Publications by authors named "Villa E"

Background: The impact of the COAPT results on clinical practice has not yet been investigated in large real-world cohort study. The aim of the study is to evaluate the potential impact of the COAPT trial by analyzing the temporal trends of baseline characteristics and outcome of secondary mitral regurgitation (SMR) patients undergoing MitraClip (MC) included in the GIOTTO registry.

Methods: The study population was divided into two groups, considering the enrolment before or after the COAPT publication.

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As nucleus-forming phages become better characterized, understanding their unifying similarities and unique differences will help us understand how they occupy varied niches and infect diverse hosts. All identified nucleus-forming phages fall within the Chimalliviridae family and share a core genome of 68 unique genes including chimallin, the major nuclear shell protein. A well-studied but non-essential protein encoded by many nucleus-forming phages is PhuZ, a tubulin homolog which aids in capsid migration, nucleus rotation, and nucleus positioning.

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Liver transplantation (LT) is a curative strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the risk of HCC recurrence remains a challenging problem. In patients with HCC recurrence after LT (HCC-R_LT), the locoregional and surgical approaches are complex, and the guidelines do not report evidence-based strategies for the management of immunosuppression. In recent years, immunotherapy has become an effective option for patients with advanced HCC in pre-transplant settings.

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Phase separation is an important mechanism to generate certain biomolecular condensates and organize the cell interior. Condensate formation and function remain incompletely understood due to difficulties in visualizing the condensate interior at high resolution. Here we analyzed the structure of biochemically reconstituted chromatin condensates through cryo-electron tomography.

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  • Tethering is a common issue in mitral valve problems, often seen in patients with serious regurgitation, but its true effects on treatment outcomes are not well understood.
  • A study involving over 2,200 patients found that while those with tethering had higher initial rates of cardiac death and rehospitalization, after adjusting for other factors, tethering did not significantly impact long-term outcomes.
  • Consequently, the study suggests that having tethering should not prevent suitable patients from undergoing transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) for mitral valve issues.
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  • Aortic valve replacement (AVR) has seen an increased use of the Perceval sutureless bioprosthesis, which shows promising safety and reliability in both short- and mid-term outcomes, with some long-term data emerging.
  • An updated systematic review of studies from 2015 to 2024 analyzed long-term outcomes of 5,221 patients with Perceval implants, revealing a long-term survival rate between 64.8% to 87.9% and low rates of complications such as structural valve degeneration and significant leaks.
  • Despite limited data on sutureless bioprostheses, the encouraging results from existing studies suggest that Perceval could provide
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  • Balloon-expandable valves (BEVs) and self-expanding valves (SEVs) are compared for their effects on patients with Sievers type 1 bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) stenosis undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement.
  • The analysis, based on a registry of 955 patients, found no significant difference in midterm major adverse events or technical success between BEVs and SEVs after adjusting for baseline differences.
  • However, BEVs had lower risks of new permanent pacemaker implantation and moderate or greater paravalvular regurgitation, but a higher risk of severe patient-prosthesis mismatch compared to SEVs.
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Background: Comprehensive data on pediatric anesthesia outcomes, particularly severe critical events (SCEs), are scarce in Asia. This highlights the need for standardized research to assess anesthesia safety and quality in the diverse settings.

Aims: The PEACH in Asia pilot study aimed to test the feasibility of a standardized protocol for investigating SCEs in anesthesia practices across Asia, evaluate the data acquisition processes, and determine the sample size for a main study.

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Background: The Latinx community faces an increasing amount of mental health challenges and disparities in care. While the contributing factors are complex, there are likely potential barriers related to connecting with mental health support and accessing care that can be addressed.

Methods: To investigate barriers in connecting to mental health care, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of mental health service use and barriers in an urban community with a primarily Hispanic/Latinx ethnicity using a modified random walk approach for door-to-door data collection with a two-cluster sampling frame.

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  • Brachytherapy is an effective treatment for cervical cancer that delivers high doses of radiation while minimizing side effects, but there's limited information on anesthesia management for these procedures in the Philippines, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A study involved reviewing 446 patient charts to analyze various factors, such as anesthetic techniques and outcomes, focusing on 117 patients who underwent 446 procedures with a mean age of 49.
  • Results showed that spinal anesthesia was the preferred method (75%), with very few complications (less than 5%), and most patients were able to go home the same day, highlighting the safety and efficacy of the anesthetic approaches used.
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  • The study updates findings from the CREST study on the 8-week treatment of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (GLE/PIB) for patients with chronic hepatitis C and compensated cirrhosis.
  • It analyzes 437 patients, showing a high sustained virologic response (SVR12) of 98.9%, especially among those with certain comorbidities and those on other medications.
  • The research highlights safety aspects, noting only a small percentage experienced adverse events, and emphasizes variations in healthcare resource use based on patients' employment status and drug use history.
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  • The study analyzed the relationship between the neoangiogenic transcriptomic signature (nTS) and various clinical outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), involving a large cohort of 584 patients.
  • Findings showed that nTS is linked to more aggressive disease characteristics, limited treatment options, and poorer overall survival compared to those without nTS, with significant consequences on treatment effectiveness and patient prognosis.
  • Repeated transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) was found to convert some patients from nTS- to nTS+, which correlated with worsened survival rates and changes in microRNA patterns, emphasizing the nTS's role in managing and predicting HCC outcomes.
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  • In situ cryo-Electron Microscopy (cryo-EM) allows researchers to study protein structures in their natural cellular environment, significantly advancing the understanding of macromolecular interactions.
  • Despite recent advancements, many proteins remain difficult to detect in cryo-EM due to their small size and low abundance, necessitating new methods for observation.
  • The introduction of novel nanogold probes for identifying specific proteins in live cells enhances cryo-ET and correlated light and electron microscopy (CLEM), facilitating efficient protein labeling and expanding the range of detectable proteins in cryo-EM studies.
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Study Objective: To evaluate the clinical effect, safety, and clinical outcomes of focused transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in the evaluation of critically ill patients in the emergency department (ED) and ICUs.

