Amyloid cardiomyopathy in a large integrated health care system.

Background: Light Chain (AL) and transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis are the most common forms of amyloid cardiomyopathy. Population based studies describing the epidemiology and clinical features of amyloid cardiomyopathy are often based in tertiary medical centers and thus may be limited by referral bias.

Methods And Results: We performed a cohort study of 198 patients diagnosed and treated in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California health care system who had a confirmed diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis between 2001 and 2016.

Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score at Presentation Predicts Survival in Patients Treated With Percutaneous Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

Background And Purpose: This study sought to investigate demographic, clinical, and procedural determinants of outcomes in patients treated with percutaneous veno-arterial (VA) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) initiated in the cardiac catheterization laboratory with a portable system.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients treated with percutaneous VA-ECMO during the study period at our institution. A logistic regression model was applied to investigate the association between sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score and survivor status.

Mechanistic insights and characterization of sickle cell disease-associated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in sickle cell disease (SCD). We sought to characterize sickle cell cardiomyopathy using multimodality noninvasive cardiovascular testing and identify potential causative mechanisms.

Methods And Results: Stable adults with SCD (n=38) and healthy controls (n=13) prospectively underwent same day multiparametric cardiovascular magnetic resonance (cine, T2* iron, vasodilator first pass myocardial perfusion, and late gadolinium enhancement imaging), transthoracic echocardiography, and applanation tonometry.