2022 ACC/AHA guideline for the diagnosis and management of aortic disease: A report of the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines.

AIM: The "2022 ACC/AHA Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Aortic Disease" provides recommendations to guide clinicians in the diagnosis, genetic evaluation and family screening, medical therapy, endovascular and surgical treatment, and long-term surveillance of patients with aortic disease across its multiple clinical presentation subsets (ie, asymptomatic, stable symptomatic, and acute aortic syndromes). METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted from January 2021 to April 2021, encompassing studies, reviews, and other evidence conducted on human subjects that were published in English from PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, CINHL Complete, and other selected databases relevant to this guideline. Additional relevant studies, published through June 2022 during the guideline writing process, were also considered by the writing committee, where appropriate. STRUCTURE: Recommendations from previously published AHA/ACC guidelines on thoracic aortic disease, peripheral artery disease, and bicuspid aortic valve disease have been updated with new evidence to guide clinicians. In addition, new recommendations addressing comprehensive care for patients with aortic disease have been developed. There is added emphasis on the role of shared decision making, especially in the management of patients with aortic disease both before and during pregnancy. The is also an increased emphasis on the importance of institutional interventional volume and multidisciplinary aortic team expertise in the care of patients with aortic disease.

Mortality in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients without standard modifiable risk factors: A race disaggregated analysis.

Background: Individuals who present with STEMI without the standard cardiovascular risk factors (SMuRFs) of diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and smoking, coined SMuRF-less are not uncommon. Little is known about their outcomes as a cohort and how they differ by race. Methods & Results: We identified 431,615 admissions with STEMI in the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database 2015-2018, including patients with ≥ 1 SMuRF (n = 369,870) and those who were SMuRF-less (n = 234,745). SMuRF-less patients presented at a similar age (median age 63y vs 63y), were less likely to be female (33.6 % vs 34.6 %) and were almost twice as likely to present as a cardiac arrest (13.7 % vs 7.0 %), than those with ≥ 1 SMuRFs. SMuRF-less patients were less frequently in receipt of ICA (71.3 % vs 83.8 %) and PCI (58.0 % vs 72.2 %) compared to those with ≥ 1 SMuRF. Our race disaggregated analysis showed ethnic minority SMuRF-less patients were less likely than White patients to receive ICA and PCI, which was most apparent in Black patients with reduced odds of ICA (OR: 0.47, 95 % CI: 0.43-0.52) and PCI (OR: 0.46, 95 % CI: 0.52-0.50). Similarly, in ethnic minority subgroups within the SMuRF-less cohort, mortality and MACCE were significantly higher than in White patients. This was most profound in Black patients with in-hospital mortality (OR: 1.90, 95 % CI: 1.72-2.09) and MACCE (OR: 1.63, 95 % CI: 1.49-1.78) compared to White patients. Conclusion: Ethnic Minority SMuRF-less patients were less likely than White SMuRF-less patients to receive ICA and PCI and had worse mortality outcomes.

Echocardiographic predictors of mortality and morbidity in COVID-19 disease using focused cardiovascular ultrasound.

BACKGROUND: Focused transthoracic echocardiography (fTTE) has emerged as a critical diagnostic tool during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing for efficient cardiac imaging while minimizing staff exposure. The utility of fTTE in predicting clinical outcomes in COVID-19 remains under investigation. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of 2,266 hospitalized patients at Rush University Medical Center with COVID-19 infection between March and November 2020 who received a fTTE. fTTE data were analyzed for association with primary adverse outcomes (60-day mortality) and with secondary adverse outcomes (need for renal replacement therapy, need for invasive ventilation, shock, and venous thromboembolism). RESULTS: Of the 427 hospitalized patients who had a fTTE performed (mean 62 years, 43% female), 109 (26%) had died by 60 days. Among patients with an available fTTE measurement, right ventricular (RV) dilation was noted in 34% (106/309), 43% (166/386) had RV dysfunction, and 17% (72/421) had left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. In multivariable models accounting for fTTE data, RV dilation was significantly associated with 60-day mortality (OR 1.93 [CI 1.13-3.3], p = 0.016). LV dysfunction was not significantly associated with 60-day mortality (OR 0.95 [CI: 0.51-1.78], p = 0.87). CONCLUSIONS: Abnormalities in RV echocardiographic parameters are adverse prognosticators in COVID-19 disease. Patients with RV dilation experienced double the risk for 60-day mortality due to COVID-19. To our knowledge, this is the largest study to date that highlights the adverse prognostic implications of RV dilation as determined through fTTE in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Arrhythmias in Female Patients: Incidence, Presentation and Management.

There is a growing appreciation for differences in epidemiology, treatment, and outcomes of cardiovascular conditions by sex. Historically, cardiovascular clinical trials have under-represented females, but findings have nonetheless been applied to clinical care in a sex-agnostic manner. Thus, much of the collective knowledge about sex-specific cardiovascular outcomes result from post hoc and secondary analyses. In some cases, these investigations have revealed important sex-based differences with implications for optimizing care for female patients with arrhythmias. This review explores the available evidence related to cardiac arrhythmia care among females, with emphasis on areas in which important sex differences are known or suggested. Considerations related to improving female enrollment in clinical trials as a way to establish more robust clinical evidence for the treatment of females are discussed. Areas of remaining evidence gaps are provided, and recommendations for areas of future research and specific action items are suggested. The overarching goal is to improve appreciation for sex-based differences in cardiac arrhythmia care as 1 component of a comprehensive plan to optimize arrhythmia care for all patients.