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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a myriad of different presentations and various complications. Aortitis is one of the less explored pathologies associated with COVID-19 infections. In this review, we searched PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus for case series and case reports involving adults patients who presented with aortitis and COVID-19. We found and reviewed four published case reports of aortitis in a setting of COVID-19 infection. The mean age of the four adult patients was 69 ± 1.732 years (range = 63-71 years), and all patients were males. Most of the patients (75%) did not have any preexisting comorbidities. All patients were treated conservatively and recovered with excellent outcomes.

Introduction: Even after surgical correction, adults with a previously corrected Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) may remain at a significantly elevated risk of arrhythmias. However, there is not much known about the prevalence, comorbidity burden, and impact of arrhythmia in these patients. Methods: Using the National Inpatient Sample (2015 Oct-2017), adult admissions with previously corrected CHD were identified. The primary outcome was the prevalence of arrhythmia and secondary outcomes included comorbidities and outcomes between the arrhythmic vs. non-arrhythmic cohort. Results: Of 19,395 admissions with previously corrected CHD, 7675 (39.6%) patients experienced arrhythmias [median age 55 (39-68) years, male 51.7%, white 75%] (Table 1). The arrhythmic cohort often consisted of relatively older, male, white patients and had higher rates of hypertension (56.4% vs. 41%), hyperlipidemia (33.1% vs. 23%), diabetes (9% vs. 6.5%), renal failure (14% vs. 7.8%), and congestive heart failure (17.6% vs. 9.2%) compared to the non-arrhythmic cohort. The arrhythmic cohort had a higher frequency of patients with at least one CVD risk factor (75.5% vs. 65.4%). All-cause mortality was non-significantly higher in the cohort with arrhythmia (1.6% vs. 1.3%). Furthermore, the arrhythmic cohort was less often routinely discharged and had more frequent transfers/home healthcare requirements, prolonged hospital stay, and higher hospital charges. Conclusions: Nearly 40% of admissions among patients with a prior history of surgically corrected CHD experienced arrhythmias which were associated with a considerably higher comorbidity burden and healthcare resource utilization with non-significantly higher all-cause mortality.

Introduction: There have been increasing hospitalizations among young adults for peripheral vascular disease (PVD) in the last decade. We compared the mean age of young PVD admissions with cardiovascular comorbidities and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) across two national cohorts 10-years apart. Methods: Two nationwide cohorts from 2007 and 2017 were analyzed for mean age at presentation with CVD risk factors and MACCE in young (18-44 years) PVD hospitalizations. Age at admission was reported as Mean± SD and compared between two groups using student’s t-test. Results: A total of 37,099 admissions in 2007 and 46,760 admissions in 2017 were identified for PVD among young adults. Total admissions increased from 0.4% to 0.5%.The 2017 cohort showed that non-elective PVD admissions occurred at significantly younger age (mean 35 vs 38 years) compared to 2007 cohort. Patients with PVD had comorbid risk factors including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, obesity, and congestive heart failure (CHF) with a mean age of 39±5 years at presentation in 2007 which decreased to 38±6 years for hypertension and diabetes, 36±6 years for smoking and 37±6 years for CHF and obesity (p(Table 1). Acute myocardial infarction, cardiogenic shock and PCI procedures were recorded at a younger age in 2017 PVD cohort vs. 2007 PVD cohort. Similarly, the 2017 PVD cohort included relatively younger patients experiencing ventricular tachyarrhythmias and stroke. Conclusions: This study from two young cohorts selected 10-years apart shows increasing trends in PVD hospitalizations occurring at a significantly younger age with associated cardiovascular comorbidities and MACCE in recent years. The link between young age and complicated/severe PVD admissions with frequent comorbidities should be further investigated.

