Cardiopulmonary Imaging Utilization and Findings among Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients in Latin America: (From "RIMAC: Registry IMAging Cardiopulmonary among Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients in LATAM").

Objectives: Describe the use and findings of cardiopulmonary imaging-chest X-ray (cX-ray), echocardiography (cEcho), chest CT (cCT), lung ultrasound (LUS), and/or cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI)-in COVID-19 hospitalizations in Latin America (LATAM). Background: There is a lack of information on the images used and their findings during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in LATAM. Methods: Multicenter, prospective, observational study of COVID-19 inpatients, conducted from March to December 2020, from 12 high-complexity centers, in nine LATAM countries. Adults (>18 years) with at least one imaging modality performed, followed from admission until discharge and/or in-hospital death, were included. Results: We studied 1,435 hospitalized patients (64% males) with a median age of 58 years classified into three regions: Mexico (Mx), 262; Central America and Caribbean (CAC), 428; and South America (SAm), 745. More frequent comorbidities were overweight/obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. During hospitalization, 58% were admitted to the ICU. The in-hospital mortality was 28%, and it was highest in Mx (37%).The most frequent images performed were cCT (61%), mostly in Mx and SAm, and cX-ray (46%), significant in CAC. The cEcho was carried out in 18%, similarly among regions, and LUS was carried out in 7%, with a higher frequently in Mx. Abnormal findings on the cX-ray were peripheral or basal infiltrates, and in cCT abnormal findings were the ground glass infiltrates, more commonly in Mx. In LUS, interstitial syndrome was the most abnormal finding, predominantly in Mx and CAC.Renal failure was the most prevalent complication (20%), predominant in Mx and SAm. Heart failure developed in 13%, predominant in Mx and CAC. Lung thromboembolism was higher in Mx while myocardial infarction was in CAC.Logistic regression showed associations of abnormal imaging findings and their severity, with comorbidities, complications, and evolution. Conclusions: The use and findings of cardiopulmonary imaging in LATAM varied between regions and had a great impact on diagnosis and prognosis.

Perspectivas de las células tallo en infartos del miocardio / Stem cell perspectives in myocardial infarctions

Myocardial infarction is the leading cause of congestive heart failure and death in industrializated countries. The cellular cardiomyoplasty has emerged as an alternative treatment in the regeneration of infarted myocardial tissue. In animals' models, differents cellular lines such as cardiomyocites, sheletal myoblast, embryonic stem cells and adult mesenchymal stem cells has been used, resulting in an improvement in ventricular function and decrease in amount of infarted tissue. The first three cells line have disvantages as they are allogenics and are difficult to obtain. The adult mesenchymal stem cells are autologous and can be obtained throught the aspiration of bone marrow or from peripherical circulation, prior to stimulating with cytokines (G-CSF). The implantation in humans with recent and old myocardial infarction have shown improvements similar to those shown in animal models. These findings encourage the continued investigation in the mechanism of cellular differentiation and implantation metods in infarted myocardial tissue.

El infarto del miocardio es la principal causa de falla cardiaca y muerte en países industrializados. A la fecha, la cardiomioplastia celular ha emergido como una alternativa en la regeneración de infartos miocárdicos. En modelos animales se han utilizado diferentes líneas celulares como cardiomiocitos fetales, mioblastos de músculo esquelético, células tallo embrionarias y células tallo mesenquimales del adulto, con mejoría en la función ventricular y disminución del área de tejido infartado. Las tres primeras líneas celulares tienen desventajas porque son alogénicas y difíciles de obtener. Las células tallo mesenquimales del adulto son autólogas y se pueden obtener de aspirados de médula ósea o de la circulación periférica previa estimulación con citocinas (G-CSF). La implantación de estas células en seres humanos con infartos del miocardio recientes y antiguos han mostrado mejorías similares a los reportes con modelos animales. Estos hallazgos alientan a continuar la investigación clínica y básica en busca de los mecanismos de diferenciación celular y selección de vías de implantación, en tejido miocárdico infartado.

[Stem cell perspectives in myocardial infarctions]. / Perspectivas de las células tallo en infartos del miocardio.

Myocardial infarction is the leading cause of congestive heart failure and death in industrializated countries. The cellular cardiomyoplasty has emerged as an alternative treatment in the regeneration of infarted myocardial tissue. In animals' models, different cellular lines such as cardiomyocites, skeletal myoblasts, embryonic stem cells and adult mesenchymal stem cells have been used, resulting in an improvement in ventricular function and decrease in amount of infarcted tissue. The first three cells lines have disvantages as they are allogenics and are difficult to obtain. The adult mesenchymal stem cells are autologous and can be obtained throught the aspiration of bone marrow or from peripherical circulation, after stimulating with cytokines (G-CSF). The implantation in humans with recent and old myocardial infarction have shown improvements similar to those shown in animal models. These findings encourage the continued investigation in the mechanism of cellular differentiation and implantation methods in infarcted myocardial tissue.