Impact of late gadolinium-enhanced cardiac MRI on arrhythmic and mortality outcomes in nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy: updated systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Risk stratification based mainly on the impairment of left ventricular ejection fraction has limited performance in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM). Evidence is rapidly growing for the impact of myocardial scar identified by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) on cardiovascular events. We aim to assess the prognostic value of LGE on long-term arrhythmic and mortality outcomes in patients with NIDCM. PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases were searched from inception to January 21, 2022. Studies that included disease-specific subpopulations of NIDCM were excluded. Data were independently extracted and combined via random-effects meta-analysis using a generic inverse-variance strategy. Data from 60 studies comprising 15,217 patients were analyzed with a 3-year median follow-up. The presence of LGE was associated with major ventricular arrhythmic events (pooled OR: 3.99; 95% CI 3.08, 5.16), all-cause mortality (pooled OR: 2.14; 95% CI 1.81, 2.52), cardiovascular mortality (pooled OR 2.83; 95% CI 2.23, 3.60), and heart failure hospitalization (pooled OR: 2.53; 95% CI 1.78, 3.59). Real-world evidence suggests that the presence of LGE on CMR was a strong predictor of adverse long-term outcomes in patients with NIDCM. Scar assessment should be incorporated as a primary determinant in the patient selection criteria for primary prophylactic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placement

Cannabis and adverse cardiovascular events: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Background: Cannabis is the most used illicit drug in the world. Global trends of decriminalization and legalization of cannabis lead to various forms of cannabis use and bring great concerns over adverse events, particularly in the cardiovascular (CV) system. To date, the association between cannabis and adverse CV events is still controversial. Purpose: We aim to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the adverse CV events from cannabis use. Patients and methods: A systematic search for publications describing the adverse CV events of cannabis use, including acute myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke, was performed via PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases. Data on effect estimates in individual studies were extracted and combined via random-effects meta-analysis using the DerSimonian and Laird method, a generic inverse-variance strategy. Results: Twenty studies with a total of 183,410,651 patients were included. The proportion of males was 23.7%. The median age and follow-up time were 42.4 years old (IQR: 37.4, 50.0) and 6.2 years (IQR: 1.7, 27.7), respectively. The prevalence of cannabis use was 1.9%. Cannabis use was not significantly associated with acute MI (pooled odds ratio (OR): 1.29; 95%CI: 0.80, 2.08), stroke (pooled OR 1.35; 95%CI: 0.74, 2.47), and adverse CV events (pooled OR: 1.47; 95%CI: 0.98, 2.20). Conclusion: The risk of adverse CV events including acute MI and stroke does not exhibit a significant increase with cannabis exposure. However, caution should be exercised when interpreting the findings due to the heterogeneity of the studies