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Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are ideal systems for two-dimensional (2D) optoelectronic applications owing to their strong light-matter interaction and various band gap energies. New techniques to modify the crystallographic phase of TMDs have recently been discovered, allowing the creation of lateral heterostructures and the design of all-2D circuitry. Thus, far, the potential benefits of phase-engineered TMD devices for optoelectronic applications are still largely unexplored. The dominant mechanisms involved in photocurrent generation in these systems remain unclear, hindering further development of new all-2D optoelectronic devices. Here, we fabricate locally phase-engineered MoTe 2 optoelectronic devices, creating a metal (1T') semiconductor (2H) lateral junction and unveil the main mechanisms at play for photocurrent generation. We find that the photocurrent originates from the 1T'-2H junction, with a maximum at the 2H MoTe 2 side of the junction. This observation, together with the nonlinear IV-curve, indicates that the photovoltaic effect plays a major role in the photon-to-charge current conversion in these systems. Additionally, the 1T'-2H MoTe 2 heterojunction device exhibits a fast optoelectronic response over a wavelength range of 700-1100 nm, with a rise and fall times of 113 and 110 μs, respectively, 2 orders of magnitude faster when compared to a directly contacted 2H MoTe 2 device. These results show the potential of local phase-engineering for all-2D optoelectronic circuitry., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Background/Objectives : Understanding sex-based differences in cardiovascular outcomes is paramount to improving clinical outcomes. Surgery is an aggressive but effective therapy for ascending aortic aneurysm. We sought to determine if being a woman is a risk factor for long-term mortality after this surgery. We compared their life expectancy with a general population of the same age, sex, year, and region. Methods : We compared men and women undergoing AAA surgery at our institution from 2000 to 2019. After balancing the population with propensity score (PS) matching, we compared long-term mortality control with a Cox regression. We determined the RS using the Ederer II method and compared it to a healthy reference population of the same age, sex, and region. Results : From 2000 to 2019, 232 women and 506 men underwent ascending aortic aneurysm surgery. After a mean follow-up of 51.5 ± 34.5 months, sex was not an independent risk factor for long-term mortality in the multivariable analysis [HR: 0.68 (95% CI 0.43-1.07, p = 0.23)]. Matching by baseline characteristics, 196 pairs were analyzed with no differences regarding mortality in the Cox regression [HR: 1.11 (95% CI 0.65-1.9, p = 0.23)]. Men and women who survived the postoperative period presented a relative survival of 100.3% (95% CI 97.4-101%) and 100.3% (95% CI 98.9-101.1%), respectively, similar to the reference population without the disease. Conclusions : For patients undergoing AAA surgery, sex was not an independent predictor of mortality. Men and women who survived the postoperative period presented a similar life expectancy to that of the reference population (people free from the disease of the same age, sex, year, and region).

Objectives: Little is known about valve hemodynamic performance during the Evolut and Neo deployment course. We aimed to evaluate transvalvular mean and peak-to-peak gradients over several intraprocedural timepoints during TAVR with Evolut PRO+ (Medtronic) and Neo (Boston Scientific) systems., Methods: This was single-center pilot sub-study from the SavvyWire EFficacy and SafEty in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Procedures (SAFE-TAVI) trial. Participants received either the Evolut PRO+ or Neo for native valve severe aortic stenosis and the SavvyWire (OpSens Medical) was used for device delivery, pacing, and continuous left ventricular and aortic pressure measurements. For the Evolut, evaluation was done for baseline, two-thirds of valve deployment (still recapturable), 90% of valve deployment (no longer recapturable), and post-deployment hemodynamics. For the Neo, analysis was done at baseline, after the first step (top-crown deployment), and at final status., Results: Nineteen patients were included (Evolut = 15; Neo = 4). There were no statistically significant changes in peak-to-peak gradients (44 mm Hg [IQR:33-69] vs 43 mm Hg [IQR:26-62], P = .41) between baseline and two-thirds of valve deployment in the Evolut patients. There was a significant decrease in mean (40 mm Hg [IQR:32-54] vs 14 mm Hg [IQR:10-18], P less than .001) and peak-to-peak (43 mmHg [IQRS:26-62] vs 9 mm Hg [IQR:8-13], P less than .001) transvalvular gradients between two-thirds and 90% of valve deployment for Evolut. Neo patients exhibited a decrease in transvalvular gradients after top-crown deployment (42.5 mm Hg baseline vs 13 mm Hg)., Conclusions: Transvalvular gradients did not vary between the point of "no-recapture" compared to baseline values in patients receiving the Evolut, whereas a significant reduction in transvalvular gradients was observed when the valve was deployed at 90% and fully deployed. The Neo valve was slightly obstructive after the first step of deployment.

