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Purpose COVID-19 infection resulting from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began to spread across the globe in early 2020. Patients with hematologic malignancies are supposed to have an increased risk of mortality from coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) infection. From Pakistan, we report the analysis of the outcome and interaction between patient demographics and tumor subtype and COVID-19 infection and hematological malignancy. Patients and methods This multicenter, retrospective study included adult patients with a history of histologically proven hematological malignancies who were tested positive for COVID-19 via PCR presented at the oncology department of 5 tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan from February to August 2020. A patient with any known hematological malignancy who was positive for COVID-19 on RT-PCR, was included in the study. Chi-square test and Cox-regression hazard regression model was applied considering p ≤ 0.05 significant. Results A total of 107 patients with hematological malignancies were diagnosed with COVID-19, out of which 82 (76.64%) were alive, and 25 (23.36%) were dead. The significant hematological malignancy was B-cell Lymphoma in dead 4 (16.00%) and alive group 21 (25.61%), respectively. The majority of the patients in both the dead and alive group were on active treatment for hematological malignancy while they came positive for COVID-19 [21 (84.00%) & 48 (58.54%) p 0.020]. All patients in the dead group were admitted to the hospital 25 (100.00%), and among these, 14 (56.00%) were admitted in ICU with a median 11 (6–16.5) number of days. Among those who had contact exposure, the hazard of survival or death in patients with hematological malignancies and COVID-19 positive was 2.18 (CI: 1.90–4.44) times and 3.10 (CI: 2.73–4.60) times in patients with travel history compared to no exposure history (p 0.001). Conclusion Taken together, this data supports the emerging consensus that patients with hematologic malignancies experience significant morbidity and mortality resulting from COVID-19 infection.

What is the clinically significant ideal mesenchymal stromal cell count in the management of osteoarthritis of the knee? -Meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Objectives: To compare the frequency of severe mitral regurgitation after percutaneous mitral balloon valvuloplasty (PMBV) via Inoue balloon and multi-track balloon technique in our population. Methodology: In this retrospective observational study which was conducted at a tertiary care cardiac center of Karachi, Pakistan between 2015 and 2020 on Hospital registry of PMBV patients. Data were categorized in to two groups, Inoue balloon or multi-track balloon technique. Post procedure echocardiographic and catheterization parameters and in-hospital outcomes and complications, including severe MR, were compared between two groups. Results: Out of 470 PMBV procedures, 286 (60.9%) were performed with multi-track and 184 (39.1%) with Inoue balloon. Improvement in mitral value area was significantly higher with multi-track as compared to Inoue balloon (0.66±0.31 cm2 vs. 0.56±0.29 cm2; p<0.001). Severe MR was not significant, 3.5% (10/286) vs. 4.3% (8/184); p=0.639 for multi-track and Inoue balloon. One patient in Inoue balloon group and two patients in multi-track group required emergency valve surgery. Stroke was observed in two patients of multi-track group and two patients from the same group developed tamponade. No in-hospital mortality was observed. Conclusion: Post-procedure severe MR is a significant and frequent complication. Rate of post procedure severe MR are similar for PMBV via Inoue balloon and multi-track balloon. Both methods are equally effective with equal success rate.

BackgroundAround 80-85% of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases were reported to have mild disease and home treatment of such patients was proved to be effective without significant morbidity or mortality. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the outcome of home management of non-severe COVID-19 infection in healthcare providers in the developing world. MethodsThis observational cohort study was conducted at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases from June 2020 till January 2021. It included health care workers who tested positive for COVID-19 with nonsevere infection and received home treatment. The COVID-19 management team monitored their symptoms and oxygen saturation over the phone. Need-based lab tests, X-rays, home proning, steroids, and oxygen were administered along with the standard intuitional management strategies. Study outcomes included duration of recovery, need for hospitalization, and expiry. ResultsA total of 128 patients were included, out of which 98 (76.6%) were male, and the mean age was 32.9 ± 5.9 years. Fever was the most common symptom, seen in 89.8% of patients. Most of the patients (85.9%) had no pre-existing comorbidities. Five patients received home oxygen therapy, seven received steroid therapy, and one received home pruning. The average time of recovery was 13.8 ± 8.1 days with no mortality; however, 14 (10.9%) patients were hospitalized due to worsening of symptoms. ConclusionHome treatment for COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate disease after appropriate risk assessment can be a safe and effective option to preserve hospital capacities for more needy and severely ill patients.

