Introduction and objective: Artificial sweeteners are noncaloric substances which are added to multiple products. There used by many people as substitutes for sugar in the belief this will be beneficial to their health. However, there is much controversy about artificial sweeteners and the...

Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) coexisting with atrial fibrillation (AF) increases the risk of hemorrhage and ischemia. The study aimed to determine the relationship between different CKD stages and clinical outcomes of patients suffering from both CKD and AF and to determine the predictors of outcome. Methods The data was derived from multicenter CRAFT trial (NCT02987062). We have conducted a retrospective analysis of hospital records of 2663 AF patients divided in three groups according to their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) which was <30ml/min/1,73 m2 for group I (n=63), ≥30 and <60 ml/min/1,73 m² for group II (n=947) and ≥60 ml/min/1,73 m² for group III (n=1653). The primary study endpoint was major adverse event (MAE) during the mean four-year follow-up. Results The highest rate of MAE was observed in group I followed by group II and III. The rate of all-cause death was 60% in group I, 32% in group II and 15% in group III (p<0.001). Bleeding complications occurred in 25% of patients from group I, 23% from group II and 21% from group III (p=0.14). Thromboembolic events occurred in those groups at the rate of 21%, 14% and 12% respectively (p=0.011). The risk of death was 5 times higher in patients with eGFR<30 treated with vitamin K antagonists (VKA) (HR: 5.016, 95% CI: 1.533-16.417; p=0.007). Conclusions AF patients with CKD are at higher risk of MAE and that risk depends on the CKD stage. VKA treatment was linked to a higher mortality in AF patients with the lowest eGFR values.

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a serious threat to global health worldwide. In an acute disease process, which is the case in COVID-19, electrocardiography (ECG) abnormalities are common, present in up to 93% of hospitalised critically ill patients.1 Any specific ECG alteration criteria could help em ...

DOI: 10.20452/pamw.16677, Published online: February 06, 2024, Authors: Michał Peller, Mateusz Wawrzeńczyk, Piotr Ciecierski, Paweł Balsam, Michał Marchel, Bartosz Krzowski, Cezary Maciejewski, Karolina Mitrzak, Marcin Grabowski, Grzegorz Opolski, Piotr Lodziński

Today, coronary artery disease (CAD) continues to be a prominent cause of death worldwide. A reliable assessment of coronary stenosis represents a prerequisite for the appropriate management of CAD. Nevertheless, there are still major challenges pertaining to some limitations of current imaging and functional diagnostic modalities. The present review summarizes the current data on invasive functional and intracoronary imaging assessment using optical coherence tomography (OCT), and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). Amongst the functional parameters—on top of fractional flow reserve (FFR) and instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR)—we point to novel angiography-based measures such as quantitative flow ratio (QFR), vessel fractional flow reserve (vFFR), angiography-derived fractional flow reserve (FFRangio), and computed tomography-derived flow fractional reserve (FFR-CT), as well as hybrid approaches focusing on optical flow ratio (OFR), computational fluid dynamics and attempts to quantify the forces exaggerated by blood on the coronary plaque and vessel wall.

Introduction and objective: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the method of choice for the treatment of coronary artery disease or acute coronary syndromes, but clinicians often refrain from performing it on elderly and/or frail patients. The aimed of the study was to determine the...