Post-COVID-19 condition: a sex-based analysis of clinical and laboratory trends.

Background And Aim: Post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) encompasses long-lasting symptoms in individuals with COVID-19 and is estimated to affect between 31-67% of patients, with women being more commonly affected. No definitive biomarkers have emerged in the acute stage that can help predict the onset of PCC, therefore we aimed at describing sex-disaggregated data of PCC patients from a local cohort and explore potential acute predictors of PCC and neurologic PCC.

Methods: A local cohort of consecutive patients admitted with COVID-19 diagnosis between June 2020 and July 2021 were registered, and clinical and laboratory data were recorded.

Position of the international forum of internal medicine on habits, lifestyle changes and a healthy environment for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), mainly ischemic heart disease and stroke, is the main cause of death worldwide and each year more people die from CVD than from any other cause. These data call for a paradigm shift, where health promotion and cardiovascular prevention will acquire a central role in health policies. From this perspective, dedicating time during the consultation to promoting the acquisition of heart-healthy habits would be indicated in all individuals, regardless of cardiovascular risk classification, the role of the internist being fundamental.

Mobile-phone text messaging to promote ideal cardiovascular health in women.

Objective: Ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) was developed to promote CVH as a key component of primordial prevention. Mobile short message service (SMS) is useful for improving health behaviours. We aim to test the effectiveness of SMS intervention in women to improve CVH.

Association between spontaneous internal carotid artery dissection and perivascular adipose tissue attenuation on computed tomography angiography.

Background: Spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCAD) is a leading cause of ischemic stroke in young patients. Studies using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography have suggested vessel wall inflammation to be a pathogenic factor in sCAD. Computed tomography (CT) attenuation of perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) is an established non-invasive imaging biomarker of inflammation in coronary arteries, with higher attenuation values reflecting a greater degree of vascular inflammation.

[Position of the international forum of internal medicine on habits, lifestyle changes and a healthy environment for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases].

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), mainly ischemic heart disease and stroke, is the main cause of death worldwide and each year more people die from CVD than from any other cause. These data call for a paradigm shift, where health promotion and cardiovascular prevention will acquire a central role in health policies. From this perspective, dedicating time during the consultation to promoting the acquisition of heart-healthy habits would be indicated in all individuals, regardless of cardiovascular risk classification, the role of the internist being fundamental.

SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster in solid organ transplant recipients previously immunised with inactivated versus mRNA vaccines: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Solid-organ transplant (SOT) recipients have worse COVID-19 outcomes than general population and effective immunisation in these patients is essential but more difficult to reach. We aimed to determine the immunogenicity of an mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster in SOT recipients previously immunised with either inactivated or homologous SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine.

Methods: Prospective cohort study of SOT recipients under medical care at Red de Salud UC-CHRISTUS, Chile, previously vaccinated with either CoronaVac or BNT162b2.

[Acute kidney injury caused by rhabdomyolysis as a SARS-CoV-2 infection manifestation. Report of one case].

SARS-CoV-2 infection has a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations secondary to the impairment of different organs, including kidney. Rhabdomyolysis is produced by disintegration of striated muscle and the liberation of its contents to the extracellular fluid and bloodstream. This may produce hydro electrolytic disorders and acute kidney injury.

Mitochondrial function, dynamics and quality control in the pathophysiology of HFpEF.

Heart failure (HF) is one of the leading causes of hospitalization for the adult population and a major cause of mortality worldwide. The HF syndrome is characterized by the heart's inability to supply the cardiac output required to meet the body's metabolic requirements or only at the expense of elevated filling pressures. HF without overt impairment of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was initially labeled as "diastolic HF" until recognizing the coexistence of both systolic and diastolic abnormalities in most cases.

[Management of bleeding associated with direct oral anticoagulants: update on reversal strategies].

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), including the direct thrombin inhibitor dabigatran and the direct factor Xa inhibitors rivaroxaban, apixaban and edoxaban have at least comparable efficacy as vitamin K antagonists along with a better safety profile, reflected by a lower incidence of intracranial hemorrhage. Specific reversal agents have been developed in recent years. Namely, idarucizumab, a specific antidote for dabigatran, is currently approved in most countries.

Mobile phone text messaging improves antihypertensive drug adherence in the community.

Antihypertensive drug adherence (ADA) is a mainstay in blood pressure control. Education through mobile phone short message system (SMS) text messaging could improve ADA. The authors conducted a randomized study involving 314 patients with hypertension with <6 months of antihypertensive treatment from the Preventive Health Program of 12 different primary care centers in Santiago, Chile.

