American Journal of Medicine

AIMS: To determine the impact of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor use on incident sepsis and other severe infections. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL and ClinicalTrial.gov up to September 14, 2021 for double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trials of alirocumab, evolocumab, or inclisiran with >100 participants in each arm and report of serious adverse events related to infection. Data were synthesized with the fixed-effect Mantel-Haenszel model to generate risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of each outcome for PCSK9 inhibitor versus placebo...

BACKGROUND: Higher productivity and team stability has been shown for gender diverse teams. However, there is a relevant and well-known gender gap in clinical and academic cardiovascular medicine. So far, no data concerning gender distribution in presidents and executive boards of national cardiology societies exist. METHODS: In this cross-sectional analysis, gender equality in presidents and representatives of all national cardiology societies, which are members of or affiliated with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in 2022 was analyzed...

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BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant morbidity and mortality in high-risk populations. Several therapeutics have been developed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 related complications, hospitalizations, and death. In several studies, nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (NR) was reported to reduce the risk of hospitalizations and death. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of NR in preventing hospitalizations and death during the Omicron predominant period. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated patients from June 1, 2022, through September 26, 2022...

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A comprehensive approach to hypertension requires out-of-office determinations by home and/or ambulatory monitoring. The 4 phenotypes comparing office and out-of-office pressures in treated and untreated patients include normotension, hypertension, white-coat phenomena, and masked phenomena. Components of out-of-office pressure may be equally as important as mean values. Nighttime pressures are normally 10 - 20% lower than daytime (normal "dipping"). Abnormalities include dipping more than 20% (extreme dippers), less than 10 % (non-dippers), or rising above daytime (risers) and have been associated with elevated cardiovascular risk...

The use of cardiac point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is now widespread in clinics, emergency departments, and all areas of the hospital. Users include medical trainees, advanced practice practitioners, and attending physicians in many specialties and sub-specialties. Opportunities to learn cardiac POCUS and requirements for training vary across specialties as does the scope of the cardiac POCUS examination. In this review, we describe both a brief history of how cardiac POCUS emerged from echocardiography and the state of the art across a variety of medical fields...

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Sarcoidosis is an idiopathic granulomatous disease that occurs worldwide and may affect any organ. Because the presenting symptoms of sarcoidosis are not specific for the disease, the primary care physician is usually the first provider to assess these patients. In addition, patients who have previously been diagnosed with sarcoidosis are usually followed longitudinally by primary care physicians. Therefore, these physicians are often the first to address sarcoidosis patient symptoms related to exacerbations of the disease, as well as first observe complications of sarcoidosis medications...

In 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 37 novel drugs. Twenty four of the 37 (65%) novel drug approvals were reviewed and approved through an expedited review pathway and 20 of the 37 (54%) were approved for treatment of a rare disease. This review includes a summary of the novel drugs approved by the FDA in 2022.

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