This article discusses relevant aspects in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Up-to-date information about principles for administration of statins, antithrombotics, and antiarrhythmics is presented. The authors addressed in detail specific features of reversing heart rhythm disorders in patients with coronavirus infection and the interaction of antiarrhythmic and antiviral drugs. Recommendations are provided for outpatient and inpatient antithrombotic therapy for patients with COVID-19. Issues of antithrombotic and antiviral drug interaction are discussed.

Introduction Coronavirus pneumonia not only severely affects the lung tissue but is also associated with systemic autoimmune inflammation, rapid overactivation of cytokines and chemokines known as “cytokine storm”, and a high risk of thrombosis and thromboembolism. Since there is no specific therapy for this new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), searching for an effective and safe anti-inflammatory therapy is critical.
Materials and methods This study evaluated efficacy and safety of pulse therapy with high doses of glucocorticosteroids (GCS), methylprednisolone 1,000 mg for 3 days plus dexamethasone 8 mg for another 3-5 days, in 17 patients with severe coronavirus pneumonia as a part of retrospective comparative analysis (17 patients in control group). The study primary endpoint was the aggregate dynamics of patients’ condition as evaluated by an original CCS-COVID scale, which included, in addition to the clinical status, assessments of changes in the inflammation marker, C-reactive protein (CRP); the thrombus formation marker, D-dimer; and the extent of lung injury evaluated by computed tomography (CT). Patients had signs of lung injury (53.2 % and 25.6 %), increases in CRP 27 and 19 times, and a more than doubled level of D-dimer (to 1.41 µg/ml and 1.15 µg/ml) in the active therapy and the control groups, respectively. The GCS treatment group had a more severe condition at baseline.
Results The GCS pulse therapy proved effective and significantly decreased the CCS-COVID scores. Median score difference was 5.00 compared to the control group (р=0.011). Shortness of breath considerably decreased; oxygen saturation increased, and the NEWS-2 clinical status scale scores decreased. In the GCS group, concentration of CRP significantly decreased from 134 mg/dl to 41.8 mg/dl (р=0.009) but at the same time, D-dimer level significantly increased from 1.41 µg/ml to 1.98 µg/ml (р=0.044). In the control group, the changes were nonsignificant. The dynamics of lung injury by CT was better in the treatment group but the difference did not reach a statistical significance (р=0.062). Following the GCS treatment, neutrophilia increased (р=0.0001) with persisting lymphopenia, and the neutrophil/lymphocyte (N/L) ratio, a marker of chronic inflammation, increased 2.5 times (р=0.006). The changes in the N/L ratio and D-dimer were found to correlate in the GCS pulse therapy group (r =0.49, p=0.04), which underlined the relationship of chronic autoimmune inflammation with thrombus formation in COVID-19. No significant changes were observed in the control group. In result, four patients developed venous thromboembolic complications (two of them had pulmonary artery thromboembolism) after the GCS pulse therapy despite the concomitant antiplatelet treatment at therapeutic doses. Recovery was slower in the hormone treatment group (median stay in the hospital was 26 days vs 18 days in the control group, р=0.001).
Conclusion Pulse therapy with high doses of GCS exerted a rapid anti-inflammatory effect but at the same time, increased the N/L ratio and the D-dimer level, which increased the risk of thromboembolism.

Aim      To evaluate trends in beta-blocker prescribing and incidence of possible reasons for beta-blocker administration, including arterial hypertension (AH), atrial fibrillation (AF), ischemic heart disease (IHD), and myocardial infarction, in participants of clinical studies enrolling patients with chronic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (CHF-PEF).

Material and methods  A systematic literature search was performed in the PubMed and EMBASE databases. The study included RCSs of pharmacological therapies for patients with CHF-PEF conducted from 1993 through 2019. Studies of beta-blocker efficacy or those including a specific population (CHF-PEF+IHD or CHF-PEF+AH, etc.) were excluded from the analysis. Baseline characteristics of patients, incidence rate of beta-blocker prescribing, and prevalence of AH, AF, IHD, and MI were recorded. Trends in prevalence of concomitant diseases and the proportion of patients using beta-blockers by the year of enrollment to the study were analyzed with the Mann-Kendall test.

