The Cost of Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, with an increasing incidence and prevalence because of progressively aging populations. Costs related to AF are both direct and indirect. This systematic review aims to identify the main cost drivers of the illness, assess the potential economic impact resulting from changes in care strategies, and propose interventions where they are most needed.

Real-World Effectiveness of PCSK9 Inhibitors in Reducing LDL-C in Patients With Familial Hypercholesterolemia in Italy: A Retrospective Cohort Study Based on the AIFA Monitoring Registries.

Background Information on the real-world use of proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 inhibitors (PCKS9is) in familial hypercholesterolemia are limited. We evaluated the pattern of prescription and the long-term efficacy of alirocumab and evolocumab in Italian patients with familial hypercholesterolemia in clinical practice. Methods and Results The data set for analysis was extracted from the PCKS9i Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) registry and included 2484 patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) and 62 patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) who were prescribed PCKS9is from February 2017 to December 2021.

Consciousness in a Rotor? Science and Ethics of Potentially Conscious Human Cerebral Organoids.

Human cerebral organoids are three-dimensional biological cultures grown in the laboratory to mimic as closely as possible the cellular composition, structure, and function of the corresponding organ, the brain. For now, cerebral organoids lack blood vessels and other characteristics of the human brain, but are also capable of having coordinated electrical activity. They have been usefully employed for the study of several diseases and the development of the nervous system in unprecedented ways.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 Catheterization Laboratory Survey.

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is expected to affect operations and lifestyles of interventional cardiologists around the world in unprecedented ways. Timely gathering of information on this topic can provide valuable insight and improve the handling of the ongoing and future pandemic outbreaks. Methods and Results A survey instrument developed by the authors was disseminated via e-mail, text messaging, WhatsApp, and social media to interventional cardiologists between April 6, 2020, and April 11, 2020.

Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy: Characterization of Left Ventricular Phenotype and Differential Diagnosis With Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Background This study assessed the prevalence of left ventricular (LV) involvement and characterized the clinical, electrocardiographic, and imaging features of LV phenotype in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). Differential diagnosis between ARVC-LV phenotype and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) was evaluated. Methods and Results The study population included 87 ARVC patients (median age 34 years) and 153 DCM patients (median age 51 years).

Postablation Atrial Fibrillation Burden and Patient Activity Level: Insights From the DISCERN AF Study.

Background Recent evidence shows an association between the level of physical activity and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in patients with atrial fibrillation ( AF ). We sought to assess the impact of AF daily burden on the activity level of the patient who underwent pulmonary vein isolation. Methods and Results Patients enrolled in the DISCERN AF (Discerning Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Episodes Pre and Post Radiofrequency Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation) study all had insertable cardiac monitors, which provided the daily burden of atrial tachycardia and atrial fibrillation ( AT / AF ) and a corresponding activity level.

Development of a novel diagnostic algorithm to predict NASH in HCV-positive patients.

Non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis (NASH) is a severe disease characterised by liver inflammation and progressive hepatic fibrosis, which may progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Clinical evidence suggests that in hepatitis C virus patients steatosis and NASH are associated with faster fibrosis progression and hepatocellular carcinoma. A safe and reliable non-invasive diagnostic method to detect NASH at its early stages is still needed to prevent progression of the disease.

Testing the actual equivalence of automatically generated items.

If the automatic item generation is used for generating test items, the question of how the equivalence among different instances may be tested is fundamental to assure an accurate assessment. In the present research, the question was dealt by using the knowledge space theory framework. Two different ways of considering the equivalence among instances are proposed: The former is at a deterministic level and it requires that all the instances of an item template must belong to exactly the same knowledge states; the latter adds a probabilistic level to the deterministic one.

GRace: a MATLAB-based application for fitting the discrimination-association model.

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a computerized two-choice discrimination task in which stimuli have to be categorized as belonging to target categories or attribute categories by pressing, as quickly and accurately as possible, one of two response keys. The discrimination association model has been recently proposed for the analysis of reaction time and accuracy of an individual respondent to the IAT. The model disentangles the influences of three qualitatively different components on the responses to the IAT: stimuli discrimination, automatic association, and termination criterion.

A derivation of the Polytomous Rasch model based on the most probable distribution method.

Boltzmann's most probable distribution method is applied to derive the Polytomous Rasch model as the distribution accounting for the maximum number of possible outcomes in a test while introducing latent traits, item characteristics, and thresholds as constraints to the system. Affinities and similarities of the present result with other derivations of the model are discussed in light of the conceptual frameworks of statistical physics and of the principle of maximum entropy.

Different effects of SNP and GSNO on mitochondrial O2 .- /H 2O2 production.

