Racial disparities in timing and outcomes for patients undergoing staged single ventricle palliation: a single institution report.

Background: Racial disparities in healthcare have been well documented in the United States. We hypothesise that there will be a racial variance in different clinical variables in single-ventricle patients through stages of palliation.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective single-centre study stratified all single-ventricle patients who reached stage 2 palliation by race: Black and White.

Use of Narrow Band Imaging to Guide Endobronchial Biopsy for Suspected Sarcoidosis.

Background: Diagnosis of sarcoidosis often involves endobronchial biopsy (EBB), but studies have shown varying yields for EBB in suspected sarcoidosis, partly due to differences in identifying abnormal mucosa under white light (WL). Narrow band imaging (NBI) may assist in the visualization of abnormal mucosa, but its role in sarcoidosis remains to be characterized.

Methods: Individuals referred for suspected sarcoidosis were considered for enrollment.

Distribution of airway pressure opening in the lungs measured with electrical impedance tomography (POET): a prospective physiological study.

Background: In patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) under mechanical ventilation, the change in pressure slope during a low-flow insufflation indicates a global airway opening pressure (AOP) needed to reopen closed airways and may be used for titration of positive end-expiratory pressure.

Objectives: To understand 1) if airways open homogeneously inside the lungs or significant regional AOP variations exist; 2) whether the pattern of the pressure slope change during low-flow insufflation can indicate the presence of regional AOP variations.

Methods: Using electrical impedance tomography, we recorded low-flow insufflation maneuvers (< 10 L/min) starting from end-expiratory positive pressure 0-5 cmHO.

PET/CT with Myocardial Blood Flow Assessment Is Prognostic of Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy Progression and Clinical Outcomes.

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) causes impaired blood flow in both epicardial vessels and microvasculature and remains a leading cause of posttransplant morbidity and mortality. This study examined the prognostic value and outcomes of CAV, assessed by N-ammonia PET/CT myocardial perfusion imaging in heart transplant recipients. PET/CT and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) were graded using validated scales.

Relationship between left ventricular shape and cardiovascular risk factors: comparison between the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and UK Biobank.

Background: Statistical shape atlases have been used in large-cohort studies to investigate relationships between heart shape and risk factors. The generalisability of these relationships between cohorts is unknown. The aims of this study were to compare left ventricular (LV) shapes in patients with differing cardiovascular risk factor profiles from two cohorts and to investigate whether LV shape scores generated with respect to a reference cohort can be directly used to study shape differences in another cohort.

Optimization of a micro-scale air-liquid-interface model of human proximal airway epithelium for moderate throughput drug screening for SARS-CoV-2.

Background: Many respiratory viruses attack the airway epithelium and cause a wide spectrum of diseases for which we have limited therapies. To date, a few primary human stem cell-based models of the proximal airway have been reported for drug discovery but scaling them up to a higher throughput platform remains a significant challenge. As a result, most of the drug screening assays for respiratory viruses are performed on commercial cell line-based 2D cultures that provide limited translational ability.

Development and Validation of a Clinical, CT, Genomic Classifier and BAL Scoring System for Diagnosing IPF.

The utility of incorporating a usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) genomic classifier (GC) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cell count analysis alongside traditional clinical-imaging assessment in aiding in the multidisciplinary diagnosis of IPF in patients with a non-definite HRCT UIP pattern is uncertain.We reviewed consecutive adult patients presenting with fibrotic interstitial lung disease (fILD) and non-definite HRCT UIP pattern who underwent BAL and GC. The initial fILD diagnoses were re-evaluated after bronchoscopy and a final multidisciplinary consensus diagnosis was provided.

Nasal CPAP increases alveolar number in a rhesus monkey model of moderate prematurity.

Rationale: Most premature human infants are born in the moderate to late preterm (MLP) range, ≥30 to <37 weeks gestation and demonstrate increased incidence of wheeze and respiratory illness as they age. Animal models suggest that mechanical lung distention stimulates lung growth and alveolar development. To determine if nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) influences MLP infant lung development, we developed a rhesus monkey model of moderate prematurity, randomized to 9 days of nCPAP or sham nCPAP.

