Update on Immunotherapy Cardiotoxicity: Checkpoint Inhibitors, CAR T, and Beyond.

Immunotherapy is an innovative approach to cancer treatment that involves using the body's immune system to fight cancer. The landscape of immunotherapy is constantly evolving, as new therapies are developed and refined. Some of the most promising approaches in immunotherapy include immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs): these drugs target proteins on the surface of T-cells that inhibit their ability to attack cancer cells.

Innovations in Cardio-oncology Resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID pandemic has transformed our approach to patient care, research, and training in cardio-oncology. While the early phases of the COVID pandemic were exceptionally frightening, we now can reflect on the innovative changes that brought more effective and patient-centered care to our doorsteps: expansion of telemedicine, integration of digital health, wider adoption of cardiac biomarkers, consolidation, and coordination of cardio-oncology testing. Normally, it takes years for health care systems to adopt new technology or modify patient care pathways; however, COVID pushed healthcare providers and the health systems to change at warp speed.

Stress testing and myocardial perfusion imaging for patients after recovery from severe COVID-19 infection requiring hospitalization: A single-center experience.

Background: As the coronavirus pandemic progresses, patients that have recovered from COVID-19-related hospitalization require resumption of care for other medical issues. Thus far, the literature has not detailed the experience of stress testing in this patient population.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients that recovered from COVID-19-related hospitalizations and underwent SPECT MPI studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center.

Collaborative cardiovascular management of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia on tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) of the BCR-ABL fusion protein have dramatically changed the mortality of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) but they carry a risk of serious vascular morbidity. While TKIs do not cure CML, daily oral administration of a TKI can control CML and TKIs are chronic medications. Interestingly, vascular complications can occur at any time a patient is on a TKI.

Strategies to Prevent Cardiotoxicity.

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death among cancer survivors. While the field of cardiology as a whole is driven by evidence generated through robust clinical trials, data in cardio-oncology is limited to a relatively small number of prospective clinical trials with heterogeneous groups of cancer patients. In addition, many pharmaceutical trials in oncology are flawed from a cardiovascular perspective because they exclude patients with significant cardiovascular (CV) history and have wide variation in the definitions of CV events and cardiotoxicity.

Role of left ventricle deformation analysis in stress echocardiography for significant coronary artery disease detection: A diagnostic study meta-analysis.

Background: We compared the diagnostic accuracy of longitudinal strain (LS) imaging during stress echocardiography with visual assessment of wall motion (WM) for detecting significant coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: Our systematic search included studies reporting diagnostic measures for LS imaging and visual assessment of WM for detecting significant CAD during stress echocardiography. Summary diagnostic accuracy measures including area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and likelihood ratios (LRs) were estimated.

Predicting Outcomes in Patients With AsymptomaticModerate to Severe Aortic Stenosis.

Outcomes in asymptomatic patients with aortic stenosis (AS) have been reported primarily from tertiary centers. Whether observations from a community hospital cohort would be similar or if clinical variables would assume a more important role remains uncertain. This retrospective cohort study from one community hospital followed asymptomatic patients with moderate to severe AS for 3 years following an index echocardiogram.

Inflammatory bowel disease-related thoracic aortic thrombosis.

Arterial and venous thromboembolisms have long been associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and can cause significant morbidity and mortality. We present a patient with aortic arch thrombosis embolizing to the left lower extremity during hospitalization for active ulcerative colitis (UC). The limb was preserved following emergent embolectomy.

Drug-eluting versus bare-metal stents for treating saphenous vein grafts.

Background: Current data show conflicting results regarding safety and efficacy of drug-eluting stents (DES) versus bare-metal stents (BMS) for treating saphenous vein grafts (SVG). Our objective was to compare DES with BMS for SVG intervention.

Methods: Patients undergoing stenting with DES or BMS to SVG from January 2000 to June 2007 were included.