The Influence of Sex on Clinical Outcomes after Surgical Mitral Valve Replacement in Spain (2001-2015).

(1) Background: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the second most prevalent valvular heart disease in developed countries. Mitral valve (MV) disease is a common cause of heart failure and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S.

Ocular Vascular Changes in Mild Alzheimer's Disease Patients: Foveal Avascular Zone, Choroidal Thickness, and ONH Hemoglobin Analysis.

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular changes could be caused by amyloid beta (Aβ) aggregates replacing the contractile smooth musculature of the arteriole walls. These changes happen in the brain vascular network, but also in the eye, and are related to decreased vascular density and low blood flow. In patients with Alzheimer's disease, thinning of the choroid and the retina has been shown.

Ramipril in High-Risk Patients With COVID-19.

Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory-syndrome coronavirus-2 that interfaces with the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) through angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. This interaction has been proposed as a potential risk factor in patients treated with RAAS inhibitors.

Objectives: This study analyzed whether RAAS inhibitors modify the risk for COVID-19.

National Trends in Utilization and In-Hospital Outcomes of Surgical Aortic Valve Replacements in Spain, 2001-2015.

Objective: The aims of this study were to examine the incidence and in-hospital outcomes of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and to identify factors associated with in-hospital mortality (IHM) among patients according to the type of implanted valve used in SAVR.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study using the Spanish National Hospital Discharge Database, 2001-2015. We included patients who had SAVR listed as a procedure in their discharge report.

10 Years After EPISCAN: A New Study on the Prevalence of COPD in Spain -A Summary of the EPISCAN II Protocol.

Introduction: The EPISCAN study, published in 2007, was an update of the results of the 1997 IBERPOC study. Changes in demographics and exposure to risk factors demand the periodic update of prevalence and determining factors in COPD. This article is a summary of the protocol and tools used in EPISCAN II.

Airway transplantation of adipose stem cells protects against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive interstitial lung disease with poor prognosis. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) have demonstrated regenerative properties in several tissues. The hypothesis of this study was that airway transplantation of ADSC could protect against bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis (PF).

Rationale and study design for an individualised perioperative open-lung ventilatory strategy with a high versus conventional inspiratory oxygen fraction (iPROVE-O2) and its effects on surgical site infection: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a serious postoperative complication that increases morbidity and healthcare costs. SSIs tend to increase as the partial pressure of tissue oxygen decreases: previous trials have focused on trying to reduce them by comparing high versus conventional inspiratory oxygen fractions (FIO) in the perioperative period but did not use a protocolised ventilatory strategy. The open-lung ventilatory approach restores functional lung volume and improves gas exchange, and therefore it may increase the partial pressure of tissue oxygen for a given FIO.

Evaluating the Calling Performance of a Rare Disease NGS Panel for Single Nucleotide and Copy Number Variants.

Introduction: Variant detection protocols for clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) need application-specific optimization. Our aim was to analyze the performance of single nucleotide variant (SNV) and copy number (CNV) detection programs on an NGS panel for a rare disease.

Methods: Thirty genes were sequenced in 83 patients with hereditary spastic paraplegia.

Management of postoperative pain in Spain: a nationwide survey of practice.

Background: Although the need for structured assessment and management of acute postoperative pain has been recognized, practices and responsibilities vary between and within hospitals and countries. We sought to determine current pain management practices in Spanish hospitals with and without acute pain services (APSs) or acute pain management programmes (APMPs) and compare them to practices reported for 1997-1998.

Methods: Members of the Spanish Pain Society and APS/APMP heads were asked to respond to a survey.

Prenatal Diagnosis of an Aortopulmonary Window With an Interrupted Aortic Arch.

A prenatal aortopulmonary window with an interrupted aortic arch was detected in a 22-week-old fetus. The 3-vessel and trachea view showed a communication between the ascending aorta and the pulmonary artery. Early postnatal surgery was successful.

Extracellular Volume Detects Amyloidotic Cardiomyopathy and Correlates With Neurological Impairment in Transthyretin-familial Amyloidosis.

Introduction And Objectives: Cardiac involvement determines prognosis and treatment options in transthyretin-familial amyloidosis. Cardiac magnetic resonance T mapping techniques are useful to assess myocardial extracellular volume. This study hypothesized that myocardial extracellular volume allows identification of amyloidotic cardiomyopathy and correlates with the degree of neurological impairment in transthyretin-familial amyloidosis.

Neonatal magnetic resonance imaging in double aortic arch diagnosed prenatally by ultrasound.

