Methamphetamine-associated cardiomyopathy continues to grow within the United States. Although initiation of guideline-directed medical therapy and cessation of methamphetamine are cornerstones of therapy, many barriers to guideline-directed medical therapy use exist for patients with methamphetamine-associated cardiomyopathy. This paper presents a case series of patients who demonstrated profound clinical and echocardiographic improvement with engagement in a community heart failure program paired with the use of alarmed pill containers to target medication adherence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCharacterization of a productive oil/gas well blowout through seismological methods is relatively uncommon. In this paper, we conduct an in-depth seismic evaluation of one of the world's most significant onshore oil well blowout incidents, which occurred in 2020 at the Baghjan oil field in Assam, northeast India. We show that the blowout and related on-site activities generated distinct signals that can be distinguished by their spectral characteristics, temporal variation in geometric spreading, and sharp attenuation of daytime noise in comparison to the nighttime.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Southern Ocean sequesters atmospheric CO through biological pumps, though its driving factors are debated. Modern productivity is regulated by natural iron fertilization from micronutrient influx through dust, regeneration, and Antarctic glaciers and sea ice melting (ice melt). The productivity along the eastern Antarctic continental margin was low during the last glacial period and gradually increased through the deglacial to Late Holocene, marked by distinct productivity peaks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStability of soil organic carbon (SOC) is pre-requisite for stabilization of C leading to long-term C sequestration. However, development of a comprehensive metric of SOC stability is a major challenge. The objectives for the study were to develop novel SOC stability indices by encompassing physical, chemical, and biochemical SOC stability parameters and identifying the most important indicators from a Mollisol, an Inceptisol, a Vertisol, and an Alfisol under long-term manuring and fertilization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: To evaluate whether left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS), automatically calculated by artificial intelligence (AI), increases the diagnostic performance of stress echocardiography (SE) for coronary artery disease (CAD) detection.
Methods And Results: SEs from 512 participants who underwent a clinically indicated SE (with or without contrast) for the evaluation of CAD from seven hospitals in the UK and US were studied. Visual wall motion scoring (WMS) was performed to identify inducible ischaemia.
Background: Prompt differential diagnosis of wide QRS complex tachycardia (WCT) is crucial to patient management. However, distinguishing ventricular tachycardia (VT) from supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) with wide QRS complexes remains problematic, especially for nonelectrophysiologists.
Objectives: This study aimed to develop a simple-to-use algorithm with integration of clinical and electrocardiographic (ECG) parameters for the differential diagnosis of WCT.
Peninsular India hosts the initial rain-down of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) after which winds travel further east inwards into Asia. Stalagmite oxygen isotope composition from this region, such as those from Belum Cave, preserve the vital signals of the past ISM variability. These archives experience a single wet season with a single dominant moisture source annually.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The purpose of this study was to establish whether an artificially intelligent (AI) system can be developed to automate stress echocardiography analysis and support clinician interpretation.
Background: Coronary artery disease is the leading global cause of mortality and morbidity and stress echocardiography remains one of the most commonly used diagnostic imaging tests.
Methods: An automated image processing pipeline was developed to extract novel geometric and kinematic features from stress echocardiograms collected as part of a large, United Kingdom-based prospective, multicenter, multivendor study.
Background: Cardiovascular outcomes for people with familial hypercholesterolaemia can be improved with diagnosis and medical management. However, 90% of individuals with familial hypercholesterolaemia remain undiagnosed in the USA. We aimed to accelerate early diagnosis and timely intervention for more than 1·3 million undiagnosed individuals with familial hypercholesterolaemia at high risk for early heart attacks and strokes by applying machine learning to large health-care encounter datasets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSemin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg
March 2022
Septal myectomy is the standard treatment for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We studied the impact of intraoperative pre- and postprocedure dobutamine stress transesophageal echocardiography on surgical planning and outcomes of septal myectomy. We identified 55 patients undergoing septal myectomy over a 24-month period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Cardiovasc Electrophysiol
February 2020
Introduction: Late lead perforation (LLP), defined as perforation ≥30 days from cardiac implantable electronic device implant, is a rare diagnosis and little data exist regarding management practices and outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the occurrence, safety, and efficacy of transvenous management of clinically significant LLP.
Methods: The electronic medical records of a single-center tertiary hospital were reviewed for all patients who were referred for LLP or its sequelae.
Background: Therapeutic ultrasound (TUS) has been used to lyse infarct-related coronary artery thrombus. There has been no study examining the effect of TUS specifically on myocardial microthromboemboli seen in acute myocardial infarction and acute coronary syndromes. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that TUS improves myocardial blood flow (MBF) and reduces infarct size (IS) in this situation by dissolving myocardial microthrombi.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe hitherto difficult task of reliably estimating populations of wide-ranging megafauna has been enabled by advances in capture-recapture methodology. Here we combine photographic sampling with a Bayesian spatially-explicit capture-recapture (SCR) model to estimate population parameters for the endangered Asian elephant Elephas maximus in the productive floodplain ecosystem of Kaziranga National Park, India. Posterior density estimates of herd-living adult females and sub-adult males and females (herd-adults) was 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMajority of organic matter is bound to clay minerals to form stable colloidal organo-mineral fraction (COMF) in soil. Stability of carbon (C) in COMF is crucial for long-term C sequestration in soil. However, information on the effect of long-term fertilization and manuring with various organic sources on C stability in such fraction in soils with varying clay mineralogy is scarce.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Cardiovasc Electrophysiol
September 2019
Introduction: Dual external direct current cardioversion (dual-DCCV) is a rhythm control strategy for persistent atrial fibrillation (AF), involving simultaneous delivery of two shocks from two defibrillators. The long-term effectiveness of this approach has not been studied in the biphasic cardioversion era.
Methods: Seventy-seven consecutive patients at a single center were identified to receive dual-DCCV at the time of their initial cardioversion for AF, when maximum output standard external direct current cardioversion failed in two vectors.
Background: The Valsalva maneuver is widely used to provoke left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Whereas early experiments used a standardized, goal-directed approach by maintaining an intraoral pressure >40 mm Hg for >10 sec, current practice depends on patients' understanding and effort. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of the goal-directed Valsalva maneuver (GDV) in HCM as a method to provoke left ventricular outflow tract obstruction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) have traditionally been a contraindication for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Recent studies suggest that MRI can be conducted safely in select patients with pacemakers (PPMs) and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). We sought to determine the safety of MRI in patients with CIEDs, using a protocol for patient selection and device programming.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Augmentation of tissue blood flow by therapeutic ultrasound is thought to rely on convective shear. Microbubble contrast agents that undergo ultrasound-mediated cavitation markedly amplify these effects. We hypothesized that purinergic signaling is responsible for shear-dependent increases in muscle perfusion during therapeutic cavitation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Treat Options Cardiovasc Med
November 2016
Imaging modalities such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance, positron emission tomography, and single-photon emission computed tomography are an indispensable component of cardiac arrhythmia management. Over the last two decades, developments in imaging techniques have facilitated safer and more effective cardiac ablation and device implantation procedures. Pre-procedural assessment of arrhythmogenic substrate and integration with electroanatomic data has significantly impacted the management of atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtrial fibrillation is the most commonly encountered arrhythmia after cardiac surgery. Although usually self-limiting, it represents an important predictor of increased patient morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. Numerous studies have attempted to determine the underlying mechanisms of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) with varied success.
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