Background and Aim: The ideal surgical intervention for secondary mitral regurgitation (SMR), a disease of the left ventricle not the mitral valve itself, is still debated. We performed an updated systematic review and study-level meta-analysis investigating mitral valve repair (MVr) versus mitral valve replacement (MVR) for adult patients with SMR, with or without coronary artery disease (CAD)., Methods: PubMed, CENTRAL and EMBASE were searched for studies comparing MVr versus MVR. Randomized trial or observational studies were considered eligible. Primary endpoint was long-term mortality for any cause. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were reconstructed and compared with Cox linear regression. Landmark analysis and time-varying hazard ratio (HR) were analyzed. Sensitivity analyses included meta-regression and separate sub-analysis. A random effects model was used., Results: Twenty-three studies (MVr=3,727 and MVR=2,839) were included. One study was a randomized trial, and 19 studies were adjusted. The mean weighted follow-up was 3.7±2.8 years. MVR was associated with significative greater late mortality (HR=1.26; 95 % CI, 1.14-1.39; P<0.0001) at 10-year follow-up. There was a time-varying trend showing an increased risk of mortality in the first 2 years after MVR (HR=1.38; 95 % CI, 1.21-1.56; P<0.0001), after which this difference dissipated (HR=0.94; 95 % CI, 0.81-1.09; P=0.41). Separate sub-analyses showed comparable long-term mortality in patients with concomitant coronary surgery ≥90 %, left ventricle ejection fraction ≤40 %, and sub-valvular apparatus preservation rate of 100 %., Conclusions: Compared to repair, MVR is associated with higher probability of mortality in the first 2 years following surgery, after which the two procedures showed comparable late mortality rate., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction and Objectives: The optimal chronic antithrombotic regimen for patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remains uncertain. Our aim was to compare the incidence of late bleeding events between patients on direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and those on vitamin-K antagonists (VKA)., Methods: This single-center observational study included TAVI patients requiring oral anticoagulation at discharge between 2015 and 2021. The primary endpoint was any clinically significant bleeding event. Secondary endpoints were stroke, heart failure, and all-cause mortality., Results: A total of 702 TAVI procedures were performed, with 297 patients requiring oral anticoagulation at discharge. Among them, 206 (69.4%) received VKA and 91 (30.6%) received DOAC. Baseline clinical, procedural and in-hospital characteristics did not significantly differ between groups, except for better renal function among DOAC patients. The median length of follow-up was 2.8 years. The risk of bleeding events was higher in patients receiving DOACs than in those receiving VKA (HR, 2.27; 95%CI, 1.21-4.26; incidence of 9.7 and 4.2 events per 100 patient-years of follow-up for DOAC and VKA patients, respectively). There were no statistically significant differences in the rates of stroke (HR, 1.28; 95%CI, 0.4-4.3), heart failure hospitalization (HR, 0.92; 95%CI, 0.46-1.86), or all-cause mortality (HR, 1.02; 95%CI, 0.68-1.55)., Conclusions: In older patients undergoing TAVI and receiving anticoagulant therapy for atrial fibrillation, the use of DOAC was associated with a higher risk of late bleeding events than VKA., (Copyright © 2024 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Introduction and Objectives: There is controversy about the optimal revascularization strategy in severe coronary artery disease (CAD), including left main disease and/or multivessel disease. Several meta-analyses have analyzed the results at 5-year follow-up but there are no results after the fifth year. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials, comparing results after the fifth year, between coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using drug-eluting stents in patients with severe CAD., Methods: We analyzed all clinical trials between January 2010 and January 2023. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. The databases of the original articles were reconstructed from Kaplan-Meier curves, simulating an individual-level meta-analysis. Comparisons were made at certain cutoff points (5 and 10 years). The 10-year restricted median survival time difference between CABG and PCI was calculated. The random effects model and the DerSimonian-Laird method were applied., Results: The meta-analysis included 5180 patients. During the 10-year follow-up, PCI showed a higher overall incidence of all-cause mortality (HR, 1.19; 95%CI, 1.04-1.32; P=.008)]. PCI showed an increased risk of all-cause mortality within 5 years (HR, 1.2; 95%CI, 1.06-1.53; P=.008), while no differences in the 5-10-year period were revealed (HR, 1.03; 95%CI, 0.84-1.26; P=.76). Life expectancy of CABG patients was slightly higher than that of PCI patients (2.4 months more)., Conclusions: In patients with severe CAD, including left main disease and/or multivessel disease, there was higher a incidence of all-cause mortality after PCI compared with CABG at 10 years of follow-up. Specifically, PCI has higher mortality during the first 5 years and comparable risk beyond 5 years., (Copyright © 2023 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Recently, desert dust in Europe has been recognized as a cardiovascular health problem. In Spain, desert dust inflows in recent years have been associated with worsening air quality. The present study examines whether desert dust events are related to the incidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in patients under 55 years of age. Methods: Data from 2416 consecutive patients admitted to a tertiary hospital due to ACS were prospectively analyzed. A case-crossover time-stratified design using Poisson conditional regression models was applied to estimate the impact of desert dust events involving particulate matter concentrations of an aerodynamic diameter <10 μm (PM 10 ) on the incidence of ACS in patients under 55 years of age. Results: Desert dust intrusion on days 0 to 5 before ACS onset showed no significant association with the incidence of ACS in patients under 55 years of age. The incidence rate ratios of PM 10 concentrations 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, and 5 days before ACS onset (for changes of 10 µg/m 3 ) were 1.02 (95% CI 0.97-1.1; p = 0.41), 1.01 (95% CI 0.96-1.07; p = 0.66), 0.99 (95% CI 0.94-1.05; p = 0.78), 0.96 (95% CI 0.9-1.02; p = 0.18), and 0.97 (95% CI 0.91-1.04; p = 0.41). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that desert dust is unlikely to be related to the incidence of ACS in patients under 55 years of age.

Background Technologies such as navigation and robotics are aimed at improving tibial alignment in total knee arthroplasties (TKA) and eliminating the errors resulting from the use of manual instrumentation. Methods This prospective study analyzed 130 arthroplasties in order to determine whether navigation can improve the frontal mechanical axis of the tibia and whether the postoperative angulation of this axis differs from the preoperative one. The mean patient age was 71.8 years, and the mean BMI was 31.17. Eighty-six patients were female. The same cemented TKA model and the same imageless navigation system were used in all cases. Results The mean postoperative tibial angle following implantation was 87.65°, without any statistically significant differences with respect to the previous angulation. However, navigation was seen to result in a nearly neutral tibial axis, a larger number of cases (41.5%-60.8% {p = 0.002}) aligned within the safe zone (90° ± 3°), a smaller number of outliers, and a clustering of values around the mean. Conclusions Navigation improves the frontal positioning of the tibial component in total knee arthroplasties but does not offer any advantages as compared with conventional instrumentation., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024, Hernandez-Vaquero et al.)

Introduction and Objectives: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) using the cusp overlap technique (COT) has shown a lower pacemaker implantation rate at 30 days. The objective of this study was to compare electrocardiogram changes and clinical outcomes between COT and the traditional technique (TT) at 1 year of follow-up., Methods: Observational, retrospective, nonrandomized study of consecutive patients undergoing TAVI between January 2015 and January 2021. Patients were matched using a propensity score and the TT was compared with COT. The primary endpoints were electrocardiogram changes and a combined endpoint including pacemaker implantation, hospitalization, or cardiovascular death at 1 year., Results: We included 254 patients. After propensity score matching, 184 patients (92 per group) remained. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics. At 1 year, COT patients showed a significant reduction in new onset left bundle branch block (49% vs 27%, P=.002) and less P wave (13.1±21.0 msec vs 5.47±12.5 msec; P=.003) and QRS prolongation (29.77±27.0 msec vs 16.38±25.4 msec, P <.001). COT was associated with a significant reduction in the occurrence of the primary endpoint (SHR, 0.39 [IC95%, 0.21-0.76]; P=.005)., Conclusions: At 1 year of follow-up, COT reduced the incidence of new onset left bundle branch block and diminished QRS and P wave widening compared with the TT. COT was also associated with a statistically significant reduction in the occurrence of the combined primary cardiovascular endpoint., (Copyright © 2023 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

