Citations

The Congenital Heart Surgeons’ Society (CHSS) is viewed by many as one of the most prestigious professional societies dedicated to pediatric and congenital cardiac surgery. The CHSS Center for Research and Quality (CRQ) Fall 2025 Work Weekend was held in Chicago on Saturday, October 25, 2025. The purpose of this article is to summarize the proceedings of the CHSS CRQ Fall 2025 Work Weekend and to provide a 2025 Annual Report of the CHSS CRQ. At the CHSS CRQ Fall 2025 Work Weekend, multiple topics were discussed related to ongoing CHSS research and quality initiatives. The CHSS CRQ is evolving to keep pace with the rapid evolution of medical informatics and the ever-evolving regulatory issues of clinical research. This 2025 Annual Report of the CHSS CRQ summarizes some of the ongoing initiatives at CHSS CRQ designed to assure that the CHSS CRQ continues to lead innovative and collaborative clinical research to improve pediatric and congenital cardiac care.

Abstract Emotional experiences during focal seizures are often misinterpreted as psychiatric disorders. We aimed to evaluate symptoms involving affective symptoms at seizure onset. We aimed to identify the most prevalent affective symptoms at seizure onset and characterize their localizing and lateralizing value. We performed a scoping review based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta‐Analyses–extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. A systematic search identified records from 4 databases: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL (via EBSCOhost), and Web of Science. Two reviewers independently screened titles/abstracts and full texts; discrepancies were resolved by consensus. This review focused on patients with focal seizures, as affective symptoms may occur in generalized epilepsies. The affective symptoms: fear, anxiety, panic, sadness, mystic, ecstatic, sexual, and mirth were identified, and semiology was evaluated in accordance with ILAE guidelines. Symptom onset, frequency, brain localization, and video‐EEG monitoring technique were evaluated to assess localization and lateralization of regional networks. Scalp EEG, invasive EEG recordings, and electrical stimulation were analyzed. A total of 1276 documents were identified, with 98 studies included for review. Fear was the most frequently reported ictal emotion, identified in 274 patients (66%), predominantly in temporal lobe epilepsy. Sadness and sexual, ecstatic symptoms were also consistently associated with temporal networks. Mirth was more frequently reported with frontal onset seizures. Evidence, primarily from Class IV studies, reported right hemispheric predominance for ecstasy, mystic, and sexual symptoms at seizure onset. Ictal affective symptoms at seizure onset yield localizing information. The limbic system, especially the temporal lobe, followed by the frontal lobe, was the most common site of origin. Fear was the most common spontaneous and electrically elicited symptom, followed by anxiety. While bi‐hemispheric lateralization occurred, right lateralization predominated. Recognizing paroxysmal affective symptoms as ictal phenomena may reduce misdiagnosis and aid presurgical evaluation in drug‐resistant focal epilepsy.

ABSTRACT Measles virus (MeV) is the most contagious human respiratory pathogen. To understand how it spreads in the airways, we infected well-differentiated primary cultures of human airway epithelial cells (HAE). We discovered that the MeV attachment protein (hemagglutinin, H), the fusion (F) protein, and the assembly organizer protein (matrix, M) reach newly infected cells ahead of, and independently from, the replicative complex proteins. To characterize the mechanisms of MeV spread, we generated a replication-deficient adenoviral vector expressing the MeV M, F, and H proteins in a doxycycline-inducible manner. This viral vector formed infectious centers that preserved epithelial function like those from MeV infection. To further dissect this process, we generated Ad vectors expressing individual MeV proteins, termed Ad-M, Ad-F, and Ad-H. Transduction of HAE with single, double, and triple Ad vector combinations revealed that Ad-F and Ad-H are necessary and sufficient to form MeV-like infectious centers. MeV enters and spreads within airway epithelia via H protein binding to adherens junction protein, nectin-4. To disrupt spread, we introduced the point mutation H Y543A , a mutation previously described to inhibit nectin-4 binding, in the Ad-H vector. Co-transduction of Ad-F and Ad-H Y543A did not result in MeV-like infectious center formation. Finally, we assessed whether the MeV-related paramyxovirus Nipah (NiV) attachment and fusion proteins (G and F, respectively) support cell-to-cell spread. Co-transduction of HAE with Ad-NiV-G and Ad-NiV-F did not result in infectious center formation, suggesting that decoupling of the membrane fusion apparatus function from replication is a unique feature of the MeV envelope glycoproteins. IMPORTANCE Measles virus is a highly contagious pathogen. We characterized a mechanism by which measles virus spreads rapidly through the cells that line the human airway in an ex vivo model. We show that the proteins of the viral membrane fusion apparatus, hemagglutinin (H) and fusion (F), move independently from and reach newly infected cells before the proteins of the replicative complex. Thus, viral protein spread is assembled and arranged in order (i.e., marshaled ). Using adenovirus-based vectors, we show that co-expression of H and F proteins promotes rapid sequential spread to multiple cells and the formation of infectious centers. Further elucidation of the mechanism of measles virus amplification and cell-to-cell spread within the lung may help explain its highly contagious nature.

