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Objectives To conducted a meta-analysis assessing the relationship between Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and the risk of Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Methods We searched PUBMED, Medline, and Cochrane Library using the keywords “atrial fibrillation”, “obstructive sleep apnea” and “sleep disordered breathing (SDB)”. All subjects included had established diagnosis of OSA/SDB. We then compared the occurrence of AF versus no AF. Analysis done with Comprehensive Meta-Analysis package V3 (Biostat, USA). Results A total of 579 results were generated. Duplicates were removed and 372 records were excluded based on irrelevant abstracts, titles, study design not consistent with the stated outcome, or full-text unavailable. Twelve studies meeting the inclusion criteria were reviewed in full-text; 2 of these articles were eventually removed due to unconfirmed OSA diagnostic modality, and one was also removed based on a control group inconsistent with the other studies. Therefore, a total of 9 studies were included (n=19,837). Sample sizes ranged from n=160 patients to n=6841 patients. The risk of AF was found to be higher among OSA/SDB versus control group (OR; 2.120, C.I: 1.845–2.436, Z; 10.598 p: <0.001). The heterogeneity observed for the pooled analysis was Q-value; 22.487 df (Q); 8 P-value; 0.004, I-squared; 64.424 Tau2; 0.098, suggesting appropriate study selection and moderate heterogeneity. Conclusion OSA/SDB is strongly associated with AFib confirming the notion that OSA/SDB populations are high risk for development of AF. Prospective studies are needed to ascertain the effect of the treatment of OSA/SDB for the prevention of AF, a growing health burden with serious consequences.

hyperemia decreases PWV(1min) in NT but not in HT. DeltaPWV is inversely related to FMD. Blunted hyperemic PWV response may represent impaired vasodilatory reserve.

Introduction: Numerous case series have reported on the baseline characteristics and inhospital mortality of patients with COVID-19, however, these studies included patients localized in a specific geographic region. The purpose of our study was to identify differences in the clinical characteristics and the in-hospital mortality of patients with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 internationally. Methods: A comprehensive search of all published literature on adult patients with laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 that reported on the clinical characteristics and inhospital mortality was performed. Groups were compared using a Chi-square test with Yates correction of continuity. A two-tailed p value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: After screening 516 studies across the globe, 43 studies from 12 countries were included in our final analysis. Patients with COVID-19 in America and Europe were older compared to their Asian counterparts. Europe had the highest percentage of male patients. American and European patients had a higher incidence of co-morbid conditions (p \ 0.05 for all variables). In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in America (22.23%) and Europe (22.9%) compared to Asia (12.65%) (p \ 0.0001), but no difference was seen when compared with each other (p = 0.49). Conclusions: There is a significant variation in the clinical characteristics in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 across the globe. In-hospital mortality is similar between America and Europe, but considerably higher than Asia.

Objectives: Although epilepsy may be associated with an increased risk for sudden cardiac death, its effects on Q-T intervals has not been established. Methods: To determine whether changes in Q-T interval duration (QT_{max c}, QT_{min c}) and dispersion (QT_{D c}) occur in epileptic patients, we retrospectively studied 40 consecutive patients (age: 36.1 ± 22.2 years) who have had a seizure disorder for 14.0 ± 12.2 years and were seen in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, and 60 age-matched non-epileptic controls (age: 38.0 ± 15.6 years). Q-T intervals were calculated from a single 12-lead ECG. Results: QT_{max c} (425 ± 30 vs. 410 ± 36 ms, p = 0.040) and QT_{D c} (63.1 ± 22.4 vs. 31.0 ± 17.2 ms, p = 0.000) were higher, and QT_{min c} (362 ± 36 vs. 379 ± 33 ms, p = 0.040) was lower in epilepsy patients. QT_{max c} was significantly correlated with disease duration (r = –0.35, p = 0.028) before, but not after age correction (r = –0.31, p = 0.053). Neither age nor reported recent seizure frequency was correlated with any repolarization index. Conclusions: QT_{max c} and QT_{D c} are higher in epilepsy patients as compared to control subjects. While Q-T interval appears to be related to disease duration, particularly over the early history of disease, it is unrelated to patient age or recent reported seizure frequency.

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Background: Statins have long been prescribed for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and kidney disease. Their benefits and efficacy are widely accepted in current clinical practice, but like any other therapeutic agents, they have adverse effects. One of the emerging concerns with statin therapy is the development of new-onset diabetes mellitus (NODM), a dreaded risk factor for CVD and kidney disease and widely viewed as CVD equivalent. Accumulating evidence indicates that NODM is a consequence of statin use. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis of studies reporting on associations between NODM and statin use. Based on strict exclusion criteria, a total of 11 studies were selected. Their data were analyzed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis® statistical software and reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: The cumulative fixed effect for use of statin therapy and incident NODM was an OR of 1.61 (95% CI 1.55–1.68, p < 0.001). Our results suggest that statin therapy is associated with NODM, such that there is a small but significant risk of NODM among patients receiving statin for CVD prevention therapy. However, this high-risk population also has other diabetes risk factors (such as obesity and hypertension) contributing to the development of NODM. Conclusions: It is imperative that patients on statin therapy be monitored carefully for NODM. However, it can be argued that the risk of statin therapy is offset by the multitude of cardiovascular and kidney-protective effects provided by such an important and highly effective therapeutic agent.