Congenital double aortic arch (DAA) is an uncommon vascular anomaly; however, its prenatal detection is associated with congenital heart defects and chromosomal abnormalities, including 22q11 deletion. We present a case of DAA diagnosed prenatally. DAA can be diagnosed by prenatal ultrasound in the transverse three vessel-trachea view, which shows a trident image formed by a complete vascular ring and the ductus arteriosus.

Comorbidity of personality disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults.

Introduction: A high comorbidity has been observed among attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and categorical personality disorders (PD). A study is conducted on the dimensional traits associated with ADHD and PD, in order to determine whether there are any differences.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 78 outpatients attending a Mental Health Clinic in Arganda (Madrid) from January 2013 to June 2015.

Fetal Aortic Arch Anomalies: Key Sonographic Views for Their Differential Diagnosis and Clinical Implications Using the Cardiovascular System Sonographic Evaluation Protocol.

Aortic arch anomalies are present in 1% to 2% of the general population and are commonly associated with congenital heart disease, chromosomal defects, and tracheaesophageal compression in postnatal life. The sonographically based detection of aortic arch anomalies lies in the 3-vessel and trachea view. Although highly sensitive, this view alone does not allow identification of the aortic arch branching pattern, which prevents an accurate diagnosis.

Therapeutic Approaches in Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Proteolysis, and Structural Alterations of Diaphragm and Gastrocnemius in Rats With Chronic Heart Failure.

Patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) experience exercise intolerance, fatigue and muscle wasting, which negatively influence their survival. We hypothesized that treatment with either the antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) or the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib of rats with monocrotaline-induced CHF may restore inspiratory and limb muscle mass, function, and structure through several molecular mechanisms involved in protein breakdown and metabolism in the diaphragm and gastrocnemius. In these muscles of CHF-cachectic rats with and without treatment with NAC or bortezomib (N = 10/group) and non-cachectic controls, proteolysis (tyrosine release, proteasome activities, ubiquitin-proteasome markers), oxidative stress, inflammation, mitochondrial function, myosin, NF-κB transcriptional activity, muscle structural abnormalities, and fiber morphometry were analyzed together with muscle and cardiac functions.

Human immunodeficiency virus infection does not worsen prognosis of liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Unlabelled: The impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on patients undergoing liver transplantation (LT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is uncertain. This study aimed to assess the outcome of a prospective Spanish nationwide cohort of HIV-infected patients undergoing LT for HCC (2002-2014). These patients were matched (age, gender, year of LT, center, and hepatitis C virus (HCV) or hepatitis B virus infection) with non-HIV-infected controls (1:3 ratio).

Prenatal Sonographic Features of a Double Aortic Arch: Literature Review and Perinatal Management.

A double aortic arch is a relatively uncommon anomaly occasionally associated with congenital heart disease or the chromosome 22q11 deletion. We report a case of prenatal diagnosis of a double aortic arch in which the sonographic features in the 3-vessel and trachea view are highlighted. A PubMed-based search was made to retrieve all cases of prenatal diagnosis of double aortic arch.

Dynamic Measurement of Tumor Vascular Permeability and Perfusion using a Hybrid System for Simultaneous Magnetic Resonance and Fluorescence Imaging.

Purpose: Assessing tumor vascular features including permeability and perfusion is essential for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The aim of this study was to compare fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based vascular readouts in subcutaneously implanted tumors in mice by simultaneous dynamic measurement of tracer uptake using a hybrid fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT)/MRI system.

Procedure: Vascular permeability was measured using a mixture of extravascular imaging agents, GdDOTA and the dye Cy5.

Amyloid precursor protein metabolism and inflammation markers in preclinical Alzheimer disease.

Objective: To investigate CSF markers involved in amyloid precursor protein processing, neuronal damage, and neuroinflammation in the preclinical stages of Alzheimer disease (AD) and participants with suspected non-Alzheimer pathology (SNAP).

Methods: We collected CSF from 266 cognitively normal volunteers participating in a cross-sectional multicenter study (the SIGNAL study) to investigate markers involved in amyloid precursor protein processing (Aβ42, sAPPβ, β-secretase activity), neuronal damage (total-tau [t-tau], phospho-tau [p-tau]), and neuroinflammation (YKL-40). We analyzed the relationship among biomarkers, clinical variables, and the APOE genotype, and compared biomarker levels across the preclinical stages of the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association classification: stage 0, 1, 2, 3, and SNAP.

Guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of muscle dysfunction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), skeletal muscle dysfunction is a major comorbidity that negatively impacts their exercise capacity and quality of life. In the current guidelines, the most recent literature on the various aspects of COPD muscle dysfunction has been included. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) scale has been used to make evidence-based recommendations on the different features.