Prognostic value of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized patients with decompensated heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Nutritional risk screening is fundamental to prevent undesirable outcomes in heart failure (HF). Current reviews of nutritional screening tools encompass both hospitalized and outpatient settings, which may not be suitable because of different clinical manifestations. We hypothesize that multidimensional tools would better identify prognosis of decompensated patients because the tools assess more than isolated aspects. This systematic review aims to explore the association of multidimensional nutritional risk screening tools and prognosis in patients hospitalized with decompensated HF. Five databases were searched for studies that assessed nutritional risk through multidimensional screening tools and its association with prognosis in adults hospitalized with decompensated HF. The 95% confidence interval and relative risk were computed using a random-effects model. Inverse variance method was used. Thirty-eight studies were included. Most studies demonstrated higher nutritional risk was significantly associated with worse prognosis. Quantitative analysis identified higher nutritional risk by using the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF), Controlling Nutritional Status, Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index, and Prognostic Nutritional Index to be associated with all-cause mortality. The MNA-SF demonstrated greater magnitude of association with all-cause mortality in older subjects (relative risk, 4.85; 95% confidence interval, 2.0-11.75). Higher nutritional risk was associated with poor prognosis and higher mortality in patients hospitalized with decompensated HF, especially when screened by MNA-SF. Tools were not directly compared. That might reinforce the importance of evaluating multiple aspects when screening hospitalized HF patients once symptoms associated with decompensation frequently mask the underlying nutritional status and risk. PROSPERO registration number (CRD42021256271).

The effect of transcranial direct current stimulation along with a hypocaloric diet on weight loss in excessive weight people: A pilot randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex plays an important role in the desire to eat and food intake regulation and may be a target for transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to promote weight loss. Our aim was to test the effect of repeated, active tDCS along with a hypocaloric diet (HD) on weight loss in overweight adults. METHODS: This was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind pilot study conducted in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Twenty-eight overweight adults were selected to receive 4-week (20 sessions, t0 to t20; 5 weekdays) fixed-dose tDCS along with an HD. Subjects were randomly assigned to active (AG) or sham (SG) tDCS groups. The primary outcome was weight loss as determined via body weight measurements at baseline (t0), weekly (t5, t10, t15, and t20), and after the intervention (tF). A visual analogue scale was used to assess desire to eat at t0 and at tF. Registered under ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier no. NCT02683902. RESULTS: Although there was a greater weight loss in the AG (mean -4.5 kg [95%CI: -9.4, 0.5]) than in the SG (-2.3 kg [-5.0, 0.3]), this difference was not statistically significant. However, the AG showed a significant reduction in the desire for sweet foods (P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Although this pilot study did not show that repeated tDCS is able to optimize weight loss, it was able to reduce the desire to eat sweet foods. These findings suggest that a protocol with a larger sample size could determine whether tDCS may be an adjunctive treatment of obesity.