Design, Creation, and 13-Month Performance of a Novel, Web-Based Activity for Education in Primary Cardiology Palliative Care.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) clinicians who care for seriously ill patients frequently report that they do not feel confident nor adequately prepared to manage patients' palliative care (PC) needs. With the goal, therefore, of increasing PC knowledge and skills amongst interprofessional clinicians providing CVD care, the ACC's PC Workgroup designed, developed, and implemented a comprehensive PC online educational activity. This paper describes the process and 13-month performance of this free, online activity for clinicians across disciplines and levels of training, "Palliative Care for the Cardiovascular Clinician" (PCCVC).

Medication Adherence of Older Adults with Hypertension: A Systematic Review.

Objective: Hypertension (HTN) significantly increases the risk of stroke and heart disease, which are the leading causes of death and disability globally, particularly among older adults. Antihypertensive medication is a proven treatment for blood pressure control and preventing complications. However, medication adherence rates in older adults with HTN are low.

Cardiovascular services in Covid-19 - Impact of the pandemic and lessons learned.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic immediately and perhaps irrevocably impacted society at large, the provision of cardiovascular (CV) care, the function and staffing of hospitals, and CV clinicians. Initially many clinicians at all career stages rose to the challenges, and support and accolades were the initial societal response. Politicization of the public health response as well as widespread misinformation and disinformation all negatively impacted CV clinicians' roles as well diminished and, in some cases, eliminated their public and self-esteem.

Meta-Analysis of Antidepressant Pharmacotherapy in Patients Eligible for Cardiac Rehabilitation: ANTIDEPRESSANT AMBIVALENCE.

Purpose: Many patients exhibit clinically significant depression upon enrollment in cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Antidepressants are a first-line treatment option for depression, but the effectiveness of antidepressants in patients with heart disease is mixed. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of antidepressants for depression in patients eligible for CR.

Revascularization in ischaemic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: a nationwide cohort study.

Aims: Despite the common occurrence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), there is limited evidence to guide revascularization.

Methods And Results: We investigated the long-term outcomes of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with HF and significant CAD across the spectrum of ejection fraction, using a large national cohort of patients from the Veteran Affairs (VA) Medical Centers in the US. Patients with HF were stratified into groups, HFpEF, HF with mid-range ejection fraction (HFmrEF), and HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and compared to patients with no preoperative HF.

Cardiac rehabilitation in heart failure: Indications for exercise training based on heart failure phenotype.

Exercise intolerance with dyspnea and fatigue is pervasive amongst individuals with heart failure (HF) due to both central and peripheral mechanisms. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a cornerstone therapy for numerous cardiovascular disease (CVD) processes, and it's use in HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) has shown significant benefit in improved mortality and quality of life (QoL). Less is known about the benefit of CR in the setting of HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), and optimal exercise therapy (ET) may vary based on underlying disease phenotype.

A pilot randomized clinical trial of a teamwork intervention for heart failure care dyads.

Background: Dyadic heart failure (HF) management can improve outcomes for patients and caregivers and can be enhanced through eHealth interventions.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an eHealth dyadic teamwork intervention, compared to an attention control condition.

Methods: We recruited 29 HF patient-caregiver dyads from inpatient units and randomized dyads to an intervention or a control group.

Rationale and Design of a Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Medical Student Counseling for Hospitalized Patients Addicted to Tobacco (the MS-CHAT Trial).

Globally, India is the second largest consumer of tobacco. However, Indian medical students do not receive adequate training in smoking cessation counseling. Each patient hospitalization is an opportunity to counsel smokers.

Calcified myocardial scar seen via cardiac imaging correlating with ventricular tachycardia focus.

A 74-year-old man presented with presyncope and non-sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia in the setting of acute coronary syndrome. On coronary angiogram, a calcified myocardial scar was revealed, which was later identified as the ventricular tachycardia focus via electrophysiological study.

A combined community health worker and text messagingbased intervention for smoking cessation in India: Project MUKTI - A mixed methods study.

