Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients with High Ankle-Brachial Index from the IMPACT-ABI Study

Abstract Background Ethnic disparities have been reported in cardiovascular disease. However, ethnic disparities in takotsubo syndrome (TTS) remain elusive. This study assessed differences in clinical characteristics between Japanese and European TTS patients and determined the impact of ethnicity on in-hospital outcomes. Methods TTS patients in Japan were enrolled from 10 hospitals and TTS patients in Europe were enrolled from 32 hospitals participating in the International Takotsubo Registry. Clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes were compared between Japanese and European patients. Results A total of 503 Japanese and 1670 European patients were included. Japanese patients were older (72.6 ± 11.4 years vs. 68.0 ± 12.0 years; p < 0.001) and more likely to be male (18.5 vs. 8.4%; p < 0.001) than European TTS patients. Physical triggering factors were more common (45.5 vs. 32.0%; p < 0.001), and emotional triggers less common (17.5 vs. 31.5%; p < 0.001), in Japanese patients than in European patients. Japanese patients were more likely to experience cardiogenic shock during the acute phase (15.5 vs. 9.0%; p < 0.001) and had a higher in-hospital mortality (8.2 vs. 3.2%; p < 0.001). However, ethnicity itself did not appear to have an impact on in-hospital mortality. Machine learning approach revealed that the presence of physical stressors was the most important prognostic factor in both Japanese and European TTS patients. Conclusion Differences in clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes between Japanese and European TTS patients exist. Ethnicity does not impact the outcome in TTS patients. The worse in-hospital outcome in Japanese patients, is mainly driven by the higher prevalence of physical triggers. Trial Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique Identifier: NCT01947621.

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Updated overview on the interplay between obesity and COVID-19

Diagnosis ◽

10.1515/dx-2020-0111 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Diletta Onorato ◽

Giovanni Carpenè ◽

Giuseppe Lippi ◽

Mairi Pucci

Keyword(s):

Disease Severity ◽

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Literature Search ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Population Sample ◽

Obese Patients ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Keywords Obesity ◽

Negative Prognostic Factor ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe worldwide spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has generated a global health crisis and more than a million deaths so far. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 are increasingly reported, along with its potential relationship with overweight and/or obesity. Therefore, we aim here to review the current scientific literature on the impact of overweight and/or obesity among hospitalized patients who have developed severe or critical forms of COVID-19. Following PRISMA guidelines, our literature search identified over 300 scientific articles using the keywords “obesity” and “COVID-19”, 22 of which were finally selected for reporting useful information on the association between overweight/obesity and disease severity. In particular, in 11 out of the 14 studies (79%) which evaluated the association between obesity and disease severity providing also a risk estimate (i.e., the odd ratio; OR), the OR value was constantly >2. Although the studies were found to be heterogeneous in terms of design, population, sample size and endpoints, in most cases a significant association was found between obesity and the risk of progressing to severe COVID-19 illness, intensive care unit admission and/or death. We can hence conclude that an increased body mass index shall be considered a negative prognostic factor in patients with COVID-19, and more aggressive prevention or treatment shall hence be reserved to overweight and/or obese patients.

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Clinical outcomes of Japanese atrial fibrillation patients with combined valvular heart disease: the Fushimi AF Registry

European Heart Journal ◽

10.1093/ehjci/ehaa946.0528 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽

Author(s):