The benefits of single (SITA) and bilateral internal thoracic arteries (BITA) in diabetics undergoing coronary bypass grafting (CABG) are conflicting. We undertook a study-level meta-analysis to compare early and long-term outcomes of both CABG configurations. PubMed, CENTRAL, and EMBASE were searched for studies comparing BITA versus SITA for isolated CABG surgery in diabetics. Randomized trials or observational studies were considered eligible for the analysis. Kaplan-Meier curves of long-term survival were reconstructed and compared with Cox linear regression; incidence rate ratios (IRR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for long-term survival were calculated. Landmark analysis and time-varying hazard ratio (HR) were analyzed. Odds ratios (OR) were extracted for early mortality, postoperative stroke, deep sternal wound infection (DSWI), and myocardial infarction (MI). A random effects meta-analysis was performed. Sensitivity analyses included leave-one-out-analyses and meta-regression. Thirteen studies (7332 patients) were included. Overall, at 20-year follow-up, BITA was associated with higher survival (HR = 0.77; 95% CI, 0.71-0.84; P < 0.0001). Time-varying HR and landmark analysis reported BITA was associated with a higher rate of 10-year survival (HR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.68-0.82, P < 0.0001), while from 10 to 20-year follow-up no difference was revealed (HR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.82-1.19, P = 0.93). There was no increase in early mortality, postoperative MI, stroke, or DSWI between the groups. At meta-regression, the higher the age, the higher the long-term overall survival in patients with BITA. In diabetics, the BITA approach is associated with improved 10-year survival with no increase in early mortality, MI, stroke, or DSWI. In the 10-20-year timeframe, BITA and SITA showed comparable survival., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction and Objectives: Despite medical advances, mortality after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains high. Women are often underrepresented in trials and registries, limiting knowledge of their management and prognosis. It is unknown whether life expectancy in women of all ages treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is similar to that in a reference population free of the disease. The main objective of this study was to determine whether life expectancy in women undergoing PPCI and surviving the main event returns to a similar level to that in the general population of the same age and region., Methods: We included all patients diagnosed with STEMI from January 2014 to October 2021. We matched women to a reference population of the same age and region from the National Institute of Statistics to determine observed survival, expected survival, and excess mortality (EM) using the Ederer II method. We repeated the analysis in women aged ≤ 65 and> 65 years., Results: A total of 2194 patients were recruited, of whom 528 were women (23.9%). In women surviving the first 30 days, EM at 1, 5 and 7 years was 1.6% (95%CI, 0.3-4), 4.7% (95%CI, 0.3-10.1), and 7.2% (95%CI, 0.5-15.1), respectively., Conclusions: EM was reduced in women with STEMI who were treated with PPCI and who survived the main event. However, life expectancy remained lower than that in a reference population of the same age and region., (Copyright © 2023 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To analyze whether urinary catheterization in a hospital emergency department (ED) affects short-term prognosis in patients with acute heart failure (AHF)., Material and Methods: We prospectively recorded baseline and other clinical data in a consecutive cohort of ED patients treated for AHF. Crude and adjusted associations were calculated between catheterization and a primary composite outcome (30-day readmission for AHF and/or death) and secondary outcomes (in-hospital mortality, urinary tract infection [UTI], and duration of hospital stay.)., Results: Nine hundred ninety-one patients were admitted for AHF. The mean (SD) age was 66 (10.5) years; 71% were women. Catheterization was required for 29.2% in the ED. The primary composite outcome was observed in 7.7% of the patients who were not catheterized and 12.8% of the catheterized patients (P = .02). In-hospital mortality occurred in 5.9% and 9.7% of non-catheterized and catheterized patients, respectively (P = .04), and UTIs occurred in 19.1% and 26.6% (P = .01). Twelve of the non-catheterized patients (1.7%) were readmitted for AHF (vs 11 (3.8%) of the catheterized patients (P = .06), and there were no differences between the groups in hospital stay (11 vs 10.9 days, P = .78). In the adjusted analysis of associations between catheterization and the primary outcome the odds and hazard ratios (OR and HR, respectively) were OR, 1.7 (95% CI, 1.1-2.7) (P = .02) and HR, 1.6 (95% CI, 1.1-2.5) (P = .03). For secondary outcomes, significant associations emerged between catheterization and UTIs (OR, 1.8 [95% CI, 1.1-2.2]; P = .008) and readmission for AHF (OR, 2.9 [95% CI, 1.2-7.3]; P = .02)., Conclusion: Routine insertion of a urinary catheter in patients with AHF in the ED is associated with worse 30-day clinical outcomes.

Aims: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an important comorbidity in heart failure. The MIMO trial showed that patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (ACPE) treated with midazolam had fewer serious adverse events than those treated with morphine. In this post hoc analysis, we examined whether the presence/ absence of COPD modifies the reduced risk of midazolam over morphine., Methods: Patients >18 years old clinically diagnosed with ACPE and with dyspnea and anxiety were randomized (1:1) at emergency department arrival to receive either intravenous midazolam or morphine. In this post hoc analysis, we calculated the relative risk (RR) of serious adverse events in patients with and without COPD. Calculating the CochranMantel-Haenszel interaction test, we evaluated if COPD modified the reduced risk of serious adverse events in the midazolam arm compared to morphine., Results: Overall, 25 (22.5%) of the 111 patients randomized had a history of COPD. Patients with COPD were more commonly men with a history of previous episodes of heart failure, than participants without COPD. In the COPD group, the RR for the incidence of serious adverse events in the midazolam versus morphine arm was 0.36 (95%CI, 0.1-1.46). In the group without COPD, the RR was 0.44 (95%CI, 0.22-0.91). The presence of COPD did not modify the reduced risk of serious adverse events in the midazolam arm compared to morphine (p for interaction =0.79)., Conclusions: The reduced risk of serious adverse events in the midazolam group compared with morphine is similar in patients with and without COPD., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aims: The main objective of this study is to determine whether exposure to Saharan dust causes airway inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with stable chronic heart failure (HF) and a left ventricular ejection fraction of less than 40%., Methods: A longitudinal study design is used, involving the inclusion of 40 patients with stable chronic HF and a left ventricular ejection fraction of less than 40%. Four sputum samplings will be taken from each patient, with one sampling taken each week over four consecutive weeks. The sputum samples will be used to analyze the degree of inflammation and oxidative stress. Air quality monitoring stations will be used to analyze the particulate matter (PM) exposure of each patient. The intrusion of desert dust will be identified using meteorological models. There will be 160 scheduled samplings in 40 patients with chronic HF. Mixed regression models will be used to assess the influence of the concentrations of PM (from the episodes of desert dust) upon the airway inflammation and oxidative stress markers., Conclusion: The results of this study will test the hypothesis that exposure to high concentrations of Saharan dust affects the normal function of the respiratory epithelium due to the imbalance between the production of free radicals and antioxidant enzymes, thus causing increased pulmonary inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with HF that in turn may facilitate decompensations of their background disease condition.

Recent randomized trials comparing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) utilizing drug-eluting stents in patients with left main disease (LMD) and/or multivessel disease (MVD), reported conflicting results. We performed a study level meta-analysis comparing the 2 interventions for the treatment of LMD or MVD. Using electronic databases, we retrieved 6 trials, between January, 2010 and December, 2022. Five-years Kaplan-Meier curves of endpoints where reconstructed. Comparisons were made by cox-linear regression frailty model and by landmark analysis. A random-effect method was applied. A total of 8269 patients were included and randomly assigned to CABG (n = 4135) or PCI (n = 4134). During 5-years follow-up, PCI showed a higher incidence of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.47; P < 0.0001]), myocardial infarction (HR 1.84; 95% CI, 1.54-2.19; P < 0.0001) and repeat coronary revascularization (HR 1.96; 95% CI, 1.72-2.24; P < 0.0001). There was no long-term difference between the 2 interventions for cardiovascular death (P = 0.14) and stroke (P = 0.20), although the incidence of stroke was higher with CABG within 30-days from intervention (P < 0.0001). PCI was associated with an increased risk for composite endpoints (P < 0.0001) and major cerebral and cardiovascular events. (P < 0.0001). In conclusion, at 5-year follow-up, in patients with LMD and/or MVD there was a significant higher incidence of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction and repeat revascularization with PCI compared to CABG. The incidence of stroke was higher with CABG during the postprocedural period, but no difference was found during 5-years follow-up. Longer follow-up is mandatory to better define outcome difference between the 2 interventions., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Mitral Regurgitation (MR) has a strong impact on quality of life and on mid-term survival. Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) is rapidly expanding and a growing number of studies have been published recently., Methods: A systematic review of studies reporting on clinical data for patients with symptomatic severe MR undergoing TMVR was performed. Early- and mid-term outcomes (clinical and echocardiographic) were evaluated. Overall weighted means and rates were calculated. Risk ratios or mean differences were calculated for pre- and post-procedural comparisons., Results: A total of 12 studies and 347 patients who underwent TMVR with devices clinically available or under clinical evaluation were included. Thirty-day mortality, stroke and major bleeding rates were 8.4%, 2.6%, and 15.6%, respectively. Pooled random-effects demonstrated a significant reduction of ≥ grade 3+ MR (RR: 0.05; 95% CI: 0.02-0.11; p  < 0.001) and in the rates of patients in NYHA class 3-4 after the intervention (RR: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.22-0.34; p  < 0.001). Additionally, the pooled fixed-effect mean difference for quality of life based on the KCCQ score yielded an improvement in 12.9 points (95% CI:7.4-18.4, p  < 0.001), and exercise capacity improved by a pooled fixed-effect mean difference of 56.8 meters in the 6-minute walk test (95% CI 32.2-81.3, p  < 0.001)., Conclusions: Among 12 studies and 347 patients comprising the updated evidence with current TMVR systems there was a statistically significant reduction in ≥ grade 3+ MR and in the number of patients exhibiting poor functional class (NYHA 3 or 4) after the intervention. Overall rate of major bleeding was the main shortcoming of this technique., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Alperi, Avanzas, Leon, Silva, Hernández-Vaquero, Almendárez, Álvarez, Fernández, Moris and Pascual.)

