Clinical parameters of death and heart failure hospitalization in biventricular systolic dysfunction assessed via cardiac magnetic resonance.

Aims: While factors associated with adverse events are well elucidated in setting of isolated left ventricular dysfunction, clinical and imaging-based prognosticators of adverse outcomes are lacking in context of biventricular dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to establish role of clinical variables in prognosis of biventricular heart failure (HF), as assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Methods: Study cohort consisted of 840 patients enrolled in DERIVATE registry with coexisting CMR-derived right ventricular (RV) and left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, as defined by RV and LV ejection fractions ≤45 % and ≤ 50 %, respectively.

Optimizing Trauma Activation Criteria for a Rural Trauma Center.

Background: There is a need for activation criteria that reflect the different factors affecting rural trauma patients.

Objective: To develop effective activation criteria for a rural trauma center among adults, incorporating variables specific to the geography, mechanisms of injury, and population served.

Methods: This is a single-center, retrospective cohort study conducted from (23 years) January 1, 2000, to July 31, 2023.

Disentangling the detrimental effects of local from systemic adipose tissue dysfunction on articular cartilage in the knee.

Objective: Obesity increases osteoarthritis (OA) risk due to adipose tissue dysfunction with associated metabolic syndrome and excess weight. Lipodystrophy syndromes exhibit systemic metabolic and inflammatory abnormalities similar to obesity without biomechanical overloading. Here, we used lipodystrophy mouse models to investigate the effects of systemic versus intra-articular adipose tissue dysfunction on the knee.

Invasive fractional-flow-reserve prediction by coronary CT angiography using artificial intelligence vs. computational fluid dynamics software in intermediate-grade stenosis.

Coronary computed angiography (CCTA) with non-invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR) calculates lesion-specific ischemia when compared with invasive FFR and can be considered for patients with stable chest pain and intermediate-grade stenoses according to recent guidelines. The objective of this study was to compare a new CCTA-based artificial-intelligence deep-learning model for FFR prediction (FFR) to computational fluid dynamics CT-derived FFR (FFR) in patients with intermediate-grade coronary stenoses with FFR as reference standard. The FFR model was trained with curved multiplanar-reconstruction CCTA images of 500 stenotic vessels in 413 patients, using FFR measurements as the ground truth.

Progression of diabetic retinopathy in women with pregestational diabetes during pregnancy and postpartum.

Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) may worsen during pregnancy, but its course in the postpartum remains poorly understood. Understanding the natural history of DR during and after pregnancy can help determine when sight-threatening DR treatment should be administered.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal cohort study recruited pregnant women with pre-existing type 1 (T1D) or type 2 diabetes from two tertiary Diabetes Antenatal Clinics in Melbourne, Australia.

Rates of paclitaxel hypersensitivity reactions using a modified Markman's infusion protocol as primary prophylaxis.

Purpose: Markman's desensitisation protocol allows successful retreatment of patients who have had significant paclitaxel hypersensitivity reactions. We aimed to reduce the risk and severity of paclitaxel hypersensitivity reactions by introducing this protocol as primary prophylaxis.

Methods: We evaluated all patients with a gynaecological malignancy receiving paclitaxel before (December 2018 to September 2019) and after (October 2019 to July 2020) the implementation of a modified Markman's desensitisation protocol.

Validation of an automated method for studying retinal capillary blood flow.

Two major approaches for tracking cellular motion across a range of biological tissues are the manual labelling of cells, and automated analysis of spatiotemporal information represented in a kymograph. Here we compare these two approaches for the measurement of retinal capillary flow, a particularly noisy application due to the low intrinsic contrast of single red blood cells (erythrocytes). Image data were obtained using a flood-illuminated adaptive optics ophthalmoscope at 750 nm, allowing the acquisition of flow information over several cardiac cycles which provided key information in evaluating tracking accuracy.

Mapping the human parafoveal vascular network to understand flow variability in capillaries.

Capillary flow is known to be non-homogenous between vessels and variable over time, for reasons that are poorly understood. The local properties of individual vessels have been shown to have limited explanatory power in this regard. This exploratory study investigates the association of network-level properties such as vessel depth, branch order, and distance from the feeding arteriole with capillary flow.

Performance of Automated ASPECTS Software and Value as a Computer-Aided Detection Tool.

Background And Purpose: ASPECTS quantifies early ischemic changes in anterior circulation stroke on NCCT but has interrater variability. We examined the agreement of conventional and automated ASPECTS and studied the value of computer-aided detection.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively collected imaging data from consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke with large-vessel occlusion undergoing thrombectomy.

Flow Heterogeneity and Factors Contributing to the Variability in Retinal Capillary Blood Flow.

