Central vs. Brachial Blood Pressure and Pulse Pressure Amplification for Mortality Risk Prediction in Patients Undergoing Coronary Angiography.

Background: Arterial hypertension is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality. Although central blood pressure (BP) evaluation is considered the gold standard, the reliability of non-invasive measurements remains unclear. Therefore, we compared the predictive value of invasively measured central BP with non-invasively measured brachial BP and analyzed pulse pressure (PP) amplification (delta-PP; difference between central and peripheral PP) as an independent predictor of mortality.

Comparing epidemiological and clinical data from RPS patients documented in a German cancer registry to a cohort from TARPSWG reference centres.

Purpose: Retroperitoneal sarcomas (RPS) are rare, heterogeneous tumours. Treatment recommendations are mainly derived from cohorts treated at reference centres. The applicability of data from cancer registries (CR) is controversial.

Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Very High Risk for Stroke and Adverse Events-Insights from the Observational ARENA Study.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major cause of stroke. An individual risk estimation remains challenging, as AF patients with and without cerebrovascular event (CVE) may differ in yet unknown factors beyond those covered by the CHADS-VASc score. We aimed to identify differences between AF patients with and without CVE with regard to AF characteristics and treatment, vascular risk factors and comorbidities, prognosis and outcome.

Effects of high- versus low-intensity lipid-lowering treatment in patients undergoing serial coronary computed tomography angiography: results of the multi-center LOCATE study.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of lipid-lowering medications of different intensities on total, calcified, and non-calcified plaque volumes in patients undergoing serial cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA).

Methods: Individuals with chronic coronary syndromes from 11 centers were included in a retrospective registry. Total, calcified, and non-calcified plaque volumes were quantified and the relative difference in plaque volumes between baseline and follow-up CCTA was calculated.

Sphinganine recruits TLR4 adaptors in macrophages and promotes inflammation in murine models of sepsis and melanoma.

After recognizing its ligand lipopolysaccharide, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) recruits adaptor proteins to the cell membrane, thereby initiating downstream signaling and triggering inflammation. Whether this recruitment of adaptor proteins is dependent solely on protein-protein interactions is unknown. Here, we report that the sphingolipid sphinganine physically interacts with the adaptor proteins MyD88 and TIRAP and promotes MyD88 recruitment in macrophages.

The immunosuppressive drug cyclosporin A has an immunostimulatory function in CD8 T cells.

Cyclosporin A is a well-established immunosuppressive drug used to treat or prevent graft-versus-host disease, the rejection of organ transplants, autoimmune disorders, and leukemia. It exerts its immunosuppressive effects by inhibiting calcineurin-mediated dephosphorylation of the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT), thus preventing its nuclear entry and suppressing T cell activation. Here we report an unexpected immunostimulatory effect of cyclosporin A in activating the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), a crucial metabolic hub required for T cell activation.

Peripheral Arterial Disease and the Diabetic Foot Syndrome: Neuropathy Makes the Difference! A Narrative Review.

: In vascular medicine, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) are often considered synonymous with respect to the need for revascularization. In PAD patients, clinical symptoms reflect the degree of atherosclerotic disease, since peripheral innervation, including pain sensation, is not usually compromised. In DFS patients, however, symptoms of relevant foot ischemia are often absent and progression of ischemia goes unnoticed owing to diabetic polyneuropathy, the loss of nociception being the main trigger for foot ulcers.

Evaluation of Prehospital Undertriage in Relation to Trauma Team Activation-Results from a Prospective Study in 12 Level one German Trauma Centers.

This prospective, multicenter observational cohort study was carried out in 12 trauma centers in Germany and Switzerland. Its purpose was to evaluate the rate of undertriage, as well as potential consequences, and relate these with different Trauma Team Activation Protocols (TTA-Protocols), as this has not been done before in Germany. : Each trauma center collected the data during a three-month period between December 2019 and February 2021.

First experiences of ultrasound vector flow imaging at the femoropopliteal artery in peripheral arterial disease.

The femoropopliteal artery (FPA) plays a central role in diagnosing and treating peripheral arterial disease (PAD). FPA lesions are the most frequent cause of intermittent claudication, and no other artery of the lower extremities is recanalised more frequently. Generally, ultrasound is the primary imaging tool in PAD, particularly FPA.

Blood Pressure and Mortality in the 4D Study.

Introduction: Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) are risk factors for cardiovascular mortality (CVM). Pulse pressure (PP) is an easily available parameter of vascular stiffness, but its impact on CVM in chronic dialysis patients with diabetes is unclear.

Methods: Therefore, we have examined the predictive value of baseline, predialytic PP, SBP, DBP, and MAP in the German Diabetes and Dialysis (4D) study, a prospective, randomized, double-blind trial enrolling 1,255 patients with type 2 diabetes on hemodialysis in 178 German dialysis centers.

Prognostic value of extended cardiac risk assessment before elective open abdominal aortic surgery.

Background: Major vascular surgery is associated with a high perioperative risk and significant mortality. Despite advances in risk stratification, monitoring, and management of perioperative complications, cardiac complications are still common. Stress echocardiography is well established in coronary artery disease diagnostics; however, its prognostic value before high-risk aortic surgery is unknown.

