In-hospital outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve replacement in patients with chronic and end-stage renal disease: a nationwide database study.

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have been associated with worse outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). With TAVR indications extending to a wider range of patient populations, it is important to understand the current implications of chronic renal insufficiency on clinical outcomes. We aim to determine the impact of CKD and ESRD on in-hospital outcomes after TAVR. METHODS: We queried the National Inpatient Sample for TAVR performed between 2016 and 2020 using International Classification of Diseases-10th Revision codes. We compared in-hospital mortality and clinical outcomes between three groups: normal renal function, CKD and ESRD. The association between CKD/ESRD and outcomes was tested with multivariable logistic regression analyses, using normal renal function as baseline. RESULTS: In the five-year study period, 279,195 patients underwent TAVR (mean age 78.9 ± 8.5 years, 44.4% female). Of all patients, 67.1% had normal renal function, 29.2% had CKD, and 3.7% had ESRD. There were significant differences in age, sex, and prevalence of comorbidities across groups. In-hospital mortality was 1.3%. Compared to patients with normal renal function, patients with renal insufficiency had higher in-hospital mortality, with the highest risk found in patients with ESRD (adjusted odds ratio: 1.4 [95% confidence interval: 1.2-1.7] for CKD; adjusted odds ratio: 2.4 [95% confidence interval: 1.8-3.3] for ESRD). Patients with CKD or ESRD had a higher risk of cardiogenic shock, need for mechanical circulatory support, and vascular access complications, compared to those with normal renal function. In addition, patients with ESRD had a higher risk of cardiac arrest and periprocedural acute myocardial infarction. The incidence of conversion to open heart surgery was 0.3% and did not differ between groups. Post-procedural infectious and respiratory complications were more common among patients with CKD or ESRD. CONCLUSION: Patients with CKD and ESRD are at higher risk of in-hospital mortality, cardiovascular, and non-cardiovascular complications after TAVR. The risk of complications is highest in patients with ESRD and does not result in more frequent conversion to open heart surgery. These results emphasize the importance of individualized patient selection for TAVR and procedural planning among patients with chronic renal insufficiency.

Lead Extraction-Indications, Procedure, and Future Directions.

Cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) implantation has steadily increased in the United States owing to increased life expectancy, better access to health care, and the adoption of updated guidelines. Transvenous lead extraction (TLE) is an invasive technique for the removal of CIED devices, and the most common indications include device infections, lead failures, and venous occlusion. Although in-hospital and procedure-related deaths for patients undergoing TLE are low, the long-term mortality remains high with 10-year survival reported close to 50% after TLE. This is likely demonstrative of the increased burden of comorbidities with aging. There are guidelines provided by various professional societies, including the Heart Rhythm Society, regarding indications for lead extraction and management of these patients. In this paper, we will review the indications for CIED extraction, procedural considerations, and management of these patients based upon the latest guidelines.

Cardiovascular Manifestations of the Long COVID Syndrome.

While most coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) survivors have had complete resolution of symptoms, a significant proportion have suffered from incomplete recovery. Cardiopulmonary symptoms, such as dyspnea, chest pain, and palpitations are responsible for a substantial symptom burden in COVID-19 survivors. Studies have revealed persistent myocardial injury with late gadolinium enhancement and myocardial scar on cardiac magnetic resonance in a significant proportion of patients. Evidence of myocardial edema, active inflammation, left ventricular dysfunction, and right ventricular dysfunction, is limited to a minority of patients. Large observational studies of COVID-19 survivors have indicated an increased risk of cardiovascular disease compared to the general population, including the risk of coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, and arrhythmias. Management of long COVID is focused on supportive therapy to reduce systemic inflammation. Patients with high cardiovascular risk, namely, those who had cardiovascular complications during acute illness, patients who have new onset cardiopulmonary symptoms in the postinfectious period, and competitive athletes, should be evaluated by a cardiovascular specialist. Management of cardiovascular sequelae is currently based on general expert guideline recommendations given the lack of evidence specific to long COVID syndrome. In this review, we outline the cardiovascular manifestations of long COVID, the current evidence supporting cardiac abnormalities in the postinfectious period, and the recommended management of these patients.

Interpretation of EKG with Image Recognition and Convolutional Neural Networks.

