Heart and vessels
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Patients with heart failure (HF) are sometimes classified as malnourished, but the prognostic value of nutritional status in acute HF (AHF) remains largely unstudied. 1214 patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit between January 2000 and June 2016 were screened based on their serum albumin, lymphocyte count, and total cholesterol measures. A total of 458 HF patients were enrolled in this study. The Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) is calculated as 10 × serum albumin (g/dL) + 0.005 × lymphocyte count (per mm3) (lower = worse). ⋯ A Kaplan-Meier curve indicated that the prognosis, including all-cause death, was significantly (p < 0.001) poorer in low-PNI patients than in high-PNI groups and was also significantly poorer in severe-CONUT patients than in normal-CONUT and mild-CONUT groups. A multivariate Cox regression model showed that the low-PNI and severe-CONUT categories were independent predictors of 365-day mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 2.060, 95% CI 1.302-3.259 and HR 2.238, 95% CI 1.050-4.772, respectively). Malnutrition, as assessed using both the PNI and the CONUT score, has a prognostic impact in patients with severely decompensated AHF.
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Comparative Study
A retrospective comparison of inhaled milrinone and iloprost in post-bypass pulmonary hypertension.
During cardiac operations, weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) may prove challenging as a result of superimposed acute right ventricular dysfunction in the setting of elevated pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the effect of inhaled milrinone versus inhaled iloprost in patients with persistent pulmonary hypertension following discontinuation of CPB. Eighteen patients with elevated PVR post-bypass were administered inhaled milrinone at a cumulative dose of 50 μg kg-1. ⋯ Pulmonary vasodilatation attributed to iloprost seems to be of greater magnitude and of longer duration as compared to that of inhaled milrinone. Both substances proved to be selective pulmonary vasodilators. The greater magnitude and of longer duration vasodilatation attributed to iloprost may be due to its longer duration of action.
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Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is the third cause of cardiovascular (CV) mortality. We evaluated a new risk index, named Age-Mean Arterial Pressure Index (AMAPI), to predict 30-day CV mortality in patients with acute PE. Data of 209 patients (44.0% male and 56.0% female, mean age 70.58 ± 14.14 years) with confirmed acute PE were retrospectively analysed. ⋯ In hemodynamically unstable patients NRI was 19.2%, p = 0.006. Mantel-Cox analysis revealed a statistical significant difference in the distribution of survival between hemodynamically stable patients with an AMAPI index ≥0.9 compared to those with an AMAPI <0.89 [log rank (Mantel-Cox) p < 0.0001] and in hemodynamically unstable patients with an AMAPI ≥0.92 [log rank (Mantel-Cox) p = 0.001]. AMAPI ≥0.90 and ≥0.92 predict 30-day CV mortality in hemodynamically stable and unstable patients with acute PE.
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The prognostic significance of chronic medical illness in comatose survivors of cardiac arrest who undergo targeted temperature management (TTM) remains largely unknown. We sought to assess the association between overall burden of pre-existing medical comorbidity and neurological outcomes in survivors of cardiac arrest undergoing TTM. We analyzed a prospectively collected cohort of 314 patients treated with TTM following cardiac arrest at a tertiary care hospital between 2007 and 2014. ⋯ In multivariable logistic regression, elevated CCI scores were not associated with increased odds of poor neurological outcomes (OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.90-1.19, p = 0.608) or death (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.86-1.13, p = 0.816) at hospital discharge. No association was seen between CCI scores and death at 1-year post-arrest (OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.95-1.26, p = 0.220). Increasing burden of medical comorbidity, as defined by CCI scores, is not associated with neurological outcomes or survival in patients treated with TTM.
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Left ventricular (LV) properties in hypertension (HTN) could be deteriorated by pressure overload, especially in endocardium, resulting in hypertensive heart failure (HHF). We sought to noninvasively examine LV systolic and diastolic functions at three myocardial layers in HTN and elucidate features of HHF by speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) with high volume rates. We examined normotensive controls (n = 54), HTN patients without LV hypertrophy (LVH) (n = 50), and HTN patients with LVH (n = 40) and HHF patients (n = 45). ⋯ LV layer analysis by STE could detect subtle impairments in systolic function before the deterioration of LVEF in patients with HTN. The ePCWP that was estimated using KT index was the independent factor associated with HHF. The ePCWP may be useful to noninvasively detect the early stage of HHF.