Correlations between stress,anxiety and depression and sociodemographic and clinical characteristics among outpatients with heart failure

AimTo describe and investigate correlations among anxiety, stress and depression and identify their relationship with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients with heart failure.

Assessing Walking and Cycling Environments in the Streets of Madrid: Comparing On-Field and Virtual Audits

Audit tools are useful for exploring the urban environment and its association with physical activity. Virtual auditing options are becoming increasingly available potentially reducing the resources needed to conduct these assessments. Only a few studies have explored the use of virtual audit tools. Our objective is to test if the Madrid Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environment Scan (M-SPACES) discriminates between areas with different urban forms and to validate virtual street auditing using M-SPACES. Three areas (N?=?500 street segments) were selected for variation in population density. M-SPACES was used to audit street segments physically and virtually (Google Street View) by two researchers in 2013–2014. For both physical and virtual audits, all analyzed features score significantly different by area (p?<?0.05). Most of the features showed substantial (ICC?=?0.6–0.8) or almost perfect (ICC?≥?0.8) agreement between virtual and physical audits, especially neighborhood permeability walking infrastructure, traffic safety, streetscape aesthetics, and destinations. Intra-rater agreement was generally acceptable (ICC?>?0.6). Inter-rater agreement was generally poor (ICC?<?0.4). Virtual auditing provides a valid and feasible way of measuring residential urban environments. Comprehensive auditor training may be needed to guarantee good inter-rater agreement.     

Syncope in Patients With Severe Aortic Stenosis: More Than Just an Obstruction Issue

BackgroundSevere aortic stenosis (AoS) is considered a primary cause of syncope. However, other mechanisms may be present in these patients and accurate diagnosis can have important clinical implications. The aim of this study is to assess the different etiologies of syncope in patients with severe AoS and the impact on prognosis of attaining a certain or highly probable diagnosis for the syncope.MethodsOut of a cohort of 331 patients with AoS and syncope, 61 had severe AoS and were included in the study. Main cause of syncope and adverse cardiac events were assessed.ResultsIn 40 patients (65.6%), we reached a certain or highly probable diagnosis of the main cause of the syncope. AoS was considered the primary cause of the syncope in only 7 patients (17.5% of the patients with known etiology). Atrioventricular block (14 patients, 35.0%) and vasovagal syncope (6 patients, 15.0%) were the most frequently diagnosed causes. The presence of a known cause for syncope during the admission was not associated with a lower incidence of recurrence during follow-up (hazard ratio [HR] 0.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.20-2.40). Syncope of unknown etiology was independently associated with greater mortality during 1-year follow-up (HR 5.4, 95% CI 1.3-21.6) and 3-year follow-up (HR 3.5, 95% CI 1.2-10.3).ConclusionsIn a high proportion of patients with severe AoS admitted for syncope, the valvulopathy was not the main cause of the syncope. Syncope in two-thirds of this population was caused by either bradyarrhythmia or reflex causes. Syncope of unknown cause was associated with increased short- and medium-term mortality, independently from treatment of the valve disease. An exhaustive work-up should be conducted to determine the main cause for syncope.     

The Effect of Age on Outcomes After Destination-Therapy Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation: An Analysis of the IMACS Registry

BackgroundAs patients with advanced heart failure are living longer, defining the impact of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) on outcomes in an aging population is of great importance. We describe overall survival, rates of adverse events (AEs), and post-AE survival in patients age ≥ 70 years vs age 50-69 years after destination-therapy (DT) LVAD implantation.MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted with the use of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (IMACS) registry. All adults age ≥ 50 years with a continuous-flow DT LVAD from 2013 to 2017 were included. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. The secondary outcomes were the incidence of and survival after gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, infection, stroke, pump thrombosis, pump exchange, and right-side heart failure. Mortality and AEs were assessed with the use of competing risk models.ResultsAt total of 5,572 patients were included: 3,700 aged 50-69 and 1,872 aged ≥ 70. All-cause mortality by 42 months was 55.8% in patients aged ≥ 70 and 44.8% in patients aged 50-69 (P = 0.001). Patients aged ≥ 70 had a 37.8% higher risk of death after DT LVAD implantation (hazard ratio 1.378, 95% CI 1.251-1.517). Patients aged ≥ 70 had higher risk of GI bleeding but lower risk of right-side heart failure. There was no difference between age groups for risk of infection or stroke. Experiencing any AE was associated with an increased risk of death that did not vary with age.ConclusionsPatients aged ≥ 70 years have reduced survival after DT LVAD, in part because of increased GI bleeding, while the incidence of other AEs is similar to that of patients aged 50-69 years. Careful patient selection beyond age alone may allow for optimal outcomes after DT LVAD implantation.     

Prognostic value of blood pressure in ambulatory heart failure: a meta-analysis and systematic review. Ambulatory blood pressure predicts heart failure prognosis

Heart Failure Reviews - Previous primary studies have explored the association between blood pressure (BP) and mortality in ambulatory heart failure (HF) patients reporting varying and contrasting...     

A Monolayer Coagglutination Microplate Technique for Typing Red Blood Cells

Background and objectives: Serologic agglutination tests have the disadvantage of lack of an objective endpoint that can be easily read and quantitated. We have developed a new method for ABO and Rh typing based on producing a red blood cell (RBC) monolayer on microplates and the mixed hemagglutination reaction. Materials and methods: We have employed a new red cell fixation buffer to prepare the RBC monolayer. As the technique for grouping, we used a mixed agglutination reaction between the RBC monolayer and the RBCs to be typed. Results: Compared with an automated hemagglutination system in 34,519 samples, the method is shown to be more sensitive, free of false positive reactions, and cost-effective. Conclusions: The microplate coagglutination method is accurate and lower in cost than conventional methods.     

The first record of American visceral leishmaniasis in domestic cats from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This paper is the first to report visceral leishmaniasis in domestic cats (Felis catus domesticus) from an endemic area in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. A relatively high seroprevalence of 25% was observed although none of them have presented any symptom. Our results support the observation of previous authors, suggesting that cats may be considered as alternative domestic hosts of visceral leishmaniasis and should be included in serological investigations performed in endemic areas.