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Acta Cardiol 2022 Aug 10:1-8. Epub 2022 Aug 10.

Research Group on Heart Failure, IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.

Background: We aimed to characterise and compare the clinical profile of heart failure (HF) with mid-range (HFmrEF), reduced (HFrEF) and preserved (HFpEF) left-ventricular ejection fraction.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive, observational study in 267 HF patients admitted to the Internal Medicine department of a tertiary hospital during 2010-2016. The study population was divided into three groups according to the ejection fraction rate: HFrEF (<40%), HFmrEF (40-49%), and HFpEF (≥50%). Read More

Biomed Environ Sci 2022 Jul;35(7):573-603

In 2019, cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounted for 46.74% and 44.26% of all deaths in rural and urban areas, respectively. Read More

J Intensive Care Med 2022 Aug 8:8850666221118839. Epub 2022 Aug 8.

Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Emergent endotracheal intubations (ETI) in pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients are associated with increased mortality. Post-intubation interventions that could increase survivability in this population have not been explored. We evaluate early clinical characteristics and complications following emergent endotracheal intubation and seek predictors of adverse outcomes during this post-intubation period. Read More

J Pediatr 2022 Aug 4. Epub 2022 Aug 4.

Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Objective: To test whether prospective classification of infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) identifies lower-risk infants for discharge with home oxygen who have fewer rehospitalizations by 1 year after neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge.

Methods: Prospective single-center cohort from 2016-2019 of infants with BPD defined as respiratory support at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age. "Lower-risk" infants were receiving ≤2 liters/minute nasal cannula flow, did not have pulmonary hypertension or airway comorbidities, and had blood gas partial pressure of carbon dioxide <70 mm Hg. Read More

Intern Emerg Med 2022 Aug 6. Epub 2022 Aug 6.

Department of Translational and Precision Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.

Biological sex and sociocultural gender matter when it comes to health and diseases. They have been both proposed as the undeniable gateways towards a personalized approach in care delivery. The Gender Working Group of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine (SIMI) was funded in 2019 with the aim of promoting good practice in the integration of sex and gender domains in clinical studies. Read More

Egypt Heart J 2022 Aug 5;74(1):58. Epub 2022 Aug 5.

Department of Cardiology, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, 7th floor, Super speciality block, New Delhi, 110029, India.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension in young children can be due to a myriad of conditions. Few aetiologies of pulmonary hypertension are potentially reversible. An extensive workup for the cause of pulmonary hypertension is a must before attributing it to idiopathic pulmonary hypertension. Read More

Mol Med Rep 2022 Oct 5;26(4). Epub 2022 Aug 5.

Department of Neurosurgery, Institute for Cancer Research, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 35015, Republic of Korea.

cAMP and cGMP are important secondary messengers involved in cell regulation and metabolism driven by the G protein‑coupled receptor. cAMP is converted via adenylyl cyclase (AC) and activates protein kinase A to phosphorylate intracellular proteins that mediate specific responses. cAMP signaling serves a role at multiple steps in tumorigenesis. Read More

Zhonghua Jie He He Hu Xi Za Zhi 2022 Aug;45(8):813-818

Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing 100020, China.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a complex disease caused by multiple factors, including idiopathic PAH, heritable PAH, disease related PAH etc. Due to the high genetic heterogeneity, clinical characteristics and prognosis of PAH patients vary greatly. At present, the specific pathogenesis of PAH is unclear, and the diagnosis and treatment of PAH remain to be explored. Read More

Lancet Respir Med 2022 Aug 1. Epub 2022 Aug 1.

Department of Cardiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

Background: Treatment options for patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension ineligible for pulmonary endarterectomy (inoperable CTEPH) include balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) and riociguat. However, these two treatment options have not been compared prospectively. We aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of BPA and riociguat in patients with inoperable CTEPH. Read More

Lancet Respir Med 2022 Aug 1. Epub 2022 Aug 1.

Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), Service de Pneumologie et Soins Intensifs Respiratoires, Centre de Référence de l'Hypertension Pulmonaire, Hôpital Bicêtre, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France; Université Paris-Saclay, Faculté de Médecine, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France; INSERM UMR_S 999, Hôpital Marie Lannelongue, Le Plessis-Robinson, France.

Background: Riociguat and balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) are treatment options for inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). However, randomised controlled trials comparing these treatments are lacking. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BPA versus riociguat in patients with inoperable CTEPH. Read More

Comput Math Methods Med 2022 25;2022:7981472. Epub 2022 Jul 25.

Dalian Medical University, Dalian, 116044 Liaoning, China.

