The Impact of COVID-19 on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Cardiac Procedural Care.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic altered the racial and ethnic composition of patients receiving cardiac procedural care.

Design: This was a retrospective observational study.

Setting: This study was conducted at a single tertiary-care university hospital.

Orthotopic Heart and Combined Heart Liver Transplantation: the Ultimate Treatment Option for Failing Fontan Physiology.

Purpose Of The Review: This is a comprehensive update on failing Fontan physiology and the role of heart and combined heart and liver transplantation in the current era.

Recent Findings: Single ventricle physiology encompasses a series of rare congenital cardiac abnormalities that are characterized by absence of or hypoplasia of one ventricle. This effectively results in a single ventricular pumping chamber.

Epidural analgesia does not increase the rate of inpatient falls after major upper abdominal and thoracic surgery: a retrospective case-control study.

Purpose: Postoperative epidural analgesia for major upper abdominal and thoracic surgery can provide significant benefits, including superior analgesia and reduced pulmonary dysfunction. Nevertheless, epidural analgesia may also be associated with decreased muscle strength, sympathetic tone, and proprioception that could possibly contribute to falls. The purpose of this retrospective case-control study was to search a large national database in order to investigate the possible relationship between postoperative epidural analgesia and the rate of inpatient falls.

Genome analysis of a highly virulent serotype 1 strain of Streptococcus pneumoniae from West Africa.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of pneumonia, meningitis, and bacteremia, estimated to cause 2 million deaths annually. The majority of pneumococcal mortality occurs in developing countries, with serotype 1 a leading cause in these areas. To begin to better understand the larger impact that serotype 1 strains have in developing countries, we characterized virulence and genetic content of PNI0373, a serotype 1 strain from a diseased patient in The Gambia.

Subtle genetic changes enhance virulence of methicillin resistant and sensitive Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Community acquired (CA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) increasingly causes disease worldwide. USA300 has emerged as the predominant clone causing superficial and invasive infections in children and adults in the USA. Epidemiological studies suggest that USA300 is more virulent than other CA-MRSA.