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COVID-19 is now appreciated as a pandemic, presenting with a wide range of symptoms, mostly respiratory, yet involving other organs massively. Myocardial injury is a crucial complication with significant negative impact on prognosis. Despite all the investigations, exact pathophysiologic mechanisms remain unclear, and so do the appropriate treatments. Thrombosis has been increasingly observed since the first reports, with venous thromboembolism being the major concern. The strategy of thrombosis prophylaxis, though known to be helpful to the clinical scenario, is still a subject of debate.

Aims A considerable proportion of hospitalized patients for acute decompensated heart failure will be readmitted or die in short‐term follow‐up. In the present study, we aimed to assess the role of admission sodium (Na) and uric acid (UA) levels in the prediction of 30 day post‐discharge heart failure readmission or all‐cause mortality in advanced heart failure patients admitted with acute decompensation. Methods and results One hundred and forty consecutive advanced heart failure patients who were admitted for a recent cardiac decompensation were enrolled in this prospective study. Serum Na and UA levels remained statistically unchanged during index admission (P = 0. 54 and 0.19, respectively). Within 30 days post‐discharge, composite end point of heart failure rehospitalization or all‐cause death occurred in 62 (44.3%) patients (event group). Length of stay was statistically similar between patients in the event and non‐event groups (P = 0.38). No correlations were also found between length of stay and left ventricular ejection fraction, serum Na, UA, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hs‐CRP), creatinine, and N‐terminal pro b‐type natriuretic peptide (NT‐proBNP) levels (all P > 0.05). Lower left ventricular ejection fraction and Na and higher UA on admission were significantly associated with 30 day event both in univariate and multivariate analyses. Conclusions Given the predictive role of baseline Na and UA for early post‐discharge outcome and the absence of significant changes in their levels during initial hospitalization, admission Na and UA can be considered as prognosticators of acute decompensated heart failure, which their prognostic significance cannot be affected by routine acute heart failure therapy.

Background Diagnosis of aortic coarctation is important as it is a difficult condition to evaluate, especially in adults. A Doppler echocardiographic index could provide a simple tool to evaluate coarctation. This study was performed to compare Doppler echocardiographic profiles before and after stenting and to assess the diagnostic value of a complete list of echocardiographic indices for detecting aortic coarctation. Methods This prospective study was conducted on 23 patients with a diagnosis of aortic coarctation based on angiography. Echocardiographic assessment was done twice for all patients before and after stenting. Each time, two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic imaging modalities were performed and complete lists of indices were recorded for each case. After comparing the values of indices before and after stenting, diagnostic values of each index were calculated in order to diagnose significant coarctation. Results Twenty-three patients, including 16 males and seven females with a mean age of 26.14 ± 10.17 years, were enrolled in this study. Except for the mean velocity and mean pressure gradient of the abdominal aorta, the values of the other indices of the abdominal/descending aorta showed enough change after stenting to indicate significant diagnostic accuracy for detecting aortic coarctation. The velocity–time integral and the pressure half-time were among the indices with the highest accuracy rates for this purpose (all p < 0.001). Conclusion Post-stenting echocardiographic profiles could provide a reliable reference value of the normal aortic haemodynamics as a unique identification of each patient and it is presumed that these indices could be used as reliable indicators of response to treatment.