Heart disease is recognized as the leading cause of morbidity & mortality in patients with muscular dystrophy
This study prospectively followed 117 people (median age, 42 (interquartile range [IQR], 26-50) years; 49 [41.9%] women) with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, type 1 myotonic dystrophy, or facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.
BNP & hsTnI were markers of cardiomyopathy (area under the curve [AUC], 0.64; P=0.017; & AUC, 0.69; P=0.001, respectively).
Participant risk stratification for MACE was based on cutoff values of BNP & hsTnI defined a priori as 30.5000 pg/mL & 7.6050 ng/L, respectively.
Over a median follow-up period of 2.09 (IQR, 1.17-2.81) years there were 36 confirmed MACE.
Participants with BNP & hsTnI levels above the respective cutoff values had a 3.70-fold (P=0.001) and 3.24-fold (P=0.002) greater risk of MACE, respectively, compared with patients with biomarker levels below.
Participants with biomarker levels above both cutoff values had a 4.08-fold (P=0.001) greater risk of MACE. Notably, inflammatory biomarkers did not show clinical utility for heart disease in this group.
The authors conclude that their study demonstrates the diagnostic & prognostic value of BNP & hsTnI as part of a comprehensive cardiac assessment to augment the management & treatment of heart disease in people with #musculardystrophy.
Emerging data from @PHE_uk suggests a synergistic detrimental effect of co-infection with #SARS_CoV_2 & #flu viruses. The preprint (not peer reviewed) article is available here medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
‘The risk of testing positive for #SARS_CoV_2 was 68% lower among #influenza positive cases, suggesting possible pathogenic competition between the two viruses.’
However, ‘Patients with a coinfection had a risk of death of 5.92 (95% CI, 3.21-10.91) times greater than among those with neither influenza nor SARS-CoV-2 suggesting possible synergistic effects in coinfected individuals.’
Advances in #cancer treatment have improved clinical outcomes, leading to an increasing population of cancer survivors. Yet, this success is associated with high rates of short‐ & long‐term #cardiovascular toxicities. The Cancer Patient and Cardiology onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.100…
The number & variety of #cancer drugs & #cardiovascular toxicity types make long‐term care a complex undertaking.
This requires a multidisciplinary approach including expertise from #oncology, #cardiology, & other related specialties, & has led to the development of the cardio‐oncology subspecialty.
The rise in admissions with #COVID19 does not mean that you shouldn’t attend hospital if you have a medical emergency #heartattack
During the first peak, admissions with #heartatrack declined & was of grave concern : COVID-19 pandemic and admission rates for and management of acute coronary syndromes in England @TheLancetthelancet.com/journals/lance…
Yet, hospitals provided high quality care for those who did attend: Patient response, treatments and mortality for acute myocardial infarction during the COVID-19 pandemic @ESC_Journals#EHJQCCOacademic.oup.com/ehjqcco/advanc…
@TheLancet journals now require all #research papers, irrespective of method, to include a data-sharing statement that details what #data will be shared, whether additional documents will be shared, when data will become available & by what access criteria data will be shared.
All @TheLancet journals will now introduce additional peer-review requirements for papers based on large, real-world datasets.
Patients with mitral annular disjunction present with frequent premature ventricular contractions; in this study, one-third had ventricular arrhythmias & one-tenth had severe arrhythmic events. @JACCJournalsonlinejacc.org/content/72/14/…
A total of 82 (71%) patients reported #palpitations, 47 (41%) patients reported previous pre-syncope, 40 (34%) had ventricular arrhythmia, 15 (13%) had experienced #syncope, & 14 (12%) patients had experienced a severe arrhythmic event prior to inclusion
Mitral valve prolapse was present in 90 (78%) patients