Socioeconomic deprivation and illness trajectory in the Scottish population after COVID-19 hospitalization.

Background: The associations between deprivation and illness trajectory after hospitalisation for coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) are uncertain.

Methods: A prospective, multicentre cohort study was conducted on post-COVID-19 patients, enrolled either in-hospital or shortly post-discharge. Two evaluations were carried out: an initial assessment and a follow-up at 28-60 days post-discharge.

A 20-year population study of peripartum cardiomyopathy.

Background And Aims: The epidemiology of peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) in Europe is poorly understood and data on long-term outcomes are lacking. A retrospective, observational, population-level study of validated cases of PPCM in Scotland from 1998 to 2017 was conducted.

Methods: Women hospitalized with presumed de novo left ventricular systolic dysfunction around the time of pregnancy and no clear alternative cause were included.

Post-COVID-19 illness and associations with sex and gender.

Background: Post-COVID-19 syndromes have associated with female sex, but the pathophysiological basis is uncertain.

Aim: There are sex differences in myocardial inflammation identified using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in post-COVID-19 patients, and in patient reported health outcomes following COVID-19 infection.

Design: This prospective study investigated the time-course of multiorgan injury in survivors of COVID-19 during convalescence.

Adjudicated myocarditis and multisystem illness trajectory in healthcare workers post-COVID-19.

Background: We investigated the associations of healthcare worker status with multisystem illness trajectory in hospitalised post-COVID-19 individuals.

Methods And Results: One hundred and sixty-eight patients were evaluated 28-60 days after the last episode of hospital care. Thirty-six (21%) were healthcare workers.

Effect of Empagliflozin on Left Ventricular Volumes in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes, or Prediabetes, and Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction (SUGAR-DM-HF).

Background: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors reduce the risk of heart failure hospitalization and cardiovascular death in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, their effects on cardiac structure and function in HFrEF are uncertain.

Methods: We designed a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (the SUGAR-DM-HF trial [Studies of Empagliflozin and Its Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic Effects in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus, or Prediabetes, and Heart Failure]) to investigate the cardiac effects of empagliflozin in patients in New York Heart Association functional class II to IV with a left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction ≤40% and type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.

The Chief Scientist Office Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Imaging in SARS Coronavirus disease-19 (CISCO-19) study.

Background: COVID-19 is typically a primary respiratory illness with multisystem involvement. The prevalence and clinical significance of cardiovascular and multisystem involvement in COVID-19 remain unclear.

Methods: This is a prospective, observational, multicentre, longitudinal, cohort study with minimal selection criteria and a near-consecutive approach to screening.

Relationship between endothelin-1 levels and pulmonary arterial hypertension in HIV-infected patients.

Objective: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive, fatal disease with average survival of less than 3 years if left untreated. It is most common in patients infected with HIV. Although the pathogenesis in this population is not fully understood, it is thought that HIV infection, through the immune response and release of different inflammatory mediators such as endothelin-1, may contribute directly to endothelial damage.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection: long-term follow-up of a large series of patients prospectively managed with a "conservative" therapeutic strategy.

Objectives: This study sought to assess the long-term clinical outcome of patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCD) managed with a conservative strategy.

Background: SCD is a rare, but challenging, clinical entity.

Methods: A prospective protocol, including a conservative management strategy, was followed.

Prevalence and risk factors associated with pulmonary hypertension in HIV-infected patients on regular follow-up.

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is uncommon among HIV-positive patients. However, it is a potentially life-threatening condition. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is a noninvasive tool validated for PAH screening.

Diagnosis of spontaneous coronary artery dissection by optical coherence tomography.

Objectives: This study sought to assess the diagnostic value of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with suspected spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD).

Background: SCAD is a rare but challenging clinical entity.

Methods: Following a prospective protocol, OCT was performed in 17 consecutive patients with a clinical and angiographic suspicion of SCD from a total of 5,002 patients undergoing coronary angiography.

[Area strain: normal values for a new parameter in healthy people].

The echocardiographic technology known as three-dimensional wall motion tracking offers three-dimensional images of the myocardium and provides multiple measures of deformation, one of which is known as "area strain" (AS), which combines left ventricular longitudinal and circumferential deformations. Our aim was to describe the normal maximum systolic reference AS value in a sample of healthy subjects. Sixty consecutive subjects without known cardiovascular risk factors or diseases were enrolled, and left ventricular AS was measured.

Distortion of the QRS in elderly patients with myocardial infarction.

Background: Distortion of the terminal portion of the QRS in the initial electrocardiogram (ECG) is a strong predictor of adverse outcome in myocardial infarction. Our purpose is to assess the relationship of distortion of QRS and other ECG characteristics with older age.

Methods And Results: We analysed 634 consecutive patients (age 62.

What to do with an atrial thrombus?

This case report is about an 84-year-old woman admitted with right atrial thrombus attached to a pacemaker lead, diagnosed by transesophageal echocardiography. Surgical treatment was rejected due to the high operative risk, and percutaneous stenting was performed with success; unfortunately, the outcome was fatal and the patient died. We review here the clinical features of right atrial thrombi, including the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment, which is sometimes controversial.

Negative blood culture infective endocarditis in the elderly: long-term follow-up.

Background And Aim: Since the appearance of transesophageal echocardiography, the long-term prognosis of patients with negative blood culture infective endocarditis (NBCIE) has been found to be similar to that of patients with positive blood culture infective endocarditis (PBCIE). Nevertheless, the prognostic implications of NBCIE in the elderly (>65 years) has not, to date, been well documented. Our aim was to study the long-term prognosis of elderly patients with NBCIE and compare it with that of elderly patients with PBCIE.