Background: Social determinants of health have an important influence on health equity. Addressing them appropriately is essential to improve population health outcomes and decrease health care disparities. We aimed to compare data from two nationwide cohorts from the US to analyze the shift of cardiovascular risk burden and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) in low-household income (LHI) groups. Methods: Adult admissions among patients from LHI (0-25th) quartile were identified from two cohorts in 2007 and 2017 using the National Inpatient Sample. Socio-demographics, and pre-existing cardiovascular/extra-cardiovascular comorbidities were compared between the cohorts and multivariable regression was performed to assess the risk of MACCE (all-cause mortality, acute myocardial infarction and cardiac arrest including ventricular tachyarrhythmias) in 2017 vs. 2007 cohort. Results: Hospitalizations among LHI quartile showed 12% relative increase in 2017 (N=10,680,030) as compared to 2007(N=9,510,877). The 2017 cohort was younger (mean age 57 to 54 years) and admissions among male patients increased from 39% to 43.6% between 2007 and 2017. Also, non-elective and Medicaid admissions increased from 74% to 81% and 21% to 32%, respectively in 2017. Traditional CVD risk factors and comorbidities in the LHI quartile increased in 2017 compared to 2007 cohort (Table 1). The risk of composite MACCE was higher in the 2017 cohort compared to 2007 cohort (7.2% vs 6.7%, adjusted OR 1.03, 95%CI:1.03-1.04, p Conclusion: Comparative analysis of LHI admissions across a decade shows that increasingly younger, male, non-white patients get hospitalized for non-elective reasons and have a higher burden of CVD risk factors and MACCE in 2017 vs. 2007. This warrants preventive strides to curtail CVD burden in patients of the LHI and improve health outcomes.

Introduction: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in cancer patients is an underrecognized problem. It can be secondary to malignancy, medications, thromboemboli in lung, and underlying cardiac or lung disease. Outcomes of PH in cancer survivors have not been studied before. The objective of this study is to study the prevalence and impact of Non-group 1 PH on admissions among cancer survivors. Methods: The National Inpatient Sample (October, 2015 to 2017), was used to identify all adult hospitalizations among cancer survivors with PH using ICD-10 codes. Primary outcome were prevalence and demographics of PH in cancer survivors. Secondary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and healthcare resource utilization. Results: Of 6,003,538 weighted nationwide admissions of cancer survivors, 4.7% (282,810) had non-group 1 PH. The prevalence of PH was higher in patients with prior cancers compared to other admissions (4.7% vs. 3.3%, p(Fig. 1) . Hypertension, Diabetes, smoking, obesity, renal failure, congestive heart failure, valvular heart disease and chronic pulmonary disease were higher in PH group. In-hospital outcomes in cancer survivors with vs. without PH showed significantly higher all-cause inpatient mortality in PH group (OR1.34, 95% CI=1.31-1.37, p Conclusion: This is the first large-scale study to demonstrate the higher burden and worse in-hospital outcomes of non-group 1 PH in cancer survivors. Early diagnosis and treatment is necessary.

Objectives: To isolate arsenic resistant Bacillus spp. and to determine plant growth promoting activities. Methods: Eighteen soil samples were collected from the agricultural soil of Terai region of Nepal. Selective isolation of Bacillus species was done by heating the soil at 80 ºC for 15 minutes before the isolation. Nutrient agar was used as an isolation medium. Screening of arsenic resistant Bacillus species was done using nutrient agar supplemented with 100 ppm sodium arsenate and sodium arsenite. For plant growth promoting activity; IAA production was detected taking 0.1% tryptophane and measuring absorbance at 540 nm, NH3 production was tested by Nessler’s reagent and phosphate solubilization activity was detected by growing colonies on Pikovskaya’s agar. Sugar assimilation test was performed to identify the isolates. Most potent arsenic resistant isolate was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: Among 54 randomly selected isolates, 42 were found to be Gram-positive rod-shaped, spore-forming while 12 isolates were Gram-negative bacteria. The isolates IN12a, M12a and BG34a showed growth on 100 ppm sodium arsenite containing NA. Only isolate M12a tolerated up to 1000 ppm and 15000 ppm of sodium arsenite and sodium arsenate respectively, while other isolates could not grow above 400 ppm sodium arsenite. The isolates IN12a and M12a were able to produce IAA and solubilize phosphate while BG34a could not. Both the isolates IN12a and M12a were able to utilize the sugars glucose, fructose, lactose, sucrose, galactose, mannose, mannitol, maltose and xylose. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequencing, isolate M12a was identified to be Bacillus flexus with highest similarity of 99.2%. Conclusion: Arsenic resistant and plant growth promoting Bacillus spp. was isolated from the agricultural soil of Terai region of Nepal