Accuracy of Established Prognostic Staging Systems for Cardiac Transthyretin Amyloidosis in the Tafamidis Era.

Background: Biomarker-based prognostic staging systems, including the National Amyloidosis Centre (NAC) and the Mayo staging systems, are widely-used but have only been validated for treatment-naive patients with cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR-CA).

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of the NAC and Mayo staging systems in patients with ATTR-CA treated with tafamidis.

Methods: A retrospective observational study following patients with ATTR-CA from initiation of tafamidis (baseline) to time of all-cause death was conducted.

Adverse events during and after early mobilisation: A post hoc analysis of the TEAM trial.

Background: The Treatment of Mechanically Ventilated Adults with Early Activity and Mobilisation (TEAM) trial reported a higher occurrence of adverse events with greater mobilisation. However, their timing and nature remained unexplored. We conducted an in-depth exploration of such events.

Efficacy, safety, and patient-reported outcomes across young to older age groups of patients with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer treated with ribociclib plus endocrine therapy in the randomized MONALEESA-2, -3, and -7 trials.

Background: Ribociclib + endocrine therapy (ET) showed significant progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) benefits in the MONALEESA trials in patients with HR+ /HER2 - advanced breast cancer (ABC). We report efficacy, safety, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) across age groups, including older patients, in these trials.

Methods: Data from the MONALEESA-2, -3, and -7 trials for pre- and postmenopausal patients receiving first-line treatment for ABC were pooled and analyzed by age (<65y, 65-74y, and ≥75y).

Impact of hemoadsorption with CytoSorb® on meropenem and piperacillin exposure in critically ill patients in a post-CKRT setup: a single-center, retrospective data analysis.

Purpose: CytoSorb® (CS) adsorbent is a hemoadsorption filter for extracorporeal blood purification often integrated into continuous kidney replacement therapy (CKRT). It is primarily used in critically ill patients with sepsis and related conditions, including cytokine storms and systemic inflammatory responses. Up to now, there is no evidence nor recommendation for the use of CS filters in sepsis (22).

Haplotype Phasing of Biallelic WNT10B Variants Using Long-Read Sequencing in Split-Hand/Foot Malformation Syndrome.

Split-hand/foot malformation syndrome (SHFM) is a congenital limb malformation that is both clinically and genetically heterogeneous. Variants in WNT10B are known to cause an autosomal recessive form of SHFM. Here, we report a patient born to unrelated parents who was found to be a compound heterozygote for missense variants in WNT10B: c.

Pharmacological differences and switching among anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies: A narrative review.

Antibodies targeting either the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), such as galcanezumab, fremanezumab, and eptinezumab, or the receptor (erenumab) have been approved for the prevention of episodic and chronic migraine. Although widely used and generally effective, a proportion of patients discontinue treatment due to lack of efficacy. In both randomized controlled trials and observational studies, all anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have consistently demonstrated comparable efficacy and tolerability, suggesting a pharmacological class effect.

Multinational retrospective analysis of bridging therapy prior to chimeric antigen receptor t cells for relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children and young adults.

Anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR) are a well-established treatment option for children and young adults suffering from relapsed/refractory B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Bridging therapy is used to control disease prior to start of lymphodepletion before CAR infusion and thereby improve efficacy of CAR therapy. However, the effect of different bridging strategies on outcome, side effects and response to CAR therapy is still poorly understood.

Outcome and complications in postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock treated with extracorporeal life support - a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock (PCCS) in cardiac surgery is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Beside other therapeutic measures (e.g.

Discordance, accuracy and reproducibility study of pathologists' diagnosis of melanoma and melanocytic tumors.

Accurate melanoma diagnosis is crucial for patient outcomes and reliability of AI diagnostic tools. We assess interrater variability among eight expert pathologists reviewing histopathological images and clinical metadata of 792 melanoma-suspicious lesions prospectively collected at eight German hospitals. Moreover, we provide access to the largest panel-validated dataset featuring dermoscopic and histopathological images with metadata.

MethylBERT enables read-level DNA methylation pattern identification and tumour deconvolution using a Transformer-based model.

DNA methylation (DNAm) is a key epigenetic mark that shows profound alterations in cancer. Read-level methylomes enable more in-depth analyses, due to their broad genomic coverage and preservation of rare cell-type signals, compared to summarized data such as 450K/EPIC microarrays. Here, we propose MethylBERT, a Transformer-based model for read-level methylation pattern classification.

RIF1 integrates DNA repair and transcriptional requirements during the establishment of humoral immune responses.

