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AbstractObjectivesThe study aimed to extract online comments of otolaryngologists in the 20 most populated cities in the United States from healthgrades.com, develop and validate a natural language processing (NLP) logistic regression algorithm for automated text classification of reviews into 10 categories, and compare 1‐ and 5‐star reviews in directly‐physician‐related and non‐physician‐related categories.Methods1977 1‐star and 12,682 5‐star reviews were collected. The primary investigator manually categorized a training dataset of 324 1‐star and 909 5‐star reviews, while a validation subset of 100 5‐star and 50 1‐star reviews underwent dual manual categorization. Using scikit‐learn, an NLP algorithm was trained and validated on the subsets, with F1 scores evaluating text classification accuracy against manual categorization. The algorithm was then applied to the entire dataset with comparison of review categorization according to 1‐ and 5‐star reviews.ResultsF1 scores for NLP validation ranged between 0.71 and 0.97. Significant associations emerged between 1‐star reviews and treatment plan, accessibility, wait time, office scheduling, billing, and facilities. 5‐star reviews were associated with surgery/procedure, bedside manner, and staff/mid‐levels.ConclusionThe study successfully validated an NLP text classification system for categorizing online physician reviews. Positive reviews were found to have an association with directly‐physician related context. 1‐star reviews were related to treatment plan, accessibility, wait time, office scheduling, billing, and facilities. This method of text classification effectively discerned the nuances of human‐written text, providing valuable insights into online healthcare feedback that is scalable.Level of evidence: Level 3

Older patients with multiple myeloma (MM) exhibit wide heterogeneity in their baseline physiologic and functional status, which demands an individualized treatment approach based on biological rather than chronological age. Various frailty scores have been developed for older patients with MM, but they are underutilized in clinical trials and in practice. Older patients with MM are underrepresented in therapeutic clinical trials, and treatment recommendations are currently derived from clinical trials of transplant-ineligible patients. This article provides a summary of phase II and III clinical trials in transplant-ineligible patients with newly diagnosed MM, highlighting outcomes in patients aged ≥75 years and frailty-based outcomes. The data available thus far show that triplet regimens are more efficacious than doublets in older patients but may be associated with higher toxicity. DRd (daratumumab/lenalidomide/dexamethasone) and VRd (bortezomib/lenalidomide/dexamethasone) are good options in patients who are nonfrail, whereas dose-adjusted DRd and VRd-lite should be offered to frail patients. Frailty should be assessed regularly to guide treatment intensification and/or deescalation. It is important that frailty measures are incorporated in clinical trials evaluating novel treatments to inform how older and frail patients will benefit from these treatments.

Background: Inequities in Preeclampsia/Eclampsia (PrE/E) persist. It is unknown if the receipt of cardiology care relates to future risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in Black and White patients with PrE/E. We sought to determine the cumulative incidence of MACE by race and whether predelivery cardiology care was associated with the hazard of MACE up to 1-year post-delivery for Black and White patients with PrE/E. Methods: Using Optum’s Clinformatics® Data Mart Database (CDM), we identified Black and White patients with PrE/E who had a delivery between 2008 to 2019. MACE was defined as the composite of heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and death. Cumulative incidence functions were used to compare the incidence of MACE by race. Cox regression models were used to assess the hazard of MACE by cardiology care for Black and White patients. Results: Among 29,336 patients (83.4% White, 16.6% Black, mean age of 30.9 years) with PrE/E, 11.2% received cardiology care (10.9% White, 13.0% Black). Black patients had a higher incidence of MACE than White patients at 1-yr post-delivery (2.7% vs 1.4%). After adjusting for age and clinical comorbidities, receipt of cardiology care was associated with lower hazard of MACE for White patients (HR= 0.68, 95%CI: 0.50-0.92 p=0.013) but not Black patients (HR: 1.22, 95% CI: 0.82-1.81; p= 0.328). The interaction effect between race and cardiology care was statistically significant (p=0.013) Conclusions: Among a well-insured population of patients with PrE/E, Black patients had a higher cumulative incidence of MACE up to a year post-delivery. However, cardiology care significantly lowered the hazard of MACE for only White women. This observation does not suggest that cardiology care is detrimental to Black individuals but underscores the necessity to investigate why outcomes are disparate among these racial groups.