Electrocardiograms (EKG) form the backbone of all cardiovascular diagnosis, treatment and follow up. Given the pivotal role it plays in modern medicine, there have been multiple efforts to computerize the EKG interpretation with algorithms to improve efficiency and accuracy. Unfortunately, many of these algorithms are machine specific and run-on proprietary signals generated by that machine, hence not generalizable. We propose the development of an image recognition model which can be used to read standard EKG strips. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was trained to classify 12-lead EKGs between 7 clinically important diagnostic classes. An austere variation of the MobileNetV3 model was trained from the ground up on publicly available labeled training set. The precision per class varies from 52% to 91%. This is a novel approach to EKG interpretation as an image recognition problem.

Impact of COVID-19 on Patients Hospitalized With Deep Vein Thrombosis and/or Pulmonary Embolism: A Nationwide Analysis.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection predisposes patients to develop deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). In this study, we compared the in-hospital outcomes of patients with DVT and/or PE with concurrent COVID-19 infection vs those with concurrent flu infection. The National Inpatient Sample from 2019 to 2020 was analyzed to identify all adult admissions diagnosed with DVT and PE. These patients were then stratified based on whether they had concomitant COVID-19 or flu. We identified 62,895 hospitalizations with the diagnosis of DVT and/or PE with concomitant COVID-19, and 8155 hospitalizations with DVT and/or PE with concomitant flu infection. After 1:1 propensity score match, the incidence of cardiac arrest and inpatient mortality were higher in the COVID-19 group. The incidence of cardiogenic shock was higher in the flu group. Increased age, Hispanic race, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, arrhythmia, liver disease, coagulopathy, and rheumatologic diseases were the independent predictors of mortality in patients with DVT and/or PE with concomitant COVID-19.

Automated electrocardiogram signal quality assessment based on Fourier analysis and template matching.

We developed and tested a novel template matching approach for signal quality assessment on electrocardiogram (ECG) data. A computational method was developed that uses a sinusoidal approximation to the QRS complex to generate a correlation value at every point of an ECG. The strength of this correlation can be numerically adapted into a 'score' for each segment of an ECG, which can be used to stratify signal quality. The algorithm was tested on lead II ECGs of intensive care unit (ICU) patients admitted to the Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH) from January to July 2020 and on records from the MIT BIH arrhythmia database. The algorithm was found to be 98.9% specific and 99% sensitive on test data from the MSH ICU patients. The routine performs in linear O(n) time and occupies O(1) heap space in runtime. This approach can be used to lower the burden of pre-processing in ECG signal analysis. Given its runtime (O(n)) and memory (O(1)) complexity, there are potential applications for signal quality stratification and arrhythmia detection in wearable devices or smartphones.

Safety of left atrial appendage closure in heart failure patients.

INTRODUCTION: Left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is an intervention aimed at stroke prevention in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). There is a three-fold increased risk of stroke in patients with concomitant presence of AF and heart failure (HF). While anticoagulation is effective, only 60% receive it. We aimed at studying the safety of LAAC in HF patients using a national all-payer database. METHODS: We queried the National Inpatient Sample for the year 2016-2018 for WATCHMAN device insertion using ICD 10 procedure codes. We divided the study population into HF and non-HF groups. Outcomes were compared using appropriate statistical tests, p< .05 was considered significant. RESULTS: 34 385 LAAC procedures were identified of which 8530 (24.8%) were done in patients with HF. The mean (SD) age of the study population was 76 (7.9) years and 42% were female. There was no difference in mean age between HF and non-HF groups. Our findings indicate that there is no difference in inpatient mortality and cardiac complications between the HF and non-HF groups. However, noncardiac complications including acute kidney injury and respiratory failure were higher in the HF group. CONCLUSION: LAAC appears to be a safe procedure in patients with HF. The study is limited by a short follow up period and long-term follow-up is required before definitive conclusions can be made.

Impact of Pulmonary Hypertension in Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Presented With Cardiogenic Shock/Acute Decompensated Heart Failure.

