Is neural network better than logistic regression in death prediction in patients after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction?

Background: There is a need to develop patient classification methods and adjust post-discharge care to improve survival after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Aims: The study aimed to determine whether a neural network (NN) is better than logistic regression (LR) in mortality prediction in STEMI patients.

Methods: The study included patients from the Polish Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes (PL-ACS).

Baffle Complications in Adults After Atrial Switch for Transposition of the Great Arteries.

Background: Baffle complications, ie, leakage or stenosis, after an atrial switch operation (AtrSO) for transposition of the great arteries (TGA) are difficult to detect with the use of routine transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). We examined baffle interventions and the prevalence of baffle complications.

Methods: This dual-centre study followed TGA-AtrSO patients for the occurrence of baffle interventions.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in the management of critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019: A narrative review.

What started with 41 hospitalized patients identified as having laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China, by January 2, 2020, turned into an unprecedented pandemic with more than 113 million confirmed cases and a mortality exceeding 2.5 million deaths worldwide by the beginning of March 2021. Although the course of the disease is uneventful in most cases, there is a percentage of patients who become critically ill and need admission in the intensive care unit for severe respiratory failure.

Dexamethasone treatment may mitigate adverse effects of vitamin D deficiency in hospitalized Covid-19 patients.

Aims: We have previously demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency might be associated with worse outcomes in hospitalized Covid-19 patients. The aim of our study was to explore this relationship with dexamethasone therapy.

Methods: We prospectively studied two cohorts of hospitalized Covid-19 patients between March and April and between September and December 2020 (n = 192).

Tricuspid Regurgitation in Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction: Marker or Target?

Far from being historically considered a primary healthcare problem, tricuspid regurgitation (TR) has recently gained much attention from the scientific community. In fact, in the last years, robust evidence has emerged regarding the epidemiological impact of TR, whose prevalence seems to be similar to that of other valvulopathies, such as aortic stenosis, with an estimated up to 4% of people >75 years affected by at least moderate TR in the United States, and up to 23% among patients suffering from heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. This recurrent coexistence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) and TR is not surprising, considered the multiple etiologies of tricuspid valve disease.

Development, evaluation and validation of machine learning algorithms to detect atypical and asymptomatic presentations of Covid-19 in hospital practice.

Background: Diagnostic methods for Covid-19 have improved, both in speed and availability. Because of atypical and asymptomatic carriage of the virus and nosocomial spread within institutions, timely diagnosis remains a challenge. Machine learning models trained on blood test results have shown promise in identifying cases of Covid-19.

The Spectrum of COVID-19-Associated Myocarditis: A Patient-Tailored Multidisciplinary Approach.

Background: Myocarditis lacks systematic characterization in COVID-19 patients.

Methods: We enrolled consecutive patients with newly diagnosed myocarditis in the context of COVID-19 infection. Diagnostic and treatment strategies were driven by a dedicated multidisciplinary disease unit for myocarditis.

Aortic root fistula complicating Austrian syndrome.

Austrian syndrome occurs in 1.2% of all patients with pneumococcal infective endocarditis. It presents with the triad of meningitis, pneumonia, and endocarditis.

Does diabetes modify the effect of heparin on plasma proteins? - A proteomic search for plasma protein biomarkers for diabetes-related endothelial dysfunction.

Aim: Heparin administration affects the concentrations of many plasma proteins through their displacement from the endothelial glycocalyx. A differentiated protein response in diabetes will therefore, at least partly, reflect glycocalyx changes. This study aims at identifying biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction in diabetes by statistical exploration of plasma proteome data for interactions between diabetes status and heparin treatment.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Decompensated Heart Failure Hospitalizations.

Background And Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown may have collaterally affected the care of patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). We aimed to evaluate the impact of lockdown pandemic on hospitalizations for ADHF.

Methods: We conducted a single-center study, performing a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data.

Toward Biological Pacing by Cellular Delivery of Hcn2/SkM1.

Electronic pacemakers still face major shortcomings that are largely intrinsic to their hardware-based design. Radical improvements can potentially be generated by gene or cell therapy-based biological pacemakers. Our previous work identified adenoviral gene transfer of Hcn2 and SkM1, encoding a "funny current" and skeletal fast sodium current, respectively, as a potent combination to induce short-term biological pacing in dogs with atrioventricular block.

Adverse effects, pharmacological interactions, and cardiovascular drugs in COVID-19 treatment.

In severe coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 patients, an extraordinary systemic inflammatory response is seen. It could impact in multiple organ disorders, specially a severe myocardial injury, an acute myocarditis results in focal or global myocardial inflammation and necrosis. Those events can be present in healthy subjects or cardiovascular (CV) patients.

Long-term prognostic value of late gadolinium enhancement and periprocedural myocardial infarction after uncomplicated revascularization: MASS-V follow-up.

Aims: Cardiac biomarkers elevation is common after revascularization, even in absence of periprocedural myocardial infarction (PMI) detection by imaging methods. Thus, late gadolinium enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance (LGE-CMR) may be useful on PMI diagnosis and prognosis. We sought to evaluate long-term prognostic value of PMI and new LGE after revascularization.

Heart Failure With Mid-range or Recovered Ejection Fraction: Differential Determinants of Transition.

The recent definition of an intermediate clinical phenotype of heart failure (HF) based on an ejection fraction (EF) of between 40% and 49%, namely HF with mid-range EF (HFmrEF), has fuelled investigations into the clinical profile and prognosis of this patient group. HFmrEF shares common clinical features with other HF phenotypes, such as a high prevalence of ischaemic aetiology, as in HF with reduced EF (HFrEF), or hypertension and diabetes, as in HF with preserved EF (HFpEF), and benefits from the cornerstone drugs indicated for HFrEF. Among the HF phenotypes, HFmrEF is characterised by the highest rate of transition to either recovery or worsening of the severe systolic dysfunction profile that is the target of disease-modifying therapies, with opposite prognostic implications.

Relapsing polychondritis, a rare cause of valvulopathy: A review of the medical literature.

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is an inflammatory disease that involves cartilaginous structures predominantly in the nose, ears, and respiratory tract. Cardiovascular involvement is not common. Despite this, they are the second cause of death in patients with RP.