Systemic opiates may relieve dyspnoea and improve exercise tolerance in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Small doses of inhaled opiates may have similar effects; however, recent studies have shown no benefit. We studied higher doses of inhaled morphine and measured systemic absorption to determine whether any beneficial actions are local or systemic.Twenty and 40 mg doses and 0.9% saline were nebulized in a randomized, double-blind study of 16 patients with stable COPD. Patients performed 6 min walk tests immediately after the nebulized test solution (Walk 1) and again 60 min later (Walk 2). Arterial oxygen saturation (Sa,O 2 ), modified Borg dyspnoea score and cardiac frequency were recorded during each walk.There was no difference between placebo and either dose of nebulized morphine on these measurements. The higher dose of nebulized morphine achieved a higher plasma concentration. The highest plasma concentration was measured immediately after nebulization, and this decreased steadily in the hour thereafter (p<0.002). There was no correlation between the change in walk distance and the change in plasma morphine concentration after either dose of nebulized morphine.We conclude that higher doses of nebulized morphine do not improve exercise endurance or relieve dyspnoea in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and that morphine is rapidly absorbed systemically after inhalation.

ImportanceThe optimal treatment of intermediate-high–risk pulmonary embolism (PE) remains unknown.ObjectiveTo assess the effect of conventional catheter-directed thrombolysis (cCDT) plus anticoagulation vs anticoagulation monotherapy in improving echocardiographic measures of right ventricle (RV) to left ventricle (LV) ratio in acute intermediate-high–risk PE.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThe Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis vs Anticoagulation in Patients with Acute Intermediate-High–Risk Pulmonary Embolism (CANARY) trial was an open-label, randomized clinical trial of patients with intermediate-high–risk PE, conducted in 2 large cardiovascular centers in Tehran, Iran, between December 22, 2018, through February 2, 2020.InterventionsPatients were randomly assigned to cCDT (alteplase, 0.5 mg/catheter/h for 24 hours) plus heparin vs anticoagulation monotherapy.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe proportion of patients with a 3-month echocardiographic RV/LV ratio greater than 0.9, assessed by a core laboratory, was the primary outcome. The proportion of patients with an RV/LV ratio greater than 0.9 at 72 hours after randomization and the 3-month all-cause mortality were among secondary outcomes. Major bleeding (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium type 3 or 5) was the main safety outcome. A clinical events committee, masked to the treatment assignment, adjudicated clinical outcomes.ResultsThe study was prematurely stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic after recruiting 94 patients (mean [SD] age, 58.4 [2.5] years; 27 women [29%]), of whom 85 patients completed the 3-month echocardiographic follow-up. Overall, 2 of 46 patients (4.3%) in the cCDT group and 5 of 39 patients (12.8%) in the anticoagulation monotherapy group met the primary outcome (odds ratio [OR], 0.31; 95% CI, 0.06-1.69; P = .24). The median (IQR) 3-month RV/LV ratio was significantly lower with cCDT (0.7 [0.6-0.7]) than with anticoagulation (0.8 [0.7-0.9); P = .01). An RV/LV ratio greater than 0.9 at 72 hours after randomization was observed in fewer patients treated with cCDT (13 of 48 [27.0%]) than anticoagulation (24 of 46 [52.1%]; OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.14-0.80; P = .01). Fewer patients assigned to cCDT experienced a 3-month composite of death or RV/LV greater than 0.9 (2 of 48 [4.3%] vs 8 of 46 [17.3%]; OR, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.04-1.03; P = .048). One case of nonfatal major gastrointestinal bleeding occurred in the cCDT group.Conclusions and RelevanceThis prematurely terminated randomized clinical trial of patients with intermediate-high–risk PE was hypothesis-generating for improvement in some efficacy outcomes and acceptable rate of major bleeding for cCDT compared with anticoagulation monotherapy and provided support for a definitive clinical outcomes trial.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05172115