C-reactive protein and procalcitonin during course of sepsis and septic shock.

Objective: The study investigates the diagnostic and prognostic value of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) in patients with sepsis and septic shock.

Background: Limited data regarding the prognostic value of CRP and PCT during the course of sepsis or septic shock is available.

Methods: Consecutive patients with sepsis and septic shock from 2019 to 2021 were included monocentrically.

Prognosis of cardiogenic shock with and without acute myocardial infarction: results from a prospective, monocentric registry.

Objective: The study investigates the prognostic impact of cardiogenic shock (CS) stratified by the presence or absence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) related mortality in CS patients remains unacceptably high despite improvement concerning the treatment of CS patients.

Methods: Consecutive patients with CS from 2019 to 2021 were included monocentrically.

Impact of patient nationality on the severity of early side effects after radiotherapy.

Background: Major demographical changes in Germany commenced in the 1960s. Ongoing humanitarian crises in the Ukraine with subsequent immigration will have also long-range effects on national provision of cancer treatment. Ensuring the best possible outcomes for each cancer patient undergoing radiotherapy requires the prediction and prevention of unfavorable side effects.

The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, neurohumoral axis and cardiovascular mortality in LURIC.

Although neurohormones and Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone-System (RAAS) components are important predictors of cardiovascular mortality (CVM), their importance for predicting outcomes in patients with/without RAAS-blockers and different degrees of arterial stiffness is less understood. We therefore analyzed long-term data from the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health (LURIC) study in 3316 patients subdivided according to pulse pressure (PP) and RAAS-blocker use. Patients on RAAS-inhibition had higher renin and noradrenaline, lower aldosterone and aldosterone/renin quotient (ARQ).

Long-Term Outcomes after Catheter Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia in Dilated vs. Ischemic Cardiomyopathy.

Ischemic (ICM) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) represent the two main underlying heart diseases in patients referred for catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT). While VT ablation in ischemic cardiomyopathy is relatively well-studied, data in patients with DCM are still scarce. The study aimed to compare the acute and long-term outcomes in patients with ICM and DCM who underwent VT ablation at a high-volume center.

Polyvascular disease, pulse pressure and mortality.

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), coronary artery disease (CAD) and carotid stenosis (CS) are robust predictors of mortality. The value of individual vascular beds in polyvascular disease (PVD) to predict mortality in patients with atherosclerotic burden is not clear. Therefore, we have examined the predictive value of PAD, CAD and CS in patients at intermediate to high risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease.

Baseline Modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) Predicts Radiologic Response and Overall Survival in Metastatic Hormone-sensitive Prostate Cancer Treated With Docetaxel Chemotherapy.

Background/aim: To assess the baseline inflammatory markers modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), and neutrophile-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as pragmatic tools for predicting response to chemohormonal therapy (docetaxel plus ADT) and prognosis in men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC).

Patients And Methods: Male patients who received docetaxel at a tertiary university care center between 2014 and 2019 were screened for completion of 6 cycles. NLR, SII, mGPS, overall survival (OS), three-year survival, and radiologic response were assessed.

TRPV1 activation and internalization is part of the LPS-induced inflammation in human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes.

The non-selective cation channel transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is expressed throughout the cardiovascular system. Recent evidence shows a role for TRPV1 in inflammatory processes. The role of TRPV1 for myocardial inflammation has not been established yet.

Cryostorage to What End? - Autologous Stem Cell Products in Burkitt Lymphoma, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Acute Myeloid Leukemia, and Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Patients.

Introduction: Recently, we identified a huge discrepancy between the collection practice and the actual utilization of cryopreserved peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) for high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and autologous blood stem cell transplantation (ABSCT). Specifically, patients with Burkitt lymphoma, acute leukemia, and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) were frequently not referred for ABSCT after successful PBSC collection.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify variables that are associated with the non-utilization of PBSC grafts.

Renin-angiotensin system inhibitors effect before and during hospitalization in COVID-19 outcomes: Final analysis of the international HOPE COVID-19 (Health Outcome Predictive Evaluation for COVID-19) registry.

Background: The use of Renin-Angiotensin system inhibitors (RASi) in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been questioned because both share a target receptor site.

Methods: HOPE-COVID-19 (NCT04334291) is an international investigator-initiated registry. Patients are eligible when discharged after an in-hospital stay with COVID-19, dead or alive.

Does there exist an obesity paradox in COVID-19? Insights of the international HOPE-COVID-19-registry.

Background: Obesity has been described as a protective factor in cardiovascular and other diseases being expressed as 'obesity paradox'. However, the impact of obesity on clinical outcomes including mortality in COVID-19 has been poorly systematically investigated until now. We aimed to compare clinical outcomes among COVID-19 patients divided into three groups according to the body mass index (BMI).

Incomplete neo-endothelialization of left atrial appendage closure devices is frequent after 6 months: a pilot imaging study.

Purpose: To bridge neo-endothelialization (NE) of implanted left atrial appendage closure (LAA/LAAC) devices, dual antiplatelet therapy is prescribed. Cardiac computed tomography angiography (cCTA) has been proposed for the evaluation of interventional LAAC. This prospective longitudinal observational study applied a standardized imaging protocol to detect progression of NE of LAAC devices 6 months after implantation.