Introduction and Objectives: Severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is associated with poor prognosis when left untreated, and a growing number of studies on transcatheter tricuspid valve repair (TTVr) have been published over the last few months., Methods: We performed a comprehensive systematic review of published literature providing clinical data on TTVr for patients with significant TR. Early and mid-term clinical and echocardiographic outcomes were evaluated. Risk ratios (RR) or mean differences (MD) were obtained when comparing pre- and postprocedural data. A sensitivity analysis was also performed according to the main approach for repair (edge-to-edge vs annuloplasty)., Results: A total of 19 studies (all observational or single-arm trials) and 991 patients who underwent isolated TTVr were included. Thirty-day mortality and stroke rates were 2.8% and 0.2%, respectively. Pooled random-effects resulted in a significant reduction of ≥ severe TR (RR, 0.33; 95%CI, 0.26-0.42; P < .001), vena contracta width (MD, 5.9mm; 95%CI, 4-7.9; P <.001), right ventricular end-diastolic diameter (MD, 3.5mm; 95%CI, 2.5-4.5; P <.001), and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV at last follow-up (RR, 0.32; 95%CI, 0.27-0.37; P <.001). Bleeding complications and residual ≥ severe TR were numerically higher in the annuloplasty-like group compared with edge-to-edge repair (13.3% vs 3.8% for bleeding and 40.4% vs 27.9% for residual severe TR)., Conclusions: Among 991 patients comprising the early experience for several TTVr devices, there was a statistically significant reduction in ≥ severe TR, NYHA class III-IV, vena contracta width and right ventricular end-diastolic diameter after TTVr. Thus far, the edge-to-edge approach seems to be associated with a better safety profile., (Copyright © 2022 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background and Importance: The MIMO clinical trial showed that patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (ACPE) treated with midazolam had fewer serious adverse events than those treated with morphine. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common comorbidity in heart failure and affects patient's outcome., Objective: The primary endpoint of this substudy is to know if AF modified the reduced risk of serious adverse events in the midazolam arm compared to morphine. The first secondary endpoint is to know if AF modified the reduced risk of serious adverse events or death at 30 days in the midazolam arm. The second secondary objective of this substudy is to analyze whether AF modified the reduced risk of midazolam against morphine on the total number of serious adverse events per patient., Design: We conducted a secondary analysis of the MIMO trial. Patients more than 18 years old clinically diagnosed with ACPE and with dyspnea and anxiety were randomized (1:1) at emergency department arrival to receive either intravenous midazolam or morphine., Outcome Measures and Analysis: In this post hoc analysis, we calculated the relative risk (RR) of serious adverse events in patients with and without AF. Calculating the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel interaction test, we evaluated if AF modified the reduced risk of serious adverse events in the midazolam arm compared to morphine., Main Results: One hundred eleven patients (median = 78.9 years; IQR, 72.3-83.7; women, 52.2%) were randomized in the MIMO trial, 55 to receive midazolam and 56 to morphine. All randomized patients received the assigned drug and there were no losses to follow-up. Forty-four patients (39.6%) had AF. In the AF group, the RR for the incidence of serious adverse events in the midazolam versus morphine arm was 0.42 (95% CI, 0.14-1.3). In the group without AF, the RR was 0.46 (95% CI, 0.21-1). The presence of AF did not modify the reduced risk of serious adverse events in the midazolam arm compared with morphine ( P for interaction = 0.88)., Conclusion: This post hoc analysis of the MIMO trial suggests that the reduced risk of serious adverse events in the midazolam group compared to morphine is similar in patients with and without AF., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The use of mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) is rapidly increasing. Anatomical changes have been described after TEER with the MitraClip system in patients with functional mitral regurgitation (MR), although no study has yet evaluated such anatomical impacts in patients treated with the G4 MitraClip generation., Methods: This research constituted a prospective, single-center, observational study including consecutive patients with functional MR. Mitral three-dimensional images were obtained transesophageally with echocardiography before and immediately after TEER. Patients receiving the late-generation (G4) system were compared to those receiving early-generation systems., Results: A total of 116 functional MR patients were evaluated, and 40 (34.5%) and 76 (65.5%) received a late-generation (G4) or early-generation device system, respectively. The baseline clinical and echocardiographic features were well-balanced between the groups. Overall, there was a significant reduction in mitral annular size after the intervention, and greater reductions in the anteroposterior diameter (4 mm vs. 3.54 mm, p = 0.03), annular perimeter (11.07 mm vs. 5.29 mm for 3D-perimeter, p = 0.001), and annular area (1.29 cm 2 vs. 1.03 cm 2 , p = 0.002) were found for patients receiving the late G4 device generation compared to the early-generation systems., Conclusions: In patients with functional MR, we observed significant changes in mitral valve anatomy with a reduction in anteroposterior diameter, valve perimeter, and area. In our cohort, the extent of those changes was greater with the use of the new-generation G4 MitraClip system compared to prior device generations.

Objectives: The midazolam vs morphine (MIMO) trial showed that patients treated with midazolam had fewer serious adverse events than those treated with morphine. In many patients with acute pulmonary edema, the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is preserved, at 50% or higher. We aimed to determine whether left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction (D), defined by an LVEF of less than 50%, modifies the protective effect of midazolam vs morphine., Material and Methods: The MIMO trial randomized 111 patients with acute pulmonary edema to receive intravenous midazolam in 1-mg doses to a maximum of 3 mg (n = 55) or morphine in 2- to 4-mg doses to a maximum of 8 mg (n= 56). We calculated the relative risk (RR) for a serious adverse event in patients with and without systolic LVD., Results: LVEF was preserved in 84 (75.7%) of the patients with acute pulmonary edema. In patients with systolic LVD, 4 patients (26.9%) in the midazolam arm vs 6 (50%) in the morphine arm developed serious adverse events (RR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.2-1.4). In patients without systolic LVD, 6 patients (15%) in the midazolam arm vs 18 (40.9%) in the morphine arm experienced such events (RR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.16-0.83). The presence of systolic LVD did not modify the protective effect of midazolam on serious adverse effects (P=.57)., Conclusion: The effect of midazolam vs morphine in protecting against the development of serious adverse events or death is similar in patients with and without systolic LVD.