Abstract Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the most prevalent diseases in feline medicine. Mass spectrometry-based urinary proteomics offers powerful insight into biomarker candidates and disease subtyping in CKD by measuring protein profiles rather than individual proteins. This study aims to measure the urinary proteome to identify protein profiles in cats with and without CKD to gain pathophysiological insights into the disease and more precisely diagnose CKD. Here, we identify 2,219 urinary proteins in the feline urinary proteome. Using univariate biomarker analysis, we show that MMP-7 may be a promising biomarker of CKD in cats. We then demonstrate the power of using protein profiles rather than individual proteins by grouping proteins based on how they trend across disease states. The changes to the global urinary proteomes of individual cats showed three distinct groups of CKD cats with unique protein profiles, suggesting that different pathophysiological mechanisms mediate disease subtypes. We demonstrate that large-scale urinary proteomics may provide a powerful framework for discovering candidate biomarkers that advance the subtyping and mechanistic understanding of feline CKD.

Patient-specific computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is increasingly used to investigate intracranial aneurysm hemodynamics. However, differences in modeling practices can affect simulated flow fields and derived metrics, complicating interpretation and comparison. We conducted a review to characterize methodological variability and reporting across the CFD workflow. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus from 1 January 2020 to 6 November 2025. Patient-specific saccular intracranial aneurysm CFD studies were included; idealized geometries, treatment-device simulations, and methodological comparisons were excluded. Domains included geometry reconstruction, meshing, boundary conditions, numerical implementation, temporal settings, mesh independence testing, and external validation. Among 112 studies, geometry source (92.9%) and inlet boundary conditions (91.1%) were commonly reported, whereas solver type (25.0%), minimum element count (33.9%), maximum element size (22.3%), first inflation-layer height (6.3%), and explicit mesh-independence testing (8.0%) were reported less frequently. Validation was not described in 80.4% of studies, and 8.0% reported explicit methods. Modeling patterns were broadly similar when studies were stratified by scientific purpose, while reporting gaps persisted. These studies demonstrate substantial methodological variability, incomplete reporting, and infrequent verification and validation, limiting independent appraisal and cross-study comparison of CFD-derived hemodynamic findings.

Aims: The aims of this study were to evaluate the association between the red cell distribution width (RDW)–albumin ratio (RAR) and subclinical myocardial impairment, as assessed by left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS), and to examine the relationships between the RAR, heart failure (HF) hospitalization, and all-cause mortality. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study on adults who underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) with LVGLS assessment across three Mayo Clinic centers (2017–2024) and who had RDW and serum albumin measured on the same day or within seven days. The RAR was calculated as RDW/albumin and categorized into the following tertiles: <2.93, 2.93–3.48, and >3.48. Impaired LVGLS was defined as >−18%. Associations between the RAR and outcomes were assessed using multivariable logistic regression (LVGLS) and Cox models (HF and mortality), adjusting for demographics and comorbidities. Results: Among 5069 patients, 39.7% had impaired LVGLS, and its prevalence increased across RAR tertiles (26.8%, 41.9%, and 51.1%). Adjusted odds ratios for impaired LVGLS were 1.74 and 2.30 for tertiles 2 and 3, respectively. A higher RAR was associated with increased risk of HF hospitalization (aHR 2.54 and 4.48) and all-cause mortality (aHR 2.39 and 7.30). These associations persisted after adjusting for LVGLS. The effect of the RAR on mortality was stronger in patients with normal LVGLS compared to those with impaired LVGLS (p for interaction = 0.0004). Conclusions: A higher RAR was associated with abnormal LVGLS, HF hospitalization, and all-cause mortality after adjustment for clinical risk factors. However, the RAR did not provide discriminative value beyond its individual components.