Objective: This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical diagnosis, treatment process, and laboratory test data of patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis to improve the understanding and diagnosis and treatment ability of the disease.

Methods: Patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis diagnosed in the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University from October 2003 to July 2021 were selected, and their medical records were consulted. The general data, clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations, imaging characteristics, diagnosis, and treatment methods were studied. Read More

Sci Rep 2022 Aug 2;12(1):13284. Epub 2022 Aug 2.

Department of Clinical Immunology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is classified into five clinical diagnostic groups, including group 1 [idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and connective tissue disease-associated PAH (CTD-aPAH)] and group 4 (chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH)). PH is a progressive, life-threatening, incurable disease. The pathological mechanisms underlying PH remain elusive; recent evidence has revealed that abnormal metabolic activities in the endothelium may play a crucial role. Read More

Eur Heart J 2022 Aug 1. Epub 2022 Aug 1.

Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna,  Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria.

Aims: The presence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) severely aggravates the clinical course of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). To date, neither established heart failure therapies nor pulmonary vasodilators proved beneficial. This study investigated the efficacy of chronic treatment with the oral soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator riociguat in patients with PH-HFpEF. Read More

BMC Pulm Med 2022 Aug 1;22(1):295. Epub 2022 Aug 1.

Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, National Clinical Research Center for Dermatologic and Immunologic Diseases (NCRC-DID), Ministry of Science & Technology, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), Key Laboratory of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100730, China.

Objective: Connective tissue disease associated pulmonary hypertension (CTD-PH) is classified as a subgroup of WHO group 1 PH, also called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, not all CTD-PH fit hemodynamic definition of PAH. This study investigates the diversity of hemodynamic types of CTD-PH, their differences in clinical characteristics and outcomes. Read More

Int J Nurs Stud 2022 Jul 5;134:104322. Epub 2022 Jul 5.

Australian Catholic University Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Melbourne, Australia; University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Objective: To characterize and explain variation in the comparative effectiveness of self-care interventions on relevant outcomes of chronic illness compared with controls.

Design: Meta-analysis and meta-regression.

Methods: Data extraction was framed within the context of a previously-published scoping review of randomized trials designed to enhance self-care in type 2 diabetes mellitus, heart failure, hypertension, asthma, coronary artery disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (published between 2008 and 2019). Read More

Cureus 2022 Jun 24;14(6):e26302. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

Internal Medicine, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, PAK.

Papillary fibroelastomas are rarely seen tumors of the cardiac valves. We present a case of papillary fibroelastoma present on the pulmonic valve. Diagnosis was made by characteristic echocardiogram findings. Read More

Nat Commun 2022 Jul 27;13(1):4352. Epub 2022 Jul 27.

Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Translational Experimental Pediatrics-Experimental Pulmonology, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.

Obesity is a pre-disposing condition for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Accumulating evidence suggests that metabolic influences during development can determine chronic lung diseases (CLD). We demonstrate that maternal obesity causes early metabolic disorder in the offspring. Read More

J Clin Med 2022 Jul 22;11(15). Epub 2022 Jul 22.

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Geneva University, 1206 Geneva, Switzerland.

: Pulmonary hypertension (PH), traditionally defined as a mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) ≥ 25 mmHg, is associated with poor outcomes in patients undergoing a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for severe aortic stenosis (AS). Recently, a novel definition for PH has been proposed, placing the cut-off value of mean PAP at 20 mmHg, and introducing pulmonary vascular resistance as an exclusive indicator for the pre-capillary involvement. In light of the novel criteria, whether PH still preserves its prognostic significance remains unknown. Read More

J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 2022 Jul 12. Epub 2022 Jul 12.

Pediatrics Departments, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract: Persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) is a condition caused by failure of pulmonary vascular adaptation at birth, resulting in severe hypoxia. Several therapeutic modalities are being tried in developing countries where established therapies (inhaled nitric oxide [iNO] and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation [ECMO]) are widely unavailable. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of milrinone versus sildenafil as available alternative therapeutics in treating PPHN. Read More

BMJ Open Respir Res 2022 07;9(1)

Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

Introduction: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains a serious and life-threatening illness. Thyroid dysfunction is relatively understudied in individuals with PAH but is known to affect cardiac function and vascular tone in other diseases. The aim of this observational study was to evaluate the association between thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), mortal and non-mortal outcomes in individuals with PAH. Read More

BMJ Open 2022 07 25;12(7):e051456. Epub 2022 Jul 25.

NIHR School for Primary Care Research, Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC), The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

Objective: To assess the diagnostic Read code usage for 18 conditions by examining their frequency and diversity in UK primary care between 2000 and 2013.

