Journal of the American Heart Association
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Our aim was to compare three-dimensional (3D) and 2D and 3D speckle-tracking (2D-STE, 3D-STE) echocardiographic parameters with conventional right ventricular (RV) indexes in patients with chronic pulmonary hypertension (PH), and investigate whether these techniques could result in better correlation with hemodynamic variables indicative of heart failure. ⋯ In chronic PH, 3D, 2D-STE and 3D-STE parameters indicate global and regional RV dysfunction that is associated with RV failure hemodynamics better than conventional echo indices.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Outcomes after acute ischemic stroke in the United States: does residential ZIP code matter?
We sought to analyze the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on in-hospital outcomes, cost of hospitalization, and resource use after acute ischemic stroke. ⋯ Patients from lower-income quartiles had decreased reperfusion on the first admission day, compared with patients from higher-income quartiles. The cost of hospitalization of patients from higher-income quartiles was significantly higher than that of patients from lowest-income quartiles, despite longer hospital stays in the latter group. This might be partially attributable to a lower use of key procedures among patients from lowest-income quartile.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of prehospital induction of mild hypothermia on 3-month neurological status and 1-year survival among adults with cardiac arrest: long-term follow-up of a randomized, clinical trial.
Randomized trials of prehospital cooling after cardiac arrest have shown that neither prehospital cooling nor targeted temperature management differentially affected short-term survival or neurological function. In this follow-up study, we assess the association of prehospital hypothermia with neurological function at least 3 months after cardiac arrest and survival 1 year after cardiac arrest. ⋯ URL: Clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00391469.
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Metabolic disease can lead to intrinsic pulmonary hypertension in experimental models. The contributions of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and obesity to pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction in humans remain unclear. We investigated the association of MetS and obesity with right ventricular structure and function in patients without cardiovascular disease. ⋯ MetS is associated with abnormal right ventricular and pulmonary artery hemodynamics, as shown by shorter PAAT and subclinical right ventricular diastolic dysfunction. Estimated pulmonary artery systolic pressures are higher in MetS and preclinical metabolic heart disease and raise the possibility that pulmonary hypertension contributes to the pathophysiology of metabolic heart disease.
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Patients with normalized mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) after pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) do not always regain normal exercise capacity. We evaluated right ventricular function, its interaction with both pulsatile and resistive afterload, and the effect of sildenafil during exercise in these patients. ⋯ Exercise intolerance in post-PEA patients is explained by abnormal pulmonary vascular reserve and chronotropic incompetence. The mPAP/cardiac output slope and pulmonary arterial compliance are sensitive measures demonstrating abnormal resistive and pulsatile pulmonary vascular function in post-PEA patients. These abnormalities are partially attenuated with sildenafil.