Pushing the Limits of Reach for the Pedicled Anterolateral Thigh Flap.

The pedicled anterolateral thigh flap, although tremendously versatile, may be limited in reach, especially in challenging clinical cases. Traditional methods to extend its reach may remain insufficient or unavailable. We describe two modifications to the conventional pedicled flap to extend its reach to the limits, namely (1) selecting a distal perforator supplemented by the nonsizeable perforator harvest technique, and (2) the double-pivot technique adding an additional rotation to the flap à la propeller perforator flap. The increased reach not only improves reconstructive success, but also opens up new applications for this workhorse flap.

Non-Contact Current Measurement for Three-Phase Rectangular Busbars Using TMR Sensors.

This paper proposes a non-contact current measurement method for three-phase rectangular busbars based on TMR (tunneling magneto-resistance) sensors, due to their advantages of large dynamic range, wide bandwidth, light weight, and easy installation. A non-contact current sensor composed of only three TMR sensors is developed and the TMR sensors are respectively placed at a location with a certain distance from the surface of each rectangular busbar to measure the magnetic fields generated by the busbar currents. To calibrate the developed current sensor, i.e., to establish the relationship between the magnetic fields measured by the TMR sensors and the currents flowing in the three-phase rectangular busbars, we designed a thyristor-controlled resistive load as a calibrator, which is connected to a downstream branch of the distribution cabinet. By switching the resistive load, a calibration current, which can be identified from the background current, is generated in one rectangular busbar and its value is measured at the location of the calibrator, and transmitted wirelessly to the location of the TMR sensors. A new and robust method is proposed to extract the voltage components, corresponding to the calibration current, from the voltage waveforms of the TMR sensors. By calculating the proportional coefficients between the calibration currents and the extracted voltage components, online calibration of the current sensor is achieved. We designed and implemented a current measurement system consisting of a current sensor using TMR sensors, a thyristor-controlled resistive load for current sensor calibration, and a data acquisition circuit based on a multi-channel analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Current measurement experiments were performed in a practical distribution cabinet installed in our laboratory. Compared to the measurement results using a commercial current probe with an accuracy of 1%, the relative error of the measured currents in RMS is less than 2.5% and the phase error is less than 1°, while the nonlinearity error of the current sensor is better than 0.8%.

Associations between long-term averages of metabolic parameters in adulthood and cardiac structure and function in later life.

The effects of long-term levels of body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), plasma lipids and fasting blood glucose (FBG) on the cardiac structure and function in later life in general population are to evaluate. We included adult participants without heart failure from Framingham Heart Study. The respective averages over a span of 30-36 years of seven parameters were pooled into linear regression models simultaneously to evaluate their associations with subsequent left atrial internal dimension (LAID), left ventricular mass index (LVMi), internal dimension (LVID), ejection fraction (LVEF), global longitudinal strain (GLS) and mitral inflow velocity to early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E/é). In 1838 participants (56.0% female, mean age 66.1 years), per 1-standard deviation (SD) increment of mean BMI correlated with larger LAID and LVID (ß 0.05~0.17, standard error [SE] 0.01 for all), greater LVMi (ß [SE], 1.49 [0.46]), worse E/é (ß [SE], 0.28 [0.05]). Per 1-SD increment of mean systolic BP correlated with greater LVMi (ß [SE], 4.70 [0.69]), LVEF (ß [SE], 0.73 [0.24]), E/é (ß [SE], 0.52 [0.08]), whereas increase of mean diastolic BP correlated with smaller LVMi (ß [SE], -1.61 [0.62]), LVEF (ß [SE], -0.46 [0.22]), E/é (ß [SE], -0.30 [0.07]). Per 1-SD increment of mean high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) correlated with smaller LVID (ß [SE], -0.03 [0.01]) and better systolic function (LVEF, ß [SE], 0.63 [0.19]; GLS, ß [SE], -0.20 [0.10]). The variabilities of BMI, BP and HDL-c also correlated with certain cardiac measurements. In long-term, BMI affected the size and mass of heart chambers, systolic and diastolic BP differently influenced left ventricular mass and function, higher HDL-c linked to better systolic function. Clinical trial registration: URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov . Identifier: NCT00005121.

