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This study investigates the cardiac safety concerns related to TASER discharges centering on a pivotal case that marked the first TASER‐related fatality in South Korea. Employing Pratt et al.'s theoretical framework, the research evaluates the potential for ventricular fibrillation (VF) from these discharges. The methodology incorporated a high‐resolution waveform analysis using sophisticated equipment and considered specific incident details, including dart impact locations verified through a forensic examination. A human body impedance of 500 Ω, chosen based on empirical studies and coupled with non‐inductive resistance for high‐voltage handling, was utilized in the model. By applying a heart‐current factor from IEC 60479 standards, the study found a VF risk of up to 5% depending on the impact location and current pathways. In this specific case, although the calculated risk did not exceed critical thresholds, the VF risk was high enough to suggest that TASER discharges played a role in the fatal outcome. This study underscores the importance of dart impact location in TASER safety evaluations, contributing to a broader understanding of TASER cardiac risks and providing a basis to advocate for rigorous safety protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Сardiac complications are the most frequent non-surgical complications after surgical interventions, increasing the length of the patient’s stay in the hospital, the economic costs and the percentage of deaths. The frequency of patients with cardiovascular diseases who require surgery is also high. Optimization of drug therapy in the perioperative period is one of the factors of successful outcome of the surgical intervention.The pathophysiological basis for the development of many cardiac events in the postoperative period is an increase in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, which leads to an increase in heart rate (HR) and myocardial oxygen demand. These changes may increase the risk of myocardial ischemia, arrhythmias, and other cardiovascular events in the early postoperative period. For example, the development of myocardial infarction (MI) in the perioperative period leads to an increase in hospital mortality by 15–25 %, and increase in the risk of developing cardiac death in the next few months.The main group of drugs for relieving these effects is beta-blockers (BB). This drug class has a wide range of applications: treatment of angina, arrhythmias, hypertension, MI, heart failure. Currently, there is a large evidence for the possibility and feasibility of using BB in patients undergoing surgery.In this article, the authors highlights the issues of prescribing BB in patients with comorbid pathology in the perioperative period. The analysis and comparison of studies on various aspects of BB use in the perioperative period performed. Currently, there is a mixed opinion about the benefits and risks of perioperative therapy of BB, which causes the high relevance of this issue for discussion.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term influence of preoperative invasive coronary screening and preventive myocardial revascularization on mortality and cardiac complications after open surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA)., Material and Methods: We present long-term outcomes after open surgery for AAA between 2011 and 2022. Patients without clinical or objective signs of coronary artery disease were included. In the 1 st group, routine coronary angiography was performed before surgery. Prophylactic myocardial revascularization was performed in 12 cases. Long-term data on 45 patients were obtained. In the 2 nd group, 53 patients underwent repair without invasive coronary screening, and data on 48 patients were obtained in this group., Results: The median follow-up was 32 and 79 months, respectively. Kaplan-Meyer overall 48-month survival was 87.3% and 82.1%, respectively ( p =0.278). In the first group, 2 patients developed angina pectoris in the same period. In the second group, we observed 2 cases of myocardial infarction and 3 cases of angina pectoris without infarction. Analysis of survival curves found no significant differences ( p =0.165)., Conclusion: In our study, invasive coronary screening and preventive myocardial revascularization in patients without clinical and objective signs of coronary artery did not improve 4-year long-term period after abdominal aortic repair. Perhaps, differences will appear after 4 years, and this requires further follow-up after coronary angiography. However, there is a tendency towards more common onsets of coronary artery disease that dictates the need for cardiac monitoring of such patients.

Introduction: Cardiac diseases pose dangerous and debilitating effects on human beings affecting all age group members. Pakistan, like other South Asian countries, has a higher prevalence of Cardio-vascular risk factors as compared to other parts of the world, due to lack of awareness towards the risks as the literacy rate in our country is below 50%. Basic aim of our study was to detect the health status & life-style of medical students from Karachi & Jamshoro-Hyderabad, by finding out the BMI, stress level, physical activity and fast food habits. Materials and Methods: Students of M.B.B.S. aged between 18 to 29 years were chosen. Structured questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 of L.U.M.H.S.& D.U.H.S. The BMI was calculated in metric system, categorized into 5 categories. Further, students were asked to mention their routine physical work output (walk and exercise); maximum stress taken during the ongoing year, and note down their habits of eating out on the form. Results: B.M.I of both groups was mostly in normal range with 68.9% from D.U.H.S and 59.4% from L.U.M.H.S. Yet, the underweight population of D.U.H.S. and overweight population of L.U.M.H.S was higher giving rise to a significant variation (p=0.021). Routine walking habits of most L.U.M.H.S scholars were more prominent than their counter parts from D.U.H.S. (p=0.034). Exercise was found to be another significant factor in which L.U.M.H.S participants were ahead (p=0.000).No significant variation (p=0.250) was seen in students, from L.U.M.H.S. & D.U.H.S., with regard to maximum stress episodes experienced during the on-going year. Students from both universities mostly preferred going to fast food once a month. Conclusion: B.M.I of L.U.M.H.S. students was higher than that from D.U.H.S. Exercise and routine walking habits varied significantly amongst two groups. The difference occurred due to more female candidates studying at D.U.H.S., than in L.U.M.H.S., whose BMI was observed to be quite low than males over there. Also, transportation and distance of students from their institute to their residence did let to this variation in the data achieved in walking habits. No variation was seen in stress level and eating out habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigators at University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, report cardiac autonomic dysfunction and arterial stiffness among children and adolescents with ADHD treated with stimulants.

Abstract: Background: The utility of postoperative troponins as an independent predictor of long-term mortality after vascular surgery is unknown. Methods: One hundred sixty-four consecutive patients underwent vascular surgery and postoperative mortality was determined at 2.5 years. Troponins were drawn within 48 hours postsurgery and the peak levels, defined by the upper reference limit (URL), were categorized as negative (

Aims: The predictors and outcomes of patients with a peri-operative elevation in cardiac troponin I above the 99th percentile of normal following an elective vascular operation have not been studied in a homogeneous cohort with documented coronary artery disease. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The authors prospectively studied 455 consecutive patients referred to the general medical consultation service for cardiac risk assessment prior to non-cardiac surgery, in order to validate a previously derived multifactorial index in their clinical setting. They also tested a version of the index that they had modified to reflect factors they believed to be important. For patients undergoing major surgery, the original index performed less well in the validation data set than in the original derivation set (p less than 0.05), but still added predictive information to a statistically significant degree (p less than 0.05). The modified index also added predictive information for patients undergoing both major and minor surgery, demonstrating an area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve of 0.75 (95% confidence interval of 0.70 to 0.80). A simple nomogram is presented which will enable conversion of pretest probabilities into posttest probabilities using the likelihood ratios associated with each risk score. It is recommended that clinicians estimate local overall complication rates (pretest probabilities) for the clinically relevant populations in their settings before they apply the predictive properties (likelihood ratios) demonstrated in this study in order to calculate cardiac risks for individual patients (posttest probabilities). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]