Aims Patients with cardiac disease are considered high risk for poor outcomes following hospitalization with COVID-19. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate heterogeneity in associations between various heart disease subtypes and in-hospital mortality. Methods and results We used data from the CAPACITY-COVID registry and LEOSS study. Multivariable Poisson regression models were fitted to assess the association between different types of pre-existing heart disease and in-hospital mortality. A total of 16 511 patients with COVID-19 were included (21.1% aged 66–75 years; 40.2% female) and 31.5% had a history of heart disease. Patients with heart disease were older, predominantly male, and often had other comorbid conditions when compared with those without. Mortality was higher in patients with cardiac disease (29.7%; n = 1545 vs. 15.9%; n = 1797). However, following multivariable adjustment, this difference was not significant [adjusted risk ratio (aRR) 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.15; P = 0.12 (corrected for multiple testing)]. Associations with in-hospital mortality by heart disease subtypes differed considerably, with the strongest association for heart failure (aRR 1.19, 95% CI 1.10–1.30; P &lt; 0.018) particularly for severe (New York Heart Association class III/IV) heart failure (aRR 1.41, 95% CI 1.20–1.64; P &lt; 0.018). None of the other heart disease subtypes, including ischaemic heart disease, remained significant after multivariable adjustment. Serious cardiac complications were diagnosed in &lt;1% of patients. Conclusion Considerable heterogeneity exists in the strength of association between heart disease subtypes and in-hospital mortality. Of all patients with heart disease, those with heart failure are at greatest risk of death when hospitalized with COVID-19. Serious cardiac complications are rare during hospitalization.

Introduction Anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ARCAPA) is a rare coronary artery malformation with an incidence of 0.002% in patients undergoing coronary angiography. It can lead to an increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and sudden cardiac death, even in asymptomatic patients. Methods We conducted a review of published cases of ARCAPA using PubMed and Scopus databases and included patients over 18 years old with adequate echocardiographic data. Results We evaluated 28 patients with ARCAPA with a mean age of 42.8 from 1979 to 2021. Patients were diagnosed mostly by angiography and echocardiography, the most performed treatment was reimplantation (15, 53.6%) and the main echocardiographic findings were dilated coronary arteries (9, 32.1%), coronary collaterals (8, 28.6%), and retrograde flow from right coronary arteries to main pulmonary trunk (7, 25%). Conclusion Although ARCAPA is rare and not as deadly as the anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) still there is a chance of serious outcomes, therefore surgical treatment should be performed upon diagnosis. Angiography is the gold standard for diagnosis, but echocardiography can be a convenient, non-invasive, and most reliable method as the primary step whenever ARCAPA is suspected.

Background Preoperative coronary artery disease risk factors (CADRFs) distribution and pattern may also have an important role in determining major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs). In this study, we aimed to evaluate the CADRFs distribution and trend over 10 years and also the long-term outcome of CABG in different age-sex categories. Method In this registry-based serial cross-sectional study, we enrolled 24,328 patients who underwent isolated CABG and evaluated the prevalence of CADRFs according to sex and age. We used inverse probability weighting (IPW) to compare survival and MACE between the sexes. We also used Cox regression to determine each CADRFs effect on survival and MACEs. Results In general, DLP (56.00%), HTN (53.10%), DM (38.40%), and positive family history (38.30%) were the most frequent risk factors in all patients. Prevalence of HTN, DLP, DM, obesity, and positive family history were all higher in women, all statistically significant. The median follow-up duration was 78.1 months (76.31–79.87 months). After inverse probability weighting (to balance risk factors and comorbidities), men had lower MACEs during follow-up (HR 0.72; 95% CI 0.57–0.91; P value 0.006) and there was no significant difference in survival between sexes. DM and HTN were associated with higher mortality and MACEs in both sexes. Conclusion Although DLP is still the most frequent CADRF among the CABG population, the level of LDL and TG is decreasing. Women experience higher MACE post CABG. Therefore, health care providers and legislators must pay greater attention to female population CADRFs and ways to prevent them at different levels.