Prognostic impact of abnormal sodium burden in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction.

BACKGROUND: Sodium abnormality is common in patients with heart failure (HF) and is associated with adverse clinical outcomes. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of abnormal sodium burden on long-term mortality and hospitalization in HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). METHODS: We analysed participants from the Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure with an Aldosterone Antagonist (TOPCAT) trial with available baseline and follow-up data (n = 1717). Abnormal sodium burden was defined as the proportion of days with abnormal sodium plasma levels (either <135 mmol/L or > 145 mmol/L). To determine the independent prognostic impact of abnormal sodium burden on the long-term clinical adverse outcomes (The primary outcome was any cause death, the secondary outcomes include cardiovascular disease death, HF hospitalization, any cause hospitalization and the primary endpoint of the original study), a multivariable Cox proportional hazard model and time-updated Cox regression model were performed. RESULTS: Abnormal sodium burden occurred in 717 patients (41.76%). A high abnormal sodium burden was associated with 1.47 (95% CI, 1.15-1.89) higher risk with any cause mortality, 1.51 (95% CI, 1.08-2.09) higher risk with CVD death and 1.31 (95% CI, 1.02-1.69) higher risk with HF hospitalization when compared with no burden group. When sodium level changes over time were accounted for in time-updated models, abnormal sodium level was still associated with poor clinical outcomes. Diuretic and spironolactone usage did not show a statistical interaction effect on the prognostic significance. CONCLUSIONS: In HFpEF patients, abnormal sodium burden was an independent predictor long-term any-cause mortality and HF hospitalization.

Roles of nanoparticles in arsenic mobility and microbial community composition in arsenic-enriched soils.

Environmental effects of nano remediation engineering of arsenic (As) pollution need to be considered. In this study, the roles of Fe2O3 and TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) on the microbial mediated As mobilization from As contaminated soil were investigated. The addition of Fe2O3 and TiO2 NPs restrained As(V) release, and stimulated As(III) release. As(V) concentration decreased by 94% and 93% after Fe2O3 addition, and decreased by 89% and 45% after TiO2 addition compared to the Biotic and Biotic+Acetate (amended with sodium acetate) controls, respectively. The maximum values of As(III) were 20.5 and 27.1 µg/L at 48 d after Fe2O3 and TiO2 NPs addition, respectively, and were higher than that in Biotic+Acetate control (12.9 µg/L). The released As co-precipitated with Fe in soils in the presence of Fe2O3 NPs, but adsorbed on TiO2 NPs in the presence of TiO2 NPs. Moreover, the addition of NPs amended with sodium acetate as the electron donor clearly promoted As(V) reduction induced by microbes. The NPs addition changed the relative abundance of soil bacterial community, while Proteobacteria (42.8%-70.4%), Planctomycetes (2.6%-14.3%), and Firmicutes (3.5%-25.4%) were the dominant microorganisms in soils. Several potential As/Fe reducing bacteria were related to Pseudomonas, Geobacter, Desulfuromonas, and Thiobacillus. The addition of Fe2O3 and TiO2 NPs induced to the decrease of arrA gene. The results indicated that the addition of NPs had a negative impact on soil microbial population in a long term. The findings offer a relatively comprehensive assessment of Fe2O3 and TiO2 NPs effects on As mobilization and soil bacterial communities.

Abnormal electrocardiogram and poor prognosis in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

