Analysis of serum concentrations of metoprolol and its metabolite α-hydroxymetoprolol in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: a pilot study in routine health care.

Background: The cardioselective β-1 receptor antagonist metoprolol is used to treat heart failure. It is metabolized in the liver, primarily by cytochrome 2D6.

Research Design And Methods: In this study, trough serum concentrations of metoprolol and its metabolite α-hydroxymetoprolol were measured in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

Electrical storm in a patient with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease treated with radiofrequency ablation and subsequent serious complication of implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation: a case report.

Background: Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most common inherited neuromuscular disorder. Rarely, it can be associated with heart failure and various arrhythmic disturbances. This case illustrates the challenges of making decisions to prevent sudden cardiac death in a patient with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

Induction of supraventricular tachycardias in patients undergoing pulmonary vein isolation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation is safe and reasonable.

Aims: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) may experience other supraventricular tachycardias (SVT) that can trigger AF and cause similar symptoms. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and effectivity of inducing SVT in patients undergoing catheter ablation (CA) for AF.

Methods: In 61 patients with paroxysmal AF undergoing CA between January 2022 and March 2023, an electrophysiological study was performed after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) to induce SVT.

Preoperative electrocardiogram in prediction of 90-day postoperative mortality: retrospective cohort study.

Background: There are conflicting data on the relationship between preoperative electrocardiogram and postoperative mortality. We aimed to assess the predictive value of preoperative ECG on postoperative all-cause mortality in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery (NCS).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of hospitalized patients who underwent an internal preoperative examination and subsequent NCS in the years 2015-2021.

Ventricular fibrillation during football training as a consequence of kratom and caffeine use in an adolescent: case report.

Background: There is an increase in the sale of legal drugs in our country. One of these substances is kratom. Kratom () is a partial agonist of the opioid kappa, mu, and delta receptors.

Interventions for increasing medication adherence in heart failure patients: A narrative review.

Heart failure is one of the critical and most costly medical challenges of the 21st century. It is a chronic debilitating condition and adherence to medication, a precondition for successful treatment is often poor. There are various interventions for improving the adherence.

Management of patients with hypertension and chronic kidney disease referred to Hypertension Excellence Centres among 27 countries. On behalf of the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Hypertension and the Kidney.

Objective Real-life management of patients with hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD) among European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centres (ESH-ECs) is unclear : we aimed to investigate it. Methods A survey was conducted in 2023. The questionnaire contained 64 questions asking ESH-ECs representatives to estimate how patients with CKD are managed.

Sodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate in HFrEF and Hyperkalemia: REALIZE-K Design and Baseline Characteristics.

Background: Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) improve outcomes in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, MRAs are often underused because of hyperkalemia concerns.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess whether sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (SZC), a nonabsorbed crystal that traps and rapidly lowers potassium, enables MRA use in patients with HFrEF and prevalent hyperkalemia (or at high risk).

Long-term trajectory of renal dysfunction and related risk factors in patients with apparently treatment-resistant and non-resistant arterial hypertension.

Evidence suggests that renal function increasingly deteriorates in patients with apparently treatment-resistant hypertension (ATRH) in comparison with those who have non-resistant arterial hypertension (NAH). We aimed to assess the long-term decline in renal function between these patient groups and identify specific risk factors contributing to the progression of renal dysfunction. Data for 265 patients with ATRH and NAH in a hypertension excellence centre were retrospectively evaluated.

Anticholinesterase Activity of Methanolic Extract of Flowers and Isolation of Rotenoids and Putrescine and Spermidine Derivatives.

Five putrescine and spermidine derivatives (-) together with five rotenoids (-) were isolated from a methanolic extract of the flowers of that displayed promising inhibition of 76.0 ± 1.9% for AChE and 90.

Five New Tamarixetin Glycosides from Griseb. Including Some Substituted with the Rare 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaric Acid and Their Collagenase Inhibitory Effects In Vitro.

Along with the known kaempferol-3--α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-[6--(3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl)]-β-d-galactopyranoside (), five new flavonoids, containing the rarely isolated aglycon tamarixetin, were isolated from a methanolic extract of the endemic Balkan species Griseb. Three of the new compounds are substituted with 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl residue (HMG), untypical for the genus . The compounds were identified as tamarixetin-3--α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-[6--(3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl)]-β-d-galactopyranoside (), tamarixetin-3--(2,6-di--α-l-rhamnopyranosyl)-β-d-galactopyranoside (), tamarixetin 3--β-d-apiofuranosyl-(1 → 2)-β-d-galactopyranoside (), tamarixetin-3--β-d-apiofuranosyl-(1 → 2)-[6--(3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl)]-β-d-galactopyranoside (), and tamarixetin-3--β-d-apiofuranosyl-(1 → 2)-[α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 6)]-β-d-galactopyranoside ().

