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Mashup Score: 59Heart failure: it’s time to finally change the F-word - 2 month(s) ago
One of the organisers of an upcoming medical conference on heart failure told me that the theme of this meeting ‘was intended to provide hope’. Noble intention, indeed. Yet that’s the problem with the name heart ‘failure’. By definition, it s tough to ‘provide hope’ while continuing to tell freshly diagnosed heart patients that their hearts are ‘failing’. I often hear from my readers who have sat through that life-changing conversation with their cardiologists. Those who have heard the diagnosis firsthand almost always compare this frightening moment to a ‘death sentence’. Here’s a fairly typical narrative, for example, from one of my readers explaining her own moment: > The doctor kept on talking but I couldn’t seem to understand another word after I heard ‘heart failure’. I honestly felt like I was going to pass out or vomit, or both. > > Failing? My heart is failing?! I left his office and then very slowly I walked out to the parking lot, but I was too afraid to get into my car and
Source: openheart.bmj.comCategories: General Medicine News, CardiologistsTweet
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Mashup Score: 27
Background We sought to examine a 1-year incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) among patients with SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) in comparison to those with non-COVID-19 acute upper respiratory infection (AURI). Methods Patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 (in any setting) between April 2020 and June 2021 were identified in Optum Clinformatics. Two comparator cohorts were constructed: an ‘AURI pandemic’ cohort (AURI diagnosis between April 2020 and June 2021) and an ‘AURI prepandemic’ cohort (AURI diagnosis between January 2018 and December 2018). One-year incidence of AF was compared among: COVID-19 versus AURI pandemic cohort; COVID-19 versus AURI prepandemic cohort; and AURI pandemic versus AURI prepandemic cohort. For each comparison, we applied a matching weights technique to balance covariates. Logistic regression was used to compare the odds of incident AF among the matched cohorts. Results When comparing the matched COVID-19 (n=102 227) cohort with the AURI pandemic (n=102 101)
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Mashup Score: 54Heart failure: it’s time to finally change the F-word - 2 month(s) ago
One of the organisers of an upcoming medical conference on heart failure told me that the theme of this meeting ‘was intended to provide hope’. Noble intention, indeed. Yet that’s the problem with the name heart ‘failure’. By definition, it s tough to ‘provide hope’ while continuing to tell freshly diagnosed heart patients that their hearts are ‘failing’. I often hear from my readers who have sat through that life-changing conversation with their cardiologists. Those who have heard the diagnosis firsthand almost always compare this frightening moment to a ‘death sentence’. Here’s a fairly typical narrative, for example, from one of my readers explaining her own moment: > The doctor kept on talking but I couldn’t seem to understand another word after I heard ‘heart failure’. I honestly felt like I was going to pass out or vomit, or both. > > Failing? My heart is failing?! I left his office and then very slowly I walked out to the parking lot, but I was too afraid to get into my car and
Source: openheart.bmj.comCategories: General Medicine News, CardiologistsTweet
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Mashup Score: 14Validation of 2D flow MRI for helical and vortical flows - 2 month(s) ago
Purpose The main objective of this study was to develop two-dimensional (2D) phase contrast (PC) methods to quantify the helicity and vorticity of blood flow in the aortic root. Methods This proof-of-concept study used four-dimensional (4D) flow cardiovascular MR (4D flow CMR) data of five healthy controls, five patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and five patients with aortic stenosis (AS). A PC through-plane generated by 4D flow data was treated as a 2D PC plane and compared with the original 4D flow. Visual assessment of flow vectors was used to assess helicity and vorticity. We quantified flow displacement (FD), systolic flow reversal ratio (sFRR) and rotational angle (RA) using 2D PC. Results For visual vortex flow presence near the inner curvature of the ascending aortic root on 4D flow CMR, sFRR demonstrated an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.955, p8% for sFRR had a sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 100% for visual vortex pres
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Mashup Score: 10Cardiac MR modelling of systolic and diastolic blood pressure - 2 month(s) ago
Aims Blood pressure (BP) is a crucial factor in cardiovascular health and can affect cardiac imaging assessments. However, standard outpatient cardiovascular MR (CMR) imaging procedures do not typically include BP measurements prior to image acquisition. This study proposes that brachial systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) can be modelled using patient characteristics and CMR data. Methods In this multicentre study, 57 patients from the PREFER-CMR registry and 163 patients from other registries were used as the derivation cohort. All subjects had their brachial SBP and DBP measured using a sphygmomanometer. Multivariate linear regression analysis was applied to predict brachial BP. The model was subsequently validated in a cohort of 169 healthy individuals. Results Age and left ventricular ejection fraction were associated with SBP. Aortic forward flow, body surface area and left ventricular mass index were associated with DBP. When applied to the validation cohort, the correlatio
