Mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide levels before and after hemodialysis predict long-term prognosis.

Background: Mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) is a strong prognostic biomarker in cardiovascular disease but there is limited data for its use among patients undergoing dialysis.

Methods: This was a cohort study of patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis from two Danish centers. Blood sampling and echocardiography were performed before and after a dialysis session.

Long-Term Cardiovascular Outcomes in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Background: Data on long-term cardiovascular outcomes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are sparse.

Objectives: This study sought to examine the long-term risk and prognosis associated with cardiovascular outcomes, including heart failure (HF), in patients with SLE.

Methods: Using Danish administrative registries, risks of outcomes were compared between SLE patients (diagnosed 1996 to 2018, no history of cardiovascular disease) and age-, sex-, and comorbidity-matched control subjects from the background population (matched 1:4).

Real-Time Volumetric Synthetic Aperture Software Beamforming of Row-Column Probe Data.

Two delay-and-sum beamformers for 3-D synthetic aperture imaging with row-column addressed arrays are presented. Both beamformers are software implementations for graphics processing unit (GPU) execution with dynamic apodizations and third-order polynomial subsample interpolation. The first beamformer was written in the MATLAB programming language and the second was written in C/C++ with the compute unified device architecture (CUDA) extensions by NVIDIA.

Efficacy and Safety of Dapagliflozin in Men and Women With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: A Prespecified Analysis of the Dapagliflozin and Prevention of Adverse Outcomes in Heart Failure Trial.

Importance: Women may respond differently to certain treatments for heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) than men.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin compared with placebo in men and women with HFrEF enrolled in the Dapagliflozin and Prevention of Adverse Outcomes in Heart Failure trial (DAPA-HF).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Prespecified subgroup analysis of a phase 3 randomized clinical trial conducted at 410 sites in 20 countries.

Comparative efficacy of medical treatments for vernal keratoconjunctivitis in children and young adults: a systematic review with network meta-analyses.

Purpose: To systematically review the literature on the treatment of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) in children and young adults and conduct comparative efficacy analysis on clinical signs and symptoms using network meta-analyses.

Methods: We systematically searched the databases PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central and Web of Science on 21 October 2019 for randomized controlled trials (RCT). Studies considered had patients with VKC < 20 years of age randomized into either intervention (any medical intervention) or comparator (active treatment, placebo treatment or non-treatment control), where pre-defined outcomes (data from ≥2 weeks and as close as possible to 2 months) of symptoms (itching, tearing, photophobia and foreign body sensation) and signs (hyperaemia, punctate keratitis, Horner-Trantas dots and macropapillae) were reported.

Long-term prognosis following hospitalization for acute myocarditis - a matched nationwide cohort study.

The aim of this study was to examine the long-term risk of heart failure (HF) and all-cause mortality, in patients discharged alive following hospitalization for myocarditis. . Prognosis in patients with apparently uncomplicated myocarditis is in general perceived as good, but data on long-term outcomes are sparse.

The association between cardiovascular disease admission rates and the coronavirus disease 2019 lockdown and reopening of a nation: a Danish nationwide cohort study.

Aims: To investigate the admission rates of cardiovascular diseases, overall and according to subgroups, and subsequent mortality rates during the coronavirus disease 2019 societal lockdown (12 March 2020) and reopening phase (15 April 2020) in Denmark.

Methods And Results: Using Danish nationwide registries, we identified patients with a first-time acute cardiovascular admission in two periods: (i) 2 January-16 October 2019 and (ii) 2 January-15 October 2020. Weekly incidence rates of a first-time cardiovascular admission, overall and according to subtypes, in the two periods were calculated.

3D printed calibration micro-phantoms for super-resolution ultrasound imaging validation.

This study evaluates the use of 3D printed phantoms for 3D super-resolution ultrasound imaging (SRI) algorithm calibration. The main benefit of the presented method is the ability to do absolute 3D micro-positioning of sub-wavelength sized ultrasound scatterers in a material having a speed of sound comparable to that of tissue. Stereolithography is used for 3D printing soft material calibration micro-phantoms containing eight randomly placed scatterers of nominal size 205 μm × 205 μm × 200 μm.

Prognosis of myocardial infarction-related cardiogenic shock according to preadmission out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Aims: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is highly prevalent among patients with myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock (MI-CS). We aimed to examine the prognostic importance of OHCA in patients with MI-CS.

Methods: Using Danish nationwide registries, we identified first-time hospitalized MI-CS patients (2010-2015) by OHCA status.

Prognostic and comparative performance of cardiovascular risk markers in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Diagnostic tests including echocardiography, albuminuria, electrocardiogram (ECG), high-sensitivity troponin I (hs-TnI), and N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) have been suggested as cardiovascular (CV) risk predictors in type 2 diabetes. We studied the separate and combined prognostic yield of these risk markers.

Methods: In all, 1030 patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited from specialized clinics in this prospective cohort study.

All-cause mortality and location of death in patients with established cardiovascular disease before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown: a Danish Nationwide Cohort Study.

Background: On 13 March 2020, the Danish authorities imposed extensive nationwide lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and reallocated limited healthcare resources. We investigated mortality rates, overall and according to location, in patients with established cardiovascular disease before, during, and after these lockdown measures.

Methods And Results: Using Danish nationwide registries, we identified a dynamic cohort comprising all Danish citizens with cardiovascular disease (i.

The mediating role of effective treatments in the relationship between income level and survival in patients with heart failure: a sex- and cohabitation-stratified study.

Aims: Patients with heart failure and low income have a high mortality risk. We examined whether lower survival among low-income patients with heart failure could be explained by different use of β -blockers, renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RASi), and implanted devices compared with high-income patients.

Methods And Results: We linked Danish national registries to identify patients with new-onset heart failure between 2005 and 2016.

Effect of dapagliflozin on anaemia in DAPA-HF.

Aim: Anaemia is common in heart failure and associated with worse outcomes. We examined the effect of dapagliflozin on correction of anaemia in patients with heart failure (HF) and reduced ejection fraction in DAPA-HF. We also analysed the effect of dapagliflozin on outcomes, according to anaemia status at baseline.

Efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin according to aetiology in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: insights from the DAPA-HF trial.

Aims: We examined the efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin, compared with placebo, according to aetiology in patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) enrolled in the Dapagliflozin And Prevention of Adverse-outcomes in Heart Failure trial (DAPA-HF).

Methods And Results: Aetiology was investigator-reported and categorized as ischaemic or non-ischaemic. The primary outcome was the composite of an episode of worsening HF or cardiovascular death.

Consequences of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) lockdown on infection-related hospitalizations among the pediatric population in Denmark.

It remains unknown how Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) prevention measures implemented on March 12, 2020, have affected the rate of pediatric infection-related hospitalizations in Denmark. Therefore, we investigated the rate of pediatric infection-related hospitalizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a retrospective cohort design and included all Danish children < 18 years.

Dapagliflozin in HFrEF Patients Treated With Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists: An Analysis of DAPA-HF.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin in patients taking or not taking an mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) at baseline in the DAPA-HF (Dapagliflozin And Prevention of Adverse outcomes in Heart Failure) trial.

Background: MRAs and sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors each have diuretic activity, lower blood pressure, and reduce glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Therefore, it is important to investigate the safety, as well as efficacy, of their combination.

Risk of major cardiovascular events according to educational level before and after the initial COVID-19 public lockdown: a nationwide study.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, decreasing rates of hospitalisations for cardiovascular disease raised concerns for undertreatment, particularly for vulnerable groups. We investigated how the initial COVID-19 public lockdown, impacted the risk of being hospitalised with a major cardiovascular event (MCE: myocardial infarction/stroke/heart failure) according to educational level.

Methods: We grouped all Danish residents according to educational attainment level (low, medium, high) and age (40-59, 60-69, ≥70 years).

Extreme temperatures compromise male and female fertility in a large desert bird.

Temperature has a crucial influence on the places where species can survive and reproduce. Past research has primarily focused on survival, making it unclear if temperature fluctuations constrain reproductive success, and if so whether populations harbour the potential to respond to climatic shifts. Here, using two decades of data from a large experimental breeding programme of the iconic ostrich (Struthio camelus) in South Africa, we show that the number of eggs females laid and the number of sperm males produced were highly sensitive to natural temperature extremes (ranging from -5 °C to 45 °C).

Effect of long-term beta-blocker treatment following myocardial infarction among stable, optimally treated patients without heart failure in the reperfusion era: a Danish, nationwide cohort study.

Aims: We aimed to investigate the long-term cardio-protective effect associated with beta-blocker (BB) treatment in stable, optimally treated myocardial infarction (MI) patients without heart failure (HF).

Methods And Results: Using nationwide registries, we included patients with first-time MI undergoing coronary angiography (CAG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) during admission and treated with both acetyl-salicylic acid and statins post-discharge between 2003 and 2018. Patients with prior history of MI, prior BB use, or any alternative indication or contraindication for BB treatment were excluded.

Associations of Empagliflozin With Left Ventricular Volumes, Mass, and Function in Patients With Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction: A Substudy of the Empire HF Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) improve outcomes in patients with heart failure and a reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). The association with cardiac remodeling has not been investigated.

Objective: To investigate the outcome of the SGLT2i empagliflozin, compared with placebo, on cardiac remodeling in patients with HFrEF.