Aims: Contemporary data on the prevalence, trends, and outcomes of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in pregnant patients are limited. This study aimed to analyse the prevalence, trends, and outcomes of CVD and their subtypes in hospitalized pregnant patients in the USA.Methods and results: This retrospective population-based cohort study used the Nationwide Readmission Database to identify all hospitalized pregnant patients from 1 January 2010, to 31 December 2019. Data analyses were conducted from January to February 2022. Pregnancy-associated hospitalizations were identified. The main outcomes were the prevalence and trend of CVD in pregnant patients. 39 212 104 hospitalized pregnant patients were identified: 4 409 924 with CVD (11.3%) and 34 802 180 without CVD (88.8%). The annual age-adjusted CVD prevalence increased from 9.2% in 2010 to 14.8% in 2019 (P < 0.001). Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (1069/10 000) was the most common, and aortic dissection (0.1/10 000) was the least common CVD. The trends of all CVD subtypes increased; however, the trend of valvular heart disease decreased. Age-adjusted in-hospital all-cause mortality was 8.2/10 000 in CVD, but its trend decreased from 8.1/10 000 in 2010 to 6.5/10 000 in 2019 (P < 0.001). CVD was associated with 15.51 times higher odds of in-hospital all-cause mortality compared with non-CVD patients [odds ratio (OR): 15.51, 95% confidence interval (CI)13.22–18.20, P < 0.001]. CVD was associated with higher 6-week postpartum readmission (OR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.95–1.99), myocardial infarction (OR: 3.04, 95% CI: 2.57–3.59), and stroke (OR: 2.66, 95% CI: 2.41–2.94)(P < 0.001 for all).Conclusion: There is an increasing age-adjusted trend in overall CVD and its subtypes among pregnant patients in the USA from 2010 to 2019. Pregnant patients with CVD had higher odds of in-hospital mortality than those without CVD. However, in-hospital all-cause mortality among patients with and without CVD has decreased over the past 10 years. CVD was associated with higher 6-week postpartum all-cause readmission, myocardial infarction, and stroke rates.

The role of systemic corticosteroid as a therapeutic agent for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia is controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of corticosteroids in non-intensive care unit (ICU) patients with COVID-19 pneumonia complicated by acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF). This was a single-center retrospective cohort study, from 16^th March, 2020 to 30^th April, 2020; final follow-up on 10^th May, 2020. 265 patients consecutively admitted to the non-ICU wards with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia were screened for inclusion. 205 patients who developed AHRF (SpO₂/FiO₂ ≤ 440 or PaO₂/FiO₂ ≤ 300) were only included in the final study. Direct admission to the Intensive care unit (ICU), patients developing composite primary outcome within 24 hours of admission, and patients who never became hypoxic during their stay in the hospital were excluded. Patients were divided into two cohorts based on corticosteroid. The primary outcome was a composite of ICU transfer, intubation, or in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were ICU transfer, intubation, in-hospital mortality, discharge, length of stay, and daily trend of SpO₂/FiO₂ (SF) ratio from the index date. Cox-proportional hazard regression was implemented to analyze the time to event outcomes. Among 205 patients, 60 (29.27%) were treated with corticosteroid. The mean age was ~57 years, and ~75% were men. Thirteen patients (22.41%) developed a primary composite outcome in the corticosteroid cohort vs. 54 (37.5%) patients in the non-corticosteroid cohort (P = 0.039). The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for the development of the composite primary outcome was 0.15 (95% CI, 0.07–0.33; P <0.001). The adjusted hazard ratio for ICU transfer was 0.16 (95% CI, 0.07 to 0.34; P < 0.001), intubation was 0.31 (95% CI, 0.14 to 0.70; P– 0.005), death was 0.53 (95% CI, 0.22 to 1.31; P– 0.172), composite of death or intubation was 0.31 (95% CI, 0.15 to 0.66; P– 0.002) and discharge was 3.65 (95% CI, 2.20 to 6.06; P<0.001). The corticosteroid cohort had increasing SpO₂/FiO₂ over time compared to the non-corticosteroid cohort who experience decreasing SpO₂/FiO₂ over time. Among non-ICU patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia complicated by AHRF, treatment with corticosteroid was associated with a significantly lower risk of the primary composite outcome of ICU transfer, intubation, or in-hospital death, composite of intubation or death and individual components of the primary outcome.

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is a common congenital valvular malformation, which may lead to early aortic valve disease and bicuspid-associated aortopathy. A novel BAV classification system was recently proposed to coincide with transcatheter aortic valve replacement being increasingly considered in younger patients with symptomatic BAV, with good clinical results, yet without randomized trial evidence. Procedural technique, along with clinical outcomes, have considerably improved in BAV patients compared with tricuspid aortic stenosis patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement. The present review summarizes the novel BAV classification systems and examines contemporary surgical and transcatheter approaches.

BACKGROUND: Although the prognosis and management of severe aortic stenosis has been extensively studied, the risk stratification and outcomes of patients with moderate aortic stenosis remain elusive. METHODS: This study included 674 patients from the Cleveland Clinic Health System with moderate aortic stenosis (aortic valve area, 1–1.5 cm ² ; mean gradient, 20–40 mm Hg; and peak velocity <4 m/s) and an NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) level within 3 months of index diagnosis. The primary outcome of major adverse cardiovascular events (defined as the composite outcome of progression to severe aortic stenosis requiring aortic valve replacement, heart failure hospitalization, or death) was extracted from the electronic medical record. RESULTS: The mean age was 75.3±12 years, and 57% were men. During a median follow-up of 316 days, the composite end point occurred in 305 patients. There were 132 (19.6%) deaths, 144 (21.4%) heart failure hospitalizations, and 114 (16.9%) patients underwent aortic valve replacement. Elevated NT-proBNP (1.41 [95% CI, 1.01–1.95]; P =0.048), diabetes (1.46 [95% CI, 1.08–1.96]; P =0.01), elevated averaged mitral valve E/e′ ratio (hazard ratio, 1.57 [95% CI, 1.18–2.10]; P <0.01), and presence atrial fibrillation at the time of index echocardiogram (hazard ratio, 1.83 [95% CI, 1.15–2.91]; P =0.01) were each independently associated with an increased hazard for the composite outcome and when taken collectively, each of these factors incrementally increased risk. CONCLUSIONS: These results further elucidate the relatively poor short-medium term outcomes and risk stratification of patients with moderate aortic stenosis, supporting randomized trials assessing the efficacy of transcatheter aortic valve replacement in this population.