Differential COVID-19 preventive behaviors among Asian subgroups in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Given the observed within-Asian disparity in COVID-19 incidence, we aimed to explore the differential preventive behaviors among Asian subgroups in the United States. METHODS: Based on data from the Asian subsample (N = 982) of the 2020 Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic survey, we estimated the weighted proportion of noncompliance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines on preventive behaviors and COVID-19 testing by Asian subgroups (Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Other Asian). We examined these subgroup differences after adjusting for demographic factors and state-level clustering. RESULTS: Filipinos demonstrated the lowest rate of noncompliance for mask-wearing, social distancing, and handwashing. As compared with the Filipinos, our logistic models showed that the Chinese and the 'other Asians' subgroup had significantly higher risk of noncompliance with mask-wearing, while the Japanese, the Vietnamese, and other Asians were significantly more likely to report noncompliance with social distancing. CONCLUSIONS: The significant variation of preventive behavior across Asian subgroups signals the necessity of data disaggregation when it comes to understanding the health behavior of Asian Americans, which is critical for future pandemic preparedness. The excess behavioral risk among certain Asian subgroups (especially those 'other Asians') warrants further investigation and interventions about the driving forces behind these disparities.

Deep learning-derived 12-lead electrocardiogram-based genotype prediction for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a pilot study.

Objective: Given the psychosocial and ethical burden, patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCMs) could benefit from the establishment of genetic probability prior to the test. This study aimed to develop a simple tool to provide genotype prediction for HCMs.Methods: A convolutional neural network (CNN) was built with the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) of 124 HCMs who underwent genetic testing (GT), externally tested by predicting the genotype on another HCMs cohort (n = 54), and compared with the conventional methods (the Mayo and Toronto score). Using a third cohort of HCMs (n = 76), the role of the network in risk stratification was explored by calculating the sudden cardiac death (SCD) risk scorers (HCM risk-SCD) across the predicted genotypes. Score-CAM was employed to provide a visual explanation of the network.Results: Overall, 80 of 178 HCMs (45%) were genotype-positive. Using the 12-lead ECG as input, the network showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.89 (95% CI, 0.83-0.96) on the test set, outperforming the Mayo score (0.69 [95% CI, 0.65-0.78], p < 0.001) and the Toronto score (0.69 [95% CI, 0.64-0.75], p < 0.001). The network classified the third cohort into two groups (predicted genotype-negative vs. predicted genotype-positive). Compared with the former, patients predicted genotype-positive had a significantly higher HCM risk-SCD (0.04 ± 0.03 vs. 0.03 ± 0.02, p <0.01). Visualization indicated that the prediction was heavily influenced by the limb lead.Conclusions: The network demonstrated a promising ability in genotype prediction and risk assessment in HCM.

Patients with genotype-positive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) have a higher risk of severe heart failure and sudden cardiac death (SCD). A deep learning-derived 12-lead electrocardiogram was developed, outperformed the conventional methods in genotype prediction, and showed a promising future in SCD risk assessment in HCM.

Respiratory control minimizes diaphragmatic contraction and dry cough during pulsed-field ablation of atrial fibrillation.

AIMS: Pulsed-field ablation (PFA) is a promising new ablation modality to treat atrial fibrillation. However, PFA can cause varying degrees of diaphragmatic contraction and dry cough, especially under conscious sedation. This prospective study presents a method to minimize the impact of PFA on diaphragmatic contraction and dry cough during the procedure. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients underwent PFA for pulmonary vein (PV) and superior vena cava isolation under conscious sedation. Each patient received two groups of ablations in each vein: the control group allowed PFA application during any phase of respiratory cycle, while the test group used respiratory control, delivering PFA energy only at the end of expiration. A rating score system was developed to assess diaphragmatic contraction and dry cough. A total of 1401 control ablations and 4317 test ablations were performed. The test group had significantly lower scores for diaphragmatic contraction (P < 0.01) and dry cough (P < 0.001) in all PVs compared to the control group. The average relative reductions in scores for all PVs were 33-47% for diaphragmatic contraction and 67-83% for dry cough. The percentage of ablations with scores ≧2 for diaphragmatic contraction decreased significantly from 18.5-28.0% in the control group to 0.4-2.6% in the test group (P < 0.001). For dry cough, the percentage decreased from 11.9-43.7% in the control group to 0.7-2.1% in the test group. CONCLUSION: Pulsed-field ablation application at the end of expiration can reduce the severity of diaphragmatic contraction and eliminate moderate and severe dry cough during PV isolation performed under conscious sedation.

Determinants of Hospitalization Costs among Moderate Cases of COVID-19.