Background: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) predicts mortality in cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) patients. A novel artificial intelligence enhanced electrocardiogram (AIECG) algorithm can predict LVDD and mortality in general populations but has not been examined in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU). We aim to assess if LVDD by AI-ECG is associated with in-hospital and one-year mortality in CICU patients. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we included consecutive unique adults admitted to the Mayo Clinic CICU from 2007 to 2018 with an admission AIECG, which AI assigned LVDD grade (0 to 3). Medial mitral E/e’ ratio >15 on transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) defined elevated filling pressures. AIECG and TTE assessment of LVDD were used to assign patients to four groups based on TTE as gold standard: true and false negative, and true and false positive. In-hospital mortality was evaluated using multivariable logistic regression. One-year survival was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariable Cox proportional-hazards. Results: We included 11,868 patients (median age 69.5 years, 37.7% females); 48% had heart failure and 44% had acute coronary syndromes. AIECG LVDD grades were: grade 0 (normal), 33%; grade 1, 7%; grade 2, 39%; grade 3, 21%. In-hospital (adjusted OR) and one-year (adjusted HR) mortality increased in each higher AIECG LVDD grade (Figure A/B), before and after adjustment including TTE measurements. Patients with grade 2-3 LVDD by AIECG and medial mitral E/e’ ratio >15 by TTE (true positive) had the highest in-hospital (adjusted OR 2.5 [1.7-3.9]) and one-year (adjusted HR 1.9 [1.5-2.5]) mortality (Figure C/D), and mortality was elevated similarly in patients with either grade 2-3 LVDD by AIECG (false positive) or medial mitral E/e’ ratio >15 by TTE (false negative). Conclusions: The AIECG LVDD grade was strongly associated with in-hospital and one-year mortality in CICU patients, even after adjusting for clinical variables and TTE measurements. Patients with concordant AIECG and TTE for elevated filling pressures (true positive) were at highest risk.

Background: Disease-causative variants in LMNA -encoded lamin A/C cause a genetic cardiomyopathy characterized by atrioventricular (AV) block, atrial fibrillation (AF) and ventricular arrhythmias (VA). Whether domain/variant-specific late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) patterns exist and carry prognostic significance is unclear. Objective: To determine if specific LGE patterns correlate with LMNA variant type/missense variant localization and clinical outcomes in a large cohort of cardiac laminopathy patients. Methods: Retrospectively, 621 genotype-positive arrhythmogenic/dilated cardiomyopathy patients were analyzed to identify those with a disease-causative variant in LMNA -encoded lamin A/C. After exclusion of patients without cardiac magnetic resonance data, pertinent demographic/clinical data was extracted from the electronic medical record. LGE distribution (subepicardial, midmyocardial, subendocardial, transmural) and location (septal, free wall, apical) patterns were analyzed by variant type (missense vs truncating) and missense variant localization (central rod domain vs tail domain) and correlated with advanced heart failure (AHF), MVA, AV block, AF and thromboembolic (TE) events. Results: 70 out of 116 (60%) LMNA variant-positive (mean age 39±12, 43% male and 94% Caucasian) were included. Missense variants localizing to the C-terminal tail region showed a higher prevalence of transmural and apical LGE (Table). Amongst the 5 (7%) patients with this distinct apical pseudo-infarct LGE pattern, p.Arg471His-LMNA was identified in all cases. Among the 48/70 (69%) of patients with clinically manifest disease, p.Arg471His-LMNA-positive patients (n=6) were noted to have an increased prevalence of TE events [3 (50%) vs 5 (12%), 0=0.050] despite a reduced prevalence of AF [2 (33%) vs 32 (76%), p= 0.031]. No difference in AHF or MVA were observed, but AV block was less prevalent [1 (20%) vs 29 (74%), p= 0.029]. Conclusion: p.Arg471His-LMNA causes a distinct apical pseudo-infarct LGE pattern associated with an increased risk of TE events and a decreased prevalence of AV block and AF. Future studies are needed to better refine the role of domain/variant-specific risk-stratification/anticoagulation in cardiac laminopathy.

