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Int J Surg Case Rep 2019 Feb 10;55:218-222. Epub 2019 Feb 10.

Department of Gastroenterological and Transplant Surgery, Applied Life Sciences, Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan. Electronic address:

Introduction: Transient Left Ventricular Apical Balloon Syndrome (LV-ABS) is an unknown acute dysfunction of the left ventricle, which develops under emotional or physical stress events like the major surgical postoperative period.

Presentation Of Case: A 68-year-old woman diagnosed with hepatitis C cirrhosis was admitted for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). No evidence for underlying cardiac or pulmonary disease was found. Read More

Curr Cardiol Rep 2019 Feb 12;21(2). Epub 2019 Feb 12.

Clinical and Experimental Medicine Department, Cardiology Unit, University of Messina, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria 'Policlinico G. Martino,' Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125, Messina, Italy.

Purpose Of Review: The aim is to provide a description of the most important echocardiographic features in systemic amyloidosis.

Recent Findings: Amyloidosis is a heterogeneous group of multisystem disorders, characterized by an extracellular deposition of amyloid fibrils. Several imaging tests are available for the diagnosis; however, echocardiography is the cornerstone of the non-invasive imaging modality for cardiac amyloidosis. Read More

J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2019 Feb 7. Epub 2019 Feb 7.

This document is the second of 2 companion appropriate use criteria (AUC) documents developed by the American College of Cardiology, American Association for Thoracic Surgery, American Heart Association, American Society of Echocardiography, American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, Heart Rhythm Society, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, and Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The first document addresses the evaluation and use of multimodality imaging in the diagnosis and management of valvular heart disease, whereas this document addresses this topic with regard to structural (nonvalvular) heart disease. While dealing with different subjects, the 2 documents do share a common structure and feature some clinical overlap. Read More

F1000Res 2018 31;7:1725. Epub 2018 Oct 31.

Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Oral hormone pregnancy tests (HPTs), such as Primodos, containing ethinylestradiol and high doses of norethisterone, were given to over a million women from 1958 to 1978, when Primodos was withdrawn from the market because of concerns about possible teratogenicity. We aimed to study the association between maternal exposure to oral HPTs and congenital malformations. We have performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies that included data from pregnant women and were exposed to oral HPTs within the estimated first three months of pregnancy, if compared with a relevant control group. Read More

Ther Adv Chronic Dis 2018 11;9(12):257-267. Epub 2018 Sep 11.

GI Services, University College London Hospital, Ground floor west, 250 Euston Road, London, NW1 2 PG, London, UK.

Oesophageal physiology testing plays an important role in the diagnosis of noncardiac chest pain (NCCP) after cardiac, structural and mucosal abnormalities have been ruled out. Endoscopy can establish the presence of structural causes of chest pain such as cancer, oesophageal webs and diverticula. Even if macroscopically normal, eosinophilic oesophagitis is a common cause of chest pain and needs to be ruled out with an adequate biopsy regimen. Read More

Methods Mol Biol 2019 ;1929:645-662

Institute for Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.

Nowadays, measurement of cardiac troponins (cTn) in patient plasma is central for diagnosis of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). High-sensitivity (hs) immunoassays have been developed that can very precisely record slightly elevated and rising plasma concentrations of cTn very early after onset of clinical symptoms. Algorithms integrate measurements of hs-cTn at onset of clinical symptoms of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and 1 or 3 h after onset, to rule-in and rule-out AMI patients. Read More

PLoS One 2019 1;14(2):e0211615. Epub 2019 Feb 1.

Horten Centre for Patient Oriented Research and Knowledge Transfer, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Background: Non-cardiac chest pain is common and there is no formal recommendation on what diagnostic tests to use to identify underlying diseases after an acute coronary syndrome has been ruled out.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic tests, treatment recommendations and initiated treatments in patients presenting with non-cardiac chest pain to the emergency department (ED).

Methods: Single-center, retrospective medical chart review of patients presenting to the ED. Read More

Int J Cardiol Heart Vasc 2019 Mar 18;22:123-131. Epub 2019 Jan 18.

Penn State College of Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, United States of America.

Background: The 'Timing Hypothesis' states that the benefits and harms of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are related to the proximity with which it is begun following the onset of menopause. The primary aim of this analysis was to test for heterogeneity of treatment effect for HRT using Chi and I tests for younger versus older initiators of HRT. The secondary aim was to perform a meta-regression with mean age at trial baseline as the covariate for various outcomes. Read More

World J Methodol 2019 Jan 18;9(1):1-19. Epub 2019 Jan 18.

Department of Cardiology, The Alfred Hospital, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Vic 3004, Australia.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) screening and diagnosis are core cardiac specialty services. From symptoms, autopsy correlations supported reductions in coronary blood flow and dynamic epicardial and microcirculatory coronaries artery disease as etiologies. While angina remains a clinical diagnosis, most cases require correlation with a diagnostic modality. Read More

BMJ Case Rep 2019 Jan 29;12(1). Epub 2019 Jan 29.

Department of Cardiology, The Northern Health, Epping, Victoria, Australia.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) is acute stress-induced cardiomyopathy with characteristic transient wall motion abnormalities. TC has a clinical presentation similar to an acute coronary syndrome, including chest pain or dyspnoea, ECG changes and elevated cardiac enzymes. TC often occurs after emotional stress. Read More

Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2019 01 31;1:CD009009. Epub 2019 Jan 31.

Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej 9, 7811, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2100.

Background: General health checks are common elements of health care in some countries. They aim to detect disease and risk factors for disease with the purpose of reducing morbidity and mortality. Most of the commonly used individual screening tests offered in general health checks have been incompletely studied. Read More

J Am Coll Surg 2019 Jan 21. Epub 2019 Jan 21.

Surgery Departments of Indiana University School of Medicine; Biochemistry/Molecular Biology; Walther Oncology Center, Indianapolis, IN; Indiana University Health Pancreatic Cyst and Cancer Early Detection Center, Indianapolis, IN. Electronic address:

Introduction: Optimal pain control post-pancreatoduodenectomy is a challenge. Epidural analgesia (EDA) is increasingly utilized despite inherent risks and unclear effects on outcomes.

Methods: All pancreatoduodenectomies (PD) performed from 1/2013-12/2017 were included. Read More

Am J Clin Oncol 2019 Jan 16. Epub 2019 Jan 16.

Departments of Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Division of Urology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network and the University of Toronto.

Objectives: Metformin has been associated with improved survival outcomes in various malignancies. However, studies in kidney cancer are conflicting. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between metformin and kidney cancer survival. Read More

Clin Exp Allergy 2019 Jan 18. Epub 2019 Jan 18.

National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.

Background: There is uncertainty about the clinical usefulness of currently available asthma predictive tools. Validation of predictive tools in different populations and clinical settings is an essential requirement for the assessment of their predictive performance, reproducibility and generalizability. We aimed to critically appraise asthma predictive tools which have been validated in external studies. Read More

Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2018 Dec;198(12):e116-e136

Background: Thousands of biomarker tests are either available or under development for lung diseases. In many cases, adoption of these tests into clinical practice is outpacing the generation and evaluation of sufficient data to determine clinical utility and ability to improve health outcomes. There is a need for a systematically organized report that provides guidance on how to understand and evaluate use of biomarker tests for lung diseases. Read More

J Palliat Care 2019 Jan 13:825859718816073. Epub 2019 Jan 13.

1 Faculty of Nursing, Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

Purpose:: To review studies pertaining to the reliability and validity of observational pain assessment tools for use with nonverbal patients at the end-of-life, a field of research not documented by previous systematic reviews.

Methods:: Databases (PubMed, Embase, Epistemonikos, the Cochrane Library, and CINAHL) were systematically searched for studies from study inception to February 21, 2016 (update in May 9, 2018). Two independent reviewers screened study titles, abstracts, and full texts according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Read More

Surg Neurol Int 2018 11;9:251. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Clinical Professor of Neurological Surgery, School of Medicine, State University of N.Y. at Stony Brook, and Chief of Neurosurgical Spine/Education at NYU Winthrop Hospital, Mineola, NY 11501, USA.