Design: Population-based cohort study SETTING: 684 UK general practices contributing data to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD.

Participants: Patients with clinical codes for at least one of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, hypertension (HT), coronary heart disease, atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure, stroke, hypothyroidism, chronic kidney disease, learning disability (LD), depression, dementia, epilepsy, severe mental illness (SMI), osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and cancer. Read More

Pulm Circ 2022 Jul 1;12(3):e12105. Epub 2022 Jul 1.

Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center University of California San Francisco California USA.

Right ventricular (RV) failure is the primary cause of death in pulmonary hypertension (PH), but the mechanisms of RV failure are not well understood. We hypothesized macrophages in the RV contribute to the RV response in PH. We induced PH in mice with hypoxia (FiO 10%) and exposure, and in rats with SU5416-hypoxia. Read More

Front Cardiovasc Med 2022 8;9:735906. Epub 2022 Jul 8.

School of Data Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Background: The long-term prognosis of the cardio-metabolic and renal complications, in addition to mortality in patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary hypertension, are unclear. This study aims to develop a scalable predictive model in the form of an electronic frailty index (eFI) to predict different adverse outcomes.

Methods: This was a population-based cohort study of patients diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension between January 1st, 2000 and December 31st, 2017, in Hong Kong public hospitals. Read More

Curr Probl Cardiol 2022 Jul 20:101332. Epub 2022 Jul 20.

Department of Cardiology, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address:

Ventricular remodeling is the progressive pathologic change of the original substance and morphology of the ventricle caused by various injuries and has attracted increasing attention in the past decade. This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of articles on ventricular remodeling published in the Web of Science Core Collection database from 2012 to 2022 to understand the current research state in the field of ventricular remodeling and provide insights for clinicians and researchers. As a result, a total of 1710 articles on ventricular remodeling were included. Read More

Ann Intensive Care 2022 Jul 23;12(1):70. Epub 2022 Jul 23.

Department of Critical Care, Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust, 249 Westminster Bridge Road, London, UK.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent complication in patients with severe respiratory failure receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). However, little is known of long-term kidney function in ECMO survivors. We aimed to assess the long-term mortality and kidney outcomes in adult patients treated with veno-venous ECMO (VV-ECMO). Read More

Neuromuscul Disord 2022 Jun 23. Epub 2022 Jun 23.

Department of Neurology, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Electronic address:

LAMA2-related muscular dystrophy (LAMA2-MD) and SELENON(SEPN1)-related myopathy (SELENON-RM) are rare neuromuscular diseases caused by mutations in the LAMA2 and SELENON (SEPN1) gene, respectively. Systematic reviews on cardiac features in both neuromuscular diseases are lacking. This scoping review aims to elucidate the cardiac involvement in LAMA2-MD or SELENON-RM. Read More

Qatar Med J 2022 7;2022(3):29. Epub 2022 Jul 7.

Department of Neuromedicine, Bangur Institute of Neurosciences, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research & SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is an autoimmune astrocytopathy against foot processes of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channels. Patients with NMOSD tend to have other coexisting autoimmune/connective tissue diseases. However, AQP-4-antibody-positive NMOSD coexisting with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is rare. Read More

Circulation 2022 Jul 8:101161CIRCULATIONAHA121058635. Epub 2022 Jul 8.

Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec Research Center, Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada. (E.T., C.G., V.M., A.C.L., Y.L., S.B., S.P.).

Background: Clinical worsening (CW) is a composite end point commonly used in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) trials. We aimed to assess the trial-level surrogacy of CW for mortality in PAH trials, and whether the various CW components were similar in terms of frequency of occurrence, treatment-related relative risk (RR) reduction, and importance to patients.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library (January 1990 to December 2020) for trials evaluating the effects of PAH therapies on CW. Read More

J Am Heart Assoc 2022 Jul 13;11(14):e025521. Epub 2022 Jul 13.

Department of Medicine University of Washington Seattle WA.

Front Physiol 2022 2;13:908552. Epub 2022 Jun 2.

St. Luke's Medical Center Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Boise, ID, United States.

Myriad disorders cause right ventricular (RV) dilation and lead to tricuspid regurgitation (TR). Because the thin-walled, flexible RV is mechanically coupled to the pulmonary circulation and the left ventricular septum, it distorts with any disturbance in the cardiopulmonary system. TR, therefore, can result from pulmonary hypertension, left heart failure, or intrinsic RV dysfunction; but once it occurs, TR initiates a cycle of worsening RV volume overload, potentially progressing to right heart failure. Read More