The quantum Hall (QH) effect in two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs) is conventionally observed at liquid-helium temperatures, where lattice vibrations are strongly suppressed and bulk carrier scattering is dominated by disorder. However, due to large Landau level (LL) separation (~2000 K at B = 30 T), graphene can support the QH effect up to room temperature (RT), concomitant with a non-negligible population of acoustic phonons with a wave-vector commensurate to the inverse electronic magnetic length. Here, we demonstrate that graphene encapsulated in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) realizes a novel transport regime, where dissipation in the QH phase is governed predominantly by electron-phonon scattering. Investigating thermally-activated transport at filling factor 2 up to RT in an ensemble of back-gated devices, we show that the high B-field behaviour correlates with their zero B-field transport mobility. By this means, we extend the well-accepted notion of phonon-limited resistivity in ultra-clean graphene to a hitherto unexplored high-field realm., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Objective. Valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve implantation (ViV-TAVI) has emerged as a useful alternative intervention to redo-surgical aortic valve replacement (Redo-SVAR) for the treatment of degenerated bioprosthesis valve. However, there is no robust evidence about the long-term outcome of both treatments. The aim of this meta-analysis was to analyze the long-term outcomes of Redo-SVAR versus ViV-TAVI by reconstructing the time-to-event data. Methods. The search strategy consisted of a comprehensive review of relevant studies published between 1 January 2000 and 30 September 2022 in three electronic databases, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and EMBASE. Relevant studies were retrieved for the analysis. The primary endpoint was the long-term mortality for all death. The comparisons were made by the Cox regression model and by landmark analysis and a fully parametric model. A random-effect method was applied to perform the meta-analysis. Results. Twelve studies fulfilled the eligibility criteria and were included in the final analysis. A total of 3547 patients were included. Redo-SAVR group included 1783 patients, and ViV-TAVI included 1764 subjects. Redo-SAVR showed a higher incidence of all-cause mortality within 30-days [Hazard ratio (HR) 2.12; 95% CI = 1.49−3.03; p < 0.0001)], whereas no difference was observed between 30 days and 1 year (HR = 1.03; 95% CI = 0.78−1.33; p = 0.92). From one year, Redo-SAVR showed a longer benefit (HR = 0.52; 95% CI = 0.40−0.67; p < 0.0001). These results were confirmed for cardiovascular death (HR = 2.04; 95% CI = 1.29−3.22; p = 0.001 within one month from intervention; HR = 0.35; 95% CI = 0.18−0.71; p = 0.003 at 4-years follow-up). Conclusions. Although the long-term outcomes seem similar between Redo-SAVR and ViV-TAVI at a five-year follow-up, ViV-TAVI shows significative lower mortality within 30 days. This advantage disappeared between 30 days and 1 year and reversed in favor of redo-SAVR 1 year after the intervention.

Introduction and Objectives: Surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) can modify the natural history of severe aortic stenosis (SAS). However, compared with the general population, these patients have a loss of life expectancy. The life expectancy of patients who undergo SAVR due to low-gradient SAS with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is unknown., Methods: We included all patients between 50 and 65 years who underwent isolated SAVR in 27 Spanish centers during an 18-year period. We analyzed observed and expected survival at 18 years in patients with low-gradient SAS with preserved LVEF and all other types of SAS. We used propensity score matching to compare the life expectancy of patients with low-gradient SAS with preserved LVEF vs those with high-gradient SAS with preserved LVEF., Results: We analyzed 5084 patients, of whom 413 had low-gradient SAS with preserved LVEF. For these patients, observed survival at 10, 15 and 18 years was 86.6% (95%CI, 85.3-87.8), 75% (95%CI, 72.7-77.2), and 63.5% (95%CI, 58.8-67.8). Expected survival at 10, 15 and 18 years was 90.2%, 82.1%, and 75.7%. In the matched sample, survival of patients with low-gradient SAS with preserved LVEF was similar to that of patients with high-gradient with preserved LVEF, log-rank test, P=.95; HR=1 (95%CI, 0.7-1.4; P=.95)., Conclusions: There is a loss of life expectancy in patients with all types of SAS undergoing SAVR. This loss is higher in patients with left ventricular dysfunction and lower in patients with low-gradient or high-gradient aortic stenosis with preserved LVEF. The benefit of surgery is similar between these last 2 groups., (Copyright © 2022 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

The Trifecta aortic valve is a prosthesis with externally mounted leaflets and a stent which may be deformed during implant. Our aim was to know if the use of the holder as a protection device during the knotting has an impact on the incidence of structural valve deterioration (SVD) or endocarditis. Prospective cohort study where all patients who underwent aortic valve replacement with a Trifecta aortic valve between 2013 and 2018 were included. The use of the holder as a protection device was collected in a database. Propensity-score matched methods were used and analyses were based on competing events. Death without SVD or prosthesis replacement not due to SVD was considered competing events. 782 patients were included, 352 pairs after the matching. Rates of SVD at 5 and 8 years were 5.8% (95% CI 3.5-8.7) and 13.6% (95% CI 9.2-18.9) in the group without holder and 2.3% (95% CI 1-4.5) and 7% (95% CI 4.2-10.8) in the group with holder; sHR = 0.49 (95% CI 0.27-0.86; P = 0.015). The risk of endocarditis at 8 years was 4.8% (95% CI 2.8-7.4) in the group without holder and 2.3% (95% CI 1.1-4.3) in the group with holder, sHR = 0.49 (95% CI 0.21-1.15, P = 0.1). The use of holder as a protection device during the knotting of the Trifecta aortic valve is associated with less risk of SVD., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In aged population, the early and long-term outcomes of coronary revascularization (CABG) added to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) compared to isolated SAVR (i-SAVR) are conflicting. To address this limitation, a meta-analysis comparing the early and late outcomes of SAVR plus CABG with i-SAVR was performed. Electronic databases from January 2000 to November 2021 were screened. Studies reporting early-term and long-term comparison between the two treatments in patients over 75 years were analyzed. The primary endpoints were in-hospital/30-day mortality and overall long-term survival. The pooled odd ratio (OR) and hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for in-early outcome and long-term survival, respectively. Random-effect model was used in all analyses. Forty-four retrospective observational studies reporting on 74,560 patients (i-SAVR = 36,062; SAVR + CABG = 38,498) were included for comparison. The pooled analysis revealed that i-SAVR was significantly associated with lower rate of early mortality compared to SAVR plus CABG (OR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.66-0.75; p < 0.0001) and with lower incidence of postoperative acute renal failure (OR = 0.65; 95% CI 0.50-0.91; p = 0.02), need for dialysis (OR = 0.65; 95% CI 0.50-0.86; p = 0.002) and prolonged mechanical ventilation (OR = 0.57; 95% CI 0.42-0.77; p < 0.0001). Twenty-two studies reported data of long-term follow-up. No differences were reported between the two groups in long-term survival (HR = 0.95; 95% CI  0.87-1.03; p = 0.23). CABG added to SAVR is associated with worse early outcomes in terms of early mortality, postoperative acute renal failure, and prolonged mechanical ventilation. Long-term survival was comparable between the two treatments., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The development of transcatheter therapies to treat valvular heart diseases has changed the rules of the game, particularly in the case of aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation. In the last years, the tricuspid valve has also been the focus of these percutaneous techniques for several reasons: (1) tricuspid regurgitation is a frequent disease associated with poor clinical outcomes in spite of medical treatment, leading to end-stage right ventricular heart failure, (2) surgical tricuspid valve repair or replacement has been the treatment of choice for patients with tricuspid valve disease, but high mortality rates for isolated surgical tricuspid valve intervention have been reported in the literature, and (3) most patients with tricuspid pathology are ultimately denied cardiac surgery because of their comorbidity burden. Thus, in this context the development of less invasive catheter-based therapies would be of high clinical relevance. The present review provides an overview regarding the framework of chronic tricuspid regurgitation transcatheter therapeutic options, summarizes the transcatheter systems under clinical use or clinical evaluation with their technical features, and describes the updated current evidence in this challenging and evolving field., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Alperi, Almendárez, Álvarez, Moris, Leon, Silva, Hernández-Vaquero, Pascual and Avanzas.)