There have been no studies focusing on how pulmonary hypertension (PH) affects inpatient outcomes in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure or cardiogenic shock. This study explores inpatient outcomes of patients with HCM, and concomitant PH compared to patients with HCM. Based on the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) 2016-2018, patients admitted with a primary diagnosis of acute decompensated heart failure or cardiogenic shock were selected. The patients diagnosed with concomitant HCM were identified and divided into 2 groups based on the presence or absence of PH. After propensity matching 1545 matched pairs were generated. Patients with PH had a higher prevalence of chronic kidney disease (P < 0.001), anemia (P < 0.001), coagulopathy (P < 0.001), atrial fibrillation (P = 0.031), and valvular disease (P < 0.001) (Table 1). The primary outcome (all-cause in-hospital mortality) occurred in 110 patients (2.6%) without PH and 95 patients (5.2%) with PH, which was not statistically significant after propensity matching (odds ratio [OR]:1.53; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.70-3.33; P = 0. 28) (Table 3). Patients with PH had a higher incidence of transient ischemic attack (TIA) (OR: 9.52; 95% CI: 3.38-26.78; P < 0.001)] and respiratory failure [(OR: 1.49; 95% CI:1.05-2.11; P = 0.027], although with no difference in requirement for mechanical ventilation (= 0.64), as compared to patients without PH. PH in patients with HCM is associated with increased morbidity, including increased risk of TIA and respiratory failure.

Clinically Ambiguous Hemorrhagic Cardiac Tamponade Associated with Apixaban.

Hemorrhagic cardiac tamponade in the setting of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) is rare but life-threatening. Presentation in subacute cases can also be nonspecific, which can potentially delay diagnosis. A 60-year-old female with a history of heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease presented with shortness of breath, chest pain, and cough while on treatment with apixaban after a recent hospitalization for pulmonary embolism. Clinical presentation was consistent with multiple diagnoses, including pneumonia and heart failure exacerbation. However, there were several risk factors for hemopericardium with DOACs such as elevated creatinine, hypertension, elevated international normalized ratio (INR), and concomitant use of medications with similar metabolic pathways as apixaban. In addition, subtle findings on examination such as oximetry paradoxus and electrical alternans were crucial for an early diagnosis and management. In this case, we discuss key characteristics of hemopericardium with DOACs, as well as considerations on its management.

Large scale synthesis of copper nickel alloy nanoparticles with reduced compressibility using arc thermal plasma process.

Among the various methods employed in the synthesis of nanostructures, those involving high operating temperature and sharp thermal gradients often lead to the establishment of new exotic properties. Herein, we report on the formation of Cu-Ni metallic alloy nanoparticles with greatly enhanced stiffness achieved through direct-current transferred arc-thermal plasma assisted vapour-phase condensation. High pressure synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) at ambient temperature as well as XRPD in the temperature range 180 to 920 K, show that the thermal arc-plasma route resulted in alloy nanoparticles with much enhanced bulk modulus compared to their bulk counterparts. Such a behaviour may find an explanation in the sudden quenching assisted by the retention of a large amount of local strain due to alloying, combined with the perfect miscibility of the elemental components during the thermal plasma synthesis process.

Effect of Surface Roughness on Hydrodynamic Characteristics of an Impinging Droplet.

The influence of surface roughness and impact energy on the hydrodynamic behavior of water droplets impinging upon dry and rigid surfaces of known roughness has been investigated experimentally. The influence of these two parameters on the droplet maximum spreading diameter, slip length during droplet recoil, dynamic contact angle, contact angle hysteresis, and apparent contact angle of droplets at rest has been determined. Based on the quantitative assessment, a correlation for the maximum spreading diameter in terms of the nondimensional parameter (We/Oh) and surface roughness ratio (Ra/do) was derived. We propose to use surface roughness "Ra" rather than using the contact angle for correlation as contact angles cannot be known a priori, whereas surface roughness can be determined beforehand. The wetting state of a droplet depends on the combined influence of droplet impact energy and surface roughness. While increasing impact energy increases the spreading, higher surface roughness resists the droplet from spreading. Low impact energy and a smoother surface tend toward the Cassie-Baxter wetting state, whereas high impact energy and rough surfaces propel the droplet toward the Wenzel state of wetting.

Creation and Validation of a Novel Sex-Specific Mortality Risk Score in LVAD Recipients.