Modified lung ultrasound score for improved monitoring of pARDS on ECMO, a case report.

Background: Lung ultrasound scoring is a validated tool for assessing lung pathology. However, existing scoring systems typically overlook the size of consolidations, limiting their accuracy in certain clinical scenarios.

Case Presentation: We describe the first application of adding the maximum consolidation depth in centimeters (cm) to the conventional score.

Spirometry estimation of central airway dysanapsis on computed tomography in healthy subjects without active lung diseases.

The original concept of the airway-to-lung size mismatch, termed dysanapsis, was introduced on spirometry and was extended by computed tomography (CT) evaluation of the central airways. CT-assessed dysanapsis allows a risk estimation of lung disease development in healthy subjects, although radiation exposure limits its use, particularly for younger subjects. This study investigated which spirometry indices can be used to estimate CT-assessed central airway dysanapsis in healthy subjects.

Emergence of antibiotic-specific phenotypes during prolonged treatment of mice.

A major challenge in tuberculosis (TB) therapeutics is that antibiotic exposure leads to changes in the physiology of (), which may enable the pathogen to withstand treatment. While antibiotic-treated has been evaluated in experiments it is unclear if and how long-term treatment with diverse antibiotics with varying treatment-shortening activity (sterilizing activity) affects physiologic processes differently. Here, we used SEARCH-TB, a pathogen-targeted RNA-sequencing platform, to characterize the transcriptome in the BALB/c high-dose aerosol infection mouse model following 4 weeks of treatment with three sterilizing and three non-sterilizing antibiotics.

Toward a Computable Phenotype for Determining Eligibility of Lung Cancer Screening Using Electronic Health Records.

Purpose: Lung cancer screening (LCS) has the potential to reduce mortality and detect lung cancer at its early stages, but the high false-positive rate associated with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for LCS acts as a barrier to its widespread adoption. This study aims to develop computable phenotype (CP) algorithms on the basis of electronic health records (EHRs) to identify individual's eligibility for LCS, thereby enhancing LCS utilization in real-world settings.

Materials And Methods: The study cohort included 5,778 individuals who underwent LDCT for LCS from 2012 to 2022, as recorded in the University of Florida Health Integrated Data Repository.

Age-Related Ventricular Tachycardia Substrate Characteristics for Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot Before Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Placement.

Background: Ventricular tachycardia (VT) substrate characteristics before transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) in repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF) are unknown.

Objectives: In this study, the authors sought to evaluate substrates for sustained monomorphic VT before TPVR in rTOF.

Methods: Retrospective (2017 to 2021) and prospective (commencing 2021) rTOF patients with native right ventricular outflow tract referred for electrophysiology study (EPS) before TPVR were included.

Efficacy and safety of chemotherapy combined with iodine-125 seed brachytherapy for intermediate and advanced oncogenic driver gene-negative non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: To compare the effectiveness and safety of CT-guided iodine-125 seed brachytherapy in conjunction with chemotherapy against chemotherapy alone for the management of intermediate and advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) lacking oncogenic driving genes.

Methods And Materials: Retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data from 128 patients diagnosed with intermediate and advanced non-small cell lung cancer who received iodine-125 combined with chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone due to the absence of oncogenic driver gene mutations. The patients in two groups were compared at 6-month follow-up for objective remission rate (ORR), Disease control rate (DCR), local progression-free survival (LPFS), overall survival (OS), clinical symptom improvement, and adverse events.

Inverse dose protraction effects of high-LET radiation: evidence and significance.

Biological effects of ionizing radiation vary with radiation quality, which is often expressed as the amount of energy deposited per unit length, i.e., linear energy transfer (LET).

Endothelial cell (EC)-specific CTGF/CCN2 Expression Increases EC Reprogramming and Atherosclerosis.

Arterial endothelial cells (ECs) reside in a complex biomechanical environment. ECs sense and respond to wall shear stress. Low and oscillatory wall shear stress is characteristic of disturbed flow and commonly found at arterial bifurcations and around atherosclerotic plaques.

