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Background: Compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a suggested technique for laypeople facing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). However, it is difficult performing high-quality CPR until emergency medical services arrival with this technique. We aimed to verify whether incorporating intentional interruptions of different frequency and duration increases laypeople's CPR quality during an 8-minute scenario compared with compression-only CPR., Methods: We performed a multicenter randomized manikin study selecting participants from 2154 consecutive laypeople who followed a basic life support/automatic external defibrillation course. People who achieved high-quality CPR in 1-minute test on a computerized manikin were asked to participate. Five hundred seventy-six were enrolled, and 59 were later excluded for technical reasons or incorrect test recording. Participants were randomized in an 8-minute OHCA scenario using 3 CPR protocols (30 compressions and 2-second pause, 30c2s; 50 compressions and 5-second pause, 50c5s; 100 compressions and 10-second pause, 100c10s) or compression-only technique. The main outcome was the percentage of chest compressions with adequate depth., Results: Five hundred seventeen participants were evaluated. There was a statistically significant difference regarding the percentage of compressions with correct depth among the groups (30c2s, 96%; 50c5s, 96%; 100c10s, 92%; compression only, 79%; P = 0.006). Post hoc comparison showed a significant difference for 30c2s (P = 0.023) and for 50c5s (P = 0.003) versus compression only. Regarding secondary outcome, there were a higher chest compression fraction in the compression-only group and a higher rate of pauses longer than 10 seconds in the 100c10s., Conclusions: In a simulated OHCA, 30c2s and 50c5s protocols were characterized by a higher rate of chest compressions with correct depth than compression only. This could have practical consequences in laypeople CPR training and recommendations.Clinical Trial Registration: NCT02632500., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Society for Simulation in Healthcare.)

High-quality chest compressions are pivotal to improve survival from cardiac arrest. Basic life support training of school students is an international priority. The aim of this trial was to assess the effectiveness of a real-time training software (Laerdal QCPR®) compared to a standard instructor-based feedback for chest compressions acquisition in secondary school students. After an interactive frontal lesson about basic life support and high quality chest compressions, 144 students were randomized to two types of chest compressions training: 1) using Laerdal QCPR® (QCPR group- 72 students) for real-time feedback during chest compressions with the guide of an instructor who considered software data for students' correction 2) based on standard instructor-based feedback (SF group- 72 students). Both groups had a minimum of a 2-minute chest compressions training session. Students were required to reach a minimum technical skill level before the evaluation. We evaluated all students at 7 days from the training with a 2-minute chest compressions session. The primary outcome was the compression score, which is an overall measure of chest compressions quality calculated by the software expressed as percentage. 125 students were present at the evaluation session (60 from QCPR group and 65 from SF group). Students in QCPR group had a significantly higher compression score (median 90%, IQR 81.9-96.0) compared to SF group (median 67%, IQR 27.7-87.5), p = 0.0003. Students in QCPR group performed significantly higher percentage of fully released chest compressions (71% [IQR 24.5-99.0] vs 24% [IQR 2.5-88.2]; p = 0.005) and better chest compression rate (117.5/min [IQR 106-123.5] vs 125/min [115-135.2]; p = 0.001). In secondary school students, a training for chest compressions based on a real-time feedback software (Laerdal QCPR®) guided by an instructor is superior to instructor-based feedback training in terms of chest compression technical skill acquisition., Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12616000383460., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical utility and prognostic significance of a cluster of 27 serum cytokines for risk stratification after myocardial infarction., Materials and Methods: We enrolled 33 consecutive patients admitted to our institution for acute myocardial infarction and prospectively followed. We evaluated traditional cardiovascular risk factors and assayed, during the acute phase, 27 serum cytokines (IL-1, IL-1ra, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL -7, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-15, IL-17, EOTAXIN, FGF, G-CSF, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, IP-10, MCP-1, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, PDGF, RANTES, TNF-α, VEGF) potentially associated with cardiovascular risk. Patients were divided into two groups during follow-up according to the occurrence or absence of adverse cardiovascular events (recurrence of angina, re-infarction, death, need of new revascularization, occurrence of heart failure). We developed an additive risk score by assigning one point for each cytokine that had a value greater than the median value (range 0-27). Cytokines alone and the cytokines score were related to cardiovascular events., Results: Patients with and without major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) at follow up had a homogenous distribution of the main cardiovascular risk factors; differences were detected only for sex and age. Patients who experienced MACE had a significantly different distribution of I troponin (p=0.036), IL-8 (p=0.006), IL-13 (p=0.06), IL-10 (p=0.02), IL-17 (p=0.015), IP-10 (p=0.02), MIP-1β (p=0.05). At univariate analysis, IL -8 (p=0.046 OR 1.13), IL-10 (p=0.05 OR 1.14) and MIP-1β (p=0.016, OR 1.02) were significantly associated with the occurrence of MACE. This association was not confirmed at multivariate analysis. At the analysis of variance, a higher score was significantly associated with the occurrence of adverse events at follow up (F=5.07, p=0.03). At ROC curve analysis, a score greater than 13 better predicted the occurrence of adverse events at follow-up (AUC 0.72, p=0.03, sensibility 59.1%, specificity 81.8%)., Conclusions: In our study we did not identify a single inflammatory cytokine able to predict adverse events in a long term follow up, whereas the presence of more than 13 cytokines above the median value was useful for risk stratification., (© 2015 by the Association of Clinical Scientists, Inc.)

