The Prognostic and Discriminatory Utility of the Clinical Frailty Scale and Modified Frailty Index Compared to Age.

Background: There is no consensus on the optimal method for the assessment of frailty. We compared the prognostic utility of two approaches (modified Frailty Index [mFI], Clinical Frailty Scale [CFS]) in older adults (≥65 years) hospitalised with COVID-19 versus age. Methods: We used a test and validation cohort that enrolled participants hospitalised with COVID-19 between 27 February and 30 June 2020.

Health-Related Quality of Life and Functional Status Are Associated with Cardiac Status and Clinical Outcome in Children with Cardiomyopathy.

Objectives: To measure the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and functional status of children with cardiomyopathy and to determine whether they are correlated with sociodemographics, cardiac status, and clinical outcomes.

Study Design: Parents of children in the Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Registry completed the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ; age ≥ 5 years) and Functional Status II (Revised) (age ≤ 18 years) instruments. Linear and Cox regressions were used to examine hypothesized associations with HRQOL.

Viral endomyocardial infection is an independent predictor and potentially treatable risk factor for graft loss and coronary vasculopathy in pediatric cardiac transplant recipients.

Objectives: This study sought to evaluate the outcome and prevalence of viral endomyocardial infection after cardiac transplantation.

Background: Viral myocardial infection causes heart failure, but its role after cardiac transplantation is unclear. We hypothesized that viral infection of the cardiac allograft reduces graft survival.

Viral epidemiologic shift in inflammatory heart disease: the increasing involvement of parvovirus B19 in the myocardium of pediatric cardiac transplant patients.

Background: Detection of viral genome in rejecting cardiac transplant patients has been reported, with coxsackievirus and adenovirus causing premature graft failure. Recently, parvovirus B19 (PVB19) genome in myocardial samples has been increasingly reported, but its role in cardiac pathology and effect on transplant graft survival are unknown. The objectives of this study were to determine if changes in the viruses identified in the myocardium represent an epidemiologic shift in viral myocardial disease and whether PVB19 adversely affects transplant graft survival.