Methods: We established a prospective, multicenter, observational registry involving adult critically ill patients in whom focused TEE was performed for evaluation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), inhospital cardiac arrest, evaluation of undifferentiated shock, hemodynamic monitoring, and/or procedural guidance in the ED, ICU, or operating room setting. The primary objective of the current investigation was to evaluate the clinical influence and safety of focused, point-of-care TEE in critically ill patients.

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Cobamides (Cbas) are cobalt-containing cyclic tetrapyrroles used by cells from all domains of life as co-catalyst of diverse reactions. There are several structural features that distinguish Cbas from one another. The most relevant of those features discussed in this review is the lower ligand, which is the nucleobase of a ribotide located in the lower face of the cyclic tetrapyrrole ring.

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  • The study examines the characteristics and outcomes of patients with tapered raphe-type bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) when undergoing trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), focusing on the safety and effectiveness of modern heart valves.
  • Researchers analyzed data from 897 patients, finding that those with tapered configurations showed similar success rates and safety between two sizing strategies: annular and supra-annular.
  • The results indicate that TAVR is a safe and effective procedure for these patients, regardless of the sizing method used, maintaining a high rate of clinical efficacy at mid-term follow-up.
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The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is the sole mediator of nucleocytoplasmic transport. Despite great advances in understanding its conserved core architecture, the peripheral regions can exhibit considerable variation within and between species. One such structure is the cage-like nuclear basket.

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  • Transcatheter mitral edge-to-edge repair (TEER) is a minimally invasive option for treating severe mitral regurgitation in patients with high surgical risk, but there are concerns regarding the risk of cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) after the procedure.
  • In a study of 2,238 patients, the incidence of CVAs was found to be low at 1.47%, with the majority occurring after hospital discharge and linked to preexisting conditions like atrial fibrillation and renal dysfunction.
  • While CVAs did not significantly increase the risk of long-term or cardiac death, the study suggests the need for proactive antithrombotic therapy for patients at higher risk before and after TEER.
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Squamous cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx is responsible for 0.7% of all malignant tumors worldwide, with the highest incidence in the population of southern China and Southeast Asia. The standard treatment for locally advanced disease consists of a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in different schedules.

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The remarkable mechanical properties of nickel-titanium (NiTi) shape memory alloy, particularly its super-elasticity, establish it as the material of choice for fabricating self-expanding vascular stents, including the metallic backbone of peripheral stents and the metallic frame of stent-grafts. The super-elastic nature of NiTi substantially influences the mechanical performance of vascular stents, thereby affecting their clinical effectiveness and safety. This property shows marked sensitivity to the primary parameters of the heat treatment process used in device fabrication, specifically temperature and processing time.

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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Curative treatments are available to a minority of patients, as HCC is often diagnosed at an advanced stage. For patients with unresectable and multifocal HCC, tyrosine kinase inhibitor drugs (TKIs) are the only potential treatment option.

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  • Researchers studied how heart failure (HF) affects death rates in patients getting a special heart valve repair called M-TEER, focusing on a condition called secondary mitral regurgitation (SMR).
  • They found that patients with advanced HF (serious heart problems) had a higher chance of dying in the next two years, but those who got much better SMR results had lower death risks.
  • The results showed that improving SMR is important for all patients, whether their heart failure is advanced or not, as it can help them live longer.
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The combination of cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram analysis affords 3D high-resolution views of biological macromolecules in their native cellular environment, or in situ. Streamlined methods for acquiring and processing these data are advancing attainable resolutions into the realm of drug discovery. Yet regardless of resolution, structure prediction driven by artificial intelligence (AI) combined with subtomogram analysis is becoming powerful in understanding macromolecular assemblies.

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  • * Data from the GIOTTO registry was analyzed, focusing on 657 DMR patients divided based on their EuroSCORE risk level; results indicated higher all-cause mortality associated with a EuroSCORE of 4% or more, as well as specific health factors like low left ventricular ejection fraction.
  • * The findings revealed that over half of the patients with DMR had a low EuroSCORE, and successful M
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