Sex Differences in the Clinical Outcomes of Patients With Takotsubo Stress Cardiomyopathy: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.

The incidence of takotsubo stress cardiomyopathy (TSCM) in males is low compared with females. Gender-based differences in clinical outcomes of TSCM are not well characterized. The aim of this meta-analysis was to analyze whether gender-based differences are observed in TSCM clinical outcomes. A comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library database, and Web of Science was performed from inception to June 20, 2022, for studies comparing the clinical outcomes between male and female patients with TSCM. The primary outcome of interest was in-hospital all-cause mortality and cardiogenic shock. The secondary outcomes were cardiovascular mortality, receipt of mechanical ventilation, intra-aortic balloon pump, occurrence of ventricular arrhythmia, and left ventricular thrombus. A random-effects model was used to calculate the risk ratios (RR) and confidence intervals (CI). Heterogenicity was assessed using the Higgins I2 index. Twelve observational studies involving 51,213 patients (4,869 males and 46,344 females) were included in the meta-analysis. Male gender was associated with statistically significant higher in-hospital all-cause mortality compared with females in patients with TSCM (RR 2.17, 95% CI 1.77 to 2.67, p <0.001). The rate of cardiogenic shock was significantly higher in males with TSCM compared with females (RR 1.66, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.12, p <0.001). Our meta-analysis showed a difference in the clinical outcomes of TSCM between men and women. Male gender was associated with a two-fold greater in-hospital all-cause mortality risk compared with female gender. The higher mortality risk associated with male gender deserves further study, particularly whether it represents later recognition of the condition and disparities in treatments.

Syncope as the Sole Presentation of Multi-Vessel Coronary Artery Disease.

Defining the etiology of syncope can be occasionally challenging. We present a case with no history of coronary artery disease (CAD) who presented exclusively with exertional syncope, and was found to have mildly reduced left ventricular systolic dysfunction on echocardiogram and severe multi-vessel CAD with chronic total occlusion (CTO) of the right coronary artery (RCA). Syncope as the initial presentation of advanced CAD in the absence of classic ischemic symptoms is rather an uncommon presentation in clinical practice.

Transient Mid-Ventricular Ballooning Syndrome: An Atypical Variant of Stress Cardiomyopathy.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, also known as stress cardiomyopathy (SCM) or broken heart syndrome, is characterized by transient systolic dysfunction of the left ventricle (LV). It typically affects the apical segment, but several rare variants exist. This report represents a rare variant of atypical stress cardiomyopathy that mimics territorial regional wall motion abnormalities of a blocked epicardial vessel.

Anteriolateral versus anterior-posterior electrodes in external cardioversion of atrial fibrillation: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials.

The efficacy of anteriolateral versus anterior-posterior electrode positions in the success of atrial fibrillation's (AF) electrical cardioversion is unclear. Our aim is to perform a meta-analysis to compare the success rate of both electrode positions. PUBMED, WOS, OVID, and SCOPUS were searched. Inclusion criteria were clinical trials that compared anterior-lateral with anterior-posterior electrodes in external cardioversion of AF. After the full-text screening, 11 trials were included in the analysis. The total number of patients included in the study is 1845. The pooled analysis showed a statistically significant association between anterior-lateral electrode and increased cardioversion rate of AF (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02-1.92, p = .04). Subgroup analysis revealed a statistically significant association between the anterior-lateral electrode and increased cardioversion rate of AF in subgroups of less than five shocks, patients with 60 years old or more and patients with left atrial (LA) diameter >45 mm (OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.17-2.54, p = .006), (OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.18-2.54, p = .005), and (OR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.04-3.34, p = .04), respectively. Anteriolateral electrode is more effective than anterior-posterior electrode in external cardioversion of AF, particularly in patients who have received less than 5 shocks, are 60 years old or older and have a LA diameter greater than 45 mm.

Efficacy of heads-up CPR compared to supine CPR positions: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background and Aim: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in full-coded patients requires effective chest compressions with minimal interruptions to maintain adequate perfusion to the brain and other vital organs. Many novel approaches have been proposed to attain better organ perfusion compared to traditional CPR techniques. The purpose of this review is to investigate the safety and efficacy of heads-up CPR versus supine CPR. Methods: We searched PubMed Central, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases from 1990 to February 2021. After the full-text screening of 40 eligible studies, only seven studies were eligible for our meta-analysis. We used the RevMan software (5.4) to perform the meta-analysis. Results: In survival outcome, the pooled analysis between heads-up and supine CPR was (risk ratio = 0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.17-5.68, p = 0.98). The pooled analyses between heads-up CPR and supine CPR in cerebral flow, cerebral perfusion pressure and coronary perfusion pressure outcomes, were (mean difference [MD] = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.03-0.17, p = 0.003), (MD = 12.28, 95% CI = 5.92-18.64], p = 0.0002), and (MD = 8.43, 95% CI = 2.71-14.14, p = 0.004), respectively. After doing a subgroup analysis, cerebral perfusion was found to increase during heads-up CPR compared with supine CPR at 6 min CPR duration and 18 to 20 min CPR duration as well. Conclusion: Our study suggests that heads-up CPR is associated with better cerebral and coronary perfusion compared to the conventional supine technique in pigs' models. However, more research is warranted to investigate the safety and efficacy of the heads-up technique on human beings and to determine the best angle for optimization of the technique results.

Prehospital administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics for sepsis patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background and Aims: Some studies have suggested that earlier initiation of antibiotics has shown positive outcomes in sepsis patients. We aimed to do a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of prehospital administration of antibiotics on 28 days mortality and length of stay in hospital and intensive care unit for sepsis patients. Methods: We formulated a search strategy and used it on search databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase. We then screened the records for eligibility and included controlled studies, either clinical trials or cohort studies reporting prehospital antibiotic administration for sepsis patients. We excluded duplicates, books, conferences' abstracts, case reports, editorials, letters, author responses, not English studies, and studies with nonavailable full text. Animal and lab studies were also excluded. Results: The total number of studies identified is 1811, 19 were eligible for systematic review and 4 for meta-analysis (three cohort and one clinical trial). The total number of sepsis patients in the four included studies in the 28 days mortality outcome was 3523 (1779 took prehospital antibiotics and 1744 did not take prehospital antibiotics). Of 1779 who took the antibiotics, 190 died, and of 1744 who did not take antibiotics, 292 died (95% confidence interval 0.68-0.97, p = 0.02). Conclusion: This meta-analysis reveals that receiving prehospital antibiotics can significantly lower mortality in sepsis patients compared to patients who do not receive prehospital antibiotics. However, more clinical trials and multicenter prospective studies with high sample sizes are needed to get strong evidence supporting our findings.

Sex Differences in the Clinical Outcomes After Left Atrial Appendage Closure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) has emerged as a reasonable alternative to oral anticoagulation in a selective group of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). While women are known to have higher risk of AF-related stroke, the impact of sex differences on the clinical outcomes of LAAO has not been well-studied. OBJECTIVE: We sought to perform a meta-analysis evaluating sex differences on the outcomes of patients undergoing LAAO. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases (from inception to October 2021) for studies evaluating the impact of sex difference on LAAO procedural outcomes. We used a random-effects model to calculate risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). In-hospital all-cause mortality and ischemic stroke were the primary endpoints. In-hospital pericardial effusion/cardiac tamponade, major bleeding, technical success, device-related thrombus, and hospital length of stay were secondary outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 5 studies with 54,754 patients were included, of whom 22,461 (41%) were females. Female sex was associated with higher rates of in-hospital all-cause mortality (RR 2.18; 95% CI 1.46-3.26; P = 0.0001) and in-hospital ischemic stroke (RR 1.67; 95% CI 1.06-2.61; P = 0.03) when compared with males. Females had higher rates of in-hospital major bleeding (RR 1.93; 95% CI 1.40-2.67; P < 0.0001) and hospital length of stay >1 day (RR 1.38; 95% CI 1.33-1.45; P < 0.00001). There were no differences between females and males in terms of technical success (RR 1.00; 95% CI 1.00-1.00; P = 1.00) and device-related thrombus and (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.31-2.82; P = 0.91). CONCLUSION: Women are more likely to experience worse periprocedural outcomes with longer hospital stay after LAA closure. Further efforts are needed to increase the participation of women in clinical studies and to assess these differences to properly address the discrepancy in outcomes between men and women.