PURPOSE: Electrocardiogram (ECG) is generally performed in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but the prognostic value of abnormal ECG is not fully understood. We aim to explore the prognostic value of abnormal ECG at baseline in HFpEF using data from the TOPCAT trial. METHODS: A total of 1736 patients from TOPCAT-Americas were included and divided into normal versus abnormal ECG groups. Survival analyses were performed for the following outcomes: the primary endpoint [a composite of cardiovascular death, heart failure (HF) hospitalization, and aborted cardiac arrest], all-cause death, cardiovascular death, and HF hospitalization. RESULTS: Abnormal ECG was significantly associated with higher risks of the primary endpoint [hazard ratio (HR): 1.480, P = 0.001] and HF hospitalization (HR: 1.400, P = 0.015), and borderline significantly with cardiovascular death (HR: 1.453, P = 0.052) in patients with HFpEF after multivariate adjustment. As for specific ECG abnormalities, bundle branch block was associated with the primary endpoint (HR: 1.278, P = 0.020) and HF hospitalization (HR: 1.333, P = 0.016), whereas atrial fibrillation/flutter was associated with all-cause death (HR: 1.345, P = 0.051) and cardiovascular death (HR: 1.570, P = 0.023), but ventricular paced rhythm, pathological Q waves, and left ventricular hypertrophy were not of prognostic significance. Besides, other unspecific abnormalities together were associated with the primary endpoint (HR: 1.213, P = 0.032). CONCLUSION: Abnormal ECG at baseline could be associated with poor prognosis in patients with HFpEF. Physicians are encouraged to pay more attention to HFpEF patients who present an abnormal ECG instead of ignoring those obscure abnormalities. Key messages What is already known on this topic Electrocardiogram (ECG) is a basic and easily accessible examination for patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Some findings from ECG such as frontal QRS-T angle, QTc interval, and the Cornell product have been shown to be associated with the prognosis of HFpEF but these results are from studies with relatively small sample sizes. What this study adds Using data from TOPCAT-Americas, this study found that an overall estimation of abnormal ECG significantly predicted poor prognosis in patients with HFpEF. As for specific abnormalities in ECG, bundle branch block mainly predicted heart failure hospitalization and atrial fibrillation mainly predicted death. How this study might affect research, practice, or policy This study reminds physicians to pay more attention to HFpEF patients who present an abnormal ECG.

Association between epicardial adipose tissue and incident heart failure mediating by alteration of natriuretic peptide and myocardial strain.

BACKGROUND: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has been suggested to exert deleterious effects on myocardium and cardiovascular disease (CVD) consequence. We evaluated the associations of EAT thickness with adverse outcomes and its potential mediators in the community. METHODS: Participants without heart failure (HF) who had undergone cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) to measure EAT thickness over the right ventricular free wall from the Framingham Heart Study were included. The correlation of EAT thickness with 85 circulating biomarkers and cardiometric parameters was assessed in linear regression models. The occurrence of HF, atrial fibrillation, coronary heart disease (CHD), and other adverse events was tracked since CMR was implemented. Their associations with EAT thickness and the mediators were evaluated using Cox regression and causal mediation analysis. RESULTS: Of 1554 participants, 53.0% were females. Mean age, body mass index, and EAT thickness were 63.3 years, 28.1 kg/m2, and 9.8 mm, respectively. After fully adjusting, EAT thickness positively correlated with CRP, LEP, GDF15, MMP8, MMP9, ORM1, ANGPTL3, and SERPINE1 and negatively correlated with N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), IGFBP1, IGFBP2, AGER, CNTN1, and MCAM. Increasing EAT thickness was associated with smaller left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, thicker left ventricular wall thickness, and worse global longitudinal strain (GLS). During a median follow-up of 12.7 years, 101 incident HF occurred. Per 1-standard deviation increment of EAT thickness was associated with a higher risk of HF (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.19-1.72, P < 0.001) and the composite outcome consisting of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, HF, and death from CVD (adjusted HR [95% CI], 1.23 [1.07-1.40], P = 0.003). Mediation effect in the association between thicker EAT and higher risk of HF was observed with NT-proBNP (HR [95% CI], 0.95 [0.92-0.98], P = 0.011) and GLS (HR [95% CI], 1.04 [1.01-1.07], P = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS: EAT thickness was correlated with inflammation and fibrosis-related circulating biomarkers, cardiac concentric change, myocardial strain impairment, incident HF risk, and overall CVD risk. NT-proBNP and GLS might partially mediate the effect of thickened EAT on the risk of HF. EAT could refine the assessment of CVD risk and become a new therapeutic target of cardiometabolic diseases. TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov . Identifier: NCT00005121.

Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration and outcomes in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

AIMS: This study aims to evaluate the prognostic value of mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) on clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). METHODS AND RESULTS: We analysed HFpEF participants from the Americas in the Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure with an Aldosterone Antagonist (TOPCAT) trial with available baseline data (n = 1747). Patients were grouped into hypochromia or non-hypochromia group according to a MCHC cut-off level of 330 g/L. Cox proportional hazard model was used to explore the prognostic value of hypochromia on the long-term clinical outcomes (the primary endpoint [composite of cardiovascular mortality, HF hospitalization and aborted cardiac arrest], any-cause and HF hospitalization, all-cause and cardiovascular mortality). Patients were further stratified according to baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) to explore the impact of renal dysfunction on the prognostic value of hypochromia. Baseline hypochromia was prevalent (n = 662, 37.9%) and strongly associated with worse clinical outcomes. In patients with worse renal function (eGFR < 60 mL/min per 1.73 m2 ), hypochromia was independently associated with primary endpoint (hazard ratio [HR], 1.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23-1.98; P < 0.001), any-cause hospitalization (HR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.20-1.71, P < 0.001) and HF hospitalization (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.07-1.84; P = 0.015), whereas no significant association between hypochromia and these outcomes was found in patients with better renal function. CONCLUSIONS: Among HFpEF patients, hypochromia (i.e. MCHC ≤ 330 g/L) is independently associated with adverse clinical outcomes, especially when in the presence of co-morbidity renal dysfunction.

Distinct implications of body mass index in different subgroups of nonobese patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: a latent class analysis of data from the TOPCAT trial.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a well-defined risk factor for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but it is associated with a better prognosis in patients with diagnosed HFpEF. The paradoxically poor prognosis in nonobese patients with HFpEF may be driven by a subset of high-risk patients, which suggests that the nonobese HFpEF subpopulation is heterogeneous. METHODS: Latent class analysis (LCA) was adopted to identify the potential subgroups of 623 nonobese patients enrolled in the TOPCAT trial. The baseline characteristics of the identified nonobese subgroups were compared with each other and with the obese patients. The risks of all-cause, cardiovascular, and noncardiovascular mortality, and an HF composite outcome were also compared. RESULTS: Two subgroups of nonobese patients with HFpEF (the physiological non-obesity and the pathological non-obesity) were identified. The obese patients were younger than both nonobese subgroups. The clinical profile of patients with pathological non-obesity was poorer than that of patients with physiological non-obesity. They had more comorbidities, more severe HF, poorer quality of life, and lower levels of physical activity. Patients with pathological non-obesity showed low serum hemoglobin and albumin levels. After 2 years of follow-up, more patients in the pathological group lost ≥ 10% of body weight compared with those in the physiological group (11.34% vs. 4.19%, P = 0.009). The prognostic implications of the two subgroups were opposite. Compared to patients with obesity, patients with physiological non-obesity had a 47% decrease in the risk of HF composite outcome (hazard ratio [HR] 0.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.40-0.70, P<0.001) and a trend of decreased all-cause mortality risk (HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.55-1.01, P=0.06), while patients with pathological non-obesity had a 59% increase (HR 1.59, 95% CI 1.24-2.02, P<0.001) in all-cause mortality risk. CONCLUSIONS: Two subgroups of nonobese patients with HFpEF with distinct clinical profiles and prognostic implications were identified. The low BMI was likely physiological in one group but pathological in the other group. Using a data-driven approach, our study provided an alternative explanation for the "obesity paradox" that the poor prognosis of nonobese patients with HFpEF was driven by a pathological subgroup.

Associations of short- and long-term mortality with admission blood pressure in Chinese patients with different heart failure subtypes.

It remains unknown whether systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) pressure on admission are associated with short- and long-term mortality in Chinese patients with heart failure with preserved (HFpEF), mildly reduced (HFmrEF), and reduced (HFrEF) ejection fraction. In 2706 HF patients (39.1% women; mean age, 68.8 years), we assessed the risk of 30-day, 1-year, and long-term (> 1 year) mortality with 1-SD increment in SBP and DBP, using multivariable logistic and Cox regression, respectively. During a median follow-up of 4.1 years, 1341 patients died. The 30-day, 1-year, and long-term mortality were 3.5%, 16.7%, and 39.4%, respectively. In multivariable-adjusted analyses additionally accounted for DBP or SBP, a higher SBP conferred a higher risk of long-term mortality (hazard ratio, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.02-1.22; p = .017) and a lower DBP was associated with a higher risk of all types of mortality (p ≤ .011) in all HF patients. Independent of potential confounders including DBP or SBP, in patients with HFpEF, higher SBP and lower DBP levels predicted a higher risk of long-term mortality with hazard ratios amounting to 1.16 (95% CI, 1.04-1.29; p = .007) and .89 (95% CI, .80-.99; p = .028), respectively. In patients with HFmrEF and HFrEF, irrespective of adjustments of potential confounders, DBP was associated with 1-year mortality with odds ratios ranging from .49 to .62 (p ≤ .006). In conclusion, lower DBP and higher SBP levels on admission were associated with a higher risk of different types of all-cause mortality in Chinese patients with different HF subtypes. Our observations highlight that admission BP may help to improve risk stratification.

