International journal of cardiology
-
Review Meta Analysis
Perioperative levosimendan in cardiac surgery: A systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.
Several studies suggested beneficial effects of perioperative levosimendan on postoperative outcome after cardiac surgery. However, three large randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been recently published and presented neutral results. We performed a systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA) to assess benefits and harms of perioperative levosimendan therapy in cardiac surgery. ⋯ There is not enough high-quality evidence to neither support nor discourage the systematic use of levosimendan in cardiac surgery.
-
Review Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Comparison of thoracic endovascular aortic repair, open surgery and best medical treatment for type B aortic dissection: A meta-analysis.
Treatments of type B aortic dissection (TBAD) include thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR), best medical treatment (BMT) and open surgery (OS). This meta-analysis was to compare these three strategies to evaluate which provides best outcomes. ⋯ Our study shows that TEVAR may be favorable in long-term outcomes and effectively provide morphologic advantages compared to BMT. However, there is a need for prophylactic measures against stroke in TEVAR. OS seems to be inferior to TEVAR both in short-term and long-term outcomes. Further studies especially randomized clinical trials are needed to comprehensively compare the efficacy between TEVAR and BMT.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Bilateral sphenopalatine ganglion block reduces blood pressure in never treated patients with essential hypertension. A randomized controlled single-blinded study.
Sympathetic fibers connect sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) with the central nervous system. We aimed to study the effect of SPG block in blood pressure (BP) in never treated patients with stage I-II essential hypertension. ⋯ SPG block is a promising, minimally invasive option of BP decrease in hypertensives, probably through SNS modulation. Additionally, due to its anesthetic effect, SPG block might act as a method of selection for those hypertensive patients with an activated SNS before any other invasive antihypertensive procedure.
-
The competition for public cardiovascular research grants has recently increased. Independent researchers are facing increasing competition for public research grant support and ultimately may need to seek alternative funding sources. ⋯ However, the feasibility of crowdfunding for cardiovascular research remains unknown. Here, we performed exploratory data analysis of the feasibility of online crowdfunding in cardiovascular research.
-
Arterial CO2 tension (PaCO2) and physiological dead space (VD) are not routinely measured during clinical cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). Abnormal changes in PaCO2 accompanied by increased VD directly contribute to impaired exercise ventilatory function in heart failure (HF). Because arterial catheterization is not standard practice during CPET, this study tested the construct validity of PaCO2 and VD prediction models using 'ideal' alveolar air equations and basic ventilation and gas-exchangegas exchange measurements during CPET in HF. ⋯ These data suggest predicted PaCO2 and VD based on breath-by-breath gas exchange and ventilatory responses demonstrate acceptable agreement with criterion measurements at peak exercise in HF patients. Routine assessment of PaCO2 and VD can be used to improve interpretability of exercise ventilatory responses in HF.