Health Care Resource Use and Costs of Rivaroxaban Versus Warfarin Among Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation Polypharmacy Patients With Obesity.

Background: The economic burden of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is substantial. Many patients with NVAF are obese and manage other health conditions requiring multiple medications. This real-world study compared health care resource use (HRU) and costs for rivaroxaban and warfarin in patients with NVAF who had polypharmacy and obesity.

Impact of Left Ventricular Size on Outcomes Following HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation: Analysis of the European Registry for Patients With Mechanical Circulatory Support (EUROMACS).

We investigated the association of preimplant left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) with outcomes after HeartMate 3 (HM3) left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. Patients from the European Registry for Patients with Mechanical Circulatory Support (EUROMACS) registry who underwent HM3 implantation from August 2014 to February 2023 (n = 834) were analyzed according to preoperative LVEDD: less than or equal to 65 (n = 251), 65-80 (n = 441), and greater than or equal to 80 mm (n = 142). The mean age was 54.

The Role of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors in Adults With Transthyretin Cardiac Amyloidosis: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is an infiltrative cardiomyopathy with limited treatment options. Barring mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, most classes of guideline-directed medical therapy including renin-angiotensin-aldosterone inhibitors and beta blockers are avoided in CA due to intolerance and the risk of potentiating orthostatic hypotension. Few studies have explored the safety and utility of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) in CA.

Donor pulmonary hemodynamics does not impact recipient outcomes in adult heart transplantation.

Purpose: The impact of donor pulmonary hemodynamics as assessed by mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) and transpulmonary gradients (TPG) on the clinical outcome of heart transplant (HT) recipients is unknown. We compared outcomes of adult HT recipients as stratified by donor pulmonary hemodynamics in the contemporary era in the United States.

Methods: We reviewed adult donor hearts (age ≥ 18 years) which were offered for transplantation between January 2010 and March 2023 in the UNOS database with available right heart catheterization (RHC) data.

A systematic review of reporting and handling of missing data in observational studies using the UNOS database.

Background: Missing data decreasing study power and introducing bias, thereby undermining a registry's ability to draw valid inferences. We evaluated how missing data are reported and addressed in heart transplantation (HT) studies using the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database.

Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search of Medline from January 1, 2018 through August 22, 2023 and included studies that used the UNOS database to evaluate adult (≥18 years) de novo HT recipients.

Improved Cardiac Rehabilitation Referral Rates following Coronary Artery Bypass Graft and Heart Valve Replacement in an Inner-City Veteran Population.

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is underutilized due to various barriers, despite its known benefits in decreasing 5-year mortality after cardiac surgery. The authors initiated a quality improvement project to identify barriers and enhance CR referral rates and participation. The team conducted a retrospective review of cardiac surgery patients from 2015 to 2022 at the Detroit Veterans Affairs.

Left Ventricular Hypertrophy Regression Following Transcatheter Aortic Replacement: A Comparison of Self-Expanding Versus Balloon-Expandable Prostheses.

There are limited reports on the impact of prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) on the regression of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). We compared the relative effects of supra-annular, self-expanding (SE) versus intra-annular, balloon-expandable (BE) prostheses on TAVR LVH regression. Regression of left ventricular mass index (LVMi) was evaluated in 168 consecutive TAVR patients, including 60 treated with SE valves (Evolut series) and 108 treated with BE valves (Sapien 3).

Health-Related Quality of Life After Neonatal Treatment of Symptomatic Tetralogy of Fallot: Insights from the Congenital Cardiac Research Collaborative.

To evaluate the association between initial management strategy of neonatal symptomatic Tetralogy of Fallot (sTOF) and later health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes. We performed a multicenter, cross-sectional evaluation of a previously assembled cohort of infants with sTOF who underwent initial intervention at ≤ 30 days of age, between 2005 and 2017. Eligible patients' parents/guardians completed an age-appropriate Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, a Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Cardiac Module Heart Disease Symptoms Scale, and a parental survey.

Enhancing risk assessment in Chagas cardiomyopathy: Electrophysiology study stratified by Rassi score.

Background: Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCM) is increasingly prevalent in developed countries due to migration from endemic areas. Accurate risk stratification is crucial due to the variable clinical course of CCM.

Objective: To analyze the association between Rassi score progression and electrophysiology study (EPS) changes in CCM patients.

IGLON5 Frequency in Idiopathic REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: A Multicenter Study.

Background And Objectives: Idiopathic/isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) has been strongly linked to neurodegenerative synucleinopathies such as Parkinson disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. However, there have been increasing reports of RBD as a presenting feature of serious and treatable autoimmune syndromes, particularly IGLON5. This study's objective was to investigate the frequency of autoantibodies in a large cohort of participants with iRBD.

Community-level bystander treatment and outcomes for witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the state of Connecticut.

Background: Prior reports have demonstrated underutilization of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) use in patients with witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in Connecticut. This study aimed to identify community-level risk factors that contribute to low rates of bystander intervention to improve statewide OHCA outcomes.

Methods: We analyzed 2,789 adult patients with witnessed, non-traumatic OHCA submitted to the Connecticut Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) between 2013-2022.