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Mashup Score: 4Difference in tissue temperature change between two cryoballoons - 2 month(s) ago
Background Cryoballoon ablation, especially Arctic Front Advance Pro (AFA-Pro) (Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA), has been widely recognised as a standard approach to atrial fibrillation (AF). Recently, Boston Scientific has released a novel cryoballoon system (POLARx). Despite comparable acute clinical outcomes of these two cryoballoons, the recent study reported a higher complication rate, especially for phrenic nerve palsy, with POLARx. However, their impact on biological tissue remains unclear. Objective The purpose of our study is to evaluate temperature change of biological tissue during cryoablation of each cryoballoon using a porcine experimental model. Method A tissue-based pulmonary vein model was constructed from porcine myocardial tissue and placed on a stage designed to simulate pulmonary vein anatomy and venous flow. Controlled cryoablations of AFA-Pro and POLARx were performed in this model to evaluate the tissue temperature. A temperature sensor was set behind th
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Mashup Score: 80Reflections on my journey as editor-in-chief of Open Heart - 2 month(s) ago
As I approach the end of my tenure as founding editor-in-chief of Open Heart , I am filled with a sense reflection on this very exciting journey. When we launched Open Heart in January 2014, our mission was to advance scientific publishing in cardiovascular sciences by embracing open science, making research results available to everyone. This was a response to the limitations of traditional publishing models and a commitment to enhance scientific progress and global access to research. This journey, while immensely rewarding, also presented unique challenges and learning experiences that shaped both the journal and my perspective on scientific open access publishing. Initially, concerns were raised about open access potentially reducing publication quality. However, Open Heart has consistently disproved these fears. Our unwavering editorial independence has ensured that financial considerations do not collide with our commitment to publishing impactful and relevant articles. In our in
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Mashup Score: 23Lipoprotein(a) levels in a global population with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease - 3 month(s) ago
Objective Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is an important genetically determined risk factor for atherosclerotic vascular disease (ASCVD). With the development of Lp(a)-lowering therapies, this study sought to characterise patterns of Lp(a) levels in a global ASCVD population and identify racial, ethnic, regional and gender differences. Methods A multicentre cross-sectional epidemiological study to estimate the prevalence of elevated Lp(a) in patients with a history of myocardial infarction, ischaemic stroke or peripheral artery disease conducted at 949 sites in 48 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, South Africa and Australia between April 2019 and July 2021. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and Lp(a) levels were measured either as mass (mg/dL) or molar concentration (nmol/L). Results Of 48 135 enrolled patients, 13.9% had prior measurements of Lp(a). Mean age was 62.6 (SD 10.1) years and 25.9% were female. Median Lp(a) was 18.0 mg/dL (IQR 7.9–57.1) or 42.0 nmol
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Mashup Score: 69Reflections on my journey as editor-in-chief of Open Heart - 4 month(s) ago
As I approach the end of my tenure as founding editor-in-chief of Open Heart , I am filled with a sense reflection on this very exciting journey. When we launched Open Heart in January 2014, our mission was to advance scientific publishing in cardiovascular sciences by embracing open science, making research results available to everyone. This was a response to the limitations of traditional publishing models and a commitment to enhance scientific progress and global access to research. This journey, while immensely rewarding, also presented unique challenges and learning experiences that shaped both the journal and my perspective on scientific open access publishing. Initially, concerns were raised about open access potentially reducing publication quality. However, Open Heart has consistently disproved these fears. Our unwavering editorial independence has ensured that financial considerations do not collide with our commitment to publishing impactful and relevant articles. In our in
Source: openheart.bmj.comCategories: General Medicine News, CardiologistsTweet
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Mashup Score: 9Accelerating progress in cardiology: embracing open science - 4 month(s) ago
Open science is not only compelling but also essential for the advancement of cardiology. Open science encompasses open-access publishing, data sharing and open source. It embodies a set of practices aiming for greater transparency and collaboration in research (figure 1). It is pivotal for driving innovation, ensuring research integrity and democratising access to scientific knowledge. The societal impact of open science extends beyond the scientific community, reaching also patients at the heart of our research. Open access to research findings is empowering patients to make informed decisions about their care. Figure 1 The main components of open science. Open science enhances research in multiple ways: importantly, it augments reach. For instance, open-access publishing has been linked to higher citation rates, …
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Heart failure: it’s time to finally change the F-word @Open_HeartBMJ by C. Thomas. https://t.co/hyLTXyrXpB