Background: Obesity has been associated with increased incidence and severity of various cardiovascular risk factors and increased risk for stroke. However, the evidence of its effect on outcomes in stroke victims have been equivocal. We aimed to investigate the distribution of BMI in a nation-wide cohort of individuals, admitted for a stroke, and the relationship between BMI and in-hospital mortality. Methods: Data from the U.S. National Inpatient Sample (NIS) was collected, to identify hospitalizations for stroke, between October 2015 and December 2016. The patients were sub-divided into six groups based on their BMI: underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese I, obese II and extremely obese groups. Various sociodemographic and clinical parameters were gathered, and incidence of mortality and the length of hospital stay were analyzed. Multivariable analysis was performed to identify independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. Results: A weighted total of 84,185 hospitalizations for stroke were included in the analysis. The approximate mean patients aged was 65.5 ± 31 years, the majority being female (55.3%) and white (63.1%). The overall in-hospital mortality during the study period was 3.6%. A reverse J-shaped relationship between the body mass index and in-hospital mortality was documented, while patients with elevated BMI showed significantly lower in-hospital mortality compared to the underweight and normal weight study participants, 2.8% vs. 7.4%, respectively, p < 0.001. Age and several comorbidities, as well as the Deyo Comorbidity Index, were found to predict mortality in a multivariable analysis. Conclusion: A reverse J-shaped relationship between body mass index and in-hospital mortality was documented in patients admitted for a stroke in the U.S. during the study period. The above findings support the existence of an “obesity paradox” in patients hospitalized following a stroke, similar to that described in other cardiovascular conditions.

Aims: The aims of the study are to assess the levels of coronary sinus (CS) miRNAs of systolic heart failure (HF) patients in samples obtained during cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) device implantation and compare them to the peripheral systemic venous miRNA expression. Methods and Results: The cardiac specific miRNA levels were assessed in 60 patients, 39 HF patients with reduced ejection fraction and 21 control patients. The levels of four cardiac specified miRNAs (miR-21-5p, miR-92b-3p, miR-125b-5p, and miR-133a-3p) were compared between the peripheral samples of HF and controls and between peripheral venous in CS in the HF groups. Compared with controls, HF patients had higher peripheral serum venous levels of miR-125b-5p and miR-133-3p. In the HF group, the levels of expression were higher for miR-125b-5p and lower for miR-92, and miR-21-5p in the CS, compared with the peripheral venous circulation. Conclusions: The differences in miRNA expressions in CS compared with those in the periphery suggest that changes that may occur at the levels of the myocardial tissue in HF may be more relevant to our understanding of the biological linkage between miRNA expression and HF, than the traditional analysis of systemic serum miRNA expression.

The effect of contrast media (CM), delivered prior to- and during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), on kidney function, following the procedure, is debatable. Consequently, the performance of CM-based, acute kidney injury (AKI) risk prediction models is also questionable. We retrospectively studied 210 patients that underwent TAVI. We recorded the dose of CM used prior and during TAVI, calculated the results of different AKI risk assessment models containing a CM module, and tested their association with AKI after the procedure. AKI was diagnosed in 38 patients (18.1%). The baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was lower in the AKI+ group compared to AKI− group (51 ± 19.3 versus 64.5 ± 19 mL/min/1.73 mr², respectively). While the dose of CM delivered prior to TAVI, during TAVI or the cumulative amount of both did not differ between the groups, the results of all tested risk models were higher in AKI+ patients. However, by multivariable analysis, only eGFR had a consistent independent association with AKI. We suggest that the dose of CM delivered prior or during TAVI is not associated with AKI and that the predictive power of CM based AKI risk models is, in all probability, limited to eGFR alone.