Purpose: Capillary flow plays an important role in the nourishment and maintenance of healthy neural tissue and can be observed directly and non-invasively in the living human retina. Despite their importance, patterns of normal capillary flow are not well understood due to limitations in spatial and temporal resolution of imaging data.

Methods: Capillary flow characteristics were studied in the retina of three healthy young individuals using a high-resolution adaptive optics ophthalmoscope.

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance for Prophylactic Implantable-Cardioverter Defibrillator Therapy in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy: The DERIVATE-ICM International Registry.

Background: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy is the most effective prophylactic strategy against sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) and left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤35% as detected by transthoracic echocardiograpgy (TTE). This approach has been recently questioned because of the low rate of ICD interventions in patients who received implantation and the not-negligible percentage of patients who experienced SCD despite not fulfilling criteria for implantation.

Objectives: The DERIVATE-ICM registry (CarDiac MagnEtic Resonance for Primary Prevention Implantable CardioVerter DebrillAtor ThErapy; NCT03352648) is an international, multicenter, and multivendor study to assess the net reclassification improvement (NRI) for the indication of ICD implantation by the use of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) as compared to TTE in patients with ICM.

Contrast Increment and Decrement Processing in Individuals With and Without Diabetes.

Purpose: Animal models suggest that ON retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) may be more vulnerable to diabetic insult than OFF cells. Using three psychophysical tasks to infer the function of ON and OFF RGCs, we hypothesized that functional responses to contrast increments will be preferentially affected in early diabetes mellitus (DM) compared to contrast decrement responses.

Methods: Fifty-two people with DM (type 1 or type 2) (mean age = 34.

Progress in the Treatment of Small Intestine Cancer.

Small intestine cancer is rare, accounting for approximately 3% of all gastrointestinal malignancies. The most common histological subtypes include adenocarcinoma, neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) and gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs). In localised disease, surgery remains the mainstay of treatment and the best approach to improve survival.

Taxonomy of fibroblasts and progenitors in the synovial joint at single-cell resolution.

Objectives: Fibroblasts in synovium include fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) in the lining and + connective-tissue fibroblasts in the sublining. We aimed to investigate their developmental origin and relationship with adult progenitors.

Methods: To discriminate between -lineage cells deriving from the embryonic joint interzone and other -expressing fibroblasts and progenitors, adult mice were used and cartilage injury was induced to activate progenitors.

Cardiac magnetic resonance for prophylactic implantable-cardioverter defibrillator therapy international study: prognostic value of cardiac magnetic resonance-derived right ventricular parameters substudy.

Aims: Right ventricular systolic dysfunction (RVSD) is an important determinant of outcomes in heart failure (HF) cohorts. While the quantitative assessment of RV function is challenging using 2D-echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is the gold standard with its high spatial resolution and precise anatomical definition. We sought to investigate the prognostic value of CMR-derived RV systolic function in a large cohort of HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Global Estimates of Diabetic Retinopathy Prevalence and Progression in Pregnant Women With Preexisting Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Importance: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) may be worsened by pregnancy in pregnant women with preexisting type 1 diabetes (T1D) or type 2 diabetes (T2D). Conflicting findings from previous studies have resulted in inconsistencies in guidelines regarding DR management in pregnancy. Global estimates of DR prevalence and progression in pregnancy are therefore required to provide clearer information about the overall true burden of DR in this population.

Targeting the IL-6-Yap-Snail signalling axis in synovial fibroblasts ameliorates inflammatory arthritis.

Objective: We aimed to understand the role of the transcriptional co-factor Yes-associated protein (Yap) in the molecular pathway underpinning the pathogenic transformation of synovial fibroblasts (SF) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to become invasive and cause joint destruction.

Methods: Synovium from patients with RA and mice with antigen-induced arthritis (AIA) was analysed by immunostaining and qRT-PCR. SF were targeted using and mice, crossed with fluorescent reporters for cell tracing and mice for conditional ablation.

Magnetic resonance relaxometry of the liver - a new imaging biomarker to assess right heart failure in pulmonary hypertension.

Background: Right heart failure (RHF) in pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients is manifested by increased right atrial (RA) pressure. We hypothesized liver relaxation times measured at cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) can be used to noninvasively assess increased right-sided filling pressure.

Methods: Forty-five consecutive patients, that is, 37 PH patients and 8 chronic thromboembolic pulmonary disease patients without PH underwent right heart catheterization and CMR.

Financing adaptation for resilient livelihoods under food system transformation: the role of Multilateral Development Banks.

Climate change is imposing a transformative process on agricultural and food systems, threatening the livelihoods of people dependent upon them which includes a large share of the world's poor people. Transformative adaptation that addresses the risks and vulnerabilities to livelihoods that climate change imposes is essential for effective and inclusive transformation of food systems. Financing that is adequate, accessible and appropriate is essential to realizing these objectives.