Purpose
Information regarding the use of lung ultrasound (LUS) in patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is quickly accumulating, but its use for risk stratification and outcome prediction ...has yet to be described. We performed the first systematic and comprehensive LUS evaluation of consecutive patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection, in order to describe LUS findings and their association with clinical course and outcome.
Methods
Between 21/03/2020 and 04/05/2020, 120 consecutive patients admitted to the Tel Aviv Medical Center due to COVID-19, underwent complete LUS within 24 h of admission. A second exam was performed in case of clinical deterioration. LUS score of 0 (best)—36 (worst) was assigned to each patient. LUS findings were compared with clinical data.
Results
The median baseline total LUS score was 15, IQR 7–20. Baseline LUS score was 0–18 in 80 (67%) patients, and 19–36 in 40 (33%) patients. The majority had patchy pleural thickening (
n
= 100; 83%), or patchy subpleural consolidations (
n
= 93; 78%) in at least one zone. The prevalence of pleural thickening, subpleural consolidations and the total LUS score were all correlated with severity of illness on admission. Clinical deterioration was associated with increased follow-up LUS scores (
p
= 0.0009), mostly due to loss of aeration in anterior lung segments. The optimal cutoff point for LUS score was 18 (sensitivity = 62%, specificity = 74%). Both mortality and need for invasive mechanical ventilation were increased with baseline LUS score > 18 compared to baseline LUS score 0–18. Unadjusted hazard ratio of death for LUS score was 1.08 per point 1.02–1.16,
p
= 0.008; Unadjusted hazard ratio of the composite endpoint (death or need for invasive mechanical ventilation) for LUS score was 1.12 per point 1.05–1.2,
p
= 0.0008.
Conclusion
Hospitalized patients with COVID-19, at all clinical grades, present with pathological LUS findings. Baseline LUS score strongly correlates with the eventual need for invasive mechanical ventilation and is a strong predictor of mortality. Routine use of LUS may guide patients’ management strategies, as well as resource allocation in case of surge capacity.
We sought to divide COVID-19 patients into distinct phenotypical subgroups using echocardiography and clinical markers to elucidate the pathogenesis of the disease and its heterogeneous cardiac ...involvement. A total of 506 consecutive patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection underwent complete evaluation, including echocardiography, at admission. A k-prototypes algorithm applied to patients' clinical and imaging data at admission partitioned the patients into four phenotypical clusters: Clusters 0 and 1 were younger and healthier, 2 and 3 were older with worse cardiac indexes, and clusters 1 and 3 had a stronger inflammatory response. The clusters manifested very distinct survival patterns (C-index for the Cox proportional hazard model 0.77), with survival best for cluster 0, intermediate for 1-2 and worst for 3. Interestingly, cluster 1 showed a harsher disease course than cluster 2 but with similar survival. Clusters obtained with echocardiography were more predictive of mortality than clusters obtained without echocardiography. Additionally, several echocardiography variables (E' lat, E' sept, E/e average) showed high discriminative power among the clusters. The results suggested that older infected males have a higher chance to deteriorate than older infected females. In conclusion, COVID-19 manifests differently for distinctive clusters of patients. These clusters reflect different disease manifestations and prognoses. Although including echocardiography improved the predictive power, its marginal contribution over clustering using clinical parameters only does not justify the burden of echocardiography data collection.
