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Objective: This work was aimed at analyzing in-hospital, 30-day and 1-year mortality rates, impact of selected cardiovascular factors on mortality of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) manifested on electrocardiogram (ECG) and treated by the percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) at our cardiac center, comparing the subgroup of non-shock (survivors and deceased) patients after STEMI and evaluating how these patients differ from each other., Methods: In total, 270 patients with STEMI manifested on ECG and treated by PCI were enrolled between April 1, 2018, and March 31, 2019, at our cardiologic center. Our study sought to determine the risk of death after acute myocardial infarction with carefully selected factors and parameters such as the presence of cardiogenic shock, ischemic time, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), post‑PCI TIMI (thrombolysis in myocardial infarction) flow and serum levels of cardio‑specific markers, namely troponin T, creatine kinase and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). Further evaluation included in-hospital, 30-day and 1-year mortality rates in shock and non-shock patients and determination of factors that influence the survival separately in each subgroup. The follow-up was carried out for 12 months after the myocardial infarction in form of outpatient examinations. After 12 months of follow-up, the collected data were statistically evaluated., Results: Shock and non-shock patients differed in mortality and several other parameters including NT-proBNP values, ischemic time, TIMI flow defect and LVEF. In all outcomes (in-hospital, 30-day and 1-year mortality rates) the shock patients did worse than non-shock patients (p < 0.001). In addition, age, gender, LVEF, NT-proBNP and post‑PCI TIMI flow less than 3 were found to be important factors influencing the overall survival. In shock patients, the survival was associated with age, LVEF and TIMI flow, while in non-shock patients, the factors predicting survival were age, LVEF, level of NT-proBNP and troponin levels., Conclusion: Shock patients differed in terms of mortality in post-PCI TIMI flow, while non-shock patients varied in troponin and NT-proBNP levels. Despite early intervention, certain risk factors might affect the clinical outcome and prognosis of patients with STEMI treated by PCI (Tab. 5, Fig. 1, Ref. 30). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: myocardial infarction, primary coronary intervention, shock, mortality, cardio‑specific markers.

Background and Objectives: Iron deficiency (ID) is a common comorbidity in patients with heart failure. It is associated with reduced physical performance, frequent hospitalisations for heart failure decompensation, and high cardiovascular and overall mortality. The aim was to determine the prevalence of ID in patients with advanced heart failure on the waiting list for heart transplantation. Methods and Materials: We included 52 patients placed on the waiting list for heart transplantation in 2021 at our centre. The cohort included seven patients with LVAD (left ventricle assist device) as a bridge to transplantation implanted before the time of results collection. In addition to standard tests, the parameters of iron metabolism were monitored. ID was defined as a ferritin value <100 µg/L, or 100−299 µg/L if transferrin saturation (T-sat) is <20%. Results: ID was present in 79% of all subjects, but only in 35% of these patients anaemia was expressed. In the group without LVAD, ID was present in 82%, a median (lower−upper quartile) of ferritin level was 95.4 (62.2−152.1) µg/mL and mean T-sat was 0.18 ± 0.09. In LVAD group, ID was present in 57%, ferritin level was 268 (106−368) µg/mL and mean T-sat was 0.14 ± 0.04. Haemoglobin concentration was the same in patients with or without ID (133 ± 16) vs. (133 ± 23). ID was not associated with anaemia defined with regard to patient’s gender. In 40.5% of cases, iron deficiency was accompanied by chronic renal insufficiency, compared to 12.5% of the patients without ID. In the patients with LVAD, ID was present in four out of seven patients, but the group was too small for reliable statistical testing due to low statistical power. Conclusions: ID was present in the majority of patients with advanced heart failure and was not always accompanied by anaemia and renal insufficiency. Research on optimal markers for the diagnosis of iron deficiency, especially for specific groups of patients with heart failure, is still ongoing.