Objectives: To analyze gender disparity in scientific productivity reflected by the authorship of articles in the journal Emergencias over the past decade., Material and Methods: Retrospective longitudinal study. We included articles in all issues published between January 2011 and December 2020, analyzing the number of authors, their gender, article type, year of publication, and preferential authorship credit (first author, corresponding author, and last author positioning). The percentages of women named in each position were calculated, and the trend over time was analyzed., Results: A total of 1240 articles signed by 5213 authors were collected; a woman was named in 1889 of the cases (36.2%). A woman was the first author of 384 articles (31%), the corresponding author of 352 (28.4%), and the last author of 358 (28.9%). The number of female authors of original research articles or meta-analyses tended to increase over time (P = .047), but no statistically significant gender trends were observed in the authorship of editorials, narrative reviews, scientific letters or short communications, letters to the editor, or any other publication category., Conclusion: The publication of articles by women in Emergencias has increased over the past decade. However, women continue to author fewer articles than men.

The long-term results in studies comparing octogenarian patients who received either isolated surgical aortic valve replacement (i-SAVR) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in addition to SAVR are still debated. We performed a reconstructed time-to-event data meta-analysis of studies comparing i-SAVR and CABG+SAVR to evaluate the impact of CABG and to analyse the time-varying effects on long-term outcome. We performed a systematic review of the literature from January 2000 through November 2021, including studies comparing i-SAVR and CABG+SAVR, which reported at least 3-year follow-up and that plotted Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival. The primary endpoint was overall long-term survival; secondary endpoints were in-hospital/30-day mortality and postoperative outcomes. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) and odds ratio) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for primary and secondary endpoints, respectively. Random-effect model was used in all analyses. Sixteen retrospective studies were included (5382 patients, i-SAVR = 2568 and CABG+SAVR = 2814). I-SAVR showed a lower incidence of in-hospital mortality compared to CABG+SAVR (odds ratio = 0.73; 95% CI= 0.60-0.89; P = 0.002). Landmark analyses showed a significantly higher all-cause mortality within 1 year from surgery in CABG+SAVR (HR = 1.17; 95% CI = 1.01-1.36; P = 0.03); after 1 year, no significant difference was observed (HR = 0.95; 95% CI = 0.87-1.04; P = 0.35). Landmark analysis was confirmed by time-varying trend of HR. Late survival of octogenarians did not differ significantly between the 2 interventions. Interestingly, CABG added to SAVR was associated with both higher in-hospital and within 1-year mortality after surgery, whereas this difference was statistically non-significant at long-term follow-up., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.)

Introduction and Objectives: This study aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of modifying the classic implantation technique for aortic transcatheter heart valve (THV) implantation to a cusp-overlap-projection (COP) technique to achieve a higher implantation depth and to reduce the burden of new permanent pacemaker implantation (PPMI) at 30 days. Aortic self-expanding THV carries an elevated risk for PPMI. A higher implantation depth minimizes the damage in the conduction system and may reduce PPMI rates., Methods: From March 2017, 226 patients were consecutively included: 113 patients were treated using the COP implantation technique compared with the previous 113 consecutive patients treated using the classic technique. In all patients, implantation depth was assessed by 3 methods (noncoronary cusp to the THV, mean of the noncoronary cusp and the left coronary cusp to the THV, and the deepest edge from the left coronary cusp and the noncoronary cusp to the THV)., Results: The COP group had a lower implantation depth than the group treated with the classic technique (4.8 mm± 2.2 vs 5.7 mm± 3.1; P=.011; 5.8 mm± 3.1 vs 6.5 mm± 2.4; P=.095; 7.1 mm± 2.8 vs 7.4 mm±3.2; P=.392). Forty patients (17.7%) required a new PPMI after the 30-day follow-up but this requirement was significantly lower in the COP group (12.4% vs 23%, P=.036). The COP implantation technique consistently protected against the main event (OR, 0.45; 95%CI, 0.21-0.97; P=.043), with similar procedural success rates and complications., Conclusions: The COP implantation technique is a simple modification of the implantation protocol and provides a higher implantation depth of self-expanding-THV with lower conduction disturbances and PPMI rates., (Copyright © 2021 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: In complex and deformed knees, soft tissue release (STR) is required to obtain symmetry in the femorotibial gap. The objective of this study was to attempt to predict the need for soft tissue release using surgical navigation in total knee replacement (TKR)., Methods: Prospective and non-randomized study. One hundred thirty knees. At the start of navigation, an attempt was made to correct the femorotibial mechanical axis by applying force to the medial or lateral side of the knee (varus-valgus stress angle test). A gap balanced technique with computer-assisted surgery (CAS) was performed in all cases. The ligaments were tensioned, and using CAS visualization and control, progressive STR was performed in the medial or lateral side until a symmetry of the femorotibial gap was achieved., Results: Eighty-two patients had a varus axis ≥ 3° and 38 had a valgus axis (P < 0.001). STR was performed under navigation control in 38.5% of cases, lateral release (LR) in 12 cases, and medial release (MR) in 38 cases. After performing the varus-valgus stress angle test (VVSAT), the axis of 0° could be restored at some point during the manoeuvre in 28 cases. STR was required in 44.6% of varus cases and 27% of valgus cases (P = 0.05). A significant relationship was found between the previous deformity and the need for MR (P < 0.001) or LR (P = 0.001). STR was more common in male patients (P = 0.002) and as obesity increased., Conclusion: This study shows that pre-operative factors favouring the need to perform STR in a TKR implant can be defined., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Introduction and Objectives: In young patients with severe aortic stenosis, it is unknown whether their life expectancy restored after aortic valve replacement (AVR) is unknown., Methods: We analyzed all patients aged between 50 and 65 years who underwent isolated AVR in 27 Spanish centers during an 18-year period. We compared observed and expected survival at 15 years of follow-up. We repeated all analyses for patients without complications in the postoperative period., Results: A total of 5084 patients were analyzed. For the overall sample, observed survival at 10 and 15 years was 85.3% (95%CI, 84.1%-86.4%) and 73.7% (95%CI, 71.6%-75.6%), respectively. Expected survival was 90.1% and 82.1%. Cumulative relative survival for 1, 5, 10 and 15 years of follow-up was 97.4% (95%CI, 96.9%-97.9%), 96.5% (95%CI, 95.7%-97.3%), 94.7% (95%CI, 93.3%-95.9%), and 89.8% (95%CI, 87.3%-92.1%). For patients without complications, cumulative relative survival for 1, 5, 10 and 15 years was 100.3% (95%CI, 99.8%-100.5%), 98.9% (95%CI 97.6% -99.9%), 97.3% (95%CI, 94.9%-99.4%), and 91.9% (95%CI, 86.5%-96.8%)., Conclusions: Life expectancy in young patients who have severe aortic stenosis and undergo AVR is lower than that of the general population. Life expectancy of individuals without complications during the postoperative period is also reduced. Therefore, baseline characteristics are likely the main factors that explain the reduction in life expectancy., (Copyright © 2021 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is crucial in tissue remodeling after an adverse cardiac event. In experimental studies, melatonin has been found to attenuate MMP-9 activation. The present study assessed the effects of systemic melatonin administration on the prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) successfully treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention, and to examine the effects on MMP-9 levels., Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial, enrolling patients who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention due to AMI. They were assigned to two groups for melatonin or placebo. The primary endpoint was a combined event of mortality and heart failure readmission at 2 years. The secondary endpoint was the levels of MMP-9 after the percutaneous coronary intervention., Results: Ninety-four patients were enrolled, 45 in the melatonin group and 49 in the control group. At 2 years of follow-up, 13 (13.8%) patients suffered the primary endpoint (3 deaths and 10 readmissions due to heart failure), 3 patients in the melatonin group and 10 in the placebo group. The difference in the restricted mean survival time was 87.5 days ( p = 0.02); HR = 0.3 (95% CI 0.08-1.08; p = 0.06); Log-rank test 0.04. After controlling for confounding variables, melatonin administration reduced MMP-9 levels to 90 ng/mL (95% CI 77.3-102.6)., Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrated that compared to placebo, melatonin administration was associated with better outcomes in AMI patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine if modifying the classical implantation technique for self-expanding (SE) transcatheter aortic valve replacement to a novel cusp-overlapping projection (COP) technique results in a higher implantation depth (ID) and subsequently reduces the rate of permanent pacemaker implantation (PPMI)., Background: The COP technique presents the potential benefit of an optimized ID to reduce the rate of PPMI. However, only a few studies have compared clinical outcomes with those achieved using the standard technique. This is the first study to systematically evaluate this approach for SE transcatheter heart valves (THVs) in different populations METHODS: Beginning in February 2015, 444 patients were consecutively included. Propensity score matching was used to control baseline characteristics because of the observational nature of the study. In total, 161 pairs of patients were analyzed. Three methods were used to measure ID (noncoronary cusp [NCC] to the THV, mean of the NCC and the left coronary cusp [LCC] to the THV, and the deepest edge from the LCC and the NCC to the THV)., Results: ID was significantly higher in COP cases when measuring from the NCC (4.2 mm vs 5.3 mm; P < 0.001) and the mean from the NCC and the LCC (5.3 mm vs 5.9 mm; P = 0.04), but not from the deepest edge. The PPMI rate was lower in the COP group: 19 (11.8%) vs 35 (21.7%) (P = 0.03; relative risk: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.32-0.91)., Conclusions: The present study showed that the COP technique significantly reduces PPMI in SE THV implantation compared with the classical implantation technique, with similar rates of complications., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures Dr Moris is a proctor for Medtronic. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D-TMDs) are among the most promising materials for exploring and exploiting exciton transitions. Excitons in 2D-TMDs present remarkably long lifetimes, even at room temperature. The spectral response of exciton transitions in 2D-TMDs has been thoroughly characterized over the past decade by means of photoluminescence spectroscopy, transmittance spectroscopy, and related techniques; however, the spectral dependence of their electronic response is still not fully characterized. In this work, we investigate the electronic response of exciton transitions in monolayer MoSe 2 via low-temperature photocurrent spectroscopy. We identify the spectral features associated with the main exciton and trion transitions, with spectral bandwidths down to 15 meV. We also investigate the effect of the Fermi level on the position and intensity of excitonic spectral features, observing a very strong modulation of the photocurrent, which even undergoes a change in sign when the Fermi level crosses the charge neutrality point. Our results demonstrate the unexploited potential of low-temperature photocurrent spectroscopy for studying excitons in low-dimensional materials, and provide new insight into excitonic transitions in 1L-MoSe 2 .