Background The scope of pericardial involvement in COVID-19 infection is unknown. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence, associates, and clinical impact of pericardial involvement in hospitalized ...patients with COVID-19. Methods and Results Consecutive patients with COVID-19 underwent clinical and echocardiographic examination, irrespective of clinical indication, within 48 hours as part of a prospective predefined protocol. Protocol included clinical symptoms and signs suggestive of pericarditis, calculation of modified early warning score, ECG and echocardiographic assessment for pericardial effusion, left and right ventricular systolic and diastolic function, and hemodynamics. We identified predictors of mortality and assessed the adjunctive value of pericardial effusion on top of clinical and echocardiographic parameters. The study included 530 patients. Pericardial effusion was found in 75 (14%), but only 17 patients (3.2%) fulfilled the criteria for acute pericarditis. Pericardial effusion was independently associated with modified early warning score, brain natriuretic peptide, and right ventricular function. It was associated with excess mortality (hazard ratio HR, 2.44;
=0.0005) in nonadjusted analysis. In multivariate analysis adjusted for modified early warning score and echocardiographic and hemodynamic parameters, it was marginally associated with mortality (HR, 1.86;
=0.06) and improvement in the model fit (
=0.07). Combined assessment for pericardial effusion with modified early warning score, left ventricular ejection fraction, and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion was an independent predictor of outcome (HR, 1.86;
=0.02) and improved model fit (
=0.02). Conclusions In hospitalized patients with COVID-19, pericardial effusion is prevalent, but rarely attributable to acute pericarditis. It is associated with myocardial dysfunction and mortality. A limited echocardiographic examination, including left ventricular ejection fraction, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, and assessment for pericardial effusion, can contribute to outcome prediction.
Hemoglobin (Hgb) drop without bleeding is common among patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement; however, the clinical implications of significant Hgb drop have not been fully ...evaluated.
Consecutive patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement at our institution from 2011 to 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Three groups were assessed: no Hgb drop and no bleed (NoD-NoB reference group), Hgb drop with bleed, and Hgb drop and no bleed (D-NoB). Hgb drop was defined as ≥3 g/dL decrease from pre- to post-transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Outcomes of interest were in-hospital death and 1-year all-cause mortality. A total of 1851 cases with complete Hgb data were included: NoD-NoB: n=1579 (85.3%); D-NoB: n=49 (2.6%); Hgb drop with bleed: n=223 (12.6%). Compared with NoD-NoB, the D-NoB group was older (81.1 versus 78.9 years of age) with higher preprocedure Hgb (12.9 versus 11.7 g/dL). In-hospital death rate was higher among patients with D-NoB versus NoD-NoB (4.5% versus 0.8%,
<0.001) and similar to Hgb drop with bleed (4.5% versus 4.1%,
=0.999). Predictors of in-hospital death were D-NoB (odds ratio OR, 3.45 95% CI, 1.32-8.69) and transfusion (OR, 10.6 95% CI, 4.25-28.2). Landmark survival analysis found that D-NoB experienced 1-year mortality rate comparable to NoD-NoB, whereas Hgb drop with bleed had higher midterm mortality (hazard ratio HR, 3.2 95% CI, 1.83-5.73), and transfusion continued to impact mortality (HR, 2.5 95% CI, 1.79-3.63).
Hgb drop without bleeding is common among patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement and may represent a higher risk of periprocedural death. Blood transfusion increases short- and midterm mortality risk in patients with and without bleeding, supporting a restrictive transfusion strategy.
Background
Diastolic dysfunction is a common finding in patients receiving cancer therapy. This study evaluated the correlation of diastolic strain slope (Dss) with routine echocardiography diastolic ...parameters and its role in early detection of systolic dysfunction and cardiovascular (CV) mortality within this population.
Methods
Data were collected from the Israel Cardio-Oncology Registry (ICOR), a prospective registry enrolling adult patient receiving cancer therapy. All patients performed at least three echocardiography exams (T1, T2, T3), including left ventricle Global Longitudinal Strain (LV GLS) and Dss. Systolic dysfunction was determined by either LV GLS relative reduction of ≥ 15% or LV ejection fraction reduction > 10% to < 53%. Dss was assessed as the early lengthening rate, measured by the diastolic slope (delta%/sec).
