The Prevalence of Iron Deficiency in Atrial Fibrillation: Low Hanging Fruit?

Background and Objectives: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia worldwide. The relationship between AF and iron deficiency is poorly understood. Materials and Methods: We conducted an observational study investigating the prevalence of iron deficiency in those with AF. Iron deficiency was defined by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) criteria for iron deficiency in heart failure. Results: Of 134 eligible subjects, 81 (60.4%) met the ACC definition of iron deficiency in heart failure. Those who were iron deficient were more likely to be female (OR 1.876, p = 0.005), have a history of diabetes mellitus (OR 3.085, p = 0.001) a history of stroke (OR 3.147, p = 0.016), and have higher CHA2DS2-VASc (p ≤ 0.0001) and Charlson Comorbidity Index scores (CCI) (p = 0.007). Conclusions: The prevalence of iron deficiency in those with AF appears high and warrants evaluation in a prospective study.

Listen to your heart: a critical analysis of popular cardiology podcasts.

Purpose: Podcasts are an increasingly popular medium for medical education in the field of cardiology. However, evidence suggests that the quality of the information presented can be variable. The aim of our study was to assess the quality of the most popular cardiology podcasts on existing podcast streaming services, using tools designed to grade online medical education. Results: We analyzed the five most recent episodes from 28 different popular cardiology podcasts as of 20th of September, 2022 using the validated rMETRIQ and JAMA scoring tools. The median podcast length was 20 min and most episodes were hosted by professors, subspecialty discussants or consultant physicians (87.14%). Although most episodes had only essential content (85%), only a small proportion of episodes provided detailed references (12.9%), explicitly identified conflicts of interest (30.7%), described a review process (13.6%), or provided a robust discussion of the podcast's content (13.6%). We observed no consistent relationship between episode length, seniority of host or seniority of guest speaker with rMETRIQ or JAMA scores. Conclusions: Cardiology podcasts are a valuable remote learning tool for clinicians. However, the reliability, relevance, and transparency of information provided on cardiology podcasts varies widely. Streamlined standards for evaluation are needed to improve podcast quality.

Incidence of bicuspid valve related aortic dissection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The true incidence of bicuspid valve-related aortic dissection (AD) is extremely difficult to ascertain. This review aimed to provide the reported cumulative incidence of bicuspid aortic valve (BAV)-related AD in actively monitored study populations. Methods: Four electronic databases were used to perform literature searches. A meta-analysis of proportions or means were performed for categorical and continuous variables, as appropriate. Survival data was calculated from the aggregation of Kaplan-Meier (KM) curves from the included studies, where reported. Results: A total of 4,330 patients were identified in eleven studies. A cumulative incidence of bicuspid valve-related AD of 0.6% across a median follow-up time of 9 years was identified. Actuarial survival across this monitored population at 1, 3, 5 and 10 years was 97.2%, 96.7%, 92.45%, and 81.1%, respectively. Conclusions: This systematic review and meta-analysis identified a low incidence of AD across the examined follow-up period. Large, prospective studies involving early identification of bicuspid valve pathology, recruitment, and follow-up of BAV cohorts with comparison to the baseline population are required to most accurately determine the outcomes of these patients.

Endovascular repair of acute complicated type B aortic dissection-systematic review and meta-analysis of long-term survival and reintervention.

BACKGROUND: Thoracic endovascular repair (TEVAR) is considered the first-line therapy in the repair of acute complicated type B aortic dissection (AC-BAD). Given the difficulty of designing randomized trials in this surgical cohort, long-term outcome data is limited. This systematic review and meta-analysis provide a complete aggregation of reported long-term survival and freedom from reintervention of AC-BAD patients based on the existing literature. METHODS: Three databases were searched from date of database inception to January 2021. The relevant references were identified and baseline cohort characteristics, survival and freedom from reintervention were extracted. The primary endpoints were survival and freedom from reintervention, whilst secondary endpoints were post-operative outcomes such as cord ischemia and endoleak. Kaplan-Meier curves were digitized and aggregated as per established procedure. RESULTS: A total of 2,812 references were identified in the literature search for review, with 46 selected for inclusion. A total of 2,565 patients were identified, of which 1,920 (75%) were male. The mean age of the cohort was 59.8±5.8. Actuarial survival at 2, 4, 6 and 10 years was 87.5%, 83.2%, 78.5% and 69.7%, respectively. Freedom from all secondary reintervention at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 years was 74.7%, 69.1%, 65.7%, 63.9% and 60.9%, respectively. When accounting for study quality, actuarial survival at 2, 4, 6 and 8 years was 85.4%, 79.1%, 69.8% and 63.1%, respectively. Freedom from all secondary reintervention at 2, 4, 6 and 8 years was 73.2%, 67.6%, 63.7% (maintained), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: TEVAR is associated with promising long-term survival extended to 10 years, though rates of freedom from reintervention remain an ongoing point for improvement. Randomized controlled trials comparing endovascular with open repair in the setting of acute, complicated type B aortic dissection are needed.