Introduction: Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) often results in systolic heart failure (HF) and responds favorably to guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT). A multidisciplinary team approach to HF care is recommended but few published examples exist in CS patients. Methods: We queried an institutional registry of 599 CS patients (2000-2023) for patients with index LVEF < 50% (within 90 d of index CS evaluation) and follow-up TTE within 11-36 months. In our CS medication therapy management (MTM) program (started 1/8/2019), pharmacists conduct independent visits with CS patients (in person or remote), discuss GDMT tolerance and symptoms, review monitoring laboratory studies, and adjust GDMT (ACEi/ARB/ARNi, beta-blocker, MRA, and/or SGLT2i) via collaborative practice agreement with the CS cardiologists. Patients were classified as MTM (≥1 MTM encounter) or NMTM patients (0 encounters). We compared (1) GDMT, (2) cardiac remodeling, and (3) clinical outcomes (event free survival to first heart failure hospitalization, LVAD, heart transplant, or death). Results: Nineteen percent (113/599) CS patients met inclusion criteria (34% female, 92% white, median age 57 y, 19% definite CS, 58% probable CS, 31% presumed CS), with 44 MTM (median 11.5 encounters, IQR 11) and 69 NMTM patients. Both MTM and NMTM patients were on a median 2 GDMT agents at index evaluation (p=0.21). At follow-up (median 19 mo MTM, 15 mo NMTM, p=0.05), MTM patients were on more GDMT agents than NMTM (median 3.0 vs 2.0, p<0.001), with higher % target dose of ACEi/ARB/ARNi (98% vs 71%, p=0.009), beta-blocker (87% vs 57%, p=0.004), and SGLT2i use (30% vs 9%, p=0.004), but similar MRA use (48% vs 32%, p=0.09). Immunosuppressive therapy was used in 88% patients (89% MTM vs 87% NMTM, p=0.79). Index LVEF was similar (MTM 36%, NMTM 32%, p=0.07). Mean change in LVEF (excluding LVAD/transplant patients) demonstrated a non-significant trend towards improved remodeling in MTM (+8.6%) vs NMTM patients (+5.5%; p=0.39). MTM patients exhibited lower risk of the clinical outcome (1/44 MTM vs 16/69 MTM patients; univariable HR 0.08 [95%CI 0.01 - 0.63], log-rank p=0.016). Conclusions: A pharmacist MTM program for CS patients with HF is associated with improved GDMT uptitration and clinical outcomes, emphasizing the value of collaborative multidisciplinary CS care.

Introduction: The overall amount and the distribution of body fat, proxied by body-mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), are two important measures of obesity and have significant polygenic heritability. We aimed to investigate whether polygenic scores (PGS) for these traits have additional predictive utility, beyond phenotypic characterization of obesity, for cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) health. Methods: We derived PGS for BMI (PGS BMI ) and WHR adjusted for BMI (PGS WHRadjBMI ) using PRS-CS-auto on summary statistics from ~700k individuals of European ancestry (EA) in the GIANT consortium and selecting ~1M common variants for each score. We conducted association analyses in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, a prospective cohort including 8,631 EA individuals with ascertainment of incident diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, and heart failure. We used nested Cox models to measure the added predictive utility of PGS to BMI and WHR for incident CKM phenotypes. Results: The study cohort (age 54.4±5.7 years, 52.4% women, follow-up 24.5±7.6 years) had a baseline BMI of 26.4 kg/m 2 (median [IQR]; 21.6-29.6) and WHR of 0.94 (0.88-0.98). PGS BMI and PGS WHRadjBMI were associated with their phenotypes (partial R 2 ; BMI 0.11 and WHR 0.04, p <0.001), although with a large phenotypic variability across the distribution of PGS (IQR for 1 st and 10 th deciles of PGS; BMI 19.6-28.3 and 22.6-35.9, WHR 0.79-1.03 and 0.87-1.05). Anthropometric measures of obesity were associated with a wider gradient of risk compared to PGS for obesity–most notable for diabetes and cardiovascular phenotypes (Table 1a). Addition of PGS BMI and PGS WHRadjBMI to BMI and WHR resulted in limited improvement in risk discrimination across incident CKM phenotypes (Table 1b). Conclusions: Observed anthropometric measures of obesity are sufficient, and for certain conditions far superior, to capture the risk of incident CKM phenotypes. These findings suggest PGS for adiposity traits likely have limited clinical utility to refine risk stratification for CKM syndrome among middle aged adults.

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a prevalent cardiovascular disease that significantly impacts public health in the United States. Although numerous clinical trials aim to optimize AF management, concerns about demographic disparities in trial participation persist. This study assesses the representation of age, sex, race, and ethnicity among participants in AF trials conducted in the US, highlighting potential biases that could affect the generalizability of trial outcomes. Methods: An extensive review of clinical trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov involving patients with AF up to April 2024 was performed. The search was filtered to include all completed interventional trials across phases 2 to 4 without restrictions on the initiation or completion dates. Data were extracted concerning mean age, age distribution, sex, and the racial and ethnic composition of the trial participants. Results: From the 173 trials analyzed, a total of 1,355,239 participants were included, with an average age of 64.7 years. The demographic breakdown revealed a participant pool consisting predominantly of older adults (>65 years: 70.8%), with a significant underrepresentation of the younger age group (18-65 years: 29.2%). Males constituted 65.2% of the trial population, highlighting a gender imbalance. Racially, 74.1% of participants were White, while African Americans (7.7%) and Asians (5.9%) and other racial groups were notably underrepresented. Ethnic disparities were also evident, with Hispanic participants making up only 11.5% of the study population. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate significant disparities in the age, sex, race, and ethnic backgrounds of AF clinical trial participants in the US. These imbalances could potentially limit the applicability of trial results across the broader, diverse population. Efforts to enhance the diversity of clinical trial cohorts are essential to ensure more equitable health outcomes and the universal applicability of clinical research findings. Future strategies should focus on targeted recruitment and inclusive study designs to address these disparities.