Ionic-liquid gating (ILG) is able to enhance carrier densities well above the achievable values in traditional field-effect transistors (FETs), revealing it to be a promising technique for exploring the electronic phases of materials in extreme doping regimes. Due to their chemical stability, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are ideal candidates to produce ionic-liquid-gated FETs. Furthermore, as recently discovered, ILG can be used to obtain the band gap of two-dimensional semiconductors directly from the simple transfer characteristics. In this work, we present an overview of the operation principles of ionic liquid gating in TMD-based transistors, establishing the importance of the reference voltage to obtain hysteresis-free transfer characteristics, and hence, precisely determine the band gap. We produced ILG-based bilayer WSe 2 FETs and demonstrated their ambipolar behavior. We estimated the band gap directly from the transfer characteristics, demonstrating the potential of ILG as a spectroscopy technique.

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) phototransistors have been the object of intensive research during the last years due to their potential for photodetection. Photoresponse in these devices is typically caused by a combination of two physical mechanisms: the photoconductive effect (PCE) and photogating effect (PGE). In earlier literature for monolayer (1L) MoS 2 phototransistors, PGE is generally attributed to charge trapping by polar molecules adsorbed to the semiconductor channel, giving rise to a very slow photoresponse. Thus, the photoresponse of 1L-MoS 2 phototransistors at high-frequency light modulation is assigned to PCE alone. Here we investigate the photoresponse of a fully h-BN encapsulated monolayer (1L) MoS 2 phototransistor. In contrast with previous understanding, we identify a rapidly-responding PGE mechanism that becomes the dominant contribution to photoresponse under high-frequency light modulation. Using a Hornbeck-Haynes model for the photocarrier dynamics, we fit the illumination power dependence of this PGE and estimate the energy level of the involved traps. The resulting energies are compatible with shallow traps in MoS 2 caused by the presence of sulfur vacancies.

