Impact of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Severe Mitral Regurgitation Undergoing Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and mitral regurgitation (MR) are closely linked, and one may worsen the other. We investigated the impact of baseline AF in patients with MR undergoing transcatheter edge-to-edge repair.

Methods: One-hundred-fifty-six consecutive patients with symptomatic heart failure (HF) undergoing mitral valve transcatheter edge-to-edge repair for severe MR were studied.

Effects of aortic valve calcification on transcatheter aortic valve replacement for low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis.

Background: Patients with low-flow, low-gradient (LFLG) aortic stenosis (AS) have precarious hemodynamics and are a fragile population for intervention. Quantification of aortic valve calcification (AVC) severity is a critical component of the evaluation for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR); this study aims to further clarify its utility for risk stratification in LFLG AS.

Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 467 patients with LFLG AS undergoing TAVR at a large quaternary-care hospital from January 2019 to December 2021.

Variation in US acute ischemic stroke treatment by hospital regions: limited endovascular access despite evidence.

Background: Although national organizations recognize the importance of regionalized acute ischemic stroke (AIS) care, data informing expansion are sparse. We assessed real-world regional variation in emergent AIS treatment, including growth in revascularization therapies and stroke center certification. We hypothesized that we would observe overall growth in revascularization therapy utilization, but observed differences would vary greatly regionally.

Altered prefrontal signaling during inhibitory control in a salient drug context in cocaine use disorder.

Introduction: Drug addiction is characterized by impaired response inhibition and salience attribution (iRISA), where the salience of drug cues is postulated to overpower that of other reinforcers with a concomitant decrease in self-control. However, the neural underpinnings of the interaction between the salience of drug cues and inhibitory control in drug addiction remain unclear.

Methods: We developed a novel stop-signal functional magnetic resonance imaging task where the stop-signal reaction time (SSRT-a classical inhibitory control measure) was tested under different salience conditions (modulated by drug, food, threat, or neutral words) in individuals with cocaine use disorder (CUD; n = 26) versus demographically matched healthy control participants (n = 26).

Forecasting the Requirement for Nonelective Hospital Beds in the National Health Service of the United Kingdom: Model Development Study.

Background: Over the last decade, increasing numbers of emergency department attendances and an even greater increase in emergency admissions have placed severe strain on the bed capacity of the National Health Service (NHS) of the United Kingdom. The result has been overcrowded emergency departments with patients experiencing long wait times for admission to an appropriate hospital bed. Nevertheless, scheduling issues can still result in significant underutilization of bed capacity.

Leveraging technology to address unhealthy drug use in primary care: Effectiveness of the Substance use Screening and Intervention Tool (SUSIT).

Screening for unhealthy drug use is now recommended for adult primary care patients, but primary care providers (PCPs) generally lack the time and knowledge required to screen and deliver an intervention during the medical visit. To address these barriers, we developed a tablet computer-based 'Substance Use Screening and Intervention Tool (SUSIT)'. Using the SUSIT, patients self-administer screening questionnaires prior to the medical visit, and results are presented to the PCP at the point of care, paired with clinical decision support (CDS) that guides them in providing a brief intervention (BI) for unhealthy drug use.

Hypertension, diabetes, and corresponding annual clinical testing utilization: Comparison between Asian Indians and other races/ethnicities.

Asian Indians are at increased risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases. We sought to determine differences between Asian Indians and other races/ethnicities in hypertension and diabetes prevalence and associated annual blood pressure (BP) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) testing. A total of 257,652 adults ≥18 years from the 2011-2018 U.

A double-blind sham-controlled phase 1 clinical trial of tDCS of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in cocaine inpatients: Craving, sleepiness, and contemplation to change.

Impaired inhibitory control accompanied by enhanced salience attributed to drug-related cues, both associated with function of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), are hallmarks of drug addiction, contributing to worse symptomatology including craving. dlPFC modulation with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) previously showed craving reduction in inpatients with cocaine use disorder (CUD). Our study aimed at assessing feasibility of a longer tDCS protocol in CUD (15 versus the common five/10 sessions) and replicability of previous results.

Acute Cerebrovascular Events With COVID-19 Infection.

Background And Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with an increased incidence of thrombotic events, including stroke. However, characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients with stroke are not well known.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study of risk factors, stroke characteristics, and short-term outcomes in a large health system in New York City.