Objectives: Premature coronary artery disease (CAD) is on the rise in our population, and multivessel disease (MVD) is no longer an uncommon finding in young patients. Therefore, aim of this study was to determine the predictors of MVD in young patients who presented with ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). Methodology: For this study, we enrolled 294 young adult (18-40 years) patients with STEMI. MVD was diagnosed based on angiography. Demographic characteristics and baseline risk profiles were considered for the univariate and multivariate analyses to determine the predictors of MVD. Results: Out of 294 patients, 90.5% (266) were males, and the mean age was 35.45 ± 4.07 years. Our 24.1% (71) patients were hypertensive (HTN), and 36.1% (106) were smokers. A total of 94 patients had MVD. Patients with MVD were older and more likely to have diabetes (DM) and HTN than their counterparts. Only age and DM were found to be significant independent predictors of MVD. The risk of developing MVD was higher in diabetics, with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) [95% CI] of 2.47 [1.23-4.97; p=0.011]. Conclusion: In conclusion, we showed that age and DM are independent predictors of MVD in a young Pakistani adult population presenting with STEMI. However, none of the other risk factors, such as obesity, male gender or smoking, were found to be significantly associated with MVD in Pakistani adults with premature CAD. Although significantly associated, HTN does not prove to be an independent predictor of multivessel CAD in young adults.

Background. Distal embolization due to microthrombus fragments formed during predilation ballooning is considered one of the possible mechanisms of slow flow/no-reflow (SF/NR). Therefore, this study aimed to compare the incidence of intraprocedure SF/NR during the primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with high thrombus burden (≥4 grade) with and without predilation ballooning for culprit lesion preparation. Methodology. This prospective descriptive cross-sectional study included patients with a high thrombus burden (≥4 grades) who underwent primary PCI. Propensity-matched cohorts of patients with and without predilation ballooning in a 1 : 1 ratio were compared for the incidence of intraprocedure SF/NR. Results. A total of 765 patients with high thrombus burden undergoing primary PCI were included in this study. The mean age was 55.75 ± 11.54 years, and 78.6% (601) were males. Predilation ballooning was conducted in 346 (45.2%) patients. The incidence of intraprocedure SF/NR was significantly higher (41.3% vs. 27.4%; p < 0.001 ) in patients with predilation ballooning than in those without preballooning, respectively. The incidence of intraprocedure SF/NR also remained significantly higher for the predilation ballooning cohort with an incidence rate of 41.3% as against 30.1% ( p = 0.002 ) for the propensity-matched cohort of patients without predilation ballooning with a relative risk of 1.64 (95% CI: 1.20 to 2.24). Moreover, the in-hospital mortality rate remained higher but insignificant, among patients with and without predilation ballooning (8.1% vs. 4.9%; p = 0.090 ). Conclusion. In conclusion, predilation ballooning can be associated with an increased risk of incidence of intraprocedure SF/NR during primary PCI in patients with high thrombus burden.

Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the predictive value of Shock Index-Creatinine Clearance (SI-C) for the risk stratification of contrast induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). Methodology: 1150 consecutive patients of STEMI and candidates of PPCI presenting at our tertiary care cardiac center were included in this study. Patients with significant hemodynamic instability, allergic reaction to contrast agent or having exposure to contrast agent within a week prior to PPCI and those requiring renal replacement therapy were excluded from this study. SI-C and Mehran risk scores were calculated and the rise in post procedure serum creatinine level by 0.5 mg/dL or up to 25% from baseline was characterized as CIN. The predictive power of both SIC and Mehran risk score was assessed with help of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Out of 1150 participants, 960 were male with a mean age of 55.64 ± 11.45 years. Out of which 113 (9.8%) patients developed CIN.  Area under the cure (AUC) for the prediction of CIN was 0.702 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.651 to 0.753] for SI-C as against 0.633 [95% CI: 0.574 to 0.692] for Mehran score. SIC also retained its statistical significance as independent predictor of CIN with adjusted odds ratio of 1.01 [95% CI: 1.01 to 1.02] on multivariable regression analysis. Conclusion: SI-C has demonstrated strong discriminative power to determine the risk of CIN in PPCI setting when compared with Mehran risk score.