To investigate the modifying role of obesity in the association between abnormal glucose metabolism and atrial fibrillation (AF) risk in older individuals.

Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) represents an aortic pathology that is caused by the deranged integrity of the three layers of the aortic wall and is related to severe morbidity and mortality. Consequently, it is crucial to identify the biomarkers implicated in the pathogenesis and biology of TAA. The aim of the current computational study was to assess the differential gene expression profile of the gap junction proteins (GJPs) in patients with TAA to identify novel potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

Anatomic considerations of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) have an important role for the procedure planning, but sex-specific data are lacking.

Under diverse contributing factors in different scientific micro-environments, the number of authors who publish extreme numbers of full articles in a single year has increased. Cardiology is the subfield that has the largest share of authors with extreme publishing behavior than any other subfield in science (outside physics). Between 2000 and 2022, 137 authors in the subfield of Cardiovascular System (CVS, Science-Metrix classification) have published over 60 full articles in at least one calendar year and are also highly-cited. The majority (70/137) are from Europe. All 7 countries with the highest prevalence of CVS extreme publishing authors per million population are European countries. Issues of massive authorship of papers by administrative leaders are discussed, including the arguments in favor of sustaining this practice - and a refutation of these arguments. Other major contributors to the phenomenon are publications from clinical trials and epidemiological studies and massive authorship of highly-cited guidelines. Micro-environments are instrumental in creating extreme publishing behavior in both developed and less developed countries. Listing of contributions does not solve the problem since contributions are also gamed; metrics that probe gaming are nevertheless available. Eventually, authorship carries both credit and accountability. Number of publications is a metric that can be heavily gamed. Emphasis should be given to what makes major impact on science and human lives.

Patients with advanced light chain cardiac amyloidosis (AL-CA) have a poor prognosis. We aimed to (1) assess the prognostic significance of all cardiac chamber longitudinal strains and (2) to further determine whether the combination of longitudinal strains with the Mayo staging system could provide additional prognostic value.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a leading cause of heart failure (HF) characterized by left ventricular dilatation and systolic dysfunction not explained by abnormal loading conditions. Despite its prevalence, DCM's epidemiology and prognosis remain poorly studied in our country.

To assess whether the Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score mediates the association of socioeconomic status (SES) with atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF).

The integration of computational technologies into cardiology has significantly advanced the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases. Computational cardiology, particularly, through cardiovascular imaging and informatics, enables a precise diagnosis of myocardial diseases utilizing techniques such as echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, and computed tomography. Early-stage disease classification, especially in asymptomatic patients, benefits from these advancements, potentially altering disease progression and improving patient outcomes. Automatic segmentation of myocardial tissue using deep learning (DL) algorithms improves efficiency and consistency in analyzing large patient populations. Radiomic analysis can reveal subtle disease characteristics from medical images and can enhance disease detection, enable patient stratification, and facilitate monitoring of disease progression and treatment response. Radiomic biomarkers have already demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing myocardial pathologies and promise treatment individualization in cardiology, earlier disease detection, and disease monitoring. In this context, this narrative review explores the current state of the art in DL applications in medical imaging (CT, CMR, echocardiography, and SPECT), focusing on automatic segmentation, radiomic feature phenotyping, and prediction of myocardial diseases, while also discussing challenges in integration of DL models in clinical practice.

Epicardial stenosis and coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) may coexist in patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS). Microvascular resistance reserve (MRR) has been demonstrated to be a valid cross-modality metric using continuous saline infusion thermodilution and intracoronary Doppler flow velocity methods. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and diagnostic concordance of CMD defined by MRR using two methods-stress transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (S-TDE) and the invasive bolus thermodilution method (B-Thermo)-in patients with functionally significant epicardial stenosis.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) has emerged as a pivotal therapeutic modality for aortic stenosis, predominantly in the elderly population. Despite its clinical success, the incidence and implications of vascular complications during TAVI remain a subject of critical concern.

This study aimed to explore the risk factors of microvascular obstruction (MVO) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Transcatheter mitral valve interventions (TMVI) have been proven to reduce symptom burden and improve outcomes in patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR). However, the impact of right ventricular function (RVF) on exercise capacity in MR patients is less well understood.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a chronic inflammatory condition associated with a significantly increased risk of various cardiovascular and thromboembolic events. Existing studies suggest an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in GCA, but results vary. This meta-analysis aims to quantify the association between GCA and the risk of various cardiovascular outcomes, providing a comprehensive evaluation of the cardiovascular burden in patients with GCA.

Uric acid (UA) concentration is associated with increased risk of atrial fibrillation, but few studies have investigated this association after cardiac surgery. This study investigated the statistical association between postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) and preoperative UA concentration according to the type of cardiac surgery.