A pedagogical shift in medical education that emphasizes concepts and skills over memorization and recall will strengthen the broad-based foundation of knowledge unique to physicians and free up time ...for students to engage important new areas that need physician leaders.
Background Vitamin D supplementation leads to regression of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and improves LV function in animal models. However, limited data exist from prospective human studies. We ...examined whether vitamin D supplementation improved cardiac structure and function in midlife/older individuals in a large randomized trial. Methods and Results The VITAL (Vitamin D and OmegA-3 Trial) was a nationwide double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial that tested the effects of vitamin D3 (2000 IU/d) and n-3 fatty acids (1 g/d) on cardiovascular and cancer risk in 25 871 individuals aged ≥50 years. We conducted a substudy of VITAL in which participants underwent echocardiography at baseline and 2 years. Images were interpreted by a blinded investigator at a central core laboratory. The primary end point was change in LV mass. Among 1054 Greater Boston-area participants attending in-clinic visits, we enrolled 1025 into this study. Seventy-nine percent returned for follow-up and had analyzable echocardiograms at both visits. At baseline, the median age was 64 years (interquartile range, 60-69 years), 52% were men, and 43% had hypertension. After 2 years, the change in LV mass did not significantly differ between the vitamin D and placebo arms (median +1.4 g versus +2.6 g, respectively;
=0.32). Changes in systolic and diastolic LV function also did not differ significantly between arms. There were no significant changes in cardiac structure and function between the n-3 fatty acids and placebo arms. Conclusions Among adults aged ≥50 years, neither vitamin D3 nor n-3 fatty acids supplementation had significant effects on cardiac structure and function after 2 years. Registration URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/; Unique identifiers: NCT01169259 (VITAL) and NCT01630213 (VITAL-Echo).
OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Tropsensor, a noninvasive portable device using infrared spectroscopy, delivers a troponin res ult within five minutes, significantly quicker than standard of care (SOC) assays. ...This pilot study assesses the correlation of the Tropsensor and high sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTnI) assay results. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Patients undergoing cTnI testing with the Abbott Architect STAT (Abbott Laboratories) hs-cTnI assay were recruited at a quaternary-care emergency department (ED). The Tropsensor was applied to the underside of the patients’ wrist within 5 minutes of the SOC blood draw for 5 minutes. The results of the hs-cTnI assays were compared with the raw output of the Tropsensor device to assess the relationship using both Spearman’s and nonlinear logarithmic measures of correlation. Patient demographic data was extracted from the EHR to supplement the data collected for this study. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: 58 patients were recruited with a mean age of 60 years (60% male, 40% female). Due to connection error, 8 patients’data did not get captured by the device. Additionally, due to noise related to suboptimal device contact with the wrist, 24 patients’data (41%) were rejected. Of the 26 patients with usable data, 9 patients had a troponin above the 99th percentile threshold. A nonlinear correlation of 0.64 and Spearman’s rho of 0.59 were observed between the SOC hs-cTnI assay and Tropsensor optical data. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The Tropsensor exhibits 64.4% correlation to the SOC hs-cTnI assay. While further evaluation is needed, this exploratory study provides insight into the potential of a transdermal optical device to be used as a screening tool for AMI in an ED triage situation.
Patients have demonstrated a growing interest in using wearable devices, particularly smartwatches, to monitor and improve their cardiovascular wellness. Wearable devices are now one of the fastest ...growing sectors of the technology industry, and big technology companies, such as Apple (Apple Watch), Google (Fitbit), and Samsung (Galaxy), have engineered smartwatch features that are capable of monitoring biometrics, such as heart rhythm, heart rate, blood pressure, and sleep. These devices hold significant potential to impact the relation between cardiologists and their patients, but concerns exist about device trustworthiness to detect pertinent data points and deliver alerts with accuracy. How these devices’ features will interplay with cardiologists’ workflow has also yet to be defined and requires thoughtful implementation. Furthermore, the success of smartwatches as medical devices is dependent on patients’ continuous use. Keeping patients engaged with their devices through leveraging behavioral factors may lead to achieving and optimizing healthcare goals. Socioeconomic disparities and privacy concerns are other barriers in the path forward. Cardiovascular professional societies are uniquely poised to help impact how these devices are eventually accepted and used in everyday practice. In conclusion, engagement and collaboration with big tech companies will help guide how this market grows.
Cardiovascular imaging is an evolving component in the care of cancer patients. With improved survival following prompt cancer treatment, patients are facing increased risks of cardiovascular ...complications. While currently established imaging modalities are providing useful structural mechanical information, they continue to develop towards increased specificity. New modalities, emerging from basic science and oncology, are being translated, targeting earlier stages of cardiovascular disease. Besides these technical advances, matching an imaging modality with the patients' individual risk level for a specific pathological change is part of a successful imaging strategy. The choice of suitable imaging modalities and time points for specific patients will impact the cardio-oncological risk stratification during surveillance and follow-up monitoring. In addition, future imaging tools are poised to give us important insights into the underlying cardiovascular molecular pathology associated with cancer and oncological therapies. This review aims at giving an overview of the novel imaging technologies that have the potential to change cardio-oncological science and clinical practice in the near future.
•The role of imaging tools in diagnosis of cardiotoxicity.•Limitations of current cardiovascular imaging technologies.•Translational cardiovascular imaging technologies.•Novel molecular targeted imaging strategies.
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