K Doi ◽

K Ishigami ◽

Y Aono ◽

S Ikeda ◽

Y Hamatani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Heart Disease ◽

Incidence Rate ◽

Clinical Outcomes ◽

Valvular Heart Disease ◽

Cardiac Death ◽

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Valve Disease ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background We previously reported that valvular heart disease (VHD) was not at the significant risk of stroke/systemic embolism (SE), but was associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for heart failure (HF) in Japanese atrial fibrillation patients. However, the impact of combined VHD on clinical outcomes has been little known. Purpose The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of combined VHD and its clinical characteristics and impact on outcomes such as stroke/SE, all-cause death, cardiac death and hospitalization for HF. Method The Fushimi AF Registry is a community-based prospective survey of AF patients in one of the wards of our city which is a typical urban district of Japan. We started to enroll patients from March 2011, and follow-up data were available for 4,466 patients by the end of November 2019. In the entire cohort, echocardiography data were available for 3,574 patients. 68 AF patients with prosthetic heart valves were excluded and we compared clinical characteristics and outcomes between 488 single VHD (103 Aortic valve disease (AVD), 315 mitral valve disease (MVD), 70 tricuspid valve disease (TVD)) and 158 combined VHD (46 AVD and MVD, 11 AVD and TVD, 66 MVD and TVD, 35 AVD and MVD and TVD). Result Compared with single VHD, patients with combined VHD were older (combined vs. single VHD: 78.5 vs. 76.0 years, respectively; p<0.01), more likely to have persistent/permanent type AF (73.4% vs. 63.9%, p=0.02) and prescription of warfarin (63.1% vs. 53.8%, p=0.04). Combined VHD was less likely to have diabetes mellitus (13.9% vs. 23.6%, p=0.01) and dyslipidemia (26.6% vs. 40.4%, p<0.01). Sex, body weight, hypertension, pre-existing HF were comparable between the two groups. During the median follow-up of 1,474 days, the incidence rate of stroke/SE was not significantly different between the two groups (1.58 vs. 1.89 per 100 person-years, respectively, log rank p=0.10). The incidence rate of all-cause death (7.35 vs. 5.33, p=0.65), cardiac death (1.20 vs. 0.99, p=0.91) and hospitalization for HF (5.55 vs. 4.43, p=0.53) were also not significantly different. We previously reported AVD had significant impacts on cardiac adverse outcomes in AF patients, and we further analyzed event rates between combined VHD including AVD (AVD and MVD/TVD) and without AVD (MVD and TVD). Combined VHD with AVD group had higher incidence rate of all-cause death (10.7 vs. 5.79, p=0.03) than that without AVD group. However, the incidence rate of stroke/SE (1.98 vs. 1.56, p=0.59), cardiac death (0.98 vs. 1.14, p=0.68), hospitalization for HF (8.03 vs. 5.38, p=0.17) were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion As compared with single VHD, the risk of stroke/SE, all-cause death, cardiac death and hospitalization for HF in combined VHD was not significantly different. Among patients with combined VHD, those having AVD had higher incidence rate of all-cause death than those without AVD. Figure 1 Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

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P-116: The impact of SLiM criteria in myeloma in a real-life population: clinical characteristics, treatment and outcome from the Australian and New Zealand Myeloma and Related Diseases Registry (MRDR)

Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma & Leukemia ◽

10.1016/s2152-2650(21)02243-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

pp. S98

Author(s):

P. Joy Ho ◽

Elizabeth Moore ◽

Cameron Wellard ◽

Hang Quach ◽

Hilary Blacklock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Real Life ◽

The Impact

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A Report on COVID-19 Variants, COVID-19 Vaccines and the Impact of the Variants on the Efficacy of the Vaccines

Journal of Clinical and Medical Research ◽

10.37191/mapsci-2582-4333-3(3)-066 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Halim

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Immune Response ◽

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Systemic Review ◽

Review Of Literature ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Mortality And Morbidity ◽

The World ◽

Different Strains ◽

The Impact

The Coronavirus pandemic has caused negative effects across the globe; mortality and morbidity being the main impact. After WHO, termed the disease a pandemic in March 2020, they gave in health guidelines to follow to control the spread of the disease. The health industry, academia, and different governments are united to develop and test various vaccines at an unprecedented speed to combat the pandemic fully and bring the world back to its feet. Some of the vaccines developed include Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca. However, just like other viruses, the SAR-CoV-2 virus keeps changing through mutation, as various variants, different from the first one are emerging. Evidence shows that the three new variants; UK, Brazil, and South Africa are more severe in terms of transmissibility, disease severity, evading of the immune response, and reducing the ability to neutralized antibodies, compared to the original coronavirus. With such knowledge of the existence of different strains, the arises concerns on whether the already available vaccines are effective enough in preventing the new COVID-19 strains. Studies are still underdeveloped to learn more on the virologic, epidemiologic, and clinical characteristics of the ever-emerging variants. This research, through a systemic review of literature, seeks to find out whether the variants of SAR-CoV-2 have an impact on the efficacy of various vaccines developed in fighting the disease and the entire body’s immune response.

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Clinical Impact of Combined Viral and Bacterial Infection in Pediatric Mycoplasmal Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Western China

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Letters ◽

10.1166/nnl.2020.3237 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 1315-1322

Author(s):