Attenuation of Myocardial Dysfunction in Hypertensive Cardiomyopathy Using Non-R-Wave-Synchronized Cardiac Shock Wave Therapy.

Cardiac shock wave therapy (CSWT) is a novel therapeutic procedure for patients with angina that is refractory to conventional therapy. We investigated the potential mechanism and therapeutic efficacy of non-R-wave-triggered CSWT to attenuate myocardial dysfunction in a large animal model of hypertensive cardiomyopathy. Sustained elevated blood pressure (BP) was induced in adult pigs using a combination of angiotensin-II and deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA). Two sessions of non-R-wave-triggered CSWT were performed at 11 and 16 weeks. At 10 weeks, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, LV posterior wall thickness and intraventricular septum thickness significantly increased in both the hypertension and CSWT groups. At 20 weeks, +dP/dt and end-systolic pressure-volume relationship (ESPVR) decreased significantly in the hypertension group but not the CSWT group, as compared with week 10. A significant improvement in end-diastolic pressure-volume relationship (EDPVR) was observed in the CSWT group. The CSWT group exhibited significantly increased microvascular density and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in the myocardium. Cytokine array demonstrated that the CSWT group had significantly reduced inflammation compared with the hypertension group. Our results demonstrate that non-R-wave-triggered CSWT is safe and can attenuate LV systolic and diastolic dysfunction via enhancement of myocardial neovascularization and anti-inflammatory effect in a large animal model of hypertensive cardiomyopathy.

Worsening of Renal Function Among Hospitalized Patients With Acute Heart Failure: Phenotyping, Outcomes, and Predictors.

OBJECTIVE: To define clinical phenotyping and its associated outcome of worsening of renal function (WRF) in hospitalized acute heart failure (AHF) patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Latent class analysis was performed in 113 AHF patients who developed WRF within 72 hours in the DOSE (Diuretic Optimization Strategies Evaluation) trial (from March 2008 to November 2009) and ROSE-AHF (Renal Optimization Strategies Evaluation in Acute Heart Failure) trial (from September 2010 to March 2013) to identify potential WRF phenotypes. Clinical characteristics and outcome (in-hospital and post-discharge) were compared between different phenotypes. RESULTS: Two WRF phenotypes were identified by latent class analysis, which we named WRF minimally responsive to diuretics (WRF-MRD) and WRF responsive to diuretics (WRF-RD). Among the population, 58 (9.5%) developed WRF-MRD and 55 (9.0%) developed WRF-RD. Patients with WRF-MRD had more comorbidities than WRF-RD. In WRF-MRD, there were an early increase in serum creatinine, a smaller amount of net fluid loss and weight loss, and a higher rate of worsening or persistent heart failure over 72 hours. In contrast, for those with WRF-RD, they had faster in-hospital net fluid loss and weight loss and a better 60-day survival after discharge even compared with patients without WRF (P=.004). Furthermore, baseline chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and cystatin C were independent predictors of WRF-MRD, whereas serum hemoglobin and sodium predicted WRF-RD. CONCLUSIONS: Among hospitalized AHF patients, we identified two phenotypes of WRF with distinct response to heart failure treatment, predictors, and short-term prognosis after discharge. The results could help early differentiation of WRF phenotypes in clinical practice.

Repeated intravenous administration of hiPSC-MSCs enhance the efficacy of cell-based therapy in tissue regeneration.