Introduction and Objectives: In the last few decades, there has been a continuous process of improvement in medical treatment and secondary prevention measures after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Patients older than 65 years are at increased risk of death due to this event. Our aim was to determine whether patients aged less than 65 years and 65 years and older experiencing a STEMI can recover a life expectancy similar to that of the general population of the same age, sex, and geographical region., Methods: We included all patients experiencing a STEMI at our institution during a 6-year period in an observational-study (SurviSTEMI: survival in STEMI). We calculated their observed survival, expected survival, and excess mortality. We repeated all analyses for survivors of the acute event stratifying by 65 years., Results: For patients aged <65 years who survived the STEMI, observed survival at 3 and 5 years of follow-up was 97.68% (95%CI, 96.05%-98.64%) and 94.14% (95%CI, 90.89%-96.25%), respectively. Expected survival at 3 and 5 years was 98.12% and 96.61%. For patients ≥ 65 years who survived the STEMI, observed survival at 3 and 5 years was 85.52% (95%CI, 82.23%-88.24%) and 75.43% (95%CI, 70.26%-79.83%), respectively. Expected survival at 3 and 5 years was 86.48% and 76.56%, respectively., Conclusions: For survivors of the acute event, life expectancy is fairly similar to that of the general population of the same age, sex, and geographical region., (Copyright © 2020 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Some researchers have observed an increased number of deaths during the follow-up of young patients who undergo aortic valve replacement due to severe aortic stenosis, suggesting that this procedure does not restore their life expectancy. Our goal was to confirm these findings and explore sex-based differences., Methods: All patients between 50 and 65 years of age who underwent isolated aortic valve replacement in 27 Spanish centres during an 18-year period were included. We compared observed and expected survival at 15 years of follow-up and estimated the cumulative incidence of death from a competing risks point of view. We stratified by sex and analysed if being a woman was an independent risk factor for death., Results: For men, the observed survival at 10 and 15 years of follow-up was 85% [95% confidence interval (CI) 83.6%-86.4%] and 72.3% (95% CI 69.7%-74.7%), respectively whereas the expected survival was 88.1% and 78.8%. For women, the observed survival at 10 and 15 years was 85% (95% CI 82.8%-86.9%) and 73% (95% CI 69.1%-76.4%), whereas the expected survival was 94.6% and 89.4%. At 15 years of follow-up, the cumulative incidence of death due to the disease in men and women was 8.2% and 16.7%, respectively. In addition, being a woman was an independent risk factor for death (hazard ratio = 1.23 (95% CI 1.02-1.48; P = 0.03)., Conclusions: After the aortic valve replacement, men and women do not have their life expectancy restored, but this loss is much higher in women than in men. In addition, being a woman is a risk factor for long-term death. Reasons for these findings are unknown and must be investigated., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Introduction and Objectives: To help to illustrate the trends in isolated surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in Spain, we performed a national-level analysis to investigate the changes from 1998 to 2017 in a) SAVR volume, b) patients' risk profiles, c) in-hospital mortality, and d) types of aortic valve prostheses., Methods: We included all episodes of patients undergoing isolated SAVR from January 1998 to December 2017 recorded in the Minimum Basic Data Set (Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs, and Social Welfare, Spain). The study duration was divided into four 5-year periods. We analyzed the trends in SAVR volume, comorbidity prevalence, and in-hospital mortality. Through multivariate logistic regression, we identified factors associated with mortality and type of prosthesis. The risk-adjusted mortality rate was compared over the study period., Results: In total, 73 668 patients underwent an isolated SAVR from 1998 to 2017. The annual volume of procedures increased from 16 363 between 1998 and 2002 to 22 685 between 2013 and 2017. The prevalence of all investigated comorbidities increased, except for history of previous myocardial infarction and unplanned admission. The Charlson comorbidity index worsened from 1998-2002 (2.3; SD, 1.4) to 2013-2017 (3.6; SD, 1.7) (P <.001). In-hospital mortality decreased from 7.2% to 3.3% (P <.001) while the risk-adjusted mortality index improved from 1.3 to 0.7. The proportion of bioprostheses increased from 20.7% (1998-2002) to 59.6% (2013-2017) (P <.001)., Conclusions: We detected an increase in the annual SAVR volume in Spain, with more patients receiving bioprostheses. Despite an increased risk profile of the patients, in-hospital mortality substantially reduced., (Copyright © 2020 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: There is no robust evidence regarding the types of valves implanted among patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in Spain., Methods: All cases of patients undergoing SAVR ± coronary artery bypass grafting from January 2007 to December 2018 in the public Spanish National Health System were included. We analyzed the trends of SAVR volume, risk profile and type of implanted valve across time and place. Using multivariable logistic regression, we identified factors associated with biological SAVR., Results: In total, 62,870 episodes of SAVR in 15 Spanish territories were included. In 35,693 (56.8%), a tissue valve was implanted. The annual volume of procedures increased from 107.3/million (2007) to 128.6 (2017). In 2018, it fell to 108.5. Age increased and Charlson's comorbity index worsened throughout the study period. Tissue valve implantation increased in most regions. After adjusting for other covariates, we observed a high variability in aortic valve implantation across different regions, with differences of as much as 20-fold in the use of tissue valves., Conclusions: Between 2007 and 2018, we detected a significant increase in the use of bioprostheses in patients undergoing SAVR in Spain, and a great variability in the types of valve between the Spanish territories, which was not explained by the different risk profiles of patients.

Background: Precise evaluation of the degree of frailty is a fundamental part of the global geriatric assessment that helps to avoid therapies that could be futile. Our main objective was to determine the prevalence of frailty in a specific consult of patients undergoing aortic valve replacement., Methods: From May 2018 to February 2020, all consecutive patients ≥75 years old, with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis, undergoing valve replacement in the Principality of Asturias (Northern Spain) were evaluated., Results: A total of 286 patients were assessed. The mean age was 84 ± 4.01 years old; 175 (61.2%) were female. The short performance physical battery score was 8.5 ± 2.4 and the prevalence of frailty was 19.6% (56 patients). In the multivariable analysis, age, Barthel index and atrial fibrillation were independent predictors of frailty., Conclusions: The prevalence of frailty in our sample patients undergoing aortic valve replacement, evaluated by a standardized protocol, was 19.6%.

Introduction: Spain is one of the countries with the lowest rates of revascularisation and highest ratio of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)., Objectives: To investigate the changes and trends in the two revascularisation procedures between 1998 and 2017 in Spain., Design: Retrospective cohort study. Analysis of in-hospital outcomes., Setting: Minimum basic data set from the Spanish National Department of Health: mandatory database collecting information of patients who are attended in the Spanish public National Health System., Participants: 603 976 patients who underwent isolated CABG or PCI in the Spanish National Health System. The study period was divided in four 5-year intervals. Patients with acute myocardial infarction on admission were excluded., Primary and Secondary Outcomes: We investigated the volume of procedures nationwide, the changes of the risk profile of patients and in-hospital mortality of both techniques., Results: We observed a 2.2-fold increase in the rate of any type of myocardial revascularisation per million inhabitants-year: 357 (1998) to 776 (2017). 93 682 (15.5%) had a coronary surgery. PCI to CABG ratio rose from 2.2 (1998-2002) to 8.1 (2013-2017). Charlson's index increased by 0.8 for CABG and 1 for PCI. The median annual volume of PCI/hospital augmented from 136 to 232, while the volume of CABG was reduced from 137 to 74. In the two decades, we detected a significant reduction of CABG in-hospital mortality (6.5% vs 2.6%, p<0.001) and a small increase in PCI (1.2% vs 1.5%, p<0.001). Risk adjusted mortality rate was reduced for both CABG (1.51 vs 0.48, p<0.001), and PCI (1.42 vs 1.05, p<0.001)., Conclusion: We detected a significant increase in the volume of revascularisations (particularly PCI) in Spain. Risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality was significantly reduced., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Introduction and Objectives: Asian desert dust has recently been recognized as a trigger for acute myocardial infarction. The inflow of dust from the Sahara into Spain impairs air quality due to an increase in particulate matter concentrations in the ambient air. The aim of the present study was to elucidate whether Saharan dust events are associated with the incidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in patients living near North Africa, the major global dust source., Methods: We prospectively collected data on hospitalizations due to ACS in 2416 consecutive patients from a tertiary care hospital (Canary Islands, Spain) from December 2012 to December 2017. Concentrations of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter 10 microns or smaller (PM 10 ) and reactive gases were measured in the European Air Quality Network implemented in the Canary Islands. We applied the time-stratified case crossover design using conditional Poisson regression models to estimate the impact of PM 10 Saharan dust events on the incidence of ACS., Results: The occurrence of Saharan dust events observed 0 to 5 days before the onset of ACS was not significantly associated with the incidence of ACS. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) of PM 10 levels 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 days before ACS onset (for changes in 10μg/m 3 ) were 1.27 (95%CI, 0.87-1.85), 0.92 (95%CI, 0.84-1.01), 0.74 (95%CI, 0.45-1.22), 0.98 (95%CI, 0.87-1.11), and 0.95 (95%CI, 0.84-1.06), respectively., Conclusions: Exposure to Saharan desert dust is unlikely to be associated with the incidence of ACS., (Copyright © 2020 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)