Objective: To estimate demographic predictors of medical expense in hospitalization of moderate COVID-19. Methods: From January to March 2020, a total of 39 patients were treated and recovered from COVID-19 in a tertiary medical center in East China. Detailed cost data were collected and we estimated the demographic predictors of both total hospital expense and daily hospital expense. Results: The mean medical expense for treating hospitalized moderate COVID-19 cases was $1177.81. Every additional year in the patient's age corresponds to .9% more in total hospital expense (Coef. = 0.009, 95% CI 0.002-0.017, P < 0.01). The difference in daily medical expense between age groups was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Hospitalization cost was significantly elevated among the older patients, and the age effect in cost was mainly driven by the longer length of stay in the hospital. From a cost-saving perspective, the elderly population might deserve priority consideration when COVID-19 vaccination programs are implemented.

Disparities in Peripheral Artery Disease Hospitalizations Identified Among Understudied Race-Ethnicity Groups.

Background: To assess racial/ethnic differences in disease severity, hospital outcomes, length of stay and healthcare costs among hospitalized patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). Methods: This study used data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) to explore the racial/ethnic disparities in PAD-related hospitalizations including presence of PAD with chronic limb threatened ischemia (CLI), amputation, in-hospital mortality, length of hospital stays and estimated medical costs. Race-ethnicity groups included non-Hispanic White, Black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, Native American, and others (multiple races). Regression analyses adjusted for age, gender, Charlson Comorbidity Index, primary payer, patient location, bed size of the admission hospital, geographic region of the hospital, and rural/urban location of the hospital. Results: A total of 341,480 PAD hospitalizations were identified. Compared with non-Hispanic Whites, Native Americans had the highest odds of PAD with CLI (OR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.61, 1.95); Black (OR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.66, 1.76) and Hispanic (OR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.31,1.41) patients had higher odds of amputation; Asian or Pacific Islanders had a higher mortality (OR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.01,1.43), whereas Black (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.76, 0.87) patients has a lower mortality; Asian or Pacific Islanders incurred higher overall inpatient costs (Margin = 30093.01, 95% CI: 28827.55, 31358.48) and most prolonged length of stay (IRR = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.18). Conclusions: Our study identified elevated odds of amputation among Hispanic patients hospitalized with PAD as well as higher hospital mortality and medical expenses among Asian or Pacific Islander PAD inpatients. These two demographic groups were previously thought to have a lower risk for PAD and represent important populations for further investigation.

Does Chronic Intestinal Inflammation Promote Atrial Fibrillation: A Mendelian Randomization Study With Populations of European Ancestry.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), comprising ulcerative colitis (UC), and Crohn's disease (CD), has been reported to be associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the causal role of the chronic intestinal inflammation (CII) in the development of AF remains controversial. We use Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to explore the causal inference of CII on AF. Methods: A two-sample MR analysis was performed to estimate the potential causal effect of CII on AF. Statistical summaries for the associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and phenotypes of CII were obtained from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) with cohorts of CD (n = 51,874), UC (n = 47,745), and IBD (n = 65,642) of European descent. The GWAS of 1,030,836 people of European ancestry, including 60,620 AF cases and 970,216 controls was collected to identify genetic variants underlying AF. The causal inference was estimated using the multiplicative random effects inverse-variance weighted method (IVW). The methods of MR-Egger, simple median, and weighted median were also employed to avoid the bias of pleiotropy effects. Results: Using three sets of SNPs (75 SNPs of CD, 60 SNPs of UC, and 95 SNPs of IBD), multiplicative random-effect IVW model estimated a universal null effect of CII on AF (CD: OR = 1.0059, 95% CI: 0.9900, 1.0220, p = 0.47; UC: OR = 1.0087, 95% CI: 0.9896, 1.0281, p = 0.38; IBD: OR = 1.0080, 95% CI: 0.9908, 1.0255, p = 0.37). Similar results were observed using the MR-Egger, simple median, weighted median methods. Conclusion: As opposing to the traditional observational studies, our two-sample MR analysis did not find enough evidence to support a causal role of either CD or UC in the development of AF.

