Publications by authors named "Frederic Muench"

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a major health issue, the outcome of which depends primarily on damage and reparative processes of tubular epithelial cells. Mechanisms underlying AKI remain incompletely understood, specific therapies are lacking and monitoring the course of AKI in clinical routine is confined to measuring urine output and plasma levels of filtration markers. Here we demonstrate feasibility and potential of a novel approach to assess the cellular and molecular dynamics of AKI by establishing a robust urine-to-single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) pipeline for excreted kidney cells via flow cytometry sorting.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) have improved short-term kidney allograft survival but are nephrotoxic and vasoconstrictive. Vasoconstriction is potentially reversible after switching from CNIs to belatacept. The kidney allograft shows optimal requirements for dynamic perfusion imaging using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is an autoinflammatory multi-systemic syndrome. Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) is a potentially life-threatening complication of AOSD with a mortality rate of 10-20%. Especially viral infection is thought to be a common trigger for development of MAS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: We compared filter survival and citrate-induced complications during continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) with regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA) in COVID-19 and Non-COVID-19 patients.

Methods: In this retrospective study we included all consecutive adult patients (n = 97) treated with RCA-CRRT. Efficacy and complications of RCA-CRRT were compared between COVID-19 and Non-COVID-19 patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

With an urgent need for bedside imaging of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), this study's main goal was to assess inter- and intraobserver agreement in lung ultrasound (LUS) of COVID-19 patients. In this single-center study we prospectively acquired and evaluated 100 recorded ten-second cine-loops in confirmed COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) patients. All loops were rated by ten observers with different subspeciality backgrounds for four times by each observer (400 loops overall) in a random sequence using a web-based rating tool.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the feasibility of measuring extracellular volume (ECV) in the right ventricle (RV) of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD), noting the challenges posed by the RV's thin walls and trabeculation.
  • The research included 39 CHD patients and 17 healthy controls, utilizing cardiovascular magnetic resonance T1 mapping in two orientations and introducing a new analysis tool for measuring ECV.
  • Results showed that good image quality and a minimum wall thickness were crucial for accurate RV ECV assessment, with a strong correlation between traditional and novel measurement methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates a new method for measuring myocardial extracellular volume fraction (ECV), which indicates diffuse myocardial fibrosis, using T1 mapping and a single gadolinium contrast bolus in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD).
  • The research included both healthy controls and CHD patients, comparing the ECV results from the bolus-only approach to those from a more complex bolus-infusion method, finding a strong correlation between the two.
  • The findings suggest that the bolus-only method is a feasible option for integrating ECV measurements into routine CMR imaging practices, improving the ability to assess myocardial fibrosis in a clinical setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) in rodents is an accepted model of myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Altered metabolism is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of DCM and heart failure (HF). Study of the metabolism may provide new diagnostic information and insights into the mechanisms of myocarditis and HF.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF