Role of Sex in the Association of Socioeconomic Status With Cardiovascular Health in Black Americans: The Jackson Heart Study.

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with cardiovascular health (CVH). Potential differences by sex in this association remain incompletely understood in Black Americans, where SES disparities are posited to be partially responsible for cardiovascular inequities. The association of SES measures (income, education, occupation, and insurance) with CVH scores was examined in the Jackson Heart Study.

Mortality and Morbidity of Heart Failure Hospitalization in Adult Patients With Congenital Heart Disease.

Background: Little is known about outcomes following heart failure (HF) hospitalization among adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) in the United States. We aim to compare the outcomes of HF versus non-HF hospitalizations in adults with CHD.

Methods And Results: Using a national deidentified administrative claims data set, patients with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) hospitalized with and without HF (ACHDHF+, ACHDHF-) were characterized to determine the predictors of 90-day and 1-year mortality and quantify the risk of mortality, major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events, and health resource use.

Serial Assessment of Shock Severity in Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Patients.

Background: One-time assessment of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) shock classification robustly predicts mortality in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU). We sought to determine whether serial SCAI shock classification could improve risk stratification.

Methods And Results: Unique admissions to a single academic level 1 CICU from 2015 to 2018 were included in this retrospective cohort study.

Trends in Cardiovascular Disease Mortality by County-Level Social Vulnerability Index in the United States.

Background Although cardiovascular mortality (CVM) rates in the United States have been declining overall, our study evaluated whether this holds true for areas with increased social deprivation. Methods and Results We used county-level cross-sectional age-adjusted CVM rates (aa-CVM) (2000-2019) linked to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index (SVI-2010). We grouped counties as per SVI (Groups I 0-0.

Prognostic Value of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Predicting Long-Term Mortality After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Background Patient-reported outcome measures have been shown to have important prognostic value after various cardiac interventions. We assessed the association between the change in Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire 12 (KCCQ-12) score after transcatheter aortic valve replacement and mortality. Methods and Results We included patients who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement at Mayo Clinic between February 2012 to June 2022 and who completed a KCCQ-12 before and 30 to 45 days after the procedure.

Association of Socioeconomic Status With Life's Essential 8 Varies by Race and Ethnicity.

Background The American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 (LE8) are 8 risk factors for cardiovascular disease, with poor attainment across all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Attainment is lowest among Americans of low socioeconomic status (SES). Evidence suggests the association of SES with LE8 may vary by race and ethnicity.

Effectiveness of Transcatheter Closure of Patent Foramen Ovale in Clinical Practice.

Background Transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) has reduced the risk of recurrent stroke in patients with cryptogenic strokes in randomized clinical trials. Whether PFO closure in clinical practice is associated with similar benefit remains unknown. Methods and Results We identified patients with PFO and a history of ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack who were treated with PFO closure or medical therapy in the OptumLabs database.

Positive Airway Pressure Therapy Adherence and Health Care Resource Use in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). However, current evidence is equivocal regarding the potential benefits of treating OSA with positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy in HFpEF. This study assessed the association between adherence to PAP therapy and health care resource use in patients with OSA and HFpEF.

Co-Occurrence of Social Risk Factors and Associated Outcomes in Patients With Heart Failure.

Background Among patients with heart failure (HF), social risk factors (SRFs) are associated with poor outcomes. However, less is known about how co-occurrence of SRFs affect all-cause health care utilization for patients with HF. The objective was to address this gap using a novel approach to classify co-occurrence of SRFs.

Pulmonary hypertension in ANCA-associated vasculitis: a retrospective analysis.

Background: Little is known about pulmonary hypertension (PH) in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV).

Objectives: The aims of this retrospective study, in which echocardiography was used for detection of PH, were to identify the potential causes of PH in AAV and to analyze the risk factors for mortality.

Methods: We performed a retrospective descriptive review of 97 patients who had AAV with PH at our institution from January 1, 1997, through December 31, 2015.

-- Decreases with Age in Mice and Humans and Inhibits Osteoblast Senescence.