Background Prior studies have shown that women have worse 3-month survival after receiving a left ventricular assist device compared with men. Currently used prognostic scores, including the Heartmate II Risk Score, do not account for the increased residual risk in women. We used the IMACS (International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support) registry to create and validate a sex-specific risk score for early mortality in left ventricular assist device recipients. Methods and Results Adult patients with a continuous-flow LVAD from the IMACS registry were randomly divided into a derivation cohort (DC; n=9113; 21% female) and a validation cohort (VC; n=6074; 21% female). The IMACS Risk Score was developed in the DC to predict 3-month mortality, from preoperative candidate predictors selected using the Akaike information criterion, or significant sex × variable interaction. In the DC, age, cardiogenic shock at implantation, body mass index, blood urea nitrogen, bilirubin, hemoglobin, albumin, platelet count, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, tricuspid regurgitation, dialysis, and major infection before implantation were retained as significant predictors of 3-month mortality. There was significant ischemic heart failure × sex and platelet count × sex interaction. For each quartile increase in IMACS risk score, men (odds ratio [OR], 1.86; 95% CI, 1.74-2.00; P<0.0001), and women (OR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.47-2.59; P<0.0001) had higher odds of 3-month mortality. The IMACS risk score represented a significant improvement over Heartmate II Risk Score (IMACS risk score area under the receiver operating characteristic curve: men: DC, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.69-0.73; VC, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.66-0.72; women: DC, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.70-0.77; VC, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.66-0.76; P<0.01 for improvement in receiver operating characteristic) and provided excellent risk calibration in both sexes. Removal of sex-specific interaction terms resulted in significant loss of model fit. Conclusions A sex-specific risk score provides excellent risk prediction in LVAD recipients.

Cybersecurity: The need for data and patient safety with cardiac implantable electronic devices.

Remote monitoring of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) has become routine practice as a result of the advances in biomedical engineering, the advent of interconnectivity between the devices through the Internet, and the demonstrated improvement in patient outcomes, survival, and hospitalizations. However, this increased dependency on the Internet of Things comes with risks in the form of cybersecurity lapses and possible attacks. Although no cyberattack leading to patient harm has been reported to date, the threat is real and has been demonstrated in research laboratory scenarios and echoed in patient concerns. The CIED universe comprises a complex interplay of devices, connectivity protocols, and sensitive information flow between the devices and the central cloud server. Various manufacturers use proprietary software and black-box connectivity protocols that are susceptible to hacking. Here we discuss the fundamentals of the CIED ecosystem, the potential security vulnerabilities, a historical overview of such vulnerabilities reported in the literature, and recommendations for improving the security of the CIED ecosystem and patient safety.

Reversal of severe hypertriglyceridemia with intermittent fasting and a very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet: a case series.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To illustrate successful reversal of hypertriglyceridemia using a very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet in conjunction with intermittent fasting in two patients. RECENT FINDINGS: Hypertriglyceridemia remains an important component of residual risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Current guidelines from the AHA/ACC recommend the initiation of a very-low-fat diet to treat persistently elevated triglycerides, whereas the National Lipid Association argues that a very-low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet is contraindicated in severe hypertriglyceridemia. In contrast, we report resolution of two cases of severe hypertriglyceridemia with implementation of very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets and intermittent fasting. SUMMARY: Here, we describe two patients who have demonstrated substantial reductions in serum triglycerides, effectively reversing severe hypertriglyceridemia using unconventional dietary methods. Although anecdotal, these cases point to a critical lack of flexibility in current dietary guidelines that hinder their application in clinical practice.

Erythropoietin and ferritin response in native highlanders aged 4-19 years from the Leh-Ladakh region of India.

The pivotal role of erythropoietin (EPO) in hypoxic adaptation has led to various studies assessing the EPO and ferritin response in native highlanders from Andes and Tibet. We assessed the relationship between EPO, haemoglobin and ferritin in 335 native highlanders (172 boys and 163 girls, aged 4 to 19 years) from Leh-Ladakh, India, who had no history of travel to lowland areas. Complete blood counts, serum EPO and ferritin levels were measured. We stratified study subjects based on age, gender, pubertal status and analysed the EPO and ferritin levels between the stratified groups respectively. The mean EPO level in boys was lower than girls. The mean ferritin level in boys was significantly higher (P = 0·013) than in girls. There was no significant variation in the EPO and ferritin levels amongst the various age groups in our study. Near normal EPO levels since childhood with a negative correlation with haemoglobin is suggestive of a robust adaptive mechanism to high altitude from the early years of life. Low ferritin levels are indicative of decreased iron stores in these native highlanders.

Hematological Parameters in Native Highlanders of Ladakh Aged 4-19 Years.