The establishment of protective immune responses relies on the ability of terminally differentiated B cells to secrete a broad variety of antigen-specific antibodies with different effector functions. RIF1 is a multifunctional protein that promotes antibody isotype diversification via its DNA end protection activity during class switch recombination. In this study, we showed that RIF1 ablation resulted in increased plasmablast formation ex vivo and enhanced terminal differentiation into plasma cells upon immunization.

Rationale and Design of the HERZCHECK trial: Detection of Early Heart Failure Using Telemedicine and CMR in Structurally Weak Regions (NCT05122793).

Background And Aims: Heart failure (HF) is an imminent global health problem. Yet established screening algorithms for asymptomatic pre-HF, allowing for early and effective preventive interventions, are largely lacking. The HERZCHECK trial, conducted in structurally underserved rural regions of North-Eastern Germany, aims to close this gap by evaluating the feasibility, diagnostic efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of a fully mobile, telemedically-supervised screening approach, combining cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) and laboratory testing as central elements.

The investigation of the interaction of warangalone with transferrin as a therapeutic biological macromolecule and the formation of a protein-ligand nanocomplex with superior anticancer activity against lung cancer cells.

Though warangalone has shown anticancer properties against breast cancer cells, its colloidal stability and therapeutic index ought to be improved using a potential strategy, especially via protein-based (nano)carriers. In this research, transferrin was used as a plasma protein for the development of the warangalone-transferrin NPs. To investigate the mechanism underlying the formation of this complex, the interaction between warangalone and transferrin, as well as transferrin NPs, was analyzed using spectroscopic methods.

Progression of chronic kidney disease after non-cardiac surgery: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Chronic-kidney-disease (CKD) is prevalent among adults undergoing noncardiac surgery, with surgery-related factors potentially worsening CKD or triggering acute kidney injury (AKI). We hypothesized that CKD patients experience more kidney function decline within one to two years post-surgery than those without CKD, particularly if they develop AKI.

Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective cohort study, including noncardiac surgery patients with documented creatinine preoperative and between 1 and 2 years after surgery.

Participation interest and completion of home blood pressure measurements with mailed devices in adults with and without hypertension.

Objectives: Home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) is valuable for the detection and monitoring of hypertension. Despite logistical advantages, HBPM has not yet been used in national blood pressure (BP) surveys. We investigated randomly selected adults' willingness to participate in an HBPM study (attitude survey) and piloted this approach (feasibility study).

Efficacy and safety of finerenone in patients with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes by diuretic use: A FIDELITY analysis.

Aims: This post hoc analysis aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of the non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist finerenone by baseline diuretic use in FIDELITY, a pre-specified pooled analysis of the phase III trials FIDELIO-DKD and FIGARO-DKD.

Methods And Results: Eligible patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and chronic kidney disease (CKD; urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio [UACR] ≥30-<300 mg/g and estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] ≥25-≤90 ml/min/1.73 m, or UACR ≥300-≤5000 mg/g and eGFR ≥25 ml/min/1.

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing as a prognosis-assessing tool in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Aims: Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction represent half of the heart failure patients nowadays, an at least steady trend due to the aging of the population. We investigated whether the parameters obtained from cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) correlated with the prognosis of these patients. This prospective observational cohort study assesses the relationship between the CPET parameters peakVO and VE/VCO slope and the number of heart failure hospitalizations or cardiovascular death of these patients.

German evidence- and consensus-based guideline on the management of penile urethritis.

Urethritis is a common condition predominantly caused by sexually transmitted pathogens such as Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Mycoplasma genitalium. It is not possible to differentiate with certainty between pathogens on the basis of clinical characteristics alone. However, empirical antibiotic therapy is often initiated in clinical practice.

Pre-chewing of infant food - expectations towards an old, traditional feeding habit for potential allergy prevention.

Premastication is a traditional feeding method whereby solids are pre-chewed by the mother or sometimes by other relatives and then given to the infant along with the oral microbiota. The aim of this study was to assess if premastication is known or performed among the German population as well as to evaluate the expectations regarding this feeding method, particularly in the context of allergy prevention. Two surveys about premastication were conducted.

Ion permeability profiles of renal paracellular channel-forming claudins.

Aim: Members of the claudin protein family are the major constituents of tight junction strands and determine the permeability properties of the paracellular pathway. In the kidney, each nephron segment expresses a distinct subset of claudins that form either barriers against paracellular solute transport or charge- and size-selective paracellular channels. It was the aim of the present study to determine and compare the permeation properties of these renal paracellular ion channel-forming claudins.