Background: florio HAEMO is a new hemophilia treatment monitoring application consisting of a patient smartphone application (app) and a web-based dashboard for healthcare professionals, providing several novel features, including activity tracking, wearable connectivity, kids and caregiver mode, and real-time pharmacokinetic factor level estimation., Objectives: To assess intuitiveness, ease-of-use, and patient preference of florio HAEMO in Central Europe using a cross-sectional survey., Methods: This survey was conducted in six Central European countries between 9 December 2020 and 24 May 2021. The online questionnaire included 17 questions about overall satisfaction, ease-of-use, intuitiveness, and patient preference. Adults or children with hemophilia on regular prophylaxis and using the florio HAEMO app for a minimum of 1 week were invited to complete the online questionnaire by their treating physician., Results: Sixty-six participants took part in the survey. The median duration for all respondents using the florio HAEMO app was 3 to 4 weeks. Overall, 89.4% of users reported being very satisfied or rather satisfied after using florio HAEMO. Of the 23 respondents who had switched from another hemophilia app, 87.0% indicated that they strongly preferred or preferred using florio HAEMO. Most florio HAEMO users reported that the app was very easy or rather easy to use (97.0%) and intuitive (94.0%). florio HAEMO had a positive impact on daily living, with 78.8% of users reporting that the app was very important or rather important to them., Conclusions: This survey suggests that florio HAEMO is an easy-to-use and intuitive app to assist self-management of home prophylaxis., (© 2022 The Authors. Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH).)

Background: In terms of cardiovascular magnetic resonance are haematocrit values required for calculation of extracellular volume fraction (ECV). Previously published studies have hypothesized that haematocrit could be calculated from T1 blood pool relaxation time, however only native T1 relaxation time values have been used and the resulting formulae had been both in reciprocal and linear proportion. The aim of the study was to generate a synthetic haematocrit formula from only native relaxation time values first, calculate whether linear or reciprocal model is more precise in haematocrit estimation and then determine whether adding post-contrast values further improve its precision., Methods: One hundred thirty-nine subjects underwent CMR examination. Haematocrit was measured using standard laboratory methods. Afterwards T1 relaxation times before and after the application of a contrast agent were measured and a statistical relationship between these values was calculated., Results: Different linear and reciprocal models were created to estimate the value of synthetic haematocrit and ECV. The highest coefficient of determination was observed in the combined reciprocal model "- 0.047 + (779/ blood native) - (11.36/ blood post-contrast)"., Conclusions: This study provides more evidence that assessing synthetic haematocrit and synthetic ECV is feasible and statistically most accurate model to use is reciprocal. Adding post-contrast values to the calculation was proved to improve the precision of the formula statistically significantly., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Aging may be characterized as the progressive increase of the risk of death caused by a decrease of almost all bodily functions. While a great number of model organism studies have established the role of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) as one of the main causes of aging, few studies have examined whether common polymorphisms in human DSB repair genes influence aging and mortality. More importantly, to the best of our knowledge, no longitudinal study has thus far examined the link between polymorphisms in DSB repair and the risk of death. This longitudinal study thus analyses whether four common polymorphisms (rs2155209, rs7963551, rs17105278, rs2735383) in four selected DSB repair genes (MRE11A, RAD52, RAD51B, NBS1) influence the hazard of age-adjusted death in a cohort of patients with typical symptoms of ischemic heart disease. The results have shown that rs7963551 G/T heterozygotes exhibit a significantly increased hazard of death when compared with the combined GG and TT homozygotes (HR=1.42, 95% CI: 1.06-1.91, p=0.018). This study indicates that the SNP affecting efficiency of DSB repair may influence aging in humans., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aim and Methods: The aim of our study was to compare the development of echocardiographic parameters and functional status of patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) treated conservatively (n = 41) or by alcohol septal ablation (ASA; n = 39)., Results: Left ventricular outflow tract gradient (LVOTG) decreased in the first year by 53.7±36.4 mmHg in ASA group versus 5.5±47.1 mmHg in conservatively treated group (p<0.001), in the third year by 53.1±41.4 mmHg versus 23.9±42.7 mmHg (p = NS) and in the fifth year, the reduction of LVOTG was 52.1±44.5 mmHg in ASA group and 3.0±63.2 mmHg in conservatively treated group (p<0.05).Change in NYHA class in the first year was -1.1±0.4 versus 0.1±0.5, in the third year -1.0±0.6 versus 0.1±0.4 and in the fifth year -0.8±0.5 versus 0.1±0.4 (all p<0.001)., Conclusion: Our results showed for the first time that decline of LVOTG after ASA creates a favorable left ventricle remodeling and leads to significant improvement of functional status of HOCM patients in comparison with conservative treatment (Tab. 3, Fig. 2, Ref. 42).

