Strategies for assessing the prevalence of cardiovascular sudden deaths in young competitive athletes

Background/Objectives

Prevalence/incidence of sudden death due to cardiovascular disease in young competitive athletes has become an important part of the debate over the most effective and practical preparticipation screening strategies for this population. Since event reporting is not mandatory, identification of cases has been achieved largely through publicly available data and internet searches. The accuracy of this methodology has not been studied and deserves scrutiny.

Methods

We assessed recognition of sudden cardiovascular deaths in college (NCAA) athletes with the U.S. National Registry of Sudden Death in Athletes that uses largely public domain sources, and also the NCAA Memorial Resolutions List.

Results

For 2002–2011, 64 total sudden death cases were identified by both sources. The Registry identified 56 cases (88%), including 14 not found in the NCAA List. The NCAA List identified 50 cases (78%), including 8 unrecognized by the Registry (p = 0.16). Failure to initially recognize these 8 deaths using established Registry search mechanisms was due to the absence of key search terms in media reports. Cases not identified by the 2 methodologies did not differ significantly regarding demographics, cause of death, or sport.

Conclusions

Internet-based, public domain methodology is useful and identified more cases of sudden cardiovascular death in college athletes than did the internal list provided by the NCAA. Nevertheless, these findings support the principle that multiple sources are additive and beneficial in identifying the maximum number of sudden death events.     

Loss of mitochondrial ClpP,Lonp1, and Tfam triggers transcriptional induction of Rnf213, a susceptibility factor for moyamoya disease

neurogenetics - Human RNF213, which encodes the protein mysterin, is a known susceptibility gene for moyamoya disease (MMD), a cerebrovascular condition with occlusive lesions and compensatory...     

Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells: An Overview

Adult postnatal stem cells are multipotent and can be experimentally induced to differentiate into various specialized cell lineages. This has generated considerable interest in the arena of stem cell-based therapeutics. The identification of stem cells within the periodontal ligament represents a significant development in this regard. Achieving predictable periodontal regeneration has long been a challenge, and it is known that cells involved in the mechanisms of periodontal wound healing are of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) type. Thus, periodontal ligament stem cell (PDLSC)-based therapeutics may be a step towards predictable periodontal regeneration. Additionally, PDLSC may have alternative potential applications in hard tissue and tooth engineering. PDLSC may be isolated, grown under tissue culture conditions, expanded, optionally genetically modified and then collected and transplanted. This paper aims to overview the current knowledge, recent developments and methodology regarding PDLSC-based applications.     

Repeat Pulmonary Valve Replacement: Similar Intermediate-Term Outcomes With Surgical and Transcatheter Procedures

Objectives

This study compares 30-day, 1-year, and 3-year echocardiographic findings and clinical outcomes of transcatheter pulmonary valve-in-valve replacement (TPVR) and repeat surgical pulmonary valve replacement (SPVR).