Results 14 RCSs of 718 selected publications completely met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Beta-blocker prescribing significantly increased between 1993 and 2019 (tau=0.51; p=0.014) and reached 80 % in recent studies. Furthermore, prevalence of IHD, MI, AH, and AF did not significantly change among the RCS participants (p>0.05 for all). However, while for AH and AF, a tendency toward an increasing prevalence (tau=0.4; p=0.055 and tau=0.043; p=0.063, respectively) could be considered and became statistically significant for AF when the ALDO-DHF study was excluded from the analysis (tau=0.5; p=0.042), the MI prevalence tended to decrease (tau= –0.73; p=0.06).

Conclusion      Beta-blocker prescribing to patients upon inclusion into RCSs for CHF-PEF has significantly increased for the recent 20 years while the incidence of formal reasons for beta-blocker administration (AF, AH, MI, IHD) did not significantly change.

Aim To study clinical and anamnestic features and tactics of managing patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) in groups with different effectiveness of resuscitation procedures.
Materials and methods Patients were selected using the “Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry” epidemiological program. 219 cases of acute MI recorded from 2007 through 2017, which required emergency life support, were studied. Two groups were formed based on success of the resuscitation: group 1 consisted of patients with acute MI who survived due to the cardiovascular life support (n=61); group 2 included fatal cases after resuscitation failure (n=158). Quantitative variables were described as median and interquartile range, Ме (Q1; Q3); comparison was performed in two independent samples using the Mann-Whitney test. Qualitative variables were presented as absolute and relative values (n (%)). Statistical significance of differences in nominal properties was determined with contingency tables (Pearson χ2; two-tailed Fisher’s exact test). Critical level of two-tailed significance was set equal to 0.05.
Results The groups consisted of severe cases at baseline. The groups were sex- and age-matched. Mean age of patients in groups 1 and 2 was 63.5±13.1 and 60.9±14.8 years, respectively (р=0.2); in both groups, females were considerably older than males. Analysis of preceding drug therapy showed that comparable proportions of patients received antihypertensive and/or anti-ischemic treatment; however, the qualitative composition of the therapies was significantly different in these group. Thus, survived patients more frequently than deceased patients received drugs from vitally important groups, including β-blockers (93 % and 13 %, р<0.001), antiplatelets (97 % and 13 %, р<0.001), statins (84 % and 5 %, р<0.001), and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (90 % and 8 %, р<0.001). In additions. success of resuscitation procedures was interrelated with the clinical picture. Thus, in atypical MI, the rate of fatal outcomes was higher (89 % and 56.5 %, р<0.001) despite the life support.
Conclusion The patients who survived due to resuscitation procedures more frequently had a history of adequate drug therapy for ischemic heart disease and arterial hypertension with β-blockers, ACE inhibitors, antiplatelets, and statins. In this group, MI mostly had a clinical picture of a prolonged anginal attack. The long-term prediction for survivors after successful resuscitation presently remains important and requires further study.