Aims: The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between insulin resistance and the detection of precocious echocardiographic signs of heart failure in patients with cardiovascular risk factors., Methods: We enrolled 34 consecutive patients with cardiovascular risk factors. All patients underwent coronary angiography, echocardiography, and laboratory tests. Exclusion criteria were diabetes (fasting glucose greater than 126 mg/dl or treatment with insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents), coronary artery disease, creatinine above 1.5 mg/dl, left-ventricular hypertrophy, valvular heart disease, ejection fraction below 50%, atrial fibrillation, or other severe arrhythmia. The presence of insulin resistance was assessed by using the Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR). Ventricular function was investigated by echocardiography., Results: Distinguishing patients with insulin resistance, based on the median value of HOMA-IR (<4.06 and >4.06), we observed that in the group with higher levels of HOMA-IR, there were echocardiographic signs of subclinical ventricular dysfunction statistically more frequent (E/A in group with HOMA <4.06: 1.159 + 0.33 vs. group with HOMA >4.06: 0.87 + 0.29, P = 0.0136; E/E': 6.42 + 4 vs. 15.52 + 3.26, P = 0.001; Tei index: 0.393 + 0.088 vs. 0.489 + 0.079, P = 0.0029; S wave: 0112 + 0.015 vs. 0.114 + 0.027, P = 0.0001; ejection fraction 59.11 + 4.75 vs. 58.88 + 6.81, P = 0.9078). Grade II diastolic dysfunction was observed in 5 patients, grade I in 12 patients, and 17 patients had normal diastolic function. On multivariate analysis, HOMA-IR (P = 0.0092), hypertension (P = 0.0287), waist circumference (P = 0.0009), high-density lipoprotein (P = 0.0004), and fasting blood glucose (P = 0.0003) were variables independently associated with diastolic dysfunction. On analysis of covariance, we found that the variables that influence diastolic dysfunction are HOMA-IR, waist circumference, BMI, and age, and that the only variable that influences Tei index is HOMA-IR., Conclusion: Insulin resistance is frequently associated with subclinical left-ventricular dysfunction. Patients with cardiovascular risk factors and increased HOMA-IR levels, although without diabetes mellitus, overt coronary artery disease, or hypertensive cardiomyopathy, may represent a target population for screening programs, recommended changes in lifestyle, and possibly the use of pharmacological interventions to prevent the onset of heart failure.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to compare the semi-automatic measurement of carotid intima thickness (RFQIMT - Esaote, Italy), with the conventional method., Methods: We enrolle 81 patients, mean age 46 years ±15, with no history of cardio-cerebrovascular events and we assessed the traditional cardiovascular risk factors. We examined the IMT of the common carotid artery with manual and RFQIMT method (based on the "Radio Frequency" signal), according to the ASE protocol., Results: Semi-automatic measurement was on average lower than manual measurement (617 μm ±191 vs. 676 μm ± 222) with a statistically significant difference (P<0.01). In agreement with manual measurements, the values of RFQIMT increased with increasing age and presence of cardiovascular risk factors., Conclusion: The RFQIMT measurement was, on average, lower than manual measurement, this means that probably, age- and gender-related reference values of RFQIMT need to be revised.