Autologous Cardiac Stem Cell Injection in Patients with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (CHILD Study).

Mortality in infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is strongly correlated with right ventricle (RV) dysfunction. Cell therapy has demonstrated potential improvements of RV dysfunction in animal models related to HLHS, and neonatal human derived c-kit cardiac-derived progenitor cells (CPCs) show superior efficacy when compared to adult human cardiac-derived CPCs (aCPCs). Neonatal CPCs (nCPCs) have yet to be investigated in humans.

NT-pro B-type natriuretic peptide, early menopause, and incident heart failure in postmenopausal women of the ARIC study.

Objective: N-Terminal pro B-type Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP), a biomarker of heart failure (HF) has been associated with early menopause. We evaluated the modifying role of early menopause on the association of NT-proBNP with incident HF, and separately for HF subtypes, HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Methods: We included 4,352 postmenopausal women including 1,174 with early menopause, ages 63.

Fatty acid nitroalkene reversal of established lung fibrosis.

Tissue fibrosis occurs in response to dysregulated metabolism, pro-inflammatory signaling and tissue repair reactions. For example, lungs exposed to environmental toxins, cancer therapies, chronic inflammation and other stimuli manifest a phenotypic shift to activated myofibroblasts and progressive and often irreversible lung tissue scarring. There are no therapies that stop or reverse fibrosis.

Understanding repeat hospitalizations in intermediate-to-high risk aortic stenosis patients following transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Objectives: We describe the causes, timing and predictors of readmissions and analyze its impact on clinical outcomes in intermediate-to-high-risk patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

Background: Intermediate-high risk TAVR patients with severe AS have an increased risk for hospital readmissions due to the high burden of comorbidities.

Methods: Patients who underwent TAVR from 2012 to 2018 at a single tertiary cardiac center were included and followed for 1 year.

Agreement Between Peak Inspiratory Pressure in Decelerating-Flow Ventilation and Plateau Pressure in Square-Flow Ventilation in Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Objectives: Acute respiratory distress syndrome guidelines suggest limiting plateau pressures to 28-30 cm H2O. Plateau pressure is most accurately measured in square-flow modes, such as volume control. In children, decelerating-flow modes, such as pressure-regulated volume control and pressure control, are more common.

Prospective validation of the 4C prognostic models for adults hospitalised with COVID-19 using the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol.

Purpose: To prospectively validate two risk scores to predict mortality (4C Mortality) and in-hospital deterioration (4C Deterioration) among adults hospitalised with COVID-19.

Methods: Prospective observational cohort study of adults (age ≥18 years) with confirmed or highly suspected COVID-19 recruited into the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infections Consortium (ISARIC) WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK (CCP-UK) study in 306 hospitals across England, Scotland and Wales. Patients were recruited between 27 August 2020 and 17 February 2021, with at least 4 weeks follow-up before final data extraction.

Multi-ethnic genome-wide association analyses of white blood cell and platelet traits in the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study.

Background: Circulating white blood cell and platelet traits are clinically linked to various disease outcomes and differ across individuals and ancestry groups. Genetic factors play an important role in determining these traits and many loci have been identified. However, most of these findings were identified in populations of European ancestry (EA), with African Americans (AA), Hispanics/Latinos (HL), and other races/ethnicities being severely underrepresented.

Association of Midlife Depressive Symptoms with Regional Amyloid-β and Tau in the Framingham Heart Study.

Background: Depressive symptoms predict increased risk for dementia decades before the emergence of cognitive symptoms. Studies in older adults provide preliminary evidence for an association between depressive symptoms and amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau accumulation. It is unknown if similar alterations are observed in midlife when preventive strategies may be most effective.

A Validated Smartphone-based Electrocardiogram Reveals Severe Bradyarrhythmias during Immobilizing Restraint in Mice of Both Sexes and Four Strains.

Mouse handling and restraint affect behavior, physiology, and animal welfare, yet little information is available on how various mouse restraint methods affect cardiovascular parameters. We validated the use of a smartphone-based ECG sys- tem in mice by performing simultaneous smartphone and telemetry ECG recordings in conscious, restrained mice and in anesthetized mice. We observed that mice held in standard immobilizing restraint ("scruffing") experienced severe bradycardia.

Polygenic Risk Score for Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Is Associated With Risk of Ischemic Heart Disease and Enriches for Individuals With Familial Hypercholesterolemia.

Background: The clinical implications of a polygenic risk score (PRS) for LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) are not well understood, both within the general population and individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).

Methods: We developed the LDL-C PRS using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator regression in 377 286 White British participants from UK Biobank and tested its association with LDL-C according to FH variant carrier status in another 41 748 whole-exome sequenced individuals. Next, we tested for an enrichment of FH variant carriers among individuals with severe hypercholesterolemia and low LDL-C PRS.

Cerebral small vessel disease genomics and its implications across the lifespan.

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are the most common brain-imaging feature of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), hypertension being the main known risk factor. Here, we identify 27 genome-wide loci for WMH-volume in a cohort of 50,970 older individuals, accounting for modification/confounding by hypertension. Aggregated WMH risk variants were associated with altered white matter integrity (p = 2.

Monocyte distribution width enhances early sepsis detection in the emergency department beyond SIRS and qSOFA.

