Circulation

Background: Up to 50% of patients with proximal deep venous thrombosis (DVT) will develop the post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) characterized by limb swelling and discomfort, hyperpigmentation, skin ulcers, and impaired quality-of-life. While catheter-based interventions enabling restoration of blood flow (RBF) have demonstrated little benefit on PTS, the impact on the acuity of the thrombus and mechanisms underlying this finding remain obscure. Here in experimental and clinical studies, we examined whether RBF has a restricted time window for improving DVT resolution...

Background: Recent international guidelines have lowered recommended target levels of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) for patients at very high risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). However, uncertainty persists whether additional benefit results from achieved LDL-C levels below conventional targets. Inferences from prior analyses are limited because patients who achieve lower versus higher LDL-C on lipid-lowering therapy differ in other characteristics prognostic for MACE and because few achieved very low LDL-C levels...

Background: After heart transplantation, Endomyocardial biopsy (EMBx) is used to monitor for acute rejection (AR). Unfortunately, EMBx is invasive and its conventional histologic interpretation has limitations. This is a validation study to assesses the performance of a sensitive blood biomarker- percent donor-derived cell-free DNA (%ddcfDNA) - for detection of AR in cardiac transplant recipients. Methods: This multicenter, prospective cohort study recruited heart transplant subjects and collected plasma samples contemporaneously with EMBx for %ddcfDNA measurement by shotgun sequencing...

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Background: We previously showed that cardiomyocyte Krüppel-like factor (KLF)-5 regulates cardiac fatty acid oxidation. As heart failure has been associated with altered fatty acid oxidation, we investigated the role of cardiomyocyte KLF5 in lipid metabolism and pathophysiology of ischemic heart failure. Methods: Using rtPCR and Western Blot, we investigated the KLF5 expression changes in a myocardial infarction (MI) mouse model and heart tissue from patients with ischemic heart failure. Using 2D-echocardiography, we evaluated the effect of KLF5 inhibition after MI using pharmacological KLF5 inhibitor ML264 and mice with cardiomyocyte specific KLF5 deletion (αMHC-KLF5-/- )...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Background: Left ventricular (LV) scar on late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) has been correlated with life-threatening arrhythmic events in patients with apparently idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias (VA). We investigated the prognostic significance of a specific LV-LGE phenotype characterized by a ring-like pattern of fibrosis. Methods: 686 patients with apparently idiopathic non-sustained VA underwent contrast enhanced CMR. A ring-like pattern of LV scar was defined as LV subepicardial/midmyocardial LGE involving at least 3 contiguous segments in the same short-axis slice...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Background: Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) show a remarkable phenotypic plasticity allowing acquisition of contractile or synthetic states but critical information is missing about the physiological signals, promoting formation and maintenance of contractile VSMCs in vivo . BMP9 and BMP10 are known to regulate endothelial quiescence after secretion from the liver and right atrium, whereas a direct role in the regulation of VSMCs was not investigated. Here, we studied the role of BMP9 and BMP10 for controlling formation of contractile VSMCs...

Background: Background: While it has long been recognized that smooth muscle Na/K ATPase (NKA) modulates vascular tone and blood pressure (BP), the role of its accessory protein phopholemman (PLM) has not been characterized. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that PLM phosphorylation regulates vascular tone in vitro and this mechanism plays an important role in modulation of vascular function and BP in experimental models in vivo and in man. Methods: Mouse studies : PLM knock-in mice (PLM3SA ), in which PLM is rendered unphosphorylatable, were used to assess the role of PLM phosphorylation in vitro in aortic and mesenteric vessels using wire myography and membrane potential measurements...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

AIM: This executive summary of the valvular heart disease guideline provides recommendations for clinicians to diagnose and manage valvular heart disease as well as supporting documentation to encourage their use. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted from January 1, 2010, to March 1, 2020, encompassing studies, reviews, and other evidence conducted on human subjects that were published in English from PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Reports, and other selected database relevant to this guideline...

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Background: Regulators are evaluating the use of non-interventional real-world evidence (RWE) studies to assess the effectiveness of medical products. The RCT-DUPLICATE initiative uses a structured process to design RWE studies emulating randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and compare results. Here, we report findings of the first 10 trial emulations, evaluating cardiovascular outcomes of antidiabetic or antiplatelet medications. Methods: We selected 3 active-controlled and 7 placebo-controlled RCTs for replication...

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Background: Studies examining gender-based differences in outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients have demonstrated that despite a higher likelihood of return of spontaneous circulation, women do not have higher survival. Methods: Patients successfully resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest enrolled in the Continuous Chest Compression trial were included. Hierarchical multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to evaluate the association between gender and survival after adjustment for age, gender, cardiac arrest rhythm, witnessed status, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation, episode location, epinephrine dose, emergency medical services response time and duration of resuscitation...

Background: In vascular endothelial cells, cysteine metabolism by the cystathionine γ lyase (CSE), generates hydrogen sulfide-related sulfane sulfur compounds (H2 Sn ), that exert their biological actions via cysteine S -sulfhydration of target proteins. This study set out to map the " S -sulfhydrome" i.e. the spectrum of proteins targeted by H2 Sn in human endothelial cells. Methods: LC-MS/MS was used to identify S-sulfhydrated cysteines in endothelial cell proteins and β3 integrin intra-protein disulfide bond rearrangement...