Aim To study the antianginal and heart rate slowing effects in patients with stable angina (SA) who failed to achieve the heart rate (HR) goal and were switched from the beta-blocker (BB) metoprolol tartrate to a combination of metoprolol tartrate and ivabradine.
Materials and methods The study included 54 patients with SA not higher than functional class (FC) III (35 (64.8 %) men and 19 (35.2 %) women) aged 59 [48; 77] years. Prior to the study start and at 4 and 8 weeks of follow-up, electrocardiography (ECG) and 24-h ECG monitoring (24h-ECGM) were performed for all patients. The follow-up period duration was 8 weeks. The antianginal and heart rate slowing effects of therapy were clinically evaluated by a decrease in frequency of anginal attacks and patients’ requirement for nitrates, a decrease in HR, and the effect on 24h-ECGM indexes characterizing myocardial ischemia. At the first stage, all patients were prescribed metoprolol tartrate (Egilok®, Egis, Hungary) 25 mg twice a day. Patients with resting HR still higher than 70 bpm after 4 weeks of treatment were switched from metoprolol tartrate to a fixed ivabradine/metoprolol combination (Implicor®, Servier, France) 5 / 25 mg twice a day. Thus, based on achieving/ non-achieving the HR goal, two groups of patients were formed. Statistical analysis was performed with a STATISTICA 10,0 software package.
Results After 4 weeks of therapy with metoprolol tartrate 25 mg twice a day, 18 (33.3%) patients of group 1 achieved the HR goal of 70 bpm, while  36 (66.7%) patients of group 2 did not achieve the goal. For further correction of HR, patients of group 2 were switched from metoprolol tartrate to ivabradine/metoprolol 5 / 25 mg twice a day. After 4 weeks of the ivabradine/metoprolol treatment, 31 (86.1 %) patients achieved the HR goal with median resting HR of 62 [56; 70] bpm. The number of angina attacks decreased from 6 [3; 8] to 2 [1; 3] per week (р<0.001). 24hECGM showed that the mean diurnal HR decreased from 81 [76; 96] to 66 [56; 76] bpm (р<0.001); mean night HR decreased from 69 [73; 80] to 52 [43; 60] bpm (р=0.012); and the ischemic ST segment depression was absent.
Conclusion Only 33.3% of patients with stable angina achieved the HR goal on metoprolol tartrate 25 mg twice a day. Supplementing the beta-blocker metoprolol tartrate at the same dose with ivabradine allowed 86.1% of patients to achieve the HR goal and exerted a pronounced anti-anginal effect.

Aim To evaluate incidence of arterial hypertension (AH) in the posttransplantation period and to identify risk factors for this complication.
Materials and methods From January, 2010 through December, 2017, 96 heart transplantations (HT) (70 men and 26 women aged 46.5±13.9 years) were performed. During the first month following HT, 8 recipients died and were excluded from the analysis. The retrospective evaluation of results included 88 patients followed up for more than one year.
Results For the entire post-HT period (maximum 92 months), AH was observed in 75 of 88 (85%) recipients. Post-HT AH was correlated with male gender (r=0.24; p=0.031), history of smoking before HT (r=0.45; p<0.001), history of ischemic heart disease (IHD) (r=0.28; p=0.01), older age (r=0.35; p=0.001), higher body weight index (r=0.37; p=0.0005), creatinine level (r=0.37; p=0.001), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (r=0.27; p=0.04). Interrelations with other AH risk factors were not found. Most patients developed AH within the first two years after HT. During the first year, AH was diagnosed in 60% (53 of 88) of patients (relapse, 85% (n=29); newly diagnosed, 45% (n=24), p=0.0003). At two years, AH was detected in 79% (46 of 58) of patients (relapse, 53% (n=18); newly diagnosed, 53% (n=28), p=0.9). All recipients received an adequate antihypertensive therapy. 40-63% of patients required a single-drug therapy at different points of follow-up; from 29 to 45% of patients required a two-drug therapy, and 5-15% of patients required three or more drugs. During all 5 years of treatment, most patients used angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) (70-87%) and slow calcium channel blockers (SCCB) (48-53%). The presence of AH following HT was associated with development of all cardiovascular events (CVE; r=0.31; p=0.012) whereas persistent AH, which required a combination antihypertensive treatment, was associated with a high mortality (r=0.61; p=0.015).
Conclusion AH is a frequent complication of HT (85%), which is newly diagnosed in most patients during the first two years. AH incidence was higher for male recipients with a history of IHD, hypertension, and smoking. Approximately half of patients required only a single-drug antihypertensive therapy. After HT, the most frequently prescribed drugs included ACE inhibitors or ARBs and SCCBs (70-87% and 48-53%, respectively, depending on the time elapsed after HT). Persistent AH requiring a treatment with two or more antihypertensive drugs was associated with development of all CVEs and a higher long-term mortality.

Aim      To evaluate the effect of bromocriptine on clinical hemodynamic and functional indexes and to analyze life prognosis for patients with periportal cardiomyopathy divided into two groups: group 1, bromocriptine treatment (n=21) and group 2, standard treatment without bromocriptine (n=22). History was taken, examination and standard clinical evaluation were performed, the Clinical Condition Scale (CCS with V.Yu. Mareev, 2000, modification) was administered, and 6-min walk test (6MWT) was performed. Quality of life was determined with the Minnesota questionnaire. Standard 12-lead electrocardiography, echocardiography, and blood biochemistry with measuring C-reactive protein (CRP) and prolactin, were performed. Follow-up duration was one year.