Zhuoxin Liang ◽

Wenqiang Zhang ◽

Yongjiang Jiang ◽

Ping Wu ◽

Senxiong Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Severe Disease ◽

Lung Parenchyma ◽

Community Acquired Pneumonia ◽

Western China ◽

Care Hospital ◽

Hospital Data ◽

Chest X Ray ◽

Ventilation Rates ◽

The Impact

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) refers to an infection contracted outside the hospital that leads to lung parenchyma inflammation. The clinical characteristics of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) infection in CAP patients were rarely reported. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristic and the impact of co-infections of M. pneumoniae with viral and bacterial pathogens in hospitalized children with CAP in Liuzhou, China. This study retrospects children diagnosed with CAP due to M. pneumoniae infection at a tertiary maternal and child health care hospital. Data related to co-infection pathogens, demographics, clinical characteristics, and hospitalization cost were collected from the electronic medical system in this hospital. A total of 983 children were diagnosed with mycoplasmal CAP in 2017. Among them, 18.2% had a bacterial-M. pneumoniae co-infection and 11.3% had a viral-M. pneumoniae co-infection. The highest infection rate of M. pneumoniae was 19.1% in February and March, while the highest rates of bacterial-M. pneumoniae and viral-M. pneumoniae co-infections were 3.6% in December and 2.3% in January, respectively. The prevalence of coughing and wheezing had significant differences between the bacterial- or viral-M. pneumoniae co-infections and the mono-infection groups. Furthermore, the chest X-ray progression, pleural effusions, respiratory failure, and ventilation rates were higher in the respiratory viral- and bacterial-M. pneumoniae co-infection groups than in the mono-infection group. Children with a bacterial or respiratory viral co-infection had a longer hospitalization and spent more on treatment fees than those with a M. pneumoniae mono-infection (P value <0.001). We conclude that children with mycoplasmal CAP, either with a bacterial or viral co-infection, who show signs of coughing and wheezing and have a radiographic progression, will have a severe disease progression and should be specifically treated and managed.

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Healthcare utilization and costs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated at a large referral center in Washington (WA) State.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2021.39.15_suppl.e16149 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽

pp. e16149-e16149

Author(s):

Veena Shankaran ◽

Shasank Chennupati ◽

Hayley Sanchez ◽

Qin Sun ◽

Abdalla Aly ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Hospital Costs ◽

Treatment Patterns ◽

Treatment Costs ◽

New Drugs ◽

Cancer Center ◽

Mean Lifetime ◽

Lifetime Costs ◽

The Impact ◽

Lifetime Treatment

e16149 Background: Though the treatment landscape for HCC has changed significantly in the last several years with the refinement of liver-directed therapy techniques and the introduction of multiple new drugs, few studies have investigated the impact of the changing treatment landscape on lifetime treatment costs, particularly in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage C disease. We therefore sought to investigate real-world clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, healthcare use, and costs in patients with HCC treated at a single high-volume institution in WA. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with HCC between 2007 and 2018 at a single clinical cancer center using a database containing abstracted data from the electronic medical record (EMR) linked to cancer registry data and health claims from commercial insurance plans, Medicare, and Medicaid. We described clinical characteristics, including BCLC stage and Child Pugh score, and treatment patterns. We investigated the mean per patient lifetime treatment costs by BCLC stage using Kaplan-Meier cost estimator methods. Results: The final cohort included 215 patients, majority white (71%), male (68%), and with underlying hepatitis C (61%). Most patients had either Child Pugh A (76%) or B (20%) liver disease and BCLC A (45%), B (20%), or C (19%) stage HCC. Only 40% of BCLC C patients received systemic chemotherapy. Mean per patient lifetime costs were highest in BCLC A ($289,318) and BCLC C ($255,430) patients and lowest in BCLC D ($123,701) patients (Table). Surgical costs, hospital costs, imaging, and outpatient visits were the major contributors to total lifetime costs in BCLC A patients. Chemotherapy costs were highest in BCLC C patients, but still were not the predominant area of spending. Conclusions: In a WA state cohort of HCC patients, mean lifetime costs were highest in patients with BCLC A disease, largely driven by surgery and hospital costs. As utilization of newer and less toxic therapies in BCLC C patients increases, mean lifetime costs in this group may surpass other stages.[Table: see text]

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Psychological profiles derived by cluster analysis of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and long term clinical outcome after coronary artery by pass grafting

Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease ◽

10.4081/monaldi.2012.141 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 78 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Maddalena Modica ◽