Corrigendum: Secretoneurin levels are higher in dilated cardiomyopathy than in ischaemic cardiomyopathy: preliminary results.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.

A Simple Risk Formula for the Prediction of COVID-19 Hospital Mortality.

SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infection is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. We aimed to assess the risk factors for hospital mortality in non-vaccinated patients during the 2021 spring wave in the Czech Republic. A total of 991 patients hospitalized between January 2021 and March 2021 with a PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 acute respiratory infection in two university hospitals and five rural hospitals were included in this analysis.

Secretoneurin levels are higher in dilated cardiomyopathy than in ischaemic cardiomyopathy: preliminary results.

Background: Secretoneurin (SN) is a neuropeptide with potential utility as a biomarker of cardiovascular episodes. The main effect of SN is mediated through its inhibition of calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII), which influences calcium handling. We aimed to associate the levels of SN in plasma with different causes of heart failure.

Mortality of hospitalized patients with COVID-19: Effects of treatment options (vitamin D, anticoagulation, isoprinosine, ivermectin) assessed by propensity score matching, retrospective analysis.

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infection is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, especially in hospitalized high-risk patients. We aimed to evaluate the effects of treatment options (vitamin D, anticoagulation, isoprinosine, ivermectin) on hospital mortality in non-vaccinated patients during the 2021 spring wave in the Czech Republic.

Methods: Initially, 991 patients hospitalized in the period January 1, 2021, to March 31, 2021, with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 acute respiratory infection in two university and five rural hospitals were included in the study.

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in acute hospitalized older patients focused on hydration.

Background: Acutely ill older patients frequently suffer not only from their acute disease, but also polymorbidity and frailty. Dehydration is another typical symptom, usually occurring in its both forms: low-intake dehydration and volume depletion. POCUS is goal-directed bedside ultrasound examination and several studies refer to its positive impact on hydration assessment.

A practical approach to assessment of non-adherence to antihypertensive treatment.

Non-adherence to antihypertensive treatment is frequent, complicates the care of hypertensive patients, represents one of the major causes of treatment failure and is linked with the increased risk of cardiovascular events. Identifying a non-adherent patient is one of the recent daily-practice tasks for which the ideal solution has not yet been found. Presence of certain clinical red flags should prompt the clinician to consider non-adherence.

Optically modified second harmonic generation in silicon oxynitride thin films via local layer heating.

Strong second harmonic generation (SHG) in silicon nitride has been extensively studied-among others, in terms of laser-induced SHG enhancement in SiN waveguides. This enhancement has been ascribed to the all-optical poling induced by the coherent photogalvanic effect. Yet, an analogous process for SiN thin films has not been reported.

[News in cardiology].

The article summarizes new advances in cardiology published in 2022, which have an impact to everyday practice of not only internists and cardiologists. The administration of polypill to patients after myocardial infarction (SECURE study), early pharmacotherapy of hypertension in pregnant women with blood pressure exceeding 140/90 mmHg (CHAP study), or the administration of dapagliflozin to patients with heart failure with preserved or mildly reduced ejection fraction (DELIVER study) have been shown to be effective. Patients with heart failure do not have to limit their sodium intake (SODIUM-HF study), on the contrary, they benefit from up-titration of guideline-recommended drugs to the maximum tolerated doses as quickly as possible (STRONG-HF study).

[What is new in 2022 ESC guidelines on cardiovascular assessment and management of patients undergoing non‑cardiac surgery].

In 2022, the European Society of Cardiology has published updated guidelines for the cardiovascular evaluation and management of patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. In this article we briefly summarize the most important recommendations with an emphasis on their use in everyday clinical practice - from the complex assessment of cardiovascular risk and prediction of cardiovascular complications, through the indication of basic paraclinical examinations, the importance of biomarkers, adjustments to pharmacotherapy of heart failure, adjustments to anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy, to other specifics of individual cardiovascular and other diseases and their importance in the perioperative period. Knowledge and use of these recommendations have the potential to improve the prognosis of patients undergoing various types of surgical procedures.

Competences of internal medicine specialists for the management of patients with multimorbidity. EFIM multimorbidity working group position paper.

Patients with multimorbidity increasingly impact healthcare systems, both in primary care and in hospitals. This is particularly true in Internal Medicine. This population associates with higher mortality rates, polypharmacy, hospital readmissions, post-discharge syndrome, anxiety, depression, accelerated age-related functional decline, and development of geriatric syndromes, amongst others.