Profile of Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure Who Leave Against Medical Advice.

Background: There is a paucity of information on patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF) who leave against medical advice (AMA). We sought to identify patient and hospital characteristics and outcomes of patients with HF who left AMA compared with those conventionally discharged to home.

Methods And Results: Using the Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure registry, data were analyzed from January 2010 to June 2019.

Swimming and the heart.

Exercise training is accepted to be beneficial in lowering morbidity and mortality in patients with cardiac disease. Swimming is a popular recreational activity, gaining recognition as an effective option in maintaining and improving cardiovascular fitness. Swimming is a unique form of exercise, differing from land-based exercises such as running in many aspects including medium, position, breathing pattern, and the muscle groups used.

The clinical use of supine left lateral leg cycle ergometry for exercise electrocardiographic testing in women, as used in exercise echocardiography.

Background: Two-dimensional exercise echocardiography is commonly performed in the supine (SUP) left lateral posture (SLL) to optimize imaging quality.

Objectives: To assess the clinical use of SLL cycle ergometry, we determined the metabolic, cardiovascular, and hemodynamic responses during graded leg cycle ergometry in women, performed in SLL, commonly used during exercise echocardiography, and compared our findings with those obtained during upright (UP) and SUP leg cycle ergometry.

Methods: A total of 21 apparently healthy women performed leg cycle ergometry in 3 distinct postures (UP, SUP, and SLL).