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Ceria nanocrystals were prepared hydrothermally and tested as potential catalysts for oxidation of volatile organic compounds using toluene as a model compound. Pure ceria with a crystallite size of 4 nm, determined by the Scherrer method from XRD pattern has been obtained. The specific surface area of the prepared nanoparticles determined by BET analysis yielded 201 m2 g-1, while the band gap of 3.2 eV was estimated from DRS spectrum via Tauc's plot. Catalytic tests were performed on calcined ceria (500 °C) with increased crystallite size (9 nm) caused by thermal treatment. The tests showed good activities for the toluene oxidation with T50 temperatures, corresponding to 50 % toluene conversion, observed at 250 °C and even lower temperatures depending on the total flow rate of the gas mixture. The one-dimensional pseudo-homogeneous model of the fixed bed reactor was proposed to describe the reactor performance and the appropriate kinetic parameters were estimated. Good agreement between experimental data and the proposed model was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aortitis is an uncommon cause of aortic aneurysms. Arterial inflammation can lead to irreversible vascular damage. Early recognition is necessary for treatment to prevent permanent consequences of vessel inflammation., Competing Interests: The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Background: The recommended treatment for recurrent ventricular tachycardia in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that is not amenable to defibrillator implantation due to shock burden is radiofrequency ablation. In patients with deeply intramural foci of ventricular tachycardia, traditional unipolar ablation has a lower probability of success., Case Summary: A 66-year-old Caucasian man was admitted with ventricular tachycardia, which recurred despite antiarrhythmic drugs. On cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, he was discovered to have septal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which was not significant on echocardiogram. The focus of ventricular tachycardia was suspected to be buried deeply within the hypertrophic segment as localized by late gadolinium enhancement. The patient underwent transcoronary ethanol ablation, which abated the ventricular tachycardia while also completely decreasing his invasively measured left ventricular outflow tract obstruction gradient from 45 to 17 mmHg., Discussion: Transcoronary ethanol ablation may be successfully applied to simultaneously treat ventricular arrhythmia superimposed within a segment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Further data are needed to evaluate long-term success of this strategy vs. traditional radiofrequency ablation., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: None declared., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)

Primary cardiac tumors account for only 0.3% of all cardiac tumors; of these, lymphomas account for only 2% of all primary cardiac tumors. Cardiac lymphomas have a grim prognosis, often less than 1 year due to delays in diagnosis and treatment. Cardiac MRI is the gold standard for the imaging of cardiac tumors. We describe the case of a 76-year-old man with no significant past medical history who presented to the emergency department with a large pericardial effusion that was found to be consistent with cardiac lymphoma on cardiac MRI prior to tissue diagnosis of a primary cardiac diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The clinical and radiological features of cardiac lymphoma are reviewed, and the therapeutic management and side-effects that the patient experienced are discussed., Competing Interests: Disclosure: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. Consent: The patient provided written informed consent regarding publication of their data and photographs., (Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Radcliffe Group Ltd.)

Competing Interests: Dr Okwuosa has served as a consultant for Antev. Dr Pauwaa has received honoraria from Pfizer and AstraZeneca. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.

Background: Clinical features and imaging presentation of myocarditis can overlap with other inflammatory or arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies. Desmoplakin (DSP) is an important structural cardiac protein. Mutations in the DSP gene are associated with a variant of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). Interestingly, this distinct genetic cardiomyopathy can also present with a myocardial inflammation and fibrosis pattern that may mimic other forms of myocarditis including viral myocarditis, which can raise a clinical challenge. We report two cases of DSP cardiomyopathy, which were initially thought to represent coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) myocarditis., Case Summary: First patient is a 21-your-old woman with no past medical history but family history of presumed 'viral myocarditis' and ventricular tachycardia in her brother. She presented with acute chest pain and elevated cardiac enzymes. She tested positive for COVID-19 and given the suspicion for possible COVID-19 related acute myocarditis, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging obtained and revealed regional wall motion abnormalities, several areas of subepicardial and pericardial late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). Ambulatory cardiac monitoring showed runs of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia and considering her family history of arrhythmogenic myocarditis, genetic testing was performed that was positive for a likely pathogenic heterozygous mutation of DSP gene. She declined the recommended implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).Second patient is a 34-year-old physician with no significant past medical history who works at a COVID-19 unit and presented with syncope and was found to have ventricular tachycardia. Echocardiogram revealed severely dilated left ventricle and globally depressed systolic function with left ventricular ejection fraction of 20%. Coronary computed tomography angiography showed no evidence of coronary atherosclerosis. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging revealed several areas of mid myocardial and pericardial LGE. Subcutaneous ICD was implanted and an endomyocardial biopsy had evidence of lymphocytic myocarditis and adipose tissue infiltration of the myocardium. Genetic testing revealed pathogenic heterozygous DSP mutation. He underwent epicardial ablation for the episodes of ventricular tachycardia despite medical therapy. He was able to return to work and has not had any further episodes of arrhythmia., Conclusion: Mutations in the DSP gene are associated with left dominant arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, which is a variant of ARVC. Beside left ventricular systolic dysfunction and ventricular tachyarrhythmias, carriers of these mutations may present with episodes of chest pain associated with elevated cardiac enzymes and cardiac imaging findings indistinguishable from other forms of acute myocarditis including viral myocarditis. Currently, there are no guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of this entity., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)