Introduction: Portopulmonary hypertension (POPH) and associated pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) elevation is seen in the context of underlying portal hypertension and liver disease. In the systemic circulation, liver cirrhosis can cause inappropriate splanchnic and systemic vasodilation with decreased systemic vascular resistance (SVR). Midodrine is used to maintain blood pressure in the setting of low SVR. Pulmonary vasodilators have systemic vasodilatory effects; the implications of combined midodrine and pulmonary vasodilator use in POPH are unanswered questions. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that SVR would decrease over time in patients with POPH started on pulmonary vasodilators, and that use of midodrine (as a surrogate for depressed SVR), may be associated with increased risk of mortality in patients with POPH starting pulmonary vasodilator therapy. Methods: Patients from the 3 Mayo Clinic sites (Rochester, MN; Jacksonville, FL; Scottsdale, AZ) diagnosed with POPH from 1988-2020 were included in the database. Patients met hemodynamic criteria for POPH via right heart catheterization (RHC). Hemodynamics were obtained from echocardiography and RHC at initial and subsequent visits. The hazard ratio for risk of death was estimated using Cox proportional hazards method. SVR was calculated using mean arterial pressure and cardiac output. Results: Analysis included 147 POPH patients, 34 (23%) on midodrine and 113 (77%) not requiring midodrine. There were 116 patients with longitudinal SVR data. The mean initial SVR was 1224 Dyne sec cm-5 and decreased 251 Dyne sec cm-5 [95% CI -337 to -165 251 Dyne sec cm-5, p<0.0001] with no difference between midodrine groups (p=0.57). Patients in the midodrine POPH group had an increased risk of mortality compared to those without midodrine use (HR 1.51, 95% CI: 1.02-2.21, p=0.0371). Conclusions: Patients with POPH starting pulmonary vasodilator have a reduction in SVR related to vasodilator therapy. Midodrine use with pulmonary vasodilator therapy is associated with increased mortality in the POPH population. Further study of the safety of combined midodrine and pulmonary vasodilator use in POPH is needed along with exploration of more selective pulmonary vasodilators.

Background: With demographic trends transitioning towards older adults, dementia and cognitive impairment are predicted to increase dramatically. We aim to elucidate the relationship between subclinical myocardial injury, as indicated by asymptomatic increased levels of high-sensitivity cardiac Troponin (hs-cTnT), and cognitive performance. Methods: We studied MESA participants from Exam 1 (2000-02) to Exam 6 (2016-18), categorizing them based on baseline hs-cTnT at Exam 1. Cognitive decline was defined as a decrease of ≥5 units in CASI between Exam 5&6. We used Pearson correlation and linear regression to analyze the association of hs-cTnT levels with CASI scores, and logistic regression to examine the association with cognitive decline. We also explored the relationship between different hs-cTnT categories and cognitive measures. Models were adjusted for demographics, lifestyle, APOE status, comorbidities, and medication use ( Figure ). Results: 4445 participants had both baseline hs-cTnT and valid Exam 5 CASI scores while only 1776 participants had valid Exam 6 CASI scores. Cohort was predominantly female (53%), mean age of 60 years, and 27% had at least one APOE e4 allele. Median hs-cTnT was 6.32 ng/L, and median CASI scores were 89 at Exam 5 and 91.5 at Exam 6. We found a negative correlation between the log-hs-cTnT at Exam 1 and Exam 5 with CASI scores at Exam 5. An increase of one unit in log-hs-cTnT level was associated with a decrease of 0.67 (CI -1.17, -0.17) in CASI and corresponded to higher odds (OR: 1.44; CI 1.05-1.95) of cognitive decline, after adjusting for covariates. When comparing various categories of hs-cTnT with category 1, we observe that the odd of cognitive decline increases as the category increases. However, this trend does not hold for category 5 with significantly lower sample size ( Figure ). Conclusion: Our findings indicate an inverse relationship between hs-cTnT and cognitive function years later, which is significantly attenuated by known risk factors for cognitive decline. Further research is needed to determine hs-cTnT as a predictor of future global cognitive functions.