Results
Among 144 patients, 114 (79.2%) were female with a mean age of 57.31 ± 14.3 years. Dss was significantly correlated with e' average. Mid segment Dss change between T1 and T2 showed significant association to systolic dysfunction development (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.04 1.01,1.06.
p
= 0.036). In multivariate prediction, Dss increase was a significant predictor for the development of systolic dysfunction (OR = 1.06 1.03,1.1,
P
< 0.001).An 8% increase in Dss between T1 and T2 was associated with a trend in increased CV mortality (HR = 3.4 0.77,15.4,
p
= 0.085).
Conclusions
This study is the first to use the novel measurement of Dss in patients treated with cancer therapies and to show significant correlation between routine diastolic dysfunction parameters and Dss. Changes in the mid segment were found to have significant independent early predictive value for systolic dysfunction development in univariate and multivariate analyses.
Graphic abstract
Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the preferred treatment strategy for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI); however, its efficacy remains unclear in very older ...adult patients with STEMI.
This retrospective single-center observational study included 530 patients aged >75 years admitted to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center with a diagnosis of acute STEMI. Primary PCI was performed for patients with symptoms ≤12 hours in duration, while the other patients were conservatively treated. We evaluated 30-day mortality and complications occurring during hospitalization based on data from patient records.
Among the study patients, only 28/530 (5%) were conservatively treated. In-hospital complications, including the use of inotropes or intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation and the need for mechanical ventilation, did not differ significantly between the groups. The only parameter that showed a trend toward significance was the incidence of heart failure during hospitalization (p=0.042). The risk for 30-day mortality was substantially higher in the conservative treatment group than in the invasive treatment group (27% vs. 10%; p = 0.02).
Our data suggested that despite concerns regarding the safety of the primary PCI strategy in the older adult STEMI population, this treatment strategy was associated with a survival benefit.
C-reactive protein velocity (CRPv), defined as the change in wide-range CRP concentration divided by time, is an inflammatory biomarker associated with increased morbidity and mortality in patients ...with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primary percutaneous intervention (PCI). However, data regarding CRPv association with echocardiographic parameters assessing left ventricular systolic and diastolic function is lacking. Echocardiographic parameters and CRPv values were analyzed using a cohort of 1059 patients admitted with STEMI and treated with primary PCI. Patients were stratified into tertiles according to their CRPv. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate CRPv optimal cut-off values for the prediction of severe systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Patients with high CRPv tertiles had lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (49% vs. 46% vs. 41%, respectively;
< 0.001). CRPv was found to independently predict LVEF ≤ 35% (HR 1.3 CI 95% 1.21-1.4;
< 0.001) and grade III diastolic dysfunction (HR 1.16 CI 95% 11.02-1.31;
= 0.02). CRPv exhibited a better diagnostic profile for severe systolic dysfunction as compared to CRP (area under the curve 0.734 ± 0.02 vs. 0.608 ± 0.02). In conclusion, For STEMI patients treated with primary PCI, CRPv is a marker of both systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Further larger studies are needed to support this finding.
Background: Elevated serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels reflect both inflammatory reactions and renal tubular injury. Recently, associations with endothelial dysfunction ...and plaque instability were also proposed. We investigated the prognostic utility of elevated NGAL levels for renal and clinical outcomes among ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients treated with primary coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: We performed a prospective, observational, open-label trial. High NGAL was defined as values within the third tertile (>66 percentile). Results: A total of 267 patients were included (mean age 66 ± 14 years, 81% males). Short-term adverse outcomes were consistently increased in the high NGAL group with more acute kidney injury, lower mean left ventricular ejection fraction, higher 30-day mortality, and higher incidence for the composite outcome of major adverse cardiac events (MACE). In a multivariate logistic regression model, high NGAL emerged as a strong and independent predictor for MACE (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.15−3.73, p = 0.014). Conclusions: Among STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI, elevated NGAL levels are associated with adverse renal and cardiovascular outcomes, independent of traditional inflammatory markers. Further studies are needed to assess the potentially unique role of NGAL in cardio−renal interactions.
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