[Surgical site infections in children undergoing cardiac surgery with delayed sternal closure: Case-control study].

Introduction: Surgical site infections (SSI) are an important cause of morbidity in pediatric cardiac surgery. Risk factors in patients requiring delayed sternal closure (DSC) are unknown.

Aim: To report the rate of SSI in children undergoing cardiac surgery with DSC and determine the risk factors.

[Hypoplastic left heart syndrome: 10 year experience with staged surgical management].

Unlabelled: Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a lethal congenital heart disease in 95% of non-treated patients. Surgical staging is the main form of treatment, consisting of a 3-stage approach, beginning with the Norwood operation. Long term survival of treated patients is unknown in our country.

Comparison of Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 and High Sensitive C-Reactive Protein as Determinants of Metabolic Syndrome in Subjects without Coronary Heart Disease: In Search of the Best Predictor.

High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is a marker of metabolic syndrome (MS) and cardiovascular (CV) disease. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) also predicts CV disease. There are no reports comparing these markers as predictors of MS.

Effects of trimetazidine in nonischemic heart failure: a randomized study.

Objectives: Heart failure (HF) is associated with changes in myocardial metabolism that lead to impairment of contractile function. Trimetazidine (TMZ) modulates cardiac energetic efficiency and improves outcomes in ischemic heart disease. We evaluated the effects of TMZ on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), cardiac metabolism, exercise capacity, O2 uptake, and quality of life in patients with nonischemic HF.

Rho kinase inhibition activates the homologous angiotensin-converting enzyme-angiotensin-(1-9) axis in experimental hypertension.

Background: Angiotensin II (Ang II) levels depend on renin, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), and on the homologous angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2). Increased ACE and Ang II levels are associated with higher Rho kinase activity. However, the relationship between Rho kinase activation and ACE2 in hypertension is unknown.

[Sixty years of mitral valve surgery].

On June 10, 1948, Charles Bailey, MD, operated successfully a mitral valve stenosis in Philadelphia and six days later, Dwight Harken, MD, performed the same operation in Boston, marking the onset of cardiovascular surgery. These successful operations were preceded by several failures and even deaths, that had to be overcome by both pioneers. This manuscript reviews several cases and situations that these surgeons had to face during the development of cardiovascular surgery, that changed the natural history of cardiac diseases.

[Mortality of patients with ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction treated with primary angioplasty or thrombolysis].

Background: Primary angioplasty is the most effective treatment of ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, its worldwide implementation is difficult to obtain. Therefore thrombolysis continues to be the treatment most commonly used.

[Predictors of acute coronary syndrome without ST segment elevation and risk stratification in the chest pain unit].

Background: Nearly 10% of patients with an actual acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are discharged with an inadequate diagnosis.

Aim: To select clinical and laboratory predictors to identify patients with a high likelihood of ACS in the Chest Pain Unit.

Material And Methods: Prospective evaluation of patients consulting in a Chest Pain Unit of a University Hospital.

Pleiotropic effects of atorvastatin in heart failure: role in oxidative stress, inflammation, endothelial function, and exercise capacity.

Background: Increased oxidative stress, a common feature in chronic heart failure, has been associated with inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and extracellular matrix degradation. Statins have known anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects; however, their role in chronic heart failure is still controversial.

Methods: This was a prospective study of 38 patients with stable systolic chronic heart failure.

[Angina after a heart transplant with evidence of late sympathetic reinnervation. Report of one case].

We report a 56 years-old man presenting with chest pain with exercise, seven years after an orthotopic heart transplant. A coronary angiography showed an atherosclerotic lesion in the common left main coronary artery with more than 90% obstruction. The lesion was successfully treated with a transluminal angioplasty with stenting.

[Risk factors for postoperative atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass grafting. A prospective analysis].

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a relevant complication after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). However there is controversy regarding possible contributing factors.

Aim: To study the incidence of AF, its risk factors and its repercussion on hospital stay and charges, in patients undergoing CABG.

[Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Results in 80 consecutive patients].

Background: Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) avoids laparotomy, shortens hospital stay and reduces morbidity and mortality related to surgical repair, allowing full patient recovery in less time.

Aim: To report short and long term results of endovascular repair of AAA in 80 consecutive patients treated at our institution.

Patients And Methods: Between September 1997 and February 2005, three women and 77 men with a mean age 73.