Comparisons of echocardiographic findings of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units before and after the omicron variant propagation.

Purpose: Few investigational reports have evaluated the status of cardiovascular manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the Omicron dominance period. In this study, we aimed to investigate the cardiac function parameters and clinical outcomes of patients with COVID-19 before and after the Omicron variant (OV) propagation.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 88 adult patients with COVID-19 who underwent clinically indicated standard transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in intensive care wards.

Dermoscopic Examination of Tinea Nigra on the Plantar Foot Unveils a Parallel Ridge Pattern Mimicking Acral-Lentiginous Melanoma.

A man in his thirties patient visited his previous physician with the chief complaint of a pigmented macule on the sole of his left foot that had steadily grown over the past two years. A dermoscopic examination of the lesion showed a parallel ridge pattern (PRP); therefore, acral-lentiginous melanoma (ALM) was suspected, and the patient was referred to our hospital for a more detailed examination. On closer inspection, PRP had a well-defined and irregular border with no variation in color, which is atypical for ALM which is characterized by asymmetrical structure and variation in colors.

Recovery of right ventricular function in patients with transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis after one-year tafamidis administration.

Baseline cardiac functions are known to be potent predictors of cardiovascular events in the natural history of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). However, previous studies have not shown functional and morphological changes in the heart during tafamidis administration. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of tafamidis on cardiac function by measuring right ventricular strain in patients with ATTR-CM.

An aspirin-free strategy for percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with diabetes: a pre-specified subgroup analysis of the STOPDAPT-3 trial.

Aims: Safety of aspirin-free strategy immediately after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes was unknown.

Methods And Results: We conducted the prespecified subgroup analysis on diabetes in the STOPDAPT-3 trial, which randomly compared prasugrel (3.75 mg/day) monotherapy (2984 patients) to dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with prasugrel and aspirin (2982 patients) in patients with acute coronary syndrome or high bleeding risk.