Background: Among patients undergoing cardiac surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), post-operative complications are common, occurring in up to 67% of patients, and significantly impact long-term outcomes. We conducted a Phase 2 clinical trial of RBT-1, a pharmacologic preconditioning drug, to assess cytoprotective biomarkers and clinical outcomes. Herein, we report our final results. Methods: This randomized, [...]

Background: As more hospitalists have gained basic point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) skills, the desire for training in more advanced POCUS applications has increased as well as the need for developing faculty with an advanced POCUS skillset, that can support expansion of training and clinical integration into practice. Current certificate and credentialing pathways help build basic POCUS [...]

Background: Studies addressing the utility of cardiac telemetry monitoring for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia (PNA) is sparse. Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 PNA are at higher risk for cardiac complications (1-3), thus many hospitals instituted mandatory cardiac telemetry monitoring for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 PNA. However, there is scant data assessing the utility of cardiac [...]

Background: Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is the most common cause of wide complex tachycardia and a potentially fatal cardiac rhythm disorder. Ventricular arrhythmias, including VT, cause approximately 25% of sudden cardiac deaths. Some studies have proposed a dose-response relationship between VT burden and risk of mortality; however, these studies may have been limited by the inclusion [...]

Background: Patients undergoing cardiac surgery are at risk of anemia from blood loss, inflammation, and red blood cell lysis, necessitating blood product utilization and increasing the risk of post-operative complications. RBT-1 (a combination of stannic protoporfin and iron sucrose) is a novel preconditioning drug administered prior to surgery that upregulates anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and iron scavenging [...]

Background: Inpatient stewardship has appropriately become a large focus of acute inpatient care. The Vizient™ Clinical Data Base contains hospital discharge data used for benchmarking, and we observed significantly elevated cardiac MRI (cMRI) use at our tertiary hospital, relative to other tertiary academic medical centers, with resource utilization percentile averaging in the top decile (figure [...]

Background: Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA) is a common anatomic modality for detection of cardiac ischemia in the setting of chest pain hospitalizations. However, invasive coronary angiography (ICA) is the gold standard for diagnosing ischemic coronary artery disease. Research showed that CCTA has a high sensitivity but lacks the specificity and accuracy component of Fractional [...]

Background: Cardiac arrhythmias pose a significant risk to hospitalized patients, with the potential for increased morbidity and mortality. Rapid recognition of clinically significant arrhythmias is crucial for timely intervention. Cardiac telemetry monitoring offers a means of remote heart rhythm surveillance in the hospital setting. However, limited availability of telemetry beds in many hospitals and the [...]

Case Presentation: 19-Year-old ,African American, female with significant medical history of hypertension, Uncontrolled Diabetes Mellitus, presents with chest pain for 24 hr. Pain was sub-sternal, pressure like,7/10,radiating to right arm and in between the shoulder blades, persistent ,precipitated by drinking alcohol the night before ,associated with Shortness of breath and palpitations. Patient had a history [...]

Case Presentation: A 46-year-old healthy man presented with bilateral limb swelling, shortness of breath, fatigue, and orthopnea for one week. A transthoracic echocardiogram revealed a decreased ejection fraction (35-40%), severe pulmonary hypertension, diffuse hypokinesis, and significantly increased left ventricular wall thickness. Notably, he had presented with similar symptoms seven months earlier. At that time, he [...]