The effect of inhaled nitric oxide treatment on biomarkers of oxidative/nitrosative damage to proteins and DNA/RNA.

Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is a selective pulmonary vasodilator that is used as a treatment for persistent pulmonary hypertension in neonates (PPHN) with hypoxic respiratory failure. The generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species might induce oxidative/nitrosative damage to multiple organs. There is an increasing scientific and clinical interest in the determination of specific biomarkers to measure the degree of oxidative/nitrosative stress in non-invasively collected biofluids.

Finerenone and new-onset diabetes in heart failure: a prespecified analysis of the FINEARTS-HF trial.

Background: Data on the effect of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist therapy on HbA levels and new-onset diabetes are conflicting. We aimed to examine the effect of oral finerenone, compared with placebo, on incident diabetes in the Finerenone Trial to Investigate Efficacy and Safety Superior to Placebo in Patients with Heart Failure (FINEARTS-HF) trial.

Methods: In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 6001 participants with heart failure with New York Heart Association functional class II-IV, left ventricular ejection fraction 40% or higher, evidence of structural heart disease, and elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels were randomly assigned to finerenone or placebo, administered orally.

Longitudinal single-cell profiles of lung regeneration after viral infection reveal persistent injury-associated cell states.

Functional regeneration of the lung's gas exchange surface following injury requires the coordination of a complex series of cell behaviors within the alveolar niche. Using single-cell transcriptomics combined with lineage tracing of proliferating progenitors, we examined mouse lung regeneration after influenza injury, demonstrating an asynchronously phased response across different cellular compartments. This longitudinal atlas of injury responses has produced a catalog of transient and persistent transcriptional alterations in cells as they transit across axes of differentiation.

Fluoroquinolones and rifampin combination in the backdrop of heteroresistant tuberculosis.

The impact of heteroresistance on tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes is unclear, as is the role of different rifampin and isoniazid exposures on developing resistance mutations. Hollow fiber system model of TB (HFS-TB) units were inoculated with drug-susceptible () and treated with isoniazid and rifampin exposure identified in a clinical trial as leading to treatment failure and acquired drug resistance. Systems were sampled for drug concentration measurements, estimation of total and drug-resistant , and small molecule overlapping reads (SMOR) analysis for the detection of heteroresistance.

Sleep and breathing in children with Joubert syndrome and a review of other rare congenital hindbrain malformations.

Background: Joubert syndrome (JS) is an autosomal recessive disorder with a distinctive mid-hindbrain malformation known as the "molar tooth sign" which involves the breathing control center and its connections with other structures. Literature has reported significant respiratory abnormalities which included hyperpnea interspersed with apneic episodes during wakefulness. Larger-scale studies looking at polysomnographic findings or subjective reports of sleep problems in this population have not yet been published.

Weight and Blood-Based Markers of Cachexia Predict Disability, Hospitalization and Worse Survival in Cancer Immunotherapy Patients.

Background: Cancer-associated cachexia can inhibit immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy efficacy. Cachexia's effect on ICI therapy has not been studied in large cohorts of cancer patients aside from lung cancer. We studied associations between real-world routinely collected clinical cachexia markers and disability-free, hospitalization-free and overall survival of cancer patients.

A case of surgical treatment combined with interventional therapy for refractory hemodialysis access with catheter-related right atrial thrombosis.

This case report describes a surgical treatment combined with interventional therapy for a patient with refractory hemodialysis access combined with catheter-related right atrial thrombosis (CRAT). During surgery, an artificial graft was established from the left brachiocephalic vein to the right atrium and the right atrial thrombus was removed. After the operation, the tunneled cuffed catheter (TCC) was replaced with digital subtraction angiography (DSA).

No bones about it: regulatory T cells promote fracture healing.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are increasingly being recognized for their role in promoting tissue repair. In this issue of the JCI, Chen et al. found that Tregs at the site of bone injury contribute to bone repair.