Sodium Nitroprusside (SNP) and S-Nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) differently affect mitochondrial H(2)O(2) release at Complex-I. mM SNP increases while GSNO decreases the release induced by succinate alone or added on top of NAD-linked substrates. Stimulation likely depends on Nitric Oxide ((.

PDCD4 nuclear loss inversely correlates with miR-21 levels in colon carcinogenesis.

Programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) has recently been demonstrated to be a new tumor suppressor gene involved in colon carcinogenesis. PDCD4 immunohistochemical expression was assessed in 300 polypoid lesions of the colon mucosa (50 hyperplastic polyps [HP], 50 serrated adenomas [SA], 50 tubular adenomas with low-grade-intraepithelial neoplasia [LG-IEN], 50 tubular adenomas with high-grade-IEN [HG-IEN]), and in 50 colon adenocarcinomas (CRC). As normal controls, we considered 50 biopsy samples obtained from patients with irritable bowel syndrome (N).

Automated quantitative evaluation of lymph node perfusion on contrast-enhanced sonography.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the performance of experimental software (Qontraxt) intended to provide automated quantification of sonographic signal intensity, which is related to the contrast enhancement of lymph node tissue, to differentiate benign from malignant lymph nodes.

Subjects And Methods: In 31 patients (age range, 24-86 years; mean age +/- SD, 53.6 +/- 14.

Anti-renin-angiotensin-system drugs and development of anemia in chronic kidney disease.

Background: A variable inhibition of erythropoiesis has been reported in uremic patients with renal anemia receiving anti-renin-angiotensin-system (RAS) drugs (angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin-receptor-antagonists). The time to development of renal anemia before dialysis is still unknown.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study (1 to 15 years) on records of 327 out-patients (217 males, 110 females) without anemia and with chronic renal insufficiency (creatinine clearance 16 to 75 mL/min) was conducted to estimate the time to development of renal anemia (Hb < 11.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids and renal fibrosis: pathophysiologic link and potential clinical implications.

The role of polyunsaturated fatty acids in renal fibrosis. Several studies suggest a close relationship between polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and renal inflammation and fibrosis, which are crucial stages in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Beneficial effects of n-3 PUFA on the course of experimental and human nephropathies have been reported.

The quest for early predictors of stroke evolution: can TCD be a guiding light?

Background And Purpose: The present study aimed at evaluating the prognostic value of transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) in the acute phase of ischemic stroke, when major therapeutic decisions must be made.

Methods: Seventy-three patients with a first-ever ischemic hemispheric stroke underwent neurological assessment according to the Unified Neurological Stroke Scale, clinical subgrouping according to the criteria of Bamford, CT scan, cervical duplex sonography, and TCD, all within 12 hours from stroke onset. TCD was repeated on days 2 and 7.

Long-term trophic effect of sodium restriction on the rat adrenal zona glomerulosa. II. The possible involvement of the inhibition of the dopaminergic system.

The effects of chronic administration of metoclopramide or bromocriptine (two drugs which act as antagonist and agonist of dopamine receptors) on the zona glomerulosa of captopril-treated rats administered maintenance doses of angiotensin II, were investigated by combined morphometric and biochemical techniques. It was found that metoclopramide provoked a significant hypertrophy of the zona glomerulosa and its parenchymal cells, coupled with a persistent rise in the plasma concentration of aldosterone, only in rats fed a normal diet. Conversely, bromocriptine exerted an evident inhibitory effect on the zona glomerulosa growth and steroidogenic capacity only in chronically sodium-deprived animals.

Long-term trophic effect of sodium restriction on the rat adrenal zona glomerulosa. I. Its partial independence of the renin-angiotensin system.

The mechanism of the trophic effect of chronic sodium restriction on the zona glomerulosa of the rat adrenals was investigated by combined morphometric and biochemical techniques. In the normal rats, prolonged sodium deprivation caused a significant hypertrophy of the zona glomerulosa and its parenchymal cells, coupled with a conspicuous rise in the plasma concentration of aldosterone. Analogous results were observed in animals simultaneously administered captopril and maintenance doses of angiotensin II.

A morphometric study of the effects of melatonin on the rat adrenal zona glomerulosa.

The effects of a long-term administration of melatonin on the zona glomerulosa were investigated both in "normal" rats and in animals in which the hypothalamo-hypophyseal-adrenal axis and the renin-angiotensin system had been pharmacologically interrupted. Melatonin caused a notable hypertrophy of zona glomerulosa cells and a significant rise in the plasma concentration of aldosterone in both groups of rats. These findings indicate that melatonin exerts in vivo a strong direct stimulatory action on the growth and steroidogenic capacity of the rat zona glomerulosa.