EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF VIRAL HEPATITIS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATIC DISEASES - IMPLICATIONS FROM TREASURE DATABASE

EULAR European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) -- JUN 01-04, 2022 -- Copenhagen, DENMARK[Abstract Not Available]European Alliance Assoc Rheumato

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

A fistula connecting the right coronary artery to the right atrium: A hitherto undescribed association

A case of double right coronary artery accompanying a fistulous connection is presented. An additional right coronary artery is an extremely rare congenital abnormality. In this case, the second right coronary artery was draining into a cardiac chamber via a fistulous connection. This is the first case in the literature to present these abnormalities coexisting in the same patient

Value of QT dispersion in diagnosis of restenosis after intracoronary stent implantation

We studied the ECGs of patients with single vessel disease before and after (long term) coronary stent implantation. The interlead variability of the QT interval, known as QT dispersion (QTd), is believed to reflect the regional variations in ventricular repolarization and, thus, may provide an indirect marker of arrhythmogenicity. There are no reliable noninvasive markers of significant restenosis after stent implantation. The effect of coronary revascularization on QTd in patients who underwent coronary stenting has not been investigated extensively. The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of QTd in predicting restenosis after intracoronary stent implantation. QTd with 12 lead surface ECG was measured in 48 patients (21 with restenosis and 27 without restenosis; 33 male; mean age, 58 +/- 10.8 years) before the procedure and after long-term follow-up (mean, 6.8 +/- 3.2 months). All patients had coronary angiographic control at the end of the follow-up period. QTd (as the difference between the maximum and minimum QT interval measured from 12 lead EGG) and rate-corrected QT (QTcd) were evaluated at rest. In 27 patients without restenosis, QTd and QTcd decreased from 58 +/- 14.4 and 62.8 +/- 20.4 ms to 26.3 +/- 9.2 and 29.6 +/- 10.6 ms in the long term follow-up, respectively (P 0.05). In conclusion, increased QT interval dispersion may be an inexpensive and simple marker of restenosis after intracoronary stent implantation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Heart rate variability, late potentials and QT dispersion as markers of myocardial involvement in patients with Behcet's disease

BACKGROUND: Myocardial involvement in Behcet's disease has been reported to be relatively rare

Performance Assessment of a Batch Distillation System

WOS: 000363215000007In this study, the performance analysis of a batch distillation system, which is being used to recover ethylene glycol from the waste products of a chemical plant, was conducted using the exergy analysis method. The analysis is thorough and detailed, including a broad modelling of the system and a comprehensive "reference temperature" investigation. The aforementioned waste solution contains water, glycols, and some anhydrides. The purification process of this waste is sustained using a distillation system that operates in a batched manner and is heated using an electric heating system. In this study, the heating system, reboiler, and condenser groups of the distiller are investigated to better understand the characteristics of the system and to reveal the efficiencies "exergetically". Overall, with data from the real-case and data gathered from the experiments, the system's exergetic efficiencies are calculated, over time, during the distillation process. This way, the major exergy destruction points for the system are pointed out, in hopes of reaching better efficiency and reduced costs for the system. The effect of the environmental temperature is also investigated with the utilized exergetic model. As a result of the investigation, the overall efficiency for the distillation system was found to be 3.41% and the overall exergy destruction as 282.13kW

Left atrial appendage-flow velocity predicts cardioversion success in atrial fibrillation

Restoration of sinus rhythm by electrical cardioversion is a therapeutic option in appropriately selected patients with atrial fibrillation. It is important to determine predictors of electrical cardioversion outcome in patients with atrial fibrillation. Predictive value of clinical and conventional echocardiographic parameters for predicting cardioversion outcome is limited. The role of left atrial appendage (LAA) function, which may reflect left atrial contractile function, for prediction of cardioversion outcome remains unclear. We conducted a single center prospective study to evaluate the role of LAA function for prediction of cardioversion success in patients with atrial fibrillation. One hundred sixty three patients with atrial fibrillation underwent transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) before electrical cardioversion. LAA functions, including LAA peak flow velocity, LAA area and LAA ejection fraction, were examined. Cardioversion was successful in 133 patients and unsuccessful in 30 patients. Mean LAA peak emptying flow velocity was significantly higher in the patients with successful cardioversion than in those with unsuccessful cardioversion (0.34 +/- 0.14 vs 0.27 +/- 0.1 m/sec; p = 0.013). At multivariate logistic regression analysis, only LAA flow velocity (>0.28 m/sec, odds ratio = 2.8; p = 0.03) proved to be an independent predictor of cardioversion success. LAA area (p = 0.18) and LAA ejection fraction (p = 0.52) were not different between successful and unsuccessful cardioversion groups. Therefore, measurement of LAA flow velocity provides valuable information for prediction of cardioversion outcome in patients with atrial fibrillation before TEE guided cardioversion