Radiomics-based decision support tool assists radiologists in small lung nodule classification and improves lung cancer early diagnosis.

Background: Methods to improve stratification of small (≤15 mm) lung nodules are needed. We aimed to develop a radiomics model to assist lung cancer diagnosis.

Methods: Patients were retrospectively identified using health records from January 2007 to December 2018.

Proposed diagnostic criteria for arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy: European Task Force consensus report.

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a heart muscle disease characterized by prominent "non-ischemic" myocardial scarring predisposing to ventricular electrical instability. Diagnostic criteria for the original phenotype, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), were first proposed in 1994 and revised in 2010 by an international Task Force (TF). A 2019 International Expert report appraised these previous criteria, finding good accuracy for diagnosis of ARVC but a lack of sensitivity for identification of the expanding phenotypic disease spectrum, which includes left-sided variants, i.

Variation in optimal hemodynamic atrio-ventricular delay of biventricular pacing with different endocardial left ventricular lead locations using precision hemodynamics.

Introduction: It is not known whether the optimal atrioventricular (AV ) delay varies between left ventricular (LV) pacing site during endocardial biventricular pacing (BiVP) and may therefore needs consideration.

Methods: We assessed the hemodynamic AV in patients with chronic heart failure undergoing endocardial LV lead implantation. AV was assessed during atrio-BiVP with a "roving LV lead.

Variable Sequestration of Antifungals in an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Circuit.

Fungal infections are common and frequently associated with clinical failure in patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Antifungal drugs have physicochemical characteristics associated with a higher likelihood of sequestration onto ECMO circuitry potentially leading to a subtherapeutic drug concentration. The percentage of sequestration of the antifungal drugs-caspofungin, posaconazole, and voriconazole-was determined using an ex vivo ECMO model.

Impact of video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy versus open lobectomy for lung cancer on recovery assessed using self-reported physical function: VIOLET RCT.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. Surgery remains the main method of managing early-stage disease. Minimal-access video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery results in less tissue trauma than open surgery; however, it is not known if it improves patient outcomes.

Interpretation and actionability of genetic variants in cardiomyopathies: a position statement from the European Society of Cardiology Council on cardiovascular genomics.

This document describes the contribution of clinical criteria to the interpretation of genetic variants using heritable Mendelian cardiomyopathies as an example. The aim is to assist cardiologists in defining the clinical contribution to a genetic diagnosis and the interpretation of molecular genetic reports. The identification of a genetic variant of unknown or uncertain significance is a limitation of genetic testing, but current guidelines for the interpretation of genetic variants include essential contributions from clinical family screening that can establish a de novo assignment of the variant or its segregation with the phenotype in the family.

Bradyarrhythmias in Cardio-Oncology.

The relationship between bradyarrhythmias and cancer therapies has not been well described but is increasingly recognized. There have been extensive advances in oncological pharmacotherapy, with several new classes of drugs available including targeted agents, immune checkpoint inhibitors and CAR T cell therapy. This increasing repertoire of available drugs has revolutionized overall prognosis and survival of cancer patients but the true extent of their cardiovascular toxicity is only beginning to be understood.

A Large Retrospective Assessment of Voriconazole Exposure in Patients Treated with Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

Background: Voriconazole is one of the first-line therapies for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Drug concentrations might be significantly influenced by the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). We aimed to assess the effect of ECMO on voriconazole exposure in a large patient population.

The Extracellular Matrix-Derived Biomarkers for Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Personalized Therapy of Malignant Tumors.

The tumor biomarkers already have proven clinical value and have become an integral part in cancer management and modern translational oncology. The tumor tissue microenvironment (TME), which includes extracellular matrix (ECM), signaling molecules, immune and stromal cells, and adjacent non-tumorous tissue, contributes to cancer pathogenesis. Thus, TME-derived biomarkers have many clinical applications.

Ventricular tachycardia ablation in structural heart disease: Impact of ablation strategy and non-inducibility as an end-point on long term outcome.

Background: To investigate the long term outcomes after catheter ablation (CA) of ventricular tachycardia (VT) in the context of structural heart disease in a multicenter cohort. The impact of different ablation strategies (substrate ablation versus activation guided versus combined) and non-inducibility as an end-point was evaluated.

Methods: Data was pooled from prospective registries at 5 centres over a 5 year period.

Multimodality quantitative assessments of myocardial perfusion using dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance and O-labelled water positron emission tomography imaging.

Kinetic modelling of myocardial perfusion imaging data allows the absolute quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and can improve the diagnosis and clinical assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD). Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is considered the reference standard technique for absolute quantification, whilst oxygen-15 (O)-water has been extensively implemented for MBF quantification. Dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) has also been used for MBF quantification and showed comparable diagnostic performance against (O)-water PET studies.

Inertia based microfluidic capture and characterisation of circulating tumour cells for the diagnosis of lung cancer.

Background: Routine clinical application of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) for blood based diagnostics is yet to be established. Despite growing evidence of their clinical utility for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment monitoring, the efficacy of a robust platform and universally accepted diagnostic criteria remain uncertain. We evaluate the diagnostic performance of a microfluidic CTC isolation platform using cytomorphologic criteria in patients undergoing lung cancer surgery.

Selection for adjuvant chemotherapy in completely resected stage I non-small cell lung cancer: external validation of a Chinese prognostic risk model.

Background: The ability to sub-stratify survival within stage I is an important consideration as it is assumed that survival is heterogeneous within this sub-group. Liang et al. recently published a nomogram to predict post-operative survival in patients undergoing lung cancer surgery.

Clinical results of microfluidic antibody-independent peripheral blood circulating tumor cell capture for the diagnosis of lung cancer.

Objectives: The ability to capture and characterize peripheral blood circulating tumor cells has the potential for the development of a blood test for cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of microfluidic technology as a proof-of-concept study.

Methods: Blood from patients undergoing surgery for known or suspected lung cancer was obtained and processed using a microfluidic biochip.

Non-anastomotic avulsion of a left internal mammary artery graft--a rare complication of minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery.

Objective: To describe a rare complication of minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery.

Method: Case report.

Results: We present a 72-year-old patient with a left anterior descending artery stenosis who underwent elective minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) surgery.

Successes and shortcomings of fetal echocardiography.

While it is possible to perform balloon valvuloplasty of a critically stenosed pulmonary valve in the fetus safely, the majority of serious heart conditions remain undiagnosed until after birth. This article addresses the successes and shortcomings of fetal cardiology.