Introduction: We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a community health worker (CHW) led smoking cessation intervention, supplemented by text messages, and tailored to an individual's readiness to quit.

Methods: We conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial (April 2018-August 2019) in adult smokers residing in a semi-urban region of India. Participants in the intervention arm received CHW-led home visits and had the option of choosing to receive regular text messages.

Cardiac Rehabilitation for Patients With Heart Failure: JACC Expert Panel.

Cardiac rehabilitation is defined as a multidisciplinary program that includes exercise training, cardiac risk factor modification, psychosocial assessment, and outcomes assessment. Exercise training and other components of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) are safe and beneficial and result in significant improvements in quality of life, functional capacity, exercise performance, and heart failure (HF)-related hospitalizations in patients with HF. Despite outcome benefits, cost-effectiveness, and strong practice guideline recommendations, CR remains underused.

The Physiological Impact of Masking Is Insignificant and Should Not Preclude Routine Use During Daily Activities, Exercise, and Rehabilitation.

Purpose: Masking has been employed as a strategy for reducing transmission of a variety of communicable diseases. With the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, many countries have implemented mandatory public masking. However, the perceived impact of mask use on pulmonary function has been a deterrent to public compliance with recommendations.

First case report: Late-onset coronary artery spasm after radiofrequency catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation in a Caucasian patient.

Most of the coronary vasospasms were found intraprocedurally, and it is very rare to see late-onset vasospasms that happened a few hours after uncomplicated ablations. The recognition of this rare but potentially life-threatening complication is important to improve the conventional practice of catheter ablation for patients with drug-refractory atrial fibrillation.

The relationship of cardiorespiratory function, fatigue and depressive symptoms in PLHIV.

Fatigue and depressive symptoms are prevalent and associated with poor clinical outcomes, though the underlying physiological mechanisms of fatigue and depression are poorly understood. We examined the impact of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) on fatigue and depressive symptoms in one-hundred and nine PLHIV. CRF was examined by maximal cardiorespiratory stress test and determined by peak oxygen uptake.

Rationale and design of a study to test the effectiveness of a combined community health worker and text messaging-based intervention for smoking cessation in India (Project MUKTI).

Background: Nearly 275 million individuals in India consume tobacco every day, with more than 1 million dying annually as a result. Few people in India have access to smoking cessation services, an essential component of combating tobacco use globally. We hypothesize that a strategy of systematic community health worker (CHW) based counseling that covers eligible people who smoke in a geographical area, combined with text messaging support, will result in improved quit rates.

Examination of attention, executive function, and memory as predictors of mortality risk in adults with systolic heart failure.

Background: The prevalence and impact of cognitive impairment in heart failure is increasingly recognized. Converging evidence points to global cognitive function as predictive of prognosis in adults with heart failure when assessed with screening tools. Additional work is needed to understand which domains of cognitive function are most relevant for prognosis.

Relationship of HIV Status and Fatigue, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Myokines, and Physical Activity.

People living with HIV (PLWH) experience high rates of fatigue, which can be improved with physical activity. We examined relationships between HIV infection, fatigue, cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity, and myokines. Twenty PLWH and 20 HIV-uninfected adults completed a fatigue assessment, a maximal cardiometabolic exercise test, serum measures of myokines, and wore an accelerometer for 7 days.

Mortality Due to Aortic Stenosis in the United States, 2008-2017.

This study uses US National Center for Health Statistics data to describe trends in mortality due to aortic stenosis between 2008 and 2017, when use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in older adults was becoming more common.

The Contribution of Living Arrangements, Social Support, and Self-efficacy to Self-management Behaviors Among Individuals With Heart Failure: A Path Analysis.

Background: Living arrangements, social support, and self-efficacy have significant implications for self-management science. Despite the theoretical linkages among the 3 concepts, there is limited empirical evidence about their interplay and the subsequent influence on heart failure (HF) self-management.

Objective: The aim of this study was to validate components of the Individual and Family Self-management Theory among individuals with HF.