Mendelian randomization as an approach to assess causal effects of inflammatory bowel disease on atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: Despite growing evidence indicating that patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), owing to the potential biases of confounding effects and reverse causation, the specific relationship between IBD and AF remains controversial. The aim of this study is to determine whether there is a causal effect of IBD on AF. METHODS: A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was performed to evaluate the causal effect of IBD on AF. Statistical summaries for the associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and traits of interest were obtained from independent consortia with European populations. The dataset of IBD was acquired from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), including more than 75,000 cases and controls. A GWAS with 60,620 AF cases and 970,216 controls was used to identify genetic variation underlying AF. The causal effect was estimated using the multiplicative random effects inverse-variance weighted method (IVW), followed by sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: Using 81 SNPs, there was no evidence to suggest an association between genetically predicted IBD and risk of AF with multiplicative random-effects IVW MR analysis (odds ratio = 1.0000, 95% confidence interval: 0.9994 1.0005, p = 0.88). CONCLUSION: As opposed to current assumptions, no substantial evidence was found to support a causal role of IBD in the development of AF.

Impact of Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy in Post-Operative Atrial Fibrillation and Long-Term Mortality in Patients Among Esophageal Cancer.

AIMS: Postoperative Atrial fibrillation (POAF) after esophagectomy may prolong stay in intensive care and increase risk of perioperative complications. A minimally invasive approach is becoming the preferred option for esophagectomy, yet its implications for POAF risk remains unclear. The association between POAF and minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) was examined in this study. METHODS: We used a dataset of 575 patients who underwent esophagectomy. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between MIE and POAF. A cox proportional hazards model was applied to assess the long-term mortality (MIE vs open esophagectomy, OE). RESULTS: Of the 575 patients with esophageal cancer, 62 developed POAF. MIE was negatively associated with the occurrence of POAF (Odds ratio: 0.163, 95%CI: 0.033-0.801). No significant difference was observed in long-term mortality (Odds ratio: 2.144, 95%CI: 0.963-4.775). CONCLUSIONS: MIE may reduced the incidence of POAF without compromising the survival of patients with esophageal cancer. Moreover, the specific mechanism of MIE providing this possible advantage needs to be determined by larger prospective cohort studies with specific biomarker information from laboratory tests.

The role of surgery type in postoperative atrial fibrillation and in-hospital mortality in esophageal cancer patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is one of the most common complications of esophagectomy, which may extend the inpatient hospital stay. Minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) has been increasingly used in clinical practice; however, its POAF risk and short-term mortality remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the POAF risk and in-hospital mortality rate between patients receiving MIE and open esophagectomy (OE). METHODS: Esophageal cancer patients who underwent MIE or OE from a retrospective cohort study were evaluated. A multivariate logistic regression model was built to assess the associations between esophagectomy (MIE vs. OE) and various outcomes (POAF, in-hospital mortality). Covariates included age, sex, body mass index, neoadjuvant therapy, tumor stage, surgery incision type, comorbidities, cardia conditions, peri-operative medication, and complications. RESULTS: Of the 484 patients with esophageal cancer, 63 received MIE. A total of 53 patients developed POAF. Compared to patients receiving OE, MIE patients had 81% reduced odds of POAF (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.185, 95% CI 0.039-0.887, P = 0.035). No statistically significant association was found for in-hospital mortality (aOR 0.709, 95% CI 0.114-4.409, P = 0.712). CONCLUSIONS: MIE is associated with a lower risk of POAF, compared to traditional surgery. No significant short-term survival benefit was found for MIE.

Does the "Weekend Effect" Extend to Friday Admissions? An Analysis of Ischemic Stroke Hospitalizations in South Carolina.

Background: Weekend admission has been found to be associated with higher hospital mortality and longer hospital stay among patients with acute cardiovascular conditions. Whether those admitted on Fridays face similar risk as those admitted on Sundays and Saturdays remain uncertain. Methods: This study used 2012-2013 data from hospital records for nonfatal patients with ischemic stroke in the state of South Carolina. The database contained the records of all hospitalizations in South Carolina except military and federal institutions. Multilevel logistic, negative binomial, and log-linear regression models were performed to explore the temporal pattern by hospital admission on specific day of a week for three outcomes: discharge to hospice care (vs. other alive discharges), length of stay, and total charge, respectively. Each model controlled for the patient age, gender, race/ethnicity, year of hospital admission, season of admission, payer, and Charlson Comorbidity Index. Results: A total of 19,346 nonfatal ischemic stroke hospitalizations were identified. Multilevel logistic regression shows that patients admitted on non-Friday weekdays had a significantly lower odds of being discharged to hospice care as compared with those admitted on Fridays [odds ratio = 0.80, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.65-0.99] where there was no significant difference between Friday admissions and weekend admissions. The length of hospital stay for admission on non-Friday weekdays was significantly shorter than that of Friday admissions [incident rate ratio (IRR) = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.84-0.90], whereas longer length of hospital stay was found on weekend admission (IRR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02-1.11). Friday admissions were not associated with higher charges as compared with non-Friday weekday admissions. Conclusions: Some hospitalization outcomes admitted on Fridays seemed to have the "weekend effects" too. Further studies are warranted to investigate underlying mechanism for such a difference in outcomes between Friday and other weekdays. Interventions to close the weekend-weekday gap of patient outcomes need to consider the elevated risk on Friday admission.