Background: Multiple measures prior to spine surgery may reduce the risks of postoperative surgical site infections (SSIs).

Methods: The incidence of SSI following spinal surgery (including reoperations and readmissions) may be markedly reduced by performing less extensive procedures and avoiding fusion where feasible. Preoperative testing up to 3 weeks postoperatively should include other studies to limit the perioperative SSI risk; cardiac stress tests (e. Read More

J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2019 Jan 10. Epub 2019 Jan 10.

Department of Surgery, Denver Health Medical Center, University of Colorado.

Background: Viscoelastic tests (VETs), specifically thromboelastography (TEG) and rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM), are gaining popularity in the management of critically ill surgical patients with hemorrhage or thrombosis due to their comprehensive characterization of the coagulation process and point-of-care availability in comparison to conventional coagulation tests (CCTs). We review current evidence for VET use in patients in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU).

Methods: We searched PUBMED, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library through May 30, 2018 for articles that evaluated the use of VETs in patient populations and clinical scenarios germane to the surgical intensivist. Read More

BMC Nephrol 2019 Jan 3;20(1). Epub 2019 Jan 3.

Nephrology and Hypertension at Parnassus, University of California San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA, 94122, USA.

Background: Electronic health record (EHR) data is increasingly used to identify patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). EHR queries used to capture CKD status, identify comorbid conditions, measure awareness by providers, and track adherence to guideline-concordant processes of care have not been validated.

Methods: We extracted EHR data for primary-care patients with two eGFRcreat 15-59 mL/min/1. Read More

J Am Acad Orthop Surg 2018 Dec 28. Epub 2018 Dec 28.

From Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Arizona, College of Medicine-Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ (Dr. McLaren), and Resurgens Orthopaedics, Atlanta, GA (Dr. Lundy).

The purpose of this systematic review is to improve outcomes for the care of surgical site infections by presenting the current best evidence on important diagnostic and care issues. The findings led to ten recommendations and five consensus statements that address diagnosis and treatment of orthopaedic surgical site infections. There is strong evidence to supports anemia, obesity, HIV/AIDS, depression, dementia, immunosuppressive medications, duration of hospital stay, history of alcohol abuse, and history of congestive heart failure as factors that increased the risk of infection, some of which are modifiable before surgical intervention. Read More

Cardiovasc Pathol 2018 Dec 1;39:12-24. Epub 2018 Dec 1.

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Ottawa Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 8M5, Canada.

Lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) comprise a group of diseases caused by a deficiency of lysosomal enzymes, membrane transporters or other proteins involved in lysosomal biology. Lysosomal storage disorders result from an accumulation of specific substrates, due to the inability to break them down. The diseases are classified according to the type of material that is accumulated; for example, lipid storage disorders, mucopolysaccharidoses and glycoproteinoses. Read More

J Adv Pract Oncol 2018 Mar 1;9(2):216-221. Epub 2018 Mar 1.

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

RS, a 36-year-old female, presented to the emergency department (ED) of a large academic medical center upon the advice of her primary care provider because of 3 weeks of progressive mental status changes, weakness, and decreased oral intake. According to her husband, RS was diagnosed with stage IIIA large cell lung cancer 8 months earlier and was treated with concurrent chemotherapy (carboplatin, pemetrexed, and bevacizumab) and radiation therapy that was completed 4 months prior to admission. No other specific information about her treatment or outside health records was available. Read More

J Adv Pract Oncol 2018 Mar 1;9(2):201-214. Epub 2018 Mar 1.

Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research in Nursing & Patient Care Services, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts.

Patients with cancer and concurrent heart failure (HF) have severe symptoms that may adversely affect patients' quality of life in addition to limiting effective anticancer therapy. A system of frequent monitoring could alert clinicians, providing the opportunity for timely intervention before patients become severely ill and require hospitalization. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate if the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory-Heart Failure (MDASI-HF) instrument preprogrammed via the interactive voice response system (IVRS) can be used to collect symptom data that will generate symptom alerts to providers based on preset severity levels. Read More

Clin Interv Aging 2019 18;14:1-8. Epub 2018 Dec 18.

