze the first 1000 patients with confirmed COVID-19 at a NYC medical center, focusing on their clinical journey through various care settings.
- Patient data showed the main symptoms were cough, fever, and dyspnea, with a significant number having pre-existing conditions like hypertension and diabetes.
- Results indicated high ICU admission rates, long hospital stays, and notable mortality, with a distinct pattern in the timing of intubation based on symptom onset.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to analyze the characteristics and clinical experiences of COVID-19 patients in a New York City hospital during early March to early April 2020.
- Researchers reviewed medical records of the first 1000 patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections, focusing on their demographics, symptoms, comorbidities, hospital courses, and outcomes.
- Findings revealed that cough, fever, and dyspnea were the most common symptoms, with many patients having pre-existing health issues; those in ICUs were mostly older males with long hospital stays, and a significant proportion developed serious complications like acute kidney injury.
Morphogenesis of the inner ear epithelium requires coordinated deployment of several signaling pathways, and disruptions cause abnormalities of hearing and/or balance. The FGFR2b ligands FGF3 and FGF10 are expressed throughout otic development and are required individually for normal morphogenesis, but their prior and redundant roles in otic placode induction complicates investigation of subsequent combinatorial functions in morphogenesis. To interrogate these roles and identify new effectors of FGF3 and FGF10 signaling at the earliest stages of otic morphogenesis, we used conditional gene ablation after otic placode induction, and temporal inhibition of signaling with a secreted, dominant-negative FGFR2b ectodomain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The risk of malignancy is weighed against the attendant risks of surgery in the clinical management of pancreatic cysts. The latter are a group of histologically diverse and prognostically variable entities, and the risk of malignancy therein is primarily based on imaging characteristics-with or without high-grade atypia. Cytologic criteria for high-grade atypia in intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms have recently been defined, and its recognition in all pancreatic cysts may help to guide management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF