Publications

Patients with COVID-19 who present with myocarditis/pericarditis associate with increased odds of major adverse events and new-onset cardiovascular sequelae.

Adverse cardiovascular events are more frequent in ICrH survivors compared to IS survivors. New onset HF is a relatively frequent event after ICrH, especially in those patients with comorbid atrial fibrillation.

Background It is likely that a proportion of poststroke cognitive impairment is sometimes attributable to unidentified prestroke decline; prestroke cognitive function is also clinically relevant because it is associated with poor functional outcomes, including death. We investigated the radiological and prognostic associations of preexisting cognitive impairment in patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack associated with atrial fibrillation. Methods and Results We included 1102 patients from the prospective multicenter observational CROMIS-2 (Clinical Relevance of Microbleeds in Stroke 2) atrial fibrillation study. Preexisting cognitive impairment was identified using the 16-item Informant Questionnaire for Cognitive Decline in the Elderly. Functional outcome was measured using the modified Rankin scale. Preexisting cognitive impairment was common (n=271; 24.6%). The presence of lacunes (odds ratio [OR], 1.50; 95% CI, 1.03-1.05; <i>P</i>=0.034), increasing periventricular white matter hyperintensity grade (per grade increase, OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.17-1.63; <i>P</i><0.0001), deep white matter hyperintensity grade (per grade increase, OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.05-1.51; <i>P</i>=0.011), and medial temporal atrophy grade (per grade increase, OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.34-1.95; <i>P</i><0.0001) were independently associated with preexisting cognitive impairment. Preexisting cognitive impairment was associated with poorer functional outcome at 24 months (mRS >2; adjusted OR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.42-4.20; <i>P</i>=0.001). Conclusions Preexisting cognitive impairment in patients with atrial fibrillation-associated ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack is common, and associated with imaging markers of cerebral small vessel disease and neurodegeneration, as well as with longer-term functional outcome. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02513316.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and hypertension (HT) often coincide and both are independently associated with endothelial dysfunction. We tested the hypothesis that brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), an indicator of endothelial health, will be poorer in AF patients with HT (AF + HT) than AF without concurrent HT. In a cross-sectional design study, AF (n = 29; mean 70 years; 9 females) and AF + HT (n = 33; 68 years (p = 0.302); 14 females) patients underwent Duplex-Doppler ultrasound imaging of brachial artery diameter and flow velocity during baseline (2 min), distal tourniquet cuff inflation (5 min), and following cuff deflation (3 min). The peak increase in artery diameter following cuff deflation was taken as FMD and analyzed as absolute, percentage change, FMD and shear-rate area-under-the-curve (SR_AUC; FMD-to-SR_AUC) ratio, and using SR_AUC as a covariate (FMD_SRAUC). Body mass index (BMI) was used as an additional covariate for between-group comparisons of vascular data. Mean arterial pressure was higher in the AF + HT versus the AF group (median [interquartile range] 93 [85-99] vs. 84 [80-90] mm Hg, respectively; p < 0.05). Baseline brachial artery diameters were similar (p > 0.05). FMD was lower in AF + HT than AF patients (3.36 [1.69-5.21] vs. 4.98 [2.96-7.11] %, respectively; p < 0.05). Similar group differences were observed in absolute FMD, FMD-to-SR_AUC ratio and FMD_SRAUC (p < 0.05). AF patients with concurrent HT exhibit poorer endothelium-dependent vasodilation compared to AF patients, indicating that the presence of comorbid HT exacerbates endothelial dysfunction in AF patients.

Our study showed that close to one-quarter of adults who were involved in the survey in the middle belt of Ghana were hypertensive with less than half being aware of their hypertensive status; nearly half of those on treatment had controlled hypertension. Healthcare systems need adequate resources that enable them to screen, educate, and refer identified hypertensive patients for appropriate management to prevent or minimize the development of hypertension-related complications.

AF patients on warfarin and apixaban exhibit similar endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Increased blood pressure negatively impacts vasodilator capacity in AF patients.

In this AF cohort taking VKAs, more than one-third had at least one RCT exclusion criteria, which translates into higher risk of major bleeding, MACE, and death. These observations should be considered when translating RCTs results to AF patients for a proper and a more patient-centered management.

Despite the original claims in its derivation paper, the ORBIT score was not superior to HAS-BLED for predicting major bleeding and death in a "real world" oral anticoagulated AF population. (Circ J 2016; 80: 2102-2108).

Early SGLT2i use in diabetics experiencing acute MI reduced cardiovascular risk, supporting its potential therapeutic use.