Clinical Pharmacology, Institute of Infection and Immunity, St George's University of London, London, UK,

Purpose: People with COPD have cognitive dysfunction, which is greater in those hospitalized for exacerbations than in stable outpatients. We tested the hypothesis that cognitive dysfunction at exacerbation is a disease-specific feature of COPD, rather than a nonspecific feature of hospitalization for acute illness, by comparing cognition between patients hospitalized for acute COPD exacerbations and those with worsening heart failure (HF).

Patients And Methods: A total of 40 hospital inpatients were recruited, 20 patients with COPD exacerbations and 20 patients with congestive or left-sided HF. Read More

Clin Exp Emerg Med 2018 Dec 31;5(4):264-271. Epub 2018 Dec 31.

Laboratory of Emergency Medical Services, Seoul National University Hospital Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul, Korea.

Objective: For patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), symptoms assessed by emergency medical services (EMS) providers have a critical role in prehospital treatment decisions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of EMS provider-assessed cardiac symptoms of AMI.

Methods: Patients transported by EMS to 4 study hospitals from 2008 to 2012 were included. Read More

Arq Bras Cardiol 2019 Jan 17;112(1):78-84. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Centro da Ciência da Saúde e do Esporte - Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), Florianópolis, SC - Brazil.

Background: The Coronary Artery Disease Education Questionnaire (CADE-Q), an instrument aimed at assessing patients' knowledge about coronary artery disease (CAD), was originally developed and psychometrically validated in Brazil. It was later translated, cross-culturally adapted, and validated to English. Although both versions demonstrated good reliability and validity, new studies in the area have pointed out the need of implementing the CADE-Q with other components of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs, such as psychologic factors, which had not been considered in previous version and were added in the subsequent, adapted version. Read More

BJGP Open 2018 Oct 19;2(3):bjgpopen18X101606. Epub 2018 Sep 19.

Consultant Cardiologist, Department of Medicine, James Paget University Hospital, Gorleston-on-Sea, UK.

Background: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is under-identified in primary care.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine what information is available in patients' primary care practice records that would identify patients with HFpEF.

Design & Setting: Record review in two practices in east of England. Read More

J Adv Pract Oncol 2018 Jan-Feb;9(1):56-66. Epub 2018 Jan 1.

The University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, Arizona; and University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado.

Mr. M, a 65-year-old male, presented to his primary care physician with progressive fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and daily headaches for the past 3 weeks. His headaches were not associated with visual disturbances, cognitive deficits, or nausea/vomiting, and he had no history of migraines. Read More

Telemed J E Health 2018 Dec 18. Epub 2018 Dec 18.

3 Department of Telemedicine, University of Virginia , Charlottesville, Virginia.

Background And Objective: Research demonstrates that telemedicine is effective in pediatric settings but little is published to validate the quality of the data acquired by remote peripheral examination devices to accurately inform clinical decision-making.

Introduction: The primary aim was to compare a novel Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared multifunctional remote examination device (Tyto) with other stand-alone digital examination devices. The secondary aim was to ascertain whether either device produced images or sounds better able to provide clinical information to clinicians caring for children. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2018 Dec;97(50):e13658

Department of Pharmacy, Liaocheng People's Hospital, Liaocheng, China.

Rationale: Lactococcus lactis and Pediococcus pentosaceus are rare pathogens which rarely caused infections in humans. Several cases with L. lactis endocarditis have been reported in the literature, among them few were caused by L. Read More

Heart Lung Circ 2019 Jan 19;28(1):155-163. Epub 2018 Oct 19.

Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Vic, Australia; University of Melbourne, Department of Medicine, Melbourne, Vic, Australia; St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia. Electronic address:

Athletes enjoy excellent health outcomes including greater longevity relative to non-athletic counterparts. Paradoxically, however, endurance athletic conditioning is associated with an increase in some arrhythmias. This review discusses the potential mechanisms for this paradox and strategies enabling early identification of potentially serious pathologies. Read More

J Eval Clin Pract 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Department of Anesthesiology, Cardiac Division, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.

Rationale Aims And Objectives: Pulmonary aspiration is a feared complication of anaesthesia that is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Within the small existing body of literature on medical malpractice claims related to periprocedural aspiration, very little information is available regarding the case-specific factors that were alleged to contribute to each aspiration event.

Methods: This study searched an extensive nationwide database of medical malpractice claims and identified 43 relating to periprocedural pulmonary aspiration. Read More

BMJ Support Palliat Care 2018 Dec 6. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation, Brixton, London, UK.

Background: Driving is a complex activity that requires physical abilities and adequate executive and cognitive functioning. There is concern among specialist palliative care services about patients continuing to drive despite having progressive incurable illnesses, comorbidities and medications to manage their symptoms.

Objectives: To determine the quality of literature available about driving that would apply to palliative care patients, specifically in relation to road test or simulated driving scores and neurocognitive testing. Read More

Eur J Radiol 2018 Dec 21;109:235-247. Epub 2018 Oct 21.

Division of General Radiology, Department of Radiology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 19/P, 8036 Graz, Austria; Research & Development, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics GmbH, Strassgangerstrasse 315, 8054 Graz, Austria. Electronic address:

Non-invasive identification and differentiation of myocardial diseases represents the primary objectives of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) longitudinal relaxation time (T1) and extracellular volume (ECV) mapping. Given the fact that myocardial T1 and ECV values overlap throughout and within left ventricular phenotypes, a central issue to be addressed is whether and to what extent myocardial T1 and ECV mapping provides additional or superior diagnostic information to standard CMR imaging, and whether native T1 mapping could be employed as a non-contrast alternative to late gadolinium enhancement (LE) imaging. The present review aims to summarize physiological and pathophysiological alterations in native T1 and ECV values and summarized myocardial T1 and ECV alterations associated with cardiac diseases to support the translation of research findings into routine CMR imaging. Read More

Eur J Radiol 2018 Dec 13;109:223-234. Epub 2018 Oct 13.

Division of General Radiology, Department of Radiology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 19/P, 8036 Graz, Austria. Electronic address:

While an enormous number of studies have documented pathological alterations of the myocardial native longitudinal relaxation time (T1) and the fraction of the extracellular myocardial volume (ECV), it has also become clear that continuously evolving T1 mapping sequence, acquisition and evaluation techniques have a substantial impact on quantitative results, making the translation of reported findings into routine clinical use particularly challenging. To provide a basis for the discussion of pathological myocardial T1 and ECV alterations, the present review aims to summarize the methodological aspects of myocardial T1 mapping along with technical and physiological factors influencing results and normal ranges of myocardial native T1 and ECV reported across studies. Read More

Colorectal Dis 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

St Mark's Hospital, Harrow, Middlesex, UK.

Aim: Anastomotic leakage (AL) is often identified 7-10 days after colorectal surgery. However, in retrospect, abnormalities may be evident much earlier. This study aims to identify the clinical time point when AL occurs. Read More

Curr Opin Crit Care 2019 Feb;25(1):29-36

Université Paris Est Créteil, Faculté de Médecine de Créteil, Groupe de Recherche Clinique CARMAS, Créteil.

Purpose Of Review: A prompt identification of the cause of acute respiratory failure (ARF)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is required in order to initiate a targeted treatment. Yet, almost 10% of ARDS patients have no identified ARDS risk factor at ARDS diagnosis. Numerous rare causes of ARF have been reported in this setting. Read More

J Vet Cardiol 2018 Dec 13;20(6):425-437. Epub 2018 Nov 13.

University of Liverpool Institute of Veterinary Science, Leahurst, Chester High Road, Neston, CH64 7TE, UK.

Introduction: The time from the onset of the P wave on electrocardiogram to the peak of late diastolic wave signal (PA-TDI interval) recorded by left atrial pulsed-wave tissue Doppler imaging (PW-TDI) is a surrogate of the total atrial conduction time, and it can predict the development of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) in people. This study investigated whether PA-TDI interval measured with PW-TDI at the level of lateral aspect of the mitral valve annulus could identify dogs which developed AF within 6 months after echocardiography.

Animals: Forty-two dogs with different cardiac diseases were included; 21 dogs developed AF within 6 months after echocardiography (AF group) and 21 dogs did not (non-AF group). Read More

Am Psychol 2018 Dec;73(9):1160-1171

Department of Medicine, Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Columbia University Medical Center.

The enduring somatic threat (EST) model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to life-threatening medical events suggests that PTSD-like symptoms represent patients' sensitization to cues of ongoing threat in the body. In this article, we review research on the prevalence and consequences of such reactions in cardiovascular disease patients, discuss early tests of the EST model, and then report a new test of the EST model in 143 patients enrolled during their first acute coronary syndrome (ACS; i.e. Read More

G Ital Cardiol (Rome) 2018 Dec;19(12):692-704

Istituto di Cardiologia, Università degli Studi, Pisa.

Myocardial revascularization in patients with stable ischemic heart disease aims at eliminating myocardial ischemia, in order to (i) relieve anginal symptoms; (ii) improve functional capacity; and, possibly, (iii) improve prognosis. Given that ischemic recurrences are relatively common in patients undergoing myocardial revascularization, an appropriate follow-up is needed as part of a secondary prevention program. Stress testing can be here useful to: (i) detect residual or recurrent ischemia/angina; (ii) define functional capacity in order to establish physical aerobic training individualized programs; (iii) stratify prognosis. Read More

Syst Rev 2018 Dec 5;7(1):225. Epub 2018 Dec 5.

Division of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (MI) remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide with no curative therapy available. Stem cell therapies have been gaining interest as a means to repair the cardiac tissue after MI and prevent the onset of heart failure. Many in vivo reports suggest that the use of stem cells is promising, yet clinical trials suggest that the cells fail to integrate into the native tissue, resulting in limited improvements in cardiac function and repair. Read More

Pharmgenomics Pers Med 2018 19;11:211-222. Epub 2018 Nov 19.

Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg 97080, Germany,

Mental disorders account for around one-third of disability worldwide and cause enormous personal and societal burden. Current pharmacotherapies and nonpharmacotherapies do help many patients, but there are still high rates of partial or no response, delayed effect, and unfavorable adverse effects. The current diagnostic taxonomy of mental disorders by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International Classification of Diseases relies on presenting signs and symptoms, but does not reflect evidence from neurobiological and behavioral systems. Read More

Intern Emerg Med 2018 Nov 29. Epub 2018 Nov 29.

Dipartimento Cardio-vascolare, Presidio Ospedaliero Morgagni-Pierantoni, AUSL della Romagna, Via C Forlanini 34, 47121, Forlì, FC, Italy.

The reliability of initial high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) under limit-of-detection in ruling-out short- and long-term acute coronary events in subjects for suspected non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) is not definitely settled. In a retrospective chart review analysis, 1001 subjects with hs-cTnT ≤ 14 ng/L out of 4053 subjects with hs-cTnT measured at Emergency Department (ED) presentation were recruited. The main outcome measure is fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) within 30 days; secondary outcomes are MI or major acute coronary events (MACE) as a combination of MI or re-hospitalization for unstable angina within 1 year. Read More

Mol Diagn Ther 2018 Nov 27. Epub 2018 Nov 27.

Department of Hematology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein-Kerem, POB 12,000, 91120, Jerusalem, Israel.

Cell oxidative status, which represents the balance between oxidants and antioxidants, is involved in normal functions. Under pathological conditions, there is a shift toward the oxidants, leading to oxidative stress, which is cytotoxic, causing oxidation of cellular components that result in cell death and organ damage. Thalassemia is a hereditary hemolytic anemia caused by mutations in globin genes that cause reduced or complete absence of specific globin chains (commonly, α or β). Read More

Heart Lung Circ 2019 Jan 25;28(1):57-64. Epub 2018 Sep 25.

Department of Cardiology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address:

Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) is a major public health issue, accounting for half of all cardiovascular deaths world-wide. The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) has been solidified as the cornerstone therapy in primary prevention of SCD in ischaemic and non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy. However, what has become increasingly clear is that the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is an inadequate tool to select patients for a prophylactic ICD, despite its widespread use for this purpose. Read More