Self-supervised VICReg pre-training for Brugada ECG detection.

Existing deep learning algorithms for electrocardiogram (ECG) classification rely on supervised training approaches requiring large volumes of reliably labeled data. This limits their applicability to rare cardiac diseases like Brugada syndrome (BrS), often lacking accurately labeled ECG examples. To address labeled data constraints and the resulting limitations of supervised training approaches, we developed a novel deep learning model for BrS ECG classification using the Variance-Invariance-Covariance Regularization (VICReg) architecture for self-supervised pre-training.

Performance of Publicly Available Large Language Models on Internal Medicine Board-style Questions.

Ongoing research attempts to benchmark large language models (LLM) against physicians' fund of knowledge by assessing LLM performance on medical examinations. No prior study has assessed LLM performance on internal medicine (IM) board examination questions. Limited data exists on how knowledge supplied to the models, derived from medical texts improves LLM performance.

Inpatient outcomes of mechanical circulatory support devices and heart transplantation in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Introduction: The pathophysiology of HCM presents unique challenges for the management of cardiogenic shock and the use of mechanical circulatory support devices (MCSD). However, outcomes investigations for MCSD and HT in HCM patients is limited to case reports. The present study investigated MCSD and HT outcomes in HCM patients in a large retrospective cohort.

Catheter ablation compared to medical therapy for ventricular tachycardia in sarcoidosis: nationwide outcomes and hospital readmissions.

Background: Catheter ablation (CA) for ventricular tachycardia (VT) can be a useful treatment strategy, however, few studies have compared CA to medical therapy (MT) in the sarcoidosis population.

Objective: To assess in-hospital outcomes and unplanned readmissions following CA for VT compared to MT in patients with sarcoidosis.

Methods: Data was obtained from the Nationwide Readmissions Database between 2010 and 2019 to identify patients with sarcoidosis admitted for VT either undergoing CA or MT during elective and non-elective admission.

QTNet: Predicting Drug-Induced QT Prolongation With Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Electrocardiograms.

Background: Prediction of drug-induced long QT syndrome (diLQTS) is of critical importance given its association with torsades de pointes. There is no reliable method for the outpatient prediction of diLQTS.

Objectives: This study sought to evaluate the use of a convolutional neural network (CNN) applied to electrocardiograms (ECGs) to predict diLQTS in an outpatient population.

A case report of sodium azide-induced myopericarditis.

Background: Sodium azide exposures are rare but can be lethal as the substance inhibits complex IV in the electron transport chain, blocking adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) synthesis. Sodium azide is mostly used as a propellant in vehicular airbags but is also used in laboratory, pharmacy, and industrial settings. No known antidote exists and its cardiotoxic effects are poorly described in the literature.

RoBERTa-Assisted Outcome Prediction in Ovarian Cancer Cytoreductive Surgery Using Operative Notes.

Introduction: Contemporary efforts to predict surgical outcomes focus on the associations between traditional discrete surgical risk factors. We aimed to determine whether natural language processing (NLP) of unstructured operative notes improves the prediction of residual disease in women with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) following cytoreductive surgery.

Methods: Electronic Health Records were queried to identify women with advanced EOC including their operative notes.

Reviewing the cardiovascular and other health effects of olive oil: Limitations and future directions of current supplement formulations.

Aims: We reviewed the literature to date for high-level evidence on the cardiovascular and other health effects of olive oil with a focus on the amount, frequency of use and type of olive oil consumed in prior studies. A total of twelve prospective cohort studies with sample sizes of at least 4000 individuals and one meta-analysis were identified.

Data Synthesis: The majority of cohorts followed individuals aged ≥55 years old, free of cardiovascular disease (CVD) at baseline but at high risk, over periods of 4-10 years and with daily consumption amounts of 10-35 g/day.

Explainable SHAP-XGBoost models for in-hospital mortality after myocardial infarction.

Background: A lack of explainability in published machine learning (ML) models limits clinicians' understanding of how predictions are made, in turn undermining uptake of the models into clinical practice.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop explainable ML models to predict in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalized for myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods: Adult patients hospitalized for an MI were identified in the National Inpatient Sample between January 1, 2012, and September 30, 2015.

Conduction velocity is reduced in the posterior wall of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients with normal bipolar voltage undergoing ablation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Objectives: We investigated characteristics of left atrial conduction in patients with HCM, paroxysmal AF and normal bipolar voltage.

Background: Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) exhibit abnormal cardiac tissue arrangement. The incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) is increased fourfold in patients with HCM and confers a fourfold increased risk of death.

Development of an AI-Driven QT Correction Algorithm for Patients in Atrial Fibrillation.

Background: Prolongation of the QTc interval is associated with the risk of torsades de pointes. Determination of the QTc interval is therefore of critical importance. There is no reliable method for measuring or correcting the QT interval in atrial fibrillation (AF).