Background: The initial presentation of sepsis in the emergency department (ED) is difficult to distinguish from other acute illnesses based upon similar clinical presentations. A new blood parameter, a measurement of increased monocyte volume distribution width (MDW), may be used in combination with other clinical parameters to improve early sepsis detection. We sought to determine if MDW, when combined with other available clinical parameters at the time of ED presentation, improves the early detection of sepsis.

Clinical Features of 85 Fatal Cases of COVID-19 from Wuhan. A Retrospective Observational Study.

The global death toll from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) virus as of May 12, 2020, exceeds 286,000. The risk factors for death were attributed to advanced age and comorbidities but have not been accurately defined. To report the clinical features of 85 fatal cases of COVID-19 in two hospitals in Wuhan.

Genome-Wide Association Study of Susceptibility to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a complex lung disease characterized by scarring of the lung that is believed to result from an atypical response to injury of the epithelium. Genome-wide association studies have reported signals of association implicating multiple pathways including host defense, telomere maintenance, signaling, and cell-cell adhesion. To improve our understanding of factors that increase IPF susceptibility by identifying previously unreported genetic associations.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies multiple longevity genes.

Human longevity is heritable, but genome-wide association (GWA) studies have had limited success. Here, we perform two meta-analyses of GWA studies of a rigorous longevity phenotype definition including 11,262/3484 cases surviving at or beyond the age corresponding to the 90th/99th survival percentile, respectively, and 25,483 controls whose age at death or at last contact was at or below the age corresponding to the 60th survival percentile. Consistent with previous reports, rs429358 (apolipoprotein E (ApoE) ε4) is associated with lower odds of surviving to the 90th and 99th percentile age, while rs7412 (ApoE ε2) shows the opposite.

A genome-wide association study identifies genetic loci associated with specific lobar brain volumes.

Brain lobar volumes are heritable but genetic studies are limited. We performed genome-wide association studies of frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal lobe volumes in 16,016 individuals, and replicated our findings in 8,789 individuals. We identified six genetic loci associated with specific lobar volumes independent of intracranial volume.

A stochastic model of ion channel cluster formation in the plasma membrane.

Ion channels are often found arranged into dense clusters in the plasma membranes of excitable cells, but the mechanisms underlying the formation and maintenance of these functional aggregates are unknown. Here, we tested the hypothesis that channel clustering is the consequence of a stochastic self-assembly process and propose a model by which channel clusters are formed and regulated in size. Our hypothesis is based on statistical analyses of the size distributions of the channel clusters we measured in neurons, ventricular myocytes, arterial smooth muscle, and heterologous cells, which in all cases were described by exponential functions, indicative of a Poisson process (i.

Code blue pit crew model: A novel approach to in-hospital cardiac arrest resuscitation.

Background: Mortality from in-hospital cardiac arrests remains a large problem world-wide. In an effort to improve in-hospital cardiac arrest mortality, there is a renewed focus on team training and operations. Here, we describe the implementation of a "pit crew" model to provide in-hospital resuscitation care.

Author Correction: Study of 300,486 individuals identifies 148 independent genetic loci influencing general cognitive function.

Christina M. Lill, who contributed to analysis of data, was inadvertently omitted from the author list in the originally published version of this article. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the article.

Impact of combined plaque structural stress and wall shear stress on coronary plaque progression, regression, and changes in composition.

Aims: The focal distribution of atherosclerotic plaques suggests that local biomechanical factors may influence plaque development.

Methods And Results: We studied 40 patients at baseline and over 12 months by virtual-histology intravascular ultrasound and bi-plane coronary angiography. We calculated plaque structural stress (PSS), defined as the mean of the maximum principal stress at the peri-luminal region, and wall shear stress (WSS), defined as the parallel frictional force exerted by blood flow on the endothelial surface, in areas undergoing progression or regression.

Efficacy and safety of apixaban vs warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation and prior bioprosthetic valve replacement or valve repair: Insights from the ARISTOTLE trial.

Background: The optimal anticoagulation strategy for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and bioprosthetic valve (BPV) replacement or native valve repair remains uncertain.

Hypothesis: We evaluated the safety and efficacy of apixaban vs warfarin in patients with AF and a history of BPV replacement or native valve repair.

Methods: Using data from Apixaban for Reduction in Stroke and Other Thromboembolic Events in Atrial Fibrillation (ARISTOTLE) (n = 18 201), a randomized trial comparing apixaban with warfarin in patients with AF, we analyzed the subgroup of patients (n = 251) with prior valve surgery.

Sustained blood pressure control and coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and mortality: An observational analysis of ALLHAT.

Achieving blood pressure (BP) control is associated with lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, but less is known about CVD risk associated with sustained BP control over time. This observational analysis of the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT) was restricted to participants with four to seven visits with systolic BP (SBP) measurements during a 22-month period (n = 24 309). The authors categorized participants as having sustained BP control (SBP < 140 mm Hg) at 100%, 75% to <100%, 50% to <75%, and <50% of visits during this period.

Whole blood RNA sequencing reveals a unique transcriptomic profile in patients with ARDS following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Background: The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by the acute onset of hypoxemia and bilateral lung infiltrates in response to an inciting event, and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are at increased risk for ARDS. We hypothesized that HSCT patients with ARDS would have a unique transcriptomic profile identifiable in peripheral blood compared to those that did not undergo HSCT.