Results Heart rate was significantly decreased in group 1 (22.7%) compared to group 2 (18%); the 6-min distance was increased (61 and 50 %, respectively), the total CCS score was decreased (66 and 55 %, respectively, and the quality of life Minnesota questionnaire score was improved (from 68.4±12.4 to 26.4±12.4 and from 63.4±10.9 to 36.4±15.1, respectively). Also, left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic dimension was reduced from 66.82±7.07 to 60.67±3.79 mm (9.2 %) in group 1 and from 61.92±4.41 to 58.91±4.68 mm (5 %) in group 2, which was associated with increases in LV ejection fraction by 18.3 and 14.5 %, respectively. In both groups, CRP concentration was decreased from 8.3±4.1 to 4.3±1.2 mg/l and from 8.5±3.5 to 6.3±1.5 mg/l, respectively. The bromocriptine treatment was associated with a significant decrease in prolactin level (62 %). The LV function completely recovered in 66.6% of patients in group 1 and in 27% of patients in group 2.

Conclusion      The bromocriptine treatment of periportal cardiomyopathy in combination with an optimal drug therapy was associated with an additional beneficial effect on the clinical functional status, intracardiac hemodynamics, blood concentration of CRP, and a potentiality for complete recovery of the LV function.

Aim To evaluate the effect of empagliflozin on glycemia and renal filtration function in patients with stable ischemic heart disease (IHD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) who underwent a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
Materials and methods This study included 40 patients with stable IHD and DM2 (age, 63 (58; 65) years; DM2 duration, 7 (4; 15) years) who had indications for an elective PCI. At baseline in the total sample, the level of glycated hemoglobin was 7.2 (6.5; 8.3)%; 48.7 % failed to achieve glycemic goals. A decrease in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) to below 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 was observed in 10.3 % of patients. All patients were divided into two group by simple randomization with successively assigned numbers. The main group consisted of 20 patients who received empagliflozin 10 mg/day in addition to their previous hypoglycemic therapy irrespective of their baseline glycemic control. Patients of the comparison group (n=20) continued on their previous hypoglycemic therapy as prescribed by their endocrinologist. The follow-up duration was 6 months. Statistical analysis was performed with the Statistica 10.0 software.
Results The empagliflozin treatment improved the glycemic control; in the comparison group, no significant changes in glycemic control were observed. In both groups, GFR significantly decreased during the follow-up period; median decreases in GFR were –6.0 (–16.0; 4.0) and –8.4 (–26.5; 2.5) ml/min / 1.73 m2 in the main and comparison groups, respectively (p = 0.646). No significant changes in 24-h proteinuria were observed for patients taking empagliflozin. In the control group, the 24-h urinary protein excretion significantly progressed (p=0.011) during the follow-up period.
Conclusion In patients with DM2 and stable IHD who underwent a PCI, addition of empagliflozin 10 mg/day to their current hypoglycemic therapy was associated with a significant improvement of glycemic control. The decrease in GFR during the empagliflozin treatment did not significantly differ from the value for patient receiving the other hypoglycemic therapy.

Aim      To study long-term results and to identify predictors of death in patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) who underwent endovascular revascularization.

Materials and methods This study included 283 patients registered in the hospital registry of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) for STEMI from 2006 through 2009. Analysis of 10-year results included all-cause and cardiovascular death rate, incidence of recurrent myocardial infarction (MI), repeated revascularization, stroke, stent restenosis and thrombosis. Also, a composite endpoint МАССЕ (Major Adverse Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Events) was evaluated, which included death, recurrent MI, repeated PCI, stent restenosis and thrombosis, coronary bypass, and stroke.

Results Information about the health condition was provided by 204 (72.1 %) patients. Mean follow-up period was 120.1±9.5 months. All-cause mortality was 25.5 % with cardiovascular death determined in 19.1 % of cases. Recurrent MI developed in 21.6 % of patients; in 1.5 % of cases, recurrent MI resulted from thrombosis of previously implanted stents. Repeated PCI was performed for 31.9 % of patients; in 13.7 % of cases, the PCI was performed for stent restenosis. Coronary bypass was performed for 5.4 % of patients. Incidence of stroke was 10.3 %. Major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications (МАССЕ) during the follow-up period were determined in 60.3 % patients. According to the Cox proportional hazards regression model, age ≥65 years (odds ratio (OR), 3.75 at 95 % confidence interval (CI) from 1.75 to 8.03; р=0.001) and incomplete coronary revascularization (OR, 3.09 at 95 % CI from 1.52 to 6.30; р=0.002) were independent predictors of death based on data of the 10-year observation.

Conclusion      Therefore, at 10 years following endovascular revascularization, STEMI patients showed a moderate death rate with a high incidence of major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications. The leading causes for fatal outcomes were recurrent cardiovascular complications. The major predictors of death for the coming 10-year period included age ≥65 years and incomplete myocardial revascularization.

Aim      To evaluate the proportion of type 2 myocardial infarction (MI) in the structure of mortality at a multidisciplinary hospital; to describe major causes for MI development, and characteristics of patients with a verified diagnosis of type 2 MI by data of postmortem examination.

Material and methods  1574 protocols of the autopsies performed at the Central Pathology Department of the I.I. Mechnikov North-West State Medical University from 01.01.10 through 31.12.16 were studied retrospectively by the continuous sampling method. A group with verified diagnosis of type 2 MI was isolated from the total sample of autopsies. Major causes for and the proportion of type 2 MI among the causes of death were studied. Also, major demographic parameters, hospitalization profile, and condition of coronary arteries (CA) were compared in patients with fatal type 2 MI and those who died from atherothrombotic type 1 MI.

Results Analysis of 1574 fatal cases among patients of the multidisciplinary hospital showed that in 360 cases (22.87 %), the cause of death was MI, including 137 cases of fatal type 2 MI. Proportions of men and women among the patients with postmortem verification of type 2 MI were comparable. Analysis of the age structure showed the highest incidence of type 2 MI in elderly (48.2 %) and senile (34.3 %) age. Mean age of patients with type 2 MI was 71.7 years (68.2 years for men and 75.3 years for women), which was comparable with the age range of patients with fatal type 1 MI. In both groups, men with fatal MI were significantly younger than women. Analysis of causes for type 2 MI demonstrated that the most frequent ones were tachysystolic arrhythmias (59.12 %) and severe hypoxia of different origin (35.04 %). Analysis of the type of CA lesions showed that significant lesions were significantly more frequently absent in type 2 MI (32.85 %) while in type 1 MI, the proportion of patients with unchanged CA was 1.84 %. In the group of patients with fatal type 1 MI, 67.29 % had multivascular lesions, and one in two patients had an occlusive lesion. In the group with type 2 MI, multivascular lesions were half as frequent (31.38 %), and only 4.38 % of patients had a complete occlusion of a coronary vessel. Comparison of death rate in different departments of the multidisciplinary hospital showed that only 29.2 % of patients with type 2 MI originally were managed at a specialized cardiological department; 45.3 % of patients were admitted to an internal medicine department for different conditions often not related with ischemic heart disease. Furthermore, 25.5 % of patients with subsequently developed type 2 MI originally even received scheduled or emergency medical care for a leading surgical condition.

Conclusion      Cardiovascular diseases predominate among causes of mortality in a multidisciplinary hospital. This study showed that almost one in four patients dies from MI, and type 2 MI accounts for more than one third of fatal MIs. Among major causes for type 2 MI, tachysystolic arrhythmias (59.12 %) and pronounced hypoxia associated with anemia and severe respiratory failure (35.04 %) should be noted. Gender and age characteristics of patients with type 2 MI were comparable with those of patients with fatal type 1 MI. Furthermore, surgical patients accounted for 25.5 % of fatal cases of type 2 MI.