Temporal Trends and Sex Differences in Patients With Cardiac Amyloidosis and Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: Retrospective Analysis of 22,015 Admissions From the National Inpatient Sample.

Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) often goes unrecognized as a cause of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). There is paucity of contemporary data evaluating the trends of CA diagnosis and associated sex differences. Adult heart failure hospitalizations were identified from the National Inpatient Sample between 2016 and 2019.

A systematic review of the use of 3D printing in left atrial appendage occlusion procedures.

The placement of a left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) device can be a technically challenging transcatheter-based procedure. Key challenges include accurate pre-procedural device sizing and proper device positioning at the LAA ostium to ensure sufficient device anchoring and avoid peri-device leaks. To address these challenges, 3D printing (3DP) of LAA models has recently emerged in the literature, first being described in 2015.

A case report of endocarditis in a patient with a history of cotton fever.

Background: Cotton fever is a self-limited, febrile syndrome occurring after the injection of trace amounts of drugs, in particular heroin, extracted from reused cotton filters. It is characterized by non-specific findings, such as fever, tachycardia, and leucocytosis. The leading pathophysiologic explanation suggests it is the result of direct inoculation of the bloodstream with endotoxins from Gram-negative bacilli of the genus , known to colonize all parts of the cotton plant.

Explainable Artificial Intelligence for Prediction of Complete Surgical Cytoreduction in Advanced-Stage Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.

Complete surgical cytoreduction (R0 resection) is the single most important prognosticator in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) could clarify the influence of static and real-time features in the R0 resection prediction. We aimed to develop an AI-based predictive model for the R0 resection outcome, apply a methodology to explain the prediction, and evaluate the interpretability by analysing feature interactions.

Standardized User-Independent Confocal Microscopy Image Acquisition and Analysis for Thickness Measurements of Microscale Collagen Scaffolds.

The ability to accurately and precisely measure the thickness of biomaterial constructs is critical for characterizing both specific dimensional features and related mechanical properties. However, in the absence of a standardized approach for thickness measurements, a variety of imaging modalities have been employed, which have been associated with varying limits of accuracy, particularly for ultrathin hydrated structures. Electron microscopy (EM), a commonly used modality, yields thickness values for extensively processed and nonhydrated constructs, potentially resulting in overestimated mechanical properties, including elastic modulus and ultimate tensile strength.

Preventable Morbidity and Mortality Among Non-trauma Emergency Surgery Patients: The Role of Personal Performance and System Flaws in Adverse Events.

Background: Preventable morbidity and mortality among emergency surgery patients is not adequately analyzed. We aim to describe and classify preventable complications and deaths in this population.

Methods: The medical records and quality control documents of patients with emergency, non-trauma, surgical disease admitted between September 1, 2006, and August 31, 2018, and recorded to have a preventable or potentially preventable morbidity and mortality were reviewed.

Continuous Formation of Ultrathin, Strong Collagen Sheets with Tunable Anisotropy and Compaction.

The multiscale organization of protein-based fibrillar materials is a hallmark of many organs, but the recapitulation of hierarchal structures down to fibrillar scales, which is a requirement for withstanding physiological loading forces, has been challenging. We present a microfluidic strategy for the continuous, large-scale formation of strong, handleable, free-standing, multicentimeter-wide collagen sheets of unprecedented thinness through the application of hydrodynamic focusing with the simultaneous imposition of strain. Sheets as thin as 1.

Preoperative anemia displays a dose-dependent effect on complications in head and neck oncologic surgery.

Introduction: Anemia's effect on head and neck surgical complications is unknown.

Methods: Head and neck cancer operations were acquired from the 2006 to 2013 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program databases. Anemia was defined as <39% or <36% hematocrit in men and women, respectively.

Bilateral mastectomies: can a co-surgeon technique offer improvements over the single-surgeon method?

Purpose: Bilateral mastectomy (BM) is traditionally performed using a single-surgeon (SS) technique (SST); a co-surgeon (CS) technique (CST), where each attending surgeon concurrently performs a unilateral mastectomy, offers an alternative approach. We sought to compare the CST and SST for BM with respect to operative times and complications.

Methods: Patients undergoing BM without reconstruction at our institution between 2005 and 2015 were identified using operative caselogs and stratified into CS- and SS-cohorts.

Intraoperative cardiac arrest etiologies in head and neck surgery: A comprehensive review.

Background: The etiologies of intraoperative cardiac arrest within otolaryngology are not well understood as they are rare events.

Methods: A comprehensive review of the etiologies and corresponding pathophysiologic neural mechanisms of intraoperative cardiac arrest in otolaryngologic surgery are examined.

Results: The occurrence of this rare complication has been described in a range of head and neck procedures, including but not limited to suspension laryngoscopy and oncologic resections in the neck, maxilla and thyroid.