Outcome differences between carotid artery stenting (CAS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA) in postoperative ventricular arrhythmia, neurological complications, and in-hospital mortality.

Objective: We study whether the carotid artery stenting (CAS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA) differ from each other in postoperative ventricular arrhythmia, along with neurological complications (perioperative stroke and transient ischemic attack), in-hospital mortality, and estimated medical cost. Methods: This study used data of patients with carotid artery stenosis from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database (2011-2014) from the United States of America. Based on the procedure that patients received, individuals were categorized into groups of CAS and CEA. Multilevel analyses were conducted to examine the difference in the following outcomes: postoperative ventricular arrhythmia, neurological complications, in-hospital mortality, and medical costs between CAS and CEA. The patient age, gender, race, Charlson Comorbidity Index, primary payer, emergency department service record, bed size of hospital, region of the hospital, and location of the hospital were adjusted in each model. In addition, preexisting cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) were adjusted for when predicting postoperative ventricular arrhythmia; postoperative CVDs were adjusted for in the model of in-hospital mortality. Results: A total of 127,321 carotid artery stenosis hospitalizations were included in our analyses (n = 17,074 in CAS, n = 110,247 in CEA). Multivariate logistic regressions showed that compared with patients underwent CAS, those with CEA had a lower odds of postoperative ventricular arrhythmia (odds ratio [OR] = 0.81, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [0.66-0.98]), less neurological complications (OR = 0.55, 95% CI: [0.51-0.59] in general; OR = 0.63, 95% CI: [0.57-0.69] in ischemic stroke; OR = 0.26, 95% CI: [0.20-0.32] in hemorrhagic stroke; and OR = 0.58, 95% CI: [0.47-0.71] in transient ischemic attack), and in-hospital mortality (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: [0.42-0.64]). Generalized linear model indicated patients undergoing CEA had lower medical cost (ß = -4329.99, 95% CI: [-4552.61, -4107.38]) than patients undergoing CAS. Conclusions: In short-term outcomes, CEA was associated with a lower risk of postoperative ventricular arrhythmia, neurological complications, in-hospital mortality, and lower cost as compared with CAS.

Puerarin Decreases Collagen Secretion in AngII-Induced Atrial Fibroblasts Through Inhibiting Autophagy Via the JNK-Akt-mTOR Signaling Pathway.

Puerarin is used to treat cardiovascular diseases due to its anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects. However, its mechanism of action in atrial fibroblasts is unknown. In this study, we investigated the autophagy pathway and molecular changes in angiotensin II (AngII)-stimulated atrial fibroblasts in response to puerarin treatment. Atrial fibroblasts were cultured and then subjected to stimulation with AngII and puerarin or other chemical drugs (3-MA, CQ, and SP600125). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot experiments were used to quantify the expression levels of mRNA and protein. mCherry-GFP-LC3 adenovirus was applied to reflect the autophagic flux. The results showed aggravating levels of autophagy and collagen deposit in the presence of AngII. Puerarin inhibited autophagy and decreased collagen secretion in a dose-dependent manner in atrial fibroblasts. Furthermore, phosphorylation of JNK was down-regulated in response to puerarin, whereas phosphorylation of Akt and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) was upregulated. Interestingly, reduced autophagy and collagen secretion were observed when the JNK signaling pathway was blocked using SP600125. We also observed upregulation of Akt and mTOR phosphorylation in the presence of SP600125. These results suggest that puerarin exerts its antifibrotic effect in atrial fibroblasts partly through the inhibition of autophagy. Furthermore, the mechanism of action of puerarin in fibroblast autophagy seems to be mediated partly through JNK-Akt-mTOR signaling.

Bioinformatics analysis of sex differences in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is an inherited disease that exhibits sex differences on clinical presentation. The present study aimed to investigate the sex differences associated with ARVC by conducting an integrated bioinformatics analysis. The GSE29819 gene expression dataset was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The online analytical tool GEO2R was then used to screen for differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which were subsequently processed using enrichment analysis and protein­protein interaction (PPI) network construction. Functional annotation of the DEGs was determined using ClueGO. The PPI network was constructed with Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes, and was visualized with Cytoscape to identify the modules and hub genes. Compared with the female group, a total of 1,188 DEGs, of which 915 were upregulated and 273 were downregulated, were identified in the male group. The enrichment analysis revealed that in KEGG pathways, the upregulated DEGs were substantially enriched in the 'nicotine addiction' pathways, whereas the downregulated DEGS were mainly enriched in the 'ECM­receptor interaction' and 'protein digestion and absorption' pathways. The PPI network contained 899 nodes and 1,627 edges, among which four significant modules were identified. In addition, kininogen 1, lysophosphatidic acid receptor 5, formyl peptide receptor (FPR) 2, adenylate cyclase 2, γ­aminobutyric acid type B receptor subunit 2, FPR1, hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 1, prostaglandin E receptor 3, cannabinoid receptor 1 and proenkephalin were identified as the top 10 hub genes. The key genes and related pathways identified in this study provide genetic insight into the diversity in phenotypes between female and male patients with ARVC, and may facilitate therapeutic individualization.

Impact of atrial arrhythmias after esophagectomy on recovery: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative atrial arrhythmias (PAAs) are common complications after esophagectomy, however research findings are contradicted on the prognosis. Therefore this meta-analysis was conducted to determine whether PAAs after esophagectomy had an impact on prognosis. METHODS: Studies comparing prognosis between patients with and without PAAs after esophagectomy were searched in EMBASE, MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Register. Primary prognosis was perioperative mortality, and secondary prognoses were postoperative complications, length of stay (LOS). RESULTS: Ten studies including 2681 patients were included in this analysis, in which 508 patients (18.9%) experienced PAAs. Patients with PAAs resulted in significantly higher perioperative (odds ratio, OR 4.05[95% confidence interval, CI: 2.45-6.70], P = .40) mortality, longer hospital LOS (mean differences, MD: 1.49 [95% CI: 0.32-2.66]days, P = .01), more incidence of pulmonary pneumonia (OR 2.48 [95% CI: 1.71-3.59], P < .00001), and anastomotic leakage (OR 2.37 [95% CI: 1.39-4.03], P < .00001). CONCLUSIONS: Atrial arrhythmias (AAs) after esophagectomy are associated with higher perioperative mortality, longer hospital LOS, and more incidences of complications. Therapeutic strategies against PAAs are pending for further researches.

MicroRNA Expression Profiles Identify Biomarker for Differentiating the Embolic Stroke from Thrombotic Stroke.

In order to identify potential biomarkers that distinguish the embolic stroke (ES) from thrombotic stroke (TS), a profile of microRNA expression was analyzed. The GSE60319 expression profile was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The GEO2R was applied to screen for differentially expressed microRNAs (DEmiRNAs) between the embolic stroke group and thrombotic stroke group. The miRWalk was utilized to predict the target genes of DEmiRNAs. Genes associated with embolic stroke were downloaded from the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database. Cross reference of target genes to disease related genes was conducted to construct the DEmiRNA-gene network. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of overlapping genes was evaluated by STRING, using the MCODE and CytoHubba plugin of Cytoscape to identify the modules and hub genes. The enrichment of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) in modules was performed. There were 30 microRNAs in total identified as DEmiRNAs between embolic stroke and thrombotic stroke groups, of which 8 were upregulated and 22 were downregulated. Among these differentially expressed miRNAs, miR-15a-5p, miR-17-5p, miR-19b-3p, and miR-20a-5p were significantly associated with an ES to TS. Using the miRWalk 3.0 online tool, target genes regulated by DEmiRNAs were predicted. In addition, disease related genes were predicted and compared with target genes of DEmiRNAs. 166 overlapped genes regulated by miR-15a-5p, miR-17-5p, miR-19b-3p, and miR-20a-5p were identified, suggesting their association with diseases that contributed to ES, mainly including atrial fibrillation, mitral valve stenosis, myocardial infarction, and aortic dissection. Therefore, miR-15a-5p, miR-17-5p, miR-19b-3p, and miR-20a-5p were promising candidate biomarkers for differentiating an ES from TS. The PPI network demonstrated that miR-15a-5p, miR-17-5p, miR-19b-3p, and miR-20a-5p were associated with an ES by mainly regulating "CCND1, E2F2, E2F3, ITCH, UBE4A, UBE3C, RBL2, FBXO31, EIF2C4, and EIF2C1". Furthermore, miR-15a-5p and miR-17-5p may function through "cell cycle, prostate cancer, and small cell lung cancer" while miR-19b-3p and miR-20a-5p function through "insulin resistance, hepatitis B, and viral carcinogenesis" and "vasopressin-regulated water reabsorption", respectively. However, these results were approached in the manner of bioinformatics analysis; therefore, further verification is required.