Introduction  Severe novel corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes dysregulation of the coagulation system with arterial and venous thromboembolism (VTE). We hypothesize that validated VTE risk scores would have prognostic ability in this population. Methods  Retrospective observational cohort with severe COVID-19 performed in NorthShore University Health System. Patients were >18 years of age and met criteria for inpatient or intensive care unit (ICU) care. The International Medical Prevention Registry on Venous Thromboembolism (IMPROVE) and Caprini scores were calculated and patients were stratified. Results  This study includes 184 patients, mostly men (63.6%), Caucasian (54.3%), 63 years old (interquartile range [IQR]: 24-101), and 57.1% of them required ICU care. Twenty-seven (14.7%) thrombotic events occurred: 12 (6.5%) cases of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), 9 (4.9%) of pulmonary embolism, 5 (2.7%) of deep vein thrombosis, and 1 (0.5%) stroke. Among them, 86 patients (46.7%) died, 95 (51.6%) were discharged, and 3 (1.6%) were still hospitalized. "Moderate risk for VTE" and "High risk for VTE" by IMPROVE score had significant mortality association: (hazard ratio [HR]: 5.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.93-11.03; p  < 0.001) and (HR = 6.22; 95% CI: 3.04-12.71; p  < 0.001), respectively, with 87% sensitivity and 63% specificity (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.752, p  < 0.001). "High Risk for VTE" by Caprini score had significant mortality association (HR = 17.6; 95% CI: 5.56-55.96; p  < 0.001) with 96% sensitivity and 55% specificity (AUC = 0.843, p  < 0.001). Both scores were associated with thrombotic events when classified as "High risk for VTE" by IMPROVE (HR = 6.50; 95% CI: 2.72-15.53; p  < 0.001) and Caprini scores (HR = 11.507; 95% CI: 2.697-49.104; p  = 0.001). Conclusion  The IMPROVE and Caprini risk scores were independent predictors of mortality and thrombotic events in severe COVID-19. With larger validation, this can be useful prognostic information., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest 1. L.H.P.R. has received research support from Biotap. 2. A.C.S. is a consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, BMS, Portola, Bayer, the ATLAS Group. Has received research funds from Boehringer Ingelheim and Janssen. 3. J.C. is a consultant for Recovery Force. Part of the Steering Committee of Janssen R&D. Bleeding Advisory Board for Pfizer, Advisory board of BMS and Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Has received honoraria from Sanofi and Arjo, Inc. 4. A.T. has received research support from Biotap, BMS, Doasense. Research and educational grant from Janssen R&D. Is a consultant for Recovery Force., (The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).)

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has posed a major challenge for providers and patients. A large number of patients with atrial fibrillation, venous thromboembolism, or valvular heart disease are chronically anticoagulated with vitamin K antagonists and rely on frequent follow ups at anticoagulation clinics for management of their anticoagulation therapy. The need for isolation during COVID-19 pandemic can potentially limit access to health care including anticoagulation clinics and directly affect the care of patients on chronic anticoagulation. Therefore, we created a drive-through clinic to bridge the gap of continuation of care and preservation of social distancing precautions. In this manuscript, we report the steps in implementing such initiative which can be applied to other clinics during a pandemic.