Single cell RNA sequencing of hematopoietic cells in fresh and frozen human atheroma tissue.

Aims: Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is a powerful method for exploring the cellular heterogeneity within human atheroma but typically requires fresh tissue to preserve cell membrane integrity, limiting the feasibility of large-scale biobanking for later analysis. The aim of this study was to determine whether cryopreservation of fragile and necrotic atheroma tissue affects the viability and transcriptomic profiles of hematopoietic cells in subsequent scRNA-seq analysis, enabling the use of cryopreserved atheroma samples for future research.

Methods And Results: We performed scRNA-seq on five paired fresh and cryopreserved atheroma samples - three from coronary arteries and two from carotid arteries.

Taurine stimulation of planarian motility: a role for the dopamine receptor pathway.

Taurine, a normal dietary component that is found in many tissues, is considered important for a number of physiological processes. It is thought to play a particular role in eye development and in the maturation of both the muscular and nervous systems, leading to its suggested use as a therapeutic for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Taurine increases metabolism and has also been touted as a weight loss aid.

Machine Learning Multicenter Risk Model to Predict Right Ventricular Failure After Mechanical Circulatory Support: The STOP-RVF Score.

Importance: The existing models predicting right ventricular failure (RVF) after durable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support might be limited, partly due to lack of external validation, marginal predictive power, and absence of intraoperative characteristics.

Objective: To derive and validate a risk model to predict RVF after LVAD implantation.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a hybrid prospective-retrospective multicenter cohort study conducted from April 2008 to July 2019 of patients with advanced heart failure (HF) requiring continuous-flow LVAD.

A value-based approach to optimize red blood cell transfusion in patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Introduction: The risk, cost, and adverse outcomes associated with packed red blood cell (RBC) transfusions in patients with cardiopulmonary failure requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) have raised concerns regarding the overutilization of RBC products. It is, therefore, necessary to establish optimal transfusion criteria and protocols for patients supported with ECMO. The goal of this study was to establish specific criteria for RBC transfusions in patients undergoing ECMO.

A flexible electronic strain sensor for the real-time monitoring of tumor regression.

Assessing the efficacy of cancer therapeutics in mouse models is a critical step in treatment development. However, low-resolution measurement tools and small sample sizes make determining drug efficacy in vivo a difficult and time-intensive task. Here, we present a commercially scalable wearable electronic strain sensor that automates the in vivo testing of cancer therapeutics by continuously monitoring the micrometer-scale progression or regression of subcutaneously implanted tumors at the minute time scale.

Altered Cardiac Energetics and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a complex disease partly explained by the effects of individual gene variants on sarcomeric protein biomechanics. At the cellular level, HCM mutations most commonly enhance force production, leading to higher energy demands. Despite significant advances in elucidating sarcomeric structure-function relationships, there is still much to be learned about the mechanisms that link altered cardiac energetics to HCM phenotypes.

Predicting post-operative right ventricular failure using video-based deep learning.

Despite progressive improvements over the decades, the rich temporally resolved data in an echocardiogram remain underutilized. Human assessments reduce the complex patterns of cardiac wall motion, to a small list of measurements of heart function. All modern echocardiography artificial intelligence (AI) systems are similarly limited by design - automating measurements of the same reductionist metrics rather than utilizing the embedded wealth of data.

Long-term survival in patients with post-LVAD right ventricular failure: multi-state modelling with competing outcomes of heart transplant.

Background: Multicenter data on long term survival following LVAD implantation that make use of contemporary definitions of RV failure are limited. Furthermore, traditional survival analyses censor patients who receive a bridge to heart transplant. Here we compare the outcomes of LVAD patients who develop post-operative RV failure accounting for the transitional probability of receiving an interim heart transplantation.

Patient-Specific Computational Fluid Dynamics Reveal Localized Flow Patterns Predictive of Post-Left Ventricular Assist Device Aortic Incompetence.

Background: Progressive aortic valve disease has remained a persistent cause of concern in patients with left ventricular assist devices. Aortic incompetence (AI) is a known predictor of both mortality and readmissions in this patient population and remains a challenging clinical problem.

Methods: Ten left ventricular assist device patients with de novo aortic regurgitation and 19 control left ventricular assist device patients were identified.

Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations to Predict False Lumen Enlargement After Surgical Repair of Type-A Aortic Dissection.

We aim to use computational fluid dynamics to investigate the hemodynamic conditions that may predispose to false lumen enlargement in this patient population. Nine patients who received surgical repairs of their type-A aortic dissections between 2017-2018 were retrospectively identified. Multiple contrast-enhanced post-operative CT scans were used to construct 3D models of aortic geometries.

Use of patient-specific computational models for optimization of aortic insufficiency after implantation of left ventricular assist device.

Objective: Aortic incompetence (AI) is observed to be accelerated in the continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) population and is related to increased mortality. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), we investigated the hemodynamic conditions related to the orientation of the LVAD outflow in these patients.

Method: We identified 10 patients with new aortic regurgitation, and 20 who did not, after LVAD implantation between 2009 and 2018.

Atheroprotective roles of smooth muscle cell phenotypic modulation and the TCF21 disease gene as revealed by single-cell analysis.

In response to various stimuli, vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) can de-differentiate, proliferate and migrate in a process known as phenotypic modulation. However, the phenotype of modulated SMCs in vivo during atherosclerosis and the influence of this process on coronary artery disease (CAD) risk have not been clearly established. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we comprehensively characterized the transcriptomic phenotype of modulated SMCs in vivo in atherosclerotic lesions of both mouse and human arteries and found that these cells transform into unique fibroblast-like cells, termed 'fibromyocytes', rather than into a classical macrophage phenotype.

Modeling conduit choice for valve-sparing aortic root replacement on biomechanics with a 3-dimensional-printed heart simulator.

Objective: The optimal conduit for valve-sparing aortic root replacement is still debated, with several conduit variations available, ranging from straight tubular grafts to Valsalva grafts. Benefits of neosinus reconstruction include enhanced flow profiles and improved hemodynamics. Curiously, however, some clinical data suggest that straight grafts may have greater long-term durability.