On the correction of spiral trajectories on a preclinical MRI scanner with a high-performance gradient insert.

This study aimed to examine different trajectory correction methods for spiral imaging on a preclinical scanner with high-performance gradients with respect to image quality in a phantom and in vivo. The gold standard method of measuring the trajectories in a separate experiment is compared to an isotropic delay-correction, a correction using the gradient system transfer function (GSTF), and a combination of the two. Three different spiral trajectories, with 96, 16, and three interleaves, are considered.

S100B Serum Levels in Chronic Heart Failure Patients: A Multifaceted Biomarker Linking Cardiac and Cognitive Dysfunction.

S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B) is a protein primarily known as a biomarker for central nervous system (CNS) injuries, reflecting blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and dysfunction. Recently, S100B has also been implicated in cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure (HF). Thus, we investigated serum levels of S100B in 146 chronic HF patients from the Cognition.

Empagliflozin effects on iron metabolism as a possible mechanism for improved clinical outcomes in non-diabetic patients with systolic heart failure.

Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors improve clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF), but mechanisms of action are incompletely understood. In the EMPA-TROPISM trial, empagliflozin reversed cardiac remodeling and increased physical capacity in stable non-diabetic patients with systolic HF. Here we explore, post hoc, whether treatment effects in this cohort, comprising patients who had a high prevalence of iron deficiency, were related to iron metabolism.

The multifaceted roles of circular RNAs in cancer hallmarks: From mechanisms to clinical implications.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) represent a distinct class of covalently closed RNA species lacking conventional 5' to 3' polarity. Derived predominantly from pre-mRNA transcripts of protein-coding genes, circRNAs arise through back-splicing events of exon-exon or exon-intron junctions. They exhibit tissue- and cell-specific expression patterns and play crucial roles in regulating fundamental cellular processes such as cell cycle dynamics, proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation.

Liver stiffness as a prognostic parameter and tool for risk stratification in advanced cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis.

Background: In light of increasing therapeutic options, risk stratification of advanced cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR-CA) is gaining clinical importance to avoid ineffective treatments. Liver stiffness as a marker of hypervolemia and hepatic congestion might predict mortality in advanced ATTR-CA and allow to identify patients at highest risk.

Methods: Proven ATTR-CA patients underwent repeated vibration-controlled transient elastography (VTCE) and standardized serial workup within the local amyloidosis cohort study AmyKoS.

Sex-related differences in self-efficacy of patients with heart failure: a pooled cross-sectional study of the German Competence Network Heart Failure.

Aim: To assess the level of self-efficacy in patients with heart failure (HF), and identify differences between important subgroups including sex, and to identify the determinants of high self-efficacy.

Methods And Results: This was a pooled cross-sectional analysis of 2,030 patients from four prospective studies conducted within the German Competence Network Heart Failure. We used the Self-efficacy Subscale and the Overall Summary Score (OSS) of the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ-23) to assess self-efficacy and health-related quality of life.

Incremental prognostic utility of congestion markers in cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis.

Background/aims: Congestion is prognostically relevant in cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR-CA), but whether congestion has an incremental prognostic value beyond the well-established, congestion-sensitive NT-proBNP is unknown. Therefore, we aimed to comparatively evaluate the prognostic utility of several congestion surrogates over NT-proBNP.

Methods: We estimated hazard ratios by Cox proportional hazards regressions with time-varying covariates from a panel data set of the local amyloidosis cohort study AmyKoS.

Mitochondrial calcium signaling and redox homeostasis in cardiac health and disease.

The energy demand of cardiomyocytes changes continuously in response to variations in cardiac workload. Cardiac excitation-contraction coupling is fueled primarily by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production by oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria. The rate of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism is matched to the rate of ATP consumption in the cytosol by the parallel activation of oxidative phosphorylation by calcium (Ca) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP).

How can we use stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to understand the involvement of energetic metabolism in alterations of cardiac function?

Mutations in the mitochondrial-DNA or mitochondria related nuclear-encoded-DNA lead to various multisystemic disorders collectively termed mitochondrial diseases. One in three cases of mitochondrial disease affects the heart muscle, which is called mitochondrial cardiomyopathy (MCM) and is associated with hypertrophic, dilated, and noncompact cardiomyopathy. The heart is an organ with high energy demand, and mitochondria occupy 30%-40% of its cardiomyocyte-cell volume.

Tafazzin deficiency causes substantial remodeling in the lipidome of a mouse model of Barth Syndrome cardiomyopathy.

Barth Syndrome (BTHS) is a rare X-linked disease, characterized clinically by cardiomyopathy, skeletal myopathy, neutropenia, and growth retardation. BTHS is caused by mutations in the phospholipid acyltransferase tafazzin (Gene: TAFAZZIN, TAZ). Tafazzin catalyzes the final step in the remodeling of cardiolipin (CL), a glycerophospholipid located in the inner mitochondrial membrane.

Heart rate-corrected systolic ejection time: population-based reference values and differential prognostic utility in acute heart failure.

Aims: Systolic ejection time (SET) is discussed as a treatment target in patients with heart failure (HF) and a reduced left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF). We derived reference values for SET correcting for its dependence on heart rate (SETc), and explored its prognostic utility in patients admitted with decompensated HF.

Methods And Results: SETc was derived in 4836 participants of the population-based STAAB study (mean age 55 ± 12 years, 52% women).

Precision imaging of cardiac function and scar size in acute and chronic porcine myocardial infarction using ultrahigh-field MRI.

Background: 7 T cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies may enable higher precision in clinical metrics like cardiac function, ventricular mass, and more. Higher precision may allow early detection of functional impairment and early evaluation of treatment responses in clinical practice and pre-clinical studies.

Methods: Seven female German Landrace pigs were scanned prior to and at three time points (3-4 days, 7-10 days, and ~60 days) post myocardial infarction using a whole body 7 T system and three radiofrequency (RF) coils developed and built in-house to accompany animal growth.

Loss of Y Chromosome and Cardiovascular Events in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Background: Chronic kidney disease represents one of the strongest risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and particularly for heart failure. Despite improved pharmaceutical treatments, mortality remains high. Recently, experimental studies demonstrated that mosaic loss of Y chromosome (LOY) associates with cardiac fibrosis in male mice.

Association between self-reported and objectively assessed physical functioning in the general population.

Knowledge about a patient's physical fitness can aid in medical decision-making, but objective assessment can be challenging and time-consuming. We aimed to investigate the concordance of self-reported health status and physical functioning with the 6 minute walking distance (6MWD) as objective measure of physical performance. The prospective characteristics and course of heart failure stages A/B and determinants of progression (STAAB) cohort study iteratively follows a representative sample of residents of the city of Würzburg, Germany, aged 30-79 years, without a history of heart failure (HF).

Time from admission to randomization and the effect of empagliflozin in acute heart failure: A post-hoc analysis from EMPULSE.

Aims: Patients hospitalized for acute heart failure (HF) could be enrolled in EMPULSE (NCT04157751) upon haemodynamic stabilization and between 24 h and 5 days after hospital admission. The timing of treatment initiation may influence the efficacy and safety of drugs such as empagliflozin. The aim of this study was to evaluate patient characteristics, clinical events, and treatment effects according to time from admission to randomization.

Clinical trial designs to assess treatment effects on glomerular filtration rate decline.

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) decline is used as surrogate endpoint for kidney failure. Interventions that reduce chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression often exert acute GFR reductions which differ from their long-term benefits and complicate the estimation of long-term benefit. Here, we assessed the utility of two alternative trial designs (wash-out design and active run-in randomized withdrawal design) that attempt to exclude the impact of acute effects.

Quantification of the rotating frame relaxation time T: Comparison of balanced spin-lock and continuous-wave Malcolm-Levitt preparations.

For the quantification of rotating frame relaxation times, the T relaxation pathway plays an essential role. Nevertheless, T imaging has been studied only to a small extent compared with T, and preparation techniques for T have so far been adapted from T methods. In this work, two different preparation concepts are compared specifically for the use of T mapping.

Improved Interpretation of Pulmonary Artery Wedge Pressures through Left Atrial Volumetry-A Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Background: The pulmonary artery wedge pressure (PAWP) is regarded as a reliable indicator of left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), but this association is weaker in patients with left-sided heart disease (LHD). We compared morphological differences in cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in patients with heart failure (HF) and a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), with or without elevation of PAWP or LVEDP.

Methods: We retrospectively identified 121 patients with LVEF < 50% who had undergone right heart catheterization (RHC) and CMR.