Roberta Carabalona ◽

Rosa Spezzaferri ◽

Monica Tavanelli ◽

A. Torri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cluster Analysis ◽

Coronary Artery ◽

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory ◽

Personality Inventory ◽

Psychological Characteristics ◽

Term Outcome ◽

Long Term Outcome ◽

The Impact

Background: To evaluate the psychological characteristics of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) by cluster analysis of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) questionnaires and to assess the impact of the profiles obtained on long-term outcome. Methods: 229 CHD patients admitted to cardiac rehabilitation filled in self-administered MMPI-2 questionnaires early after CABG. We assessed the relation between MMPI- 2 profiles derived by cluster analysis, clinical characteristics and outcome at 3-year follow-up. Results: Among the 215 patients (76% men, median age 66 years) with valid criteria in control scales, we identified 3 clusters (G) with homogenous psychological characteristics: G1 patients (N=75) presented somatoform complaints but overall minimal psychological distress. G2 patients (N=72) presented type D personality traits. G3 subjects (N=68) showed a trend to cynicism, mild increases in anger, social introversion and hostility. Clusters overlapped for clinical characteristics such as smoking (G1 21%, G2 24%, G3 24%, p ns), previous myocardial infarction (G1 43%, G2 47%, G3 49% p ns), LV ejection fraction (G1 60 [51 – 60]; G2 58 [49- 60]; G3 60 [55-60], p ns), 3-vessel-disease prevalence (G1 69%, G2 65%, G3 71%, p ns). Three-year event rates were comparable (G1 15%; G2 18%; G3 15%) and Kaplan- Meier curves overlapped among clusters (p ns). Conclusions: After CABG, the interpretation of MMPI- 2 by cluster analysis is useful for the psychological and personological diagnosis to direct psychological assistance. Conversely, results from cluster analysis of MMPI-2 do not seem helpful to the clinician to predict long term outcome.

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TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THE VANCOMYCIN ASSAY CONTRIBUTE TO THE VARIABILITY IN VANCOMYCIN CONCENTRATION ESTIMATES IN NEONATES?

Archives of Disease in Childhood ◽

10.1136/archdischild-2015-310148.18 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 101 (1) ◽

pp. e1.10-e1 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

J. Samardžić ◽

A. Smits ◽

V. Cossey ◽

I. Soldatović ◽

M. Bajčetić ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Characteristics ◽

Therapeutic Drug ◽

P Value ◽

Congenital Diseases ◽

Vancomycin Concentration ◽

Young Infants ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Postmenstrual Age ◽

The Impact ◽

Trough Levels

*presenting author, supported by ERAWEB II scholarship for postdoctoral program at the KU Leuven, Belgium (2014–2015)IntroductionVancomycin, a glycopeptide antibiotic, is frequently used for late onset sepsis (LOS) and catheter-related infection. Larger inter- and intra-patient variability, combined with a narrow therapeutic index, warrants therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). However, large inter-individual variability in PK parameters in neonates is documented, only partly explained by covariates such as weight, age or serum creatinine (1,2). In the current study, we focus on the potential impact of between assay differences for vancomycin (3) on the variability in its concentration in a single neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).MethodsVancomycin TDM observations of neonates and young infants treated with intravenous vancomycin, mainly for (suspected) LOS (ie, >72 hours after birth), in the Leuven NICU, Belgium, between June 2011 and December 2014. Our patient population, consists of (pre)term neonates, inborn or transferred, in need of specialized care related to prematurity, infections, perinatal asphyxia, congenital diseases (eg, surgery for cardiopathy, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, or esophageal atresia), or other diseases. Clinical characteristics at birth, as well as characteristics at the moment of TDM were extracted from the patient files. We aimed to document early vancomycin exposure, therefore only first trough levels were included. Serum vancomycin assay was performed either with a particle-enhanced turbidimetric inhibitionimmunoassay method (Siemens Dimension; Dade Behring, Deerfield, Illinois–PETINIA) or with an enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (Cobas c702; Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Germany–COBAS). The data were analyzed by Chi-square test, t test and Mann-Whitney U test. Linear Mix Model was used to assess significant differences between groups, when adjusting for confounding factors. Data were analyzed in SPSS 20.0 (IBM corp.), p-value <0.05 was significant.ResultsIn total, 564 vancomycin TDM observations, 311 assayed with PETINIA and 253 with COBAS, were included. Both cohorts had comparable clinical characteristics (median [min-max] current weight 2150 [420–5000] grams for PETINIA vs. 2120 [500–5840] grams for COBAS, and median postmenstrual age 35 [25–58] weeks for PETINIA vs. 35 [25–51] weeks for COBAS). We determined the significant difference between the vancomycin concentrations using two different immunoassays: PETINIA vs. COBAS (F=17.971; p<0.001). When adjusting for current body weight and postmenstrual age, the major covariates associated with vancomycin serum trough levels in neonates, the difference in vancomycin concentration between cohorts was statistically significant (F=17.076, p<0.001, F=18.951, p<0.001, respectively). Overall, immunoassays PETINIA and COBAS significantly differed by vancomycin concentrations when adjusting for covariates, and the mean difference for vancomycin concentration was 2.167 mg/l.ConclusionThe present study confirms the impact of assays on the variability in vancomycin concentration in neonates in a single NICU. Comparison between these two immunoassays showed a mean proportional differences >20%. Therefore, it is important to know how the vancomycin is measured when interpreting results, and particularly the transferability of vancomycin results between the laboratories has to be interpreted with caution.

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