Aim      To study possible correlations between echocardiography (EchoCG) indexes and markers of myocardial fibrosis, procollagen I C-terminal propeptide (PICP) and procollagen III N-terminal propeptide (PIIINP) during one year following ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Material and methods  120 patients with STEMI were evaluated. EchoCG was used to assess dimensions and volumes of heart chambers, left ventricular (LV) systolic function, mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), and indexes of LV diastolic function (Em, early diastolic lateral mitral annular velocity; e’, peak early diastolic septal mitral annular velocity; E / e’, ratio of peak early diastolic transmitral inflow velocity and mitral annular velocity  –, Е / А, ratio of peak early and late transmitral inflow velocities; DT, deceleration time of LV early diastolic filling). EchoCG indexes and serum concentrations of PICP and PIIINP were determined at 1 (point 1) and 12 (point 2) days of disease and one year after STEMI (point 3). The sample was divided into two groups: group 1 (n=86; 71.7 %) included patients with a LV ejection fraction (EF) ≥50 % and group 2 (n=34; 28.3 %) consisted of patients with LV EF ≤49 %.

Results At one year, the number of patients with signs of diastolic dysfunction increased by 10% in group 1 whereas myocardial systolic dysfunction worsened in both groups. LV EF decreased in 15 (17.4%) patients of group 1 and in 4 (11.8%) patients of group 2. Concentrations of PIIINP were correlated with Em, E / e’, mPAP, PICP, e’, and LV EF.

Conclusion      Direct correlations between PIIINP concentrations and Em, E / e’, and mPAP were found in the group with LV EF ≥50 %. In the group with LV EF <50 %, correlations were observed between PICP concentrations, LV EF, and e’. Also, in this group, the increase in PIIINP was statistically more significant. These results indicate continuing formation of myocardial fibrosis in a year following MI, which may underlie progression of chronic heart failure.

Aim      To compare hemorrhagic safety of ticagrelor and clopidogrel in patients with ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (STEACS) after thrombolytic therapy (TLT).

Material and methods  This nonrandomized study included 183 patients followed up for 30 days. Hemorrhagic safety was compared in a group of patients with STEACS (n=71) after a thrombolytic treatment with alteplase and early ticagrelor treatment (180 mg followed by switching to 90 mg twice daily) and in a group of patients (n=112) with STEACS receiving TLT with alteplase and clopidogrel (loading dose, 600 mg followed by switching to 75 mg daily). Primary endpoint was hemorrhage associated with TLT; patients were followed up for 30 days.

Results During the follow-up period, TLT-associated hemorrhages were observed in 11.3% of patients in the ticagrelor treatment group and in 10.7% of patients in the clopidogrel treatment group (p=0.9; odds ratio, 1.06 at 95 % confidence interval, from 0.41 to 2.73). Intracranial hemorrhages and fatal hemorrhages were absent in both groups.

Conclusion      There were no significant differences in hemorrhagic safety between patients with STEACS after the TLT treatment with alteplase and early treatment with ticagrelor or clopidogrel.

Objective This paper aims to investigate whether machine learning (ML) can be used to predict the state of pulmonary hypertension (PH), including pre-capillary and post-capillary, from echocardiographic data.
Methods Two hundred and seventy-five patients with PH who underwent both echocardiography and right heart catheterization were included in the study. Mean pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary artery wedge pressure measured by right heart catheterization were used as criteria for judging pre-capillary PH and post-capillary PH. Thirteen echocardiographic indicators were used to predict whether the PH was pre-capillary or post-capillary. Nine ML models were used to make predictions. Accuracy was used as the primary reference standard, and the performance of classification model is observed in conjunction with area under curve (AUC), specificity (Sp), sensitivity (Se), Positive Prediction Value (PPV), Negative Prediction Value (NPV), Positive Likelihood Ratio (PLR) and Negative Likelihood Ratio (NLR) and other assessment protocols.
Results By comparing the accuracy (ACC), recall rate (Recall) and other model effect evaluation index of the classification under the nine ML models, it can be found that the ML model can effectively identify the pre-capillary PH and the post-capillary PH. LogitBoost performed best in nine ML models (ACC=0.87, Recall=0.83, F1score=0.85, AUC=0.87, Se=0.90, NPV=0.88, PPV=0.87, PLR=8.61 and NLR=0.18, AUC=0.83), it showed good results in identification of the pre-capillary PH (ACC=0.83, Recall=0.87, F-score=0.85); Post-vascular PH (ACC=0.90, Recall=0.88, F-score=0.89). Decision Tree (ACC=0.75, Recall=0.77, F1score=0.78, AUC=0.75, Se=0.72, NPV=0.78, PPV=0.77, PLR=3.66 and NLR=0.29, AUC=0.79) performed worst, and the accuracy of the other seven models was greater than 0.82.
Conclusion The classification results of the nine ML models in this paper indicate that the ML method can effectively identify the pre-capillary PH and post-capillary PH from echocardiographic data. Compared with medical diagnosis, ML methods can distinguish between pre-capillary PH and the post-capillary PH under non-invasive conditions.