We seek to demonstrate whether therapeutic efficacy can be improved by combination of repeated intravenous administration and local transplantation of human induced pluripotential stem cell derived MSCs (hiPSC-MSCs). In this study, mice model of hind-limb ischemia is established by ligation of left femoral artery. hiPSC-MSCs (5 × 105) is intravenously administrated immediately after induction of hind limb ischemia with or without following intravenous administration of hiPSC-MSCs every week or every 3 days. Intramuscular transplantation of hiPSC-MSCs (3 × 106) is performed one week after induction of hind-limb ischemia. We compare the therapeutic efficacy and cell survival of intramuscular transplantation of hiPSC-MSCs with or without a single or repeated intravenous administration of hiPSC-MSCs. Repeated intravenous administration of hiPSC-MSCs can increase splenic regulatory T cells (Tregs) activation, decrease splenic natural killer (NK) cells expression, promote the polarization of M2 macrophages in the ischemic area and improved blood perfusion in the ischemic limbs. The improved therapeutic efficacy of MSC-based therapy is due to both increased engraftment of intramuscular transplanted hiPSC-MSCs and intravenous infused hiPSC-MSCs. In conclusion, our study support a combination of repeated systemic infusion and local transplantation of hiPSC-MSCs for cardiovascular disease.

Cardiac function and exercise capacity in patients with metabolic syndrome: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Metabolic syndrome is a pre-diabetes condition that is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We aimed to explore how exercise capacity, cardiac structure, and function were affected in patients with metabolic syndrome. Methods: Outpatients with echocardiography and exercise stress test combined with impedance cardiography (ETT + ICGG) results available from Nov 2018 to Oct 2020 were retrospectively enrolled. Echocardiographic, ETT + ICG profiles, and exercise performance were compared between patients with metabolic syndrome and the ones without. Sensitivity analyses were performed excluding patients without established coronary heart disease and further 1:1 paired for age and gender, respectively. Multiple linear regression was used to find out related predictors for maximal metabolic equivalents (METs). Results: Three hundred and twenty-third patients were included, among whom 97 were diagnosed as metabolic syndrome. Compared to patients without metabolic syndrome, echocardiography showed that patients with metabolic syndrome had a significantly lower E/A ratio (p < 0.001). Besides, they have larger left atrium, larger right ventricle, and thicker interventricular septum (all p < 0.001), but similar left ventricular ejection fraction (P = 0.443). ICG showed that patients with metabolic syndrome had significantly higher stroke volume at rest and maximum (p < 0.001), higher left cardiac work index at rest and maximum (p = 0.005), higher systemic vascular resistance (SVR) at rest (p < 0.001), but similar SVI (p = 0.888). During exercise, patients with metabolic syndrome had lower maximal METs (p < 0.001), and a higher proportion suffering from ST-segment depression during exercise (p = 0.009). Sensitivity analyses yielded similar results. As for the linear regression model, 6 independent variables (systolic blood pressure, BMI, E/A ratio, the height of O wave, the peak value of LCWi, and the baseline of SVR) had statistically significant effects on the maximal METs tested in exercise (R = 0.525, R 2 = 0.246, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Patients with metabolic syndrome had significant structural alteration, apparent overburden of left ventricular work index, pre-and afterload, which may be the main cause of impaired exercise tolerance.

Salt restriction and risk of adverse outcomes in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

BACKGROUND: The optimal salt restriction in patients with heart failure (HF), especially patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations of cooking salt restriction with risks of clinical outcomes in patients with HFpEF. METHODS: Cox proportional hazards model and subdistribution hazards model were used in this secondary analysis in 1713 participants with HFpEF from the Americas in the TOPCAT trial. Cooking salt score was the sum of self-reported salt added during homemade food preparation. The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiovascular death, HF hospitalisation and aborted cardiac arrest, and secondary outcomes were all-cause death, cardiovascular death and HF hospitalisation. RESULTS: Compared with patients with cooking salt score 0, patients with cooking salt score >0 had significantly lower risks of the primary endpoint (HR=0.760, 95% CI 0.638 to 0.906, p=0.002) and HF hospitalisation (HR=0.737, 95% CI 0.603 to 0.900, p=0.003), but not all-cause (HR=0.838, 95% CI 0.684 to 1.027, p=0.088) or cardiovascular death (HR=0.782, 95% CI 0.598 to 1.020, p=0.071). Sensitivity analyses using propensity score matching baseline characteristics and in patients who prepared meals mostly at home yielded similar results. Subgroup analysis suggested that the association between overstrict salt restriction and poor outcomes was more predominant in patients aged ≤70 years and of non-white race. CONCLUSION: Overstrict cooking salt intake restriction was associated with worse prognosis in patients with HFpEF, and the association seemed to be more predominant in younger and non-white patients. Clinicians should be prudent when giving salt restriction advice to patients with HFpEF.

