Sickle cell disease (SCD) predominantly affects African-Americans (AAs) in the United States (US). Due to increasing life expectancy in developed countries, SCD-associated cardiomyopathy is typically seen in adults. The aim of this study was to distinguish hospitalization for this phenotype from traditional heart failure (HF) in AAs. We used the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database to identify HF hospitalizations in AAs between 2005 and 2014 and stratified them according to SCD status. We compared the characteristics and outcomes before and after matching in a 1:3 ratio for age, gender, insurance, smoking status and admission year. Amongst the 1,195,718 HF admissions in AAs, SCD accounted for 7835. The age (mean ± SD) in the SCD cohort was significantly younger (45.66 ± 13.2) vs non-SCD (64.8 ± 15.2), p<0.001. SCD adults had significantly higher rates of pulmonary hypertension (PH), deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism while non-SCD adults had higher rates of cardiogenic shock and respiratory failure requiring intubation. The national hospitalization rate for HF in AAs increased from 151 to 257 per million between 2005 and 2011 before declining to 241 per million in 2014. There was a decrease in in-hospital mortality in AAs from 4.8% in 2005 to 3.6% in 2014. We also identified independent predictors of in-hospital mortality in SCD with HF. In conclusion, we described hospitalizations for an emerging heart failure phenotype in AAs. Although there is a national decreasing rate of HF hospitalizations in the US, this may not be reflective of the AA population.

Severe acute respiratory distress coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus is responsible for the current pandemic - coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) plaguing the world. It began spreading as early as January 2020 in the United States (US) and has recently become the leading cause of death amongst adults over 45 years of age. Much of its clinical presentation is already known, and there have been advances in its successful treatment with a food and drug administration (FDA) approved antiviral medication called remdesivir, and other proven investigational methods with clinical benefits including dexamethasone and COVID-19 antibody transfusion called convalescent plasma therapy. However, the recommendations for their use include COVID-19 confirmed patients requiring supplemental oxygen or other forms of respiratory support. In this case report, we describe in detail a unique case of severe COVID-19 infection that did not require any form of oxygen support but was treated successfully with antiviral medications and steroids. The purpose of this report is to highlight in detail an unusual COVID-19 presentation with rhabdomyolysis, myocarditis, and pancytopenia severe enough to require hospitalization and treatment with proven COVID-19 therapy to achieve clinical resolution.

Mesoamerican nephropathy (MeN), formerly called chronic kidney disease of unknown cause (CKDu), refers to chronic kidney disease (CKD) that presents in young and middle-aged Central Americans in the absence of any clear etiology. MeN is a relatively new diagnosis with rapidly rising prevalence in specific regions of El Salvador and Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. It is seldom associated with hyperuricemia. We present a case of a patient with gouty arthritis and hyperuricemia with associated CKD due to MeN. We also provide a review of literature of this disease.

Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have evolved over the years, based on data from several randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trials. Formerly used primarily for blood sugar control in patients with diabetes, they are now used to decrease the risk of hospitalization for heart failure (HF), or of death from cardiovascular (CV) causes, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). They have also been shown to slow the progression of renal disease and prevent death related to renal causes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). They are currently being studied to decrease the risk of HF hospitalization in patients with preserved ejection fraction subtype and have shown positive results. The transition of SGLT2 from a medication used in diabetes to an established HF medication was a result of the hypothesis generated from the analysis of earlier trials in diabetic patients and further testing of this hypothesis in an HF population. By way of this review, we aim to highlight the rationale for the paradigm shift of SGLT2 inhibitors from their use in diabetic patients to their use in all patients with HF, regardless of the presence of diabetes. To support our recommendation, we'll present detailed results of several major clinical trials and a meta-analysis study that led to this discovery, along with clinical indication for the same.

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