Aging is a major risk factor for most chronic diseases, including osteoporosis, and is characterized by an accumulation of senescent cells in various tissues. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical regulators of bone aging and cellular senescence. Here, we report that -- decreases with age in bone samples from mice as well as in posterior iliac crest bone biopsies of younger versus older healthy women.

Mortality and Major Adverse Cardiac Events in Patients With Breast Cancer Receiving Radiotherapy: The First Decade.

Background Treatment for breast cancer (BC) frequently involves radiotherapy. Guidelines recommend screening for cardiac adverse events starting 10 years after radiotherapy. The rationale for this interval is unclear.

Effects of Ablation Versus Drug Therapy on Quality of Life by Sex in Atrial Fibrillation: Results From the CABANA Trial.

Background Women with atrial fibrillation (AF) demonstrate more AF-related symptoms and worse quality of life (QOL). Whether increased use of ablation in women reduces sex-related QOL differences is unknown. Sex-related outcomes for ablation versus drug therapy was a prespecified analysis in the CABANA (Catheter Ablation Versus Antiarrhythmic Drug Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation) trial.

A peptoid interleukin-15 receptor antagonist suppresses inflammation and arthritis in mice.

Objective: To discover a novel peptoid antagonist that targets the interleukin-15 (IL-15) receptor and to evaluate its therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of inflammation and arthritis.

Methods: A new compound (IFRA3, interleukin-15 receptor antagonist 3) was discovered using a unique on-bead two-colour combinatorial cell screening of a peptoid library. The interaction of IFRA3 with IL-15 receptor was assessed by pull-down and thermal shift assays.

Age Cutoff for Early-Onset Parkinson's Disease: Recommendations from the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society Task Force on Early Onset Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Early-onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD)/young-onset Parkinson's disease (YOPD) is defined as Parkinson's disease (PD) with an age at onset (AAO) after age 21 years but before the usual AAO for PD. Consensus is lacking, and the reported maximal age for EOPD/YOPD has varied from 40 to 60 years, leading to a lack of uniformity in published studies and difficulty in harmonization of data. EOPD and YOPD have both been used in the literature, somewhat interchangeably.

Persistent foramen of Huschke: Presentation, evaluation, and management.

Objective: Describe the presentation and management strategy for patients with symptomatic foramen of Huschke (FH).

Patients: Adults with persistent FH confirmed on imaging.

Interventions: Diagnosis and management of symptomatic persistent FH.

Pharmacologic Interventions for Fracture Risk Reduction in the Oldest Old: What Is the Evidence?

With an increasingly older population, the proportion of patients 85 years or older seeking interventions to protect their musculoskeletal health is growing. Osteoporosis in the geriatric population presents unique diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Multimorbidity, frailty, falls, polypharmacy, and other neurobehavioral factors influence our approach to fracture prevention in this population.

Brd4 Inactivation Increases Adenoviral Delivery of BMP2 for Paracrine Stimulation of Osteogenic Differentiation as a Gene Therapeutic Concept to Enhance Bone Healing.

Bromodomain (BRD) proteins are histone code interpreters that recognize acetylated lysines and link the dynamic state of chromatin with the transcriptional machinery. Here, we demonstrate that ablation of the Brd4 gene in primary mouse bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells via a conditional Brd4 allele suppresses osteogenic lineage commitment. Remarkably, loss of Brd4 function also enhances expression of genes in engineered adenoviral vectors, including Cre recombinase and green fluorescent protein (GFP).

Osteolytic lesions in myelofibrosis.

Bony pain in patients with a history of myelofibrosis warrants further investigation. Although skeletal involvement in myelofibrosis is more commonly osteosclerosis or periostitis, it can also cause osteolytic lesions.

2020 APHRS/HRS expert consensus statement on the investigation of decedents with sudden unexplained death and patients with sudden cardiac arrest, and of their families.

This international multidisciplinary document intends to provide clinicians with evidence-based practical patient-centered recommendations for evaluating patients and decedents with (aborted) sudden cardiac arrest and their families. The document includes a framework for the investigation of the family allowing steps to be taken, should an inherited condition be found, to minimize further events in affected relatives. Integral to the process is counseling of the patients and families, not only because of the emotionally charged subject, but because finding (or not finding) the cause of the arrest may influence management of family members.