Angiotensinogen (AGT), its active fragments and microRNA-31 (miR-31) play an important role in adipocyte differentiation. AGT contains a miR-31 polymorphic binding site. We hypothesize that the rs7079 polymorphism in the miR-31/584 binding site of the AGT gene could influence body fat distribution. A total of 751 subjects (195 men, 556 women) were enrolled in the study. The rs7079 genotypes were determined by qRT-PCR. Anthropometric measurements were taken on all subjects, who were subsequently divided into two groups: obese (>30 kg m(-2)) and non-obese (<30 kg m(-2)). Linear regression models were created to determine the contributions of sex, obesity status and rs7079 to all measured parameters. Adding the rs7079 genotype significantly contributed to the linear regression model for waist circumference (p = 0.013), hip circumference (p = 0.018) and supraspinal skin-fold thickness (p = 1 × 10(-3)). Differences between sexes and between the obese and non-obese groups were observed. Waist circumference was lower in men carrying the A allele (p = 0.022); hip circumference was higher only in obese women carrying the A allele (p = 0.015). While men carrying the A allele had lower supraspinal skin-fold thickness (p = 0.022), this parameter was found to be higher in A allele carrying women (p = 3 × 10(-3)). The higher total sum of skin-fold thickness in A allele carrying women was restricted to obese individuals (p = 0.028). The presence of the A allele was associated with both lower tricipital skin-fold thickness in non-obese women (p = 0.023) and a trend of higher thickness in non-obese men (p = 0.065). Significant associations of rs7079 in the AGT gene and body fat distribution were observed. The distribution followed opposing patterns in both sexes.

Objective: Inflammatory periodontal diseases may be associated with common systemic conditions and, as recently described, alterations in lipid levels in the blood. The aim of this study was to determine the possible effects of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotypes on the lipid levels in healthy people and patients with chronic periodontitis (CP) in relation to periodontopathic bacteria., Design: This case-control study comprised 469 unrelated subjects. The genomic DNA of 294 patients with CP and 175 healthy/non-periodontitis controls were genotyped, using the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method, for ApoE (rs429358 and rs7412) gene polymorphisms. Subgingival bacterial colonization was investigated by the DNA microarray using a periodontal pathogen detection kit and lipid levels were measured in a subgroup of subjects (N = 275)., Results: There was no evidence for a significant association between ApoE gene polymorphisms and CP (P > 0.05). Patients with CP had increased levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) compared to controls (P< 0.05); however, no significant difference was found for triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels. ApoE gene variability influenced LDL levels marginally (P = 0.08) but it did not modify total cholesterol, triglyceride, and HDL levels or the occurrence of periodontal pathogens in subgingival pockets.(23) CONCLUSIONS: In the Czech population studied, ApoE genetic variations were not associated with susceptibility to CP or the presence of periodontopathic bacteria., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aims: The impact of ApoE polymorphism on angiographic parameters was assessed in patients referred for coronary angiography., Methods: Elective coronary angiography was performed in 671 subjects (525 men, 146 women, mean age 60 ± 10 years) with symptoms of ischemic heart disease. The patients were divided into: no CAD group (smooth coronary vessels, n=83), one-vessel (n=155), two-vessel (n=170) and three-vessel disease (n=196). Patients with stenoses 0-50% were excluded. Within patients with CAD, we evaluated overall extent of CAD measured by the number of stenotic segments according to AHA (1 segment vs. 2-3 vs. ≥4), and the severity of the most serious stenosis (in percent). ApoE genotype was determined using real-time PCR., Results: The frequency of ε2/ε3 genotype (n=56) was lower in the three-vessel disease group compared to one-vessel disease (OR=0.25, P=0.0019), two-vessel disease (OR=0.31, P=0.0114) or no CAD group (OR=0.24, P=0.0057). Frequency of ε2/ε3 decreased with the number of affected segments (1 vs. ≥4: OR=0.35, P=0.0143). The ε3/ε4+ε4/ε4 genotypes (n=123) were more frequent in CAD patients altogether compared with no CAD group (OR=2.30, P=0.019), while no impact of the ε4 allele on angiographic parameters within the CAD patients was detected. In ε2/ε3 carriers with CAD, lower LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol and lower use of lipid-lowering drugs were observed., Conclusions: The results show predominantly focal form of CAD in patients with ε2/ε3 genotype. Lower LDL-cholesterol and total cholesterol may play the key role, although other contributing factors are discussed.