Hematological adaptations to high altitude (HA) are long studied but are focused either on lowlanders visiting HA or native highlanders from Andes and Tibet. The literature on native highlanders from the Indian subcontinent or paediatric highlanders is scarce. We aimed at assessing hematological parameters in native highlanders of Ladakh, India, aged 4-19 years and derive nomograms in an age stratified manner specific to these native highlanders. A total of 335 self-reported healthy native highlanders of Ladakh, without any known comorbidities and not on hematinic nor any drugs in the age group of 4-19 years were included in the study. Complete hemogram including red cell indices was measured. R ver 3.4.0 was used to compare the hematological parameters based on gender/age stratification, pubertal and nutritional status. The hematological reference ranges were created for various parameters in the paediatric population. The mean (SD) haemoglobin (Hb) concentration was 14.74 (2.07) gm/dL. The mean hematocrit (Hct) was 40.43 (5.57%) %, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was 81.87 (7.22) fL, white blood cell (WBC) count was 7596 (2172) cells/µL and platelets was 378.4 (152.8) × 103/µL. Hct and MCV increased with age. Hb concentration, Hct, and MCV in girls was significantly lower than boys. Severely underweight subjects (body mass index < 16) showed significantly higher platelet counts compared to their nourished counterparts. The hematological nomograms for the native paediatric highlanders from Ladakh, India have been reported in this study.

Bedside Ultrasonography as an Alternative to Computed Tomography Scan for the Measurement of Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter.

BACKGROUND: Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) as measured by optic nerve sheath ultrasonography (ONSU) is used as a surrogate marker of intracranial pressure (ICP), especially in resource-limited settings. There is a growing interest in the use of ONSU in emergency and high-altitude setups. Notwithstanding multiple studies done on this subject, there is a paucity of data regarding standardization of techniques and comparison of ONSU with computed tomography (CT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-five patients with a diagnosis of high-altitude cerebral edema were enrolled in the study. ONSD was measured in all patients using ONSU, along visual and coronal axis, and CT scan. We repeated ONSU in these patients on days 3, 7, 10, and 15 (day of discharge). Correlation between visual and coronal axis as well as CT scan was analyzed. RESULTS: The correlation of visual to coronal and coronal to visual was equally significant (both correlation coefficients being R2 = 0.983). Correlation of ONSD by visual axis to CT scan was better than coronal axis (correlation coefficient R2 = 0.986 vs. 0.96, respectively). CONCLUSION: In our study, we found a strong correlation between the visual and coronal axes. Thus, either of the two axes can be used for monitoring ICP. However, it has been found that measurements along the coronal axis are challenging, especially in the emergency setup. ONSD measured along visual axis correlated better with CT scan as compared to the coronal axis.

Comparison of Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter between both eyes: A Bedside Ultrasonography Approach.

CONTEXT: Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) has long been accepted as a reliable proxy of intracranial pressure especially in critical care and bedside settings. The present consensus is to measure ONSD in both eyes and take average value, which is cumbersome and a potential cause of discomfort to the patient. AIM: We aim to compare the values of ONSD of the right and left eye in a random sample as measured by bedside ocular ultrasonography (USG) in Indian adults. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a prospective study conducted from September 2012 to March 2013 in the Department of Internal Medicine of a tertiary care hospital situated at moderate high altitude (11,500 ft) in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients admitted with high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) were recruited by convenience sampling. The ONSD of both eyes were measured 3 mm behind the globe using a 7.5 MHz linear probe on the closed eyelids of supine subjects. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Analysis was done using SPSS 17.0. RESULTS: A total of 47 patients of HAPE were recruited to the study with daily ONSD recording of both eyes during the admission period. The mean ONSD of the left eye was 4.60 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.71) whereas the mean ONSD of right eye 4.59 (SD = 0.72). The ONSD of the right eye and left eye was strongly correlated (correlation coefficient = 0.98 with P < 0.0001). The mean difference in the ONSD of both eyes (right-left) was -0.0044 (SD = 0.11) which was not statistically significant (P = 0.533). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the difference in ONSD of both eyes is not statistically significant in disease or health. This study also suggests that the ONSD of either eye can be predicted by the other eye recordings. Based on these findings, it can be suggested that during ocular USG for routine bedside/research purposes it is sufficient to measure ONSD of any of the one eye to save time and avoid discomfort to the patient.