Circulation
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Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) affects >5 million adults each year in the United States. Although incident cardiac complications occur in patients with community-acquired pneumonia, their incidence, timing, risk factors, and associations with short-term mortality are not well understood. ⋯ Incident cardiac complications are common in patients with community-acquired pneumonia and are associated with increased short-term mortality. Older age, nursing home residence, preexisting cardiovascular disease, and pneumonia severity are associated with their occurrence. Further studies are required to test risk stratification and prevention and treatment strategies for cardiac complications in this population.
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The authors of the following article have requested that it be retracted from publication in Circulation: Kawakami A, Osaka M, Tani M, Azuma H, Sacks FM, Shimokado K, Yoshida M. Apolipoprotein CIII links hyperlipidemia with vascular endothelial cell dysfunction. Circulation. 2008;118:731–742. ⋯ In the process of following up the findings reported in this study, they were unable to reproduce some experiments due to Dr Akio Kawakami's negligence in keeping proper original records. This information was reported to the editors by Dr Kawakami directly. The authors apologize to the readers of Circulation for any inconvenience caused by this retraction.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Myocardial ischemic events in patients with atrial fibrillation treated with dabigatran or warfarin in the RE-LY (Randomized Evaluation of Long-Term Anticoagulation Therapy) trial.
There is a modest risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and myocardial ischemic events in patients with atrial fibrillation. ⋯ There was a nonsignificant increase in MI with dabigatran compared with warfarin, but other myocardial ischemic events were not increased. Treatment effects of dabigatran were consistent in patients at higher and lower risk of myocardial ischemic events.
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Comparative Study
Hyponatremia, hypernatremia, and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease with and without congestive heart failure.
Hyponatremia is common in patients with conditions such as congestive heart failure and is associated with increased mortality in hospitalized patients. Congestive heart failure is common in patients with chronic kidney disease, but the association of serum sodium concentration with mortality in such patients is not well characterized. ⋯ Both lower and higher serum sodium levels are independently associated with higher mortality in patients with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease, irrespective of the presence or absence of congestive heart failure.