Brain-Inspired Domain-Incremental Adaptive Detection for Autonomous Driving.

Most existing methods for unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) only involve two domains, i.e., source domain and the target domain. However, such trained adaptive models have poor performance when applied to a new domain without learning. Moreover, using UDA methods to adapt from the source domain to the new domains will lead to catastrophic forgetting of the previous target domain. To handle these issues, inspired by the ability to balance the maintenance of old knowledge and learning new knowledge of the human brain, in this article, we propose a new incremental learning framework for domain-incremental cases, which can harmonize the memorability and discriminability of the existing and the novel domains. By this means, the model can imitate the learning process of the human brain and, thus, improve its adaptability. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed methods, we conduct two groups of experiments, including virtual-to-real and diverse-weather cases. The experimental results demonstrate that our approach can avoid catastrophic forgetting, mitigate performance degradation in the previous domains, and improve the object detection accuracy of the novel target domain significantly.

Phenotypes of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and effect of spironolactone treatment.

AIMS: The aims of this study were to explore phenotypes of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and evaluate differential effects of spironolactone treatment. METHODS AND RESULTS: A swap-stepwise algorithm was used for variable selection. Latent class analysis based on 10 selected variables was employed in a derivative set of 1540 patients from the TOPCAT trial. Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the prognoses and effects of spironolactone treatment. Three phenotypes of HFpEF were identified. Phenotype 1 was the youngest with low burden of co-morbidities. Phenotype 2 was the oldest with high prevalence of atrial fibrillation, pacemaker implantation, and hypothyroidism. Phenotype 3 was mostly obese and diabetic with high burden of other co-morbidities. Compared with phenotype 1, phenotypes 2 (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.46; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14-1.89; P = 0.003) and 3 (HR: 2.35; 95% CI: 1.80-3.07; P < 0.001) were associated with higher risks of the primary composite outcome. Spironolactone treatment was associated with a reduced risk of the primary outcome only in phenotype 1 (HR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.40-0.98; P = 0.042). CONCLUSIONS: Three distinct HFpEF phenotypes were identified. Spironolactone treatment could improve clinical outcome in a phenotype of relatively young patients with low burden of co-morbidities.

Prognostic significance of blood urea nitrogen/creatinine ratio in chronic HFpEF.

BACKGROUND: The prognostic significance of blood urea nitrogen (BUN)/creatinine ratio specifically in chronic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) patients remained unclear. We aimed to evaluate the association of BUN/creatinine ratio (baseline level and visit-to-visit variation) with the risk of adverse clinical outcomes among patients with chronic HFpEF. METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a secondary analysis of the Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure with an Aldosterone Antagonist (TOPCAT) trial. Of the enrolled 3445 participants in the TOPCAT trial, associations between BUN/creatinine and clinical outcomes were examined in a subset of 1521 (baseline measurements level) and 1453 (visit-to-visit variation) participants. A multivariable Cox proportional hazard model was used to assess the prognostic significance of BUN/creatinine ratio and BUN/creatinine ratio variation for the prespecified clinical outcomes. A higher BUN/creatinine ratio was associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.52, 95%CI, 1.21-1.91; p < .001) as well as cardiovascular disease mortality (HR = 1.83, 95%CI, 1.35-2.49; p < .001) in the fully adjusted model. Greater visit-to-visit variability in BUN/creatinine ratio tended to be independently associated with a higher risk of heart failure hospitalization and primary endpoint (p < .001 for both outcomes). Furthermore, those findings were consistent across participants stratified by the presence of chronic kidney disease at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Higher BUN/creatinine ratio and greater BUN/creatinine ratio variability are independently associated with adverse outcomes in HFpEF participants in the TOPCAT trial.