Background Sleep disturbance and ventilator inefficiency are considered two of the most critical complications for general human wellbeing, particularly in elderly heart failure (HF) patients. Studies examining the effect of low-intensity aerobic exercise in the treatment of sleep disturbance and ventilatory inefficiency in this population of patients are limited.
Objective The purpose of the current pilot study was to check the effect of low-intensity aerobic exercise on the quality of sleep and ventilatory efficiency in elderly HF patients.
Materials and methods Design: pilot study. Setting: outpatient physical therapy clinic within Cairo University regional hospital. Participants: eight elderly HF patients (6 men, 2 women) with a mean age of 69.4±4.2 years. Intervention: participants were recruited for a low-intensity exercise program (40 to 50% of maximum heart rate for 30-40 minutes), five sessions weekly for four weeks. Exercise intensity was monitored during the sessions using heart rate. Outcome Measure: sleep quality was assessed pre- and post- four weeks of exercise program usingthe Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and ventilatory efficiency was assessed using cardiopulmonary exercise test.
Results HF patients (II–III NYHA), mean age 69.4±4.2 years, body mass index 23.7±2.7 kg/m2, ejection fraction 32.7±4.5 %, VO2peak 16.27±4.2 ml/kg/min, VE/VCO2 30.81±12.7. The mean of global PSQI score ranged between 8.2 to 11.4 with a mean of 9.7±3.4 which indicates that the participants experienced sleep disturbance. The post-exercise assessment showed that patients have reported a significant improvement of all PSQI domains compared with baseline assessment (p<0.05). VO2peak significantly increased from 16.27±4.2 pre-intervention to 20.03±2.6 ml/kg/min post-intervention (p=0.049) whereas VE/VCO2 slightly decreased with a non-significant difference at the end of the study program (p=0.594) indicating animprovement of ventilator efficiencyand overall cardiorespiratory fitness.
Conclusion Short-term application of low-intensity aerobic exercise (4 weeks) may improve the quality of sleep and ventilator efficiency in elderly HF patients. The study findings encourage elderly HF patients with sleep disturbance to adhere to the exercise training program. Also, cardiac rehabilitation programs with low intensity of aerobic exercise should be proposed to these patients by their health care provider.

The article described a female patient with high-grade arterial hypertension diagnosed at her young age. Congenital abdominal aortic hyperplasia and conformity with criteria for Takayasu arteritis were diagnosed at 10 years following the clinical manifestation.

Completed randomized clinical studies did not have a sufficient statistical power for demonstrating clearly the efficacy of lipid-lowering therapy for primary prevention in patients aged 75 years and older and did not evaluate the effect of lipid-lowering therapy on development and course of key geriatric syndromes. Age-related alterations of skeletal muscles, cognitive decline, senile asthenia, comorbidities, polypragmasy, potential changes in drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, and impaired renal function may adversely affect the benefit to harm ratio of statins in older patients. Key questions for administration of a lipid-lowering therapy for primary prevention in patients aged 75 years and older are: 1. Does the relationship between increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL CS) and death rate persist? 2. Does a benefit from decreasing the level of LDL CS persist? 3. Is the lipid-lowering therapy safe? 4. What scales for risk stratification and determining indications for lipid-lowering therapy should be used?