BRASH syndrome, which stands for Bradycardia, Renal failure, Atrioventricular (AV) Nodal blockade, and shock, is a relatively new clinical condition. Bradycardia develops because of the synergistic effect of AV-nodal blockers and hyperkalemia in a renal failure resulting in a vicious cycle of progressive bradycardia, renal hypoperfusion, and hyperkalemia. We present a case of an 88-year-old man with chronic systolic heart failure, atrial fibrillation, stage 3 chronic kidney disease, and dementia who presented to our emergency department with poor oral intake and weakness. He was found to have symptomatic bradycardia in the 30s secondary to hyperkalemia and beta-blockers in the setting of acute renal failure from dehydration, raising concern for BRASH syndrome. Treatment of each component conservatively resulted in complete resolution without the need for aggressive measures such as dialysis or pacing. This case report also discusses the pathophysiology, management, and the need for recognizing this underdiagnosed and novel clinical condition.

Current literature suggests an increased incidence of rhabdomyolysis in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) compared to the general population. We present a case of a 60-year-old female with a history of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cirrhosis who developed rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney injury after starting high-intensity atorvastatin therapy. This case highlights the potential risks associated with high-intensity statin therapy in patients with CLD, particularly those with advanced liver dysfunction, emphasizing the need for cautious prescribing and thorough risk-benefit assessment in this vulnerable patient population.

Background: Raised BNP/NT-pro BNP has been reported as a poor prognostic indicator in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients. However, the unavailability of pooled data utilizing BNP/NT-proBNP as a prognostic biomarker led us to perform this systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Using relevant keywords, PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and EMBASE were systematically reviewed to evaluate studies reporting all-cause mortality or sudden death with BNP/NT-pro BNP through May 2022. Random effects models and I 2 statistics were used for pooled hazard ratios (HR) and heterogeneity assessment using Review Manager (RevMan) [Computer program]. Version 5.4, The Cochrane Collaboration, 2020. Results: Our systematic review included sample size of 6691 from 12 studies [Table 1]. Four publications were from China, 2 from Japan and Turkey each and 1 from USA, UK, Italy and France each. Age ranged from 46-55 years with a follow up time from 3-8 years. High NT-proBNP was associated with significantly high risk of all-cause mortality in both unadjusted (HR 1.69, 95%CI: 1.30-2.20, p<0.05, I 2 =90%) and adjusted models (HR 3.73, 95%CI: 1.36-10.21, p<0.05, I 2 =83%), and of sudden death in adjusted (HR 4.78, 95%CI: 1.49-15.34, p<0.05, I 2 =89%). Raised BNP level was associated with adjusted sudden death (HR 5.10, 95%CI: 3.03-8.61, p<0.05) (Fig. 1). Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggested that higher BNP/NT-proBNP level was associated with high risk of combined all-cause mortality and sudden death in patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Depression has been identified as a risk factor for acute cerebrovascular events. Due to limited data focused on young females, we studied the burden and impact of comorbid depression on outcomes of acute ischemic stroke (AIS)-related admissions in young women of the reproductive age group. Methods: We used the National Inpatient Sample (2018) to identify admissions of young females (age 18-44 years) with AIS; and further classified it into two demographically (age, race, payer status, income) matched (1:1) groups based on the presence of comorbid depression. Comorbidities and outcomes were compared using relevant ICD-10 codes. Multivariable regression was used to analyze the association of comorbid depression with in-hospital mortality. Results: In 15850 young females admitted with AIS in 2018, 2465 (15.6%) had comorbid depression. Post-matching, the study cohort consisted of 4610 women admitted with AIS (Median age: 37, 66.2% whites) and 2305 women in each cohort, with and without depression. The matched AIS-depression arm often had younger women (median 37 vs 39 years), patients from the lower-income quartile (47.3% vs. 34.5%), and higher rates of obesity, peripheral vascular disease, and prior history of stroke but a lower prevalence of CVD risk factors [Table 1]. The depression arm had a non-significant odd of all-cause mortality (OR 1.32, 95%CI:0.64-2.74) when adjusted for sociodemographic confounders and comorbid risk factors (p=0.452). The LOS was shorter (median 4 vs 5 days) with comparable hospital charges in the depression arm vs. no depression arm (p<0.001). Conclusion: This study revealed a nearly 15% burden of depression in young females admitted for AIS without significant impact on all-cause mortality when controlled for confounders. The impact of depression on long-term AIS outcomes needs further evaluation.

Background: Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) has been proven to be a successful treatment option for patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in numerous randomized controlled trials. The majority of trials underrepresent patients aged 70 and above, and there is little contemporary data on regional trends and variation in mortality. Methods: This retrospective study using the National Inpatient Sample (2016-2019) seeks to identify any regional relationships between geriatric patients' in-hospital mortality after MT for AIS at urban facilities and trends in inpatient mortality. Regional Inpatient mortality based on sex and race and trends between 2016 and 2019 were assessed. Results: Our study group consisted of 52455 AIS-MT admissions (median 78 yrs, 57.1% male, 77.2% white, 89.6% Medicare enrollees) with a 14.1% inpatient mortality rate. Despite having a lower comparative burden of traditional CVD risk factors, the hospitals from the Northeast had a higher inpatient mortality rate (17.2%, n=1650) and risk (adjusted OR:1.25, 95% CI:1.03-1.51) than the other regions. Similar trends were observed in male (18.1%), females (16.6%), white (17.3%) and black (13.8%) participants (P<0.001) undergoing AIS-MT. Highest inpatient mortality among Hispanics was linked to Midwest-based participants (16.2%) without regional variation in rates for Asians. There were declining trends in mortality between 2016 to 2019 in West region without any change in other regions (from 14.0% to 11.5%, ptrend=0.002) (Fig. 1) . Conclusion: Among demographically comparable geriatric patients with AIS undergoing MT in the US, the Northeast region admissions showed the highest inpatient mortality even after controlling for confounding factors with a relatively lower burden of CVD risk factors. This disparity warrants further research to validate these findings.