Clinical evaluation of stretchable and wearable inkjet-printed strain gauge sensor for respiratory rate monitoring at different body postures

Respiratory rate (RR) is a vital sign with continuous, convenient, and accurate measurement which is difficult and still under investigation. The present study investigates and evaluates a stretchable and wearable inkjet-printed strain gauge sensor (IJP) to estimate the RR continuously by detecting the respiratory volume change in the chest area. As the volume change could cause different strain changes at different body postures, this study aims to investigate the accuracy of the IJP RR sensor at selected postures. The evaluation was performed twice on 15 healthy male subjects (mean ± SD of age: 24 ± 1.22 years). The RR was simultaneously measured in breaths per minute (BPM) by the IJP RR sensor and a reference RR sensor (e-Health nasal thermal sensor) at each of the five body postures namely standing, sitting at 90°, Flower’s position at 45°, supine, and right lateral recumbent. There was no significant difference in measured RR between IJP and reference sensors, between two trials, or between different body postures (all p \u3e 0.05). Body posture did not have any significant effect on the difference of RR measurements between IJP and the reference sensors (difference \u3c 0.01 BPM for each measurement in both trials). The IJP sensor could accurately measure the RR at different body postures, which makes it a promising, simple, and user-friendly option for clinical and daily uses

Sex Differences in Stress-Induced (Takotsubo) Cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) affects predominantly women. Prior studies have suggested that men might have worse short-term outcomes, but limited data are available regarding long-term outcomes. We hypothesized that men, compared to women, with TC have worse short- and long-term outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective study of patients diagnosed with TC between 2005 and 2018 in the Veteran Affairs system was performed. Primary outcomes were in-hospital death, 30-day risk of stroke, death, and long-term mortality. RESULTS: A total of 641 patients were included (444 men [69%]; 197 women [31%]). Men had a higher median age (65 vs 60 years; P \u3c 0.001), and women were more likely to present with chest pain (68.7% vs 44.1%; P \u3c 0.001). Physical triggers were more common in men (68.7% vs 44.1%, P \u3c 0.001). Men had a higher in-hospital mortality rate (8.1% vs 1%; P \u3c 0.001). On multivariable regression analysis, female sex was an independent predictor for improved in-hospital mortality, compared to men (odds ratio 0.25, 95% confidence interval 0.06-1.10; P = 0.04). On 30-day follow-up, no difference occurred in a combined outcome of stroke and death (3.9% vs 1.5%; P = 0.12). On long-term follow-up (3.7 ± 3.1 years), female sex was identified as an independent predictor of lower mortality (hazard ratio 0.71, 95% CI 0.51-0.97; P = 0.032). Women were more likely to have TC recurrence (3.6% vs 1.1%; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: In our study with a predominantly male population, men had less-favourable short- and long-term outcomes after TC, compared to those of women

Sex Differences in Stress-Induced (Takotsubo) Cardiomyopathy

Background: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) affects predominantly women. Prior studies have suggested that men might have worse short-term outcomes, but limited data are available regarding long-term outcomes. We hypothesized that men, compared to women, with TC have worse short- and long-term outcomes. Methods: A retrospective study of patients diagnosed with TC between 2005 and 2018 in the Veteran Affairs system was performed. Primary outcomes were in-hospital death, 30-day risk of stroke, death, and long-term mortality. Results: A total of 641 patients were included (444 men [69%]; 197 women [31%]). Men had a higher median age (65 vs 60 years; P \u3c 0.001), and women were more likely to present with chest pain (68.7% vs 44.1%; P \u3c 0.001). Physical triggers were more common in men (68.7% vs 44.1%, P \u3c 0.001). Men had a higher in-hospital mortality rate (8.1% vs 1%; P \u3c 0.001). On multivariable regression analysis, female sex was an independent predictor for improved in-hospital mortality, compared to men (odds ratio 0.25, 95% confidence interval 0.06-1.10; P = 0.04). On 30-day follow-up, no difference occurred in a combined outcome of stroke and death (3.9% vs 1.5%; P = 0.12). On long-term follow-up (3.7 ± 3.1 years), female sex was identified as an independent predictor of lower mortality (hazard ratio 0.71, 95% CI 0.51-0.97; P = 0.032). Women were more likely to have TC recurrence (3.6% vs 1.1%; P = 0.04). Conclusions: In our study with a predominantly male population, men had less-favourable short- and long-term outcomes after TC, compared to those of women

Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia Following Viral Illness

A 67-year-old female patient with a past medical history of menopause, migraines, and gastro-esophageal disease presented with palpitation, fatigue, and shortness of breath. One month prior to her presentation, she reported having flu-like symptoms. Her EKG showed sinus tachycardia with no other abnormality. Laboratory findings, along with imaging, showed normal results. The event monitor failed to detect any arrythmias. We report a case of inappropriate sinus tachycardia secondary to viral infection as a diagnosis of exclusion

ST Segment Elevation and Depressions in Supraventricular Tachycardia without Coronary Artery Disease

ST segment changes are well documented in literature during supraventricular tachycardias. We present a case of a 21-year-old male who presents with chest pain, shortness of breath, and dizziness with an ECG showing atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia and diffuse ST segment depressions. Patient spontaneously converted to sinus rhythm, but he was still complaining of crushing chest pain. ECG taken after conversion showed sinus rhythm at a rate of 65 and showed obvious persistence of ST depressions in majority of leads. Emergent left heart catheterization showed normal coronaries. Such ST depression is suggestive of global ischemia in small intracardiac vessels that cannot be evaluated by left heart catheterization

Building a Corpus for Palestinian Arabic: a Preliminary Study

This paper presents preliminary results in building an annotated corpus of the Palestinian Arabic dialect. The corpus consists of about 43K words, stemming from diverse resources. The paper discusses some linguistic facts about the Palestinian dialect, compared with the Modern Standard Arabic, especially in terms of morphological, orthographic, and lexical variations, and suggests some directions to resolve the challenges these differences pose to the annotation goal. Furthermore, we present two pilot studies that investigate whether existing tools for processing Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic can be used to speed up the annotation process of our Palestinian Arabic corpu

LONG TERM OUTCOMES OF TAKOTSUBO CARDIOMYOPATHY IN MEN COMPARED TO WOMEN IN THE US VETERAN AFFAIRS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

Background: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is characterized by significant transient left ventricular dysfunction. Differences in long term outcome in men compared to women is not well described in the literature. Methods: We performed a retrospective study using chart review for patients diagnosed with Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy between 2005 and 2018 in the Veteran Affairs (VA) national database. We included patients who met the Mayo Clinic diagnostic criteria for Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy. We compared the long term outcomes in men vs women patients. Results: 641 patients were included, of those 69.3% were males, median age was 64 years, median ejection fraction at the time of diagnosis was 35. On Kaplan-Meier analysis there was no significant difference between men and women in the rates of recurrence of Takotsubo at median follow up of 4 years, or arrhythmia at 1 year (Figure-1 A and B respectively). However, men had higher mortality rate over 10 year follow up period (Figure-1 C). Conclusion: In patients with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy at the VA system, men had higher mortality rates but there was not significant difference in rates of recurrence or arrhythmias when compared to women

Outcomes of Cardiac Contractility Modulation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials

Background. Cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) is a device therapy for systolic heart failure (HF) in patients with narrow QRS. We aimed to perform an updated meta-Analysis of the randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to assess the efficacy and safety of CCM therapy. Methods. We conducted a systematic review and meta-Analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) between January 2001 and June 2018. Outcomes of interest were peak oxygen consumption (peak VO2), 6-Minute Walk Distance (6MWD), Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ), HF hospitalizations, cardiac arrhythmias, pacemaker/ICD malfunctioning, all-cause hospitalizations, and mortality. Data were expressed as standardized mean difference (SMD) or odds ratio (OR). Results. Four RCTs including 801 patients (CCM n = 394) were available for analysis. The mean age was 59.63 ± 0.84 years, mean ejection fraction was 29.14 ± 1.22%, and mean QRS duration was 106.23 ± 1.65 msec. Mean follow-up duration was six months. CCM was associated with improved MLWHFQ (SMD-0.69, p = 0.0008). There were no differences in HF hospitalizations (OR 0.76, p = 0.12), 6MWD (SMD 0.67, p = 0.10), arrhythmias (OR 1.40, p = 0.14), pacemaker/ICD malfunction/sensing defect (OR 2.23, p = 0.06), all-cause hospitalizations (OR 0.73, p = 0.33), or all-cause mortality (OR 1.04, p = 0.92) between the CCM and non-CCM groups. Conclusions. Short-Term treatment with CCM may improve MLFHQ without significant difference in 6MWD, arrhythmic events, HF hospitalizations, all-cause hospitalizations, and all-cause mortality. There is a trend towards increased pacemaker/ICD device malfunction. Larger RCTs might be needed to determine if the CCM therapy will be beneficial with longer follow-up