Atrial Septal Defect secundum with inferior floppy rim in the elderly: surgical closure or transcatheter closure? A case report.

Atrial Septal Defect closure in childhood and early adulthood has a good prognosis, but in older individuals the risk-benefit ratio is not as straightforward. We report a 57-year-old man who was easily fatigued when exercising. The cardiac examination revealed a wide and fixed splitting of S2, a pulmonary ejection systolic murmur grade III/VI, and increased jugular venous pressure. The transesophageal echocardiography showed Atrial Septal Defect secundum with a diameter of 20 mm, L-to-R shunt, and 5 mm, a thin and floppy inferior rim. The patient underwent surgical Atrial Septal Defect closure. The deficient posteroinferior rim occurs only in 3.3% of patients with secundum Atrial Septal Defect. This condition will enhance the likelihood of occluder dislodgement in the transcatheter closure approach. We learn from this case that surgical Atrial Septal Defect closure may be an option for elderly patients if there is an inadequate, thin, and floppy inferior rim or no comorbidities.

Low molecular weight heparin is associated with better outcomes than unfractionated heparin for thromboprophylaxis in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: a meta-analysis.

AIMS: This study aimed to compare the outcomes of the administration of LMWH and UFH in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: We systematically searched several databases and included observational studies or clinical trials that compared the outcomes of the administration of LMWH and UFH in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. A total of nine studies comprising 9637 patients were included. Metanalysis showed that LMWH administration was associated with a lower in-hospital mortality and 28/30-day mortality compared with UFH administration {[relative risk (RR) 0.44; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.32-0.61; I2: 87.9%] and (RR 0.45; 95% CI 0.24-0.86; I2: 78.4%), respectively}. Patient with LMWH had shorter duration of hospital and ICU length of stay compared with UFH {[weighted mean difference (WMD) -2.20; 95% CI -3.01 to -1.40; I2:0%] and (WMD -1.41; 95% CI -2.20 to -0.63; I2: 0%), respectively}. The risk of ICU admission or mechanical ventilation was lower in patients who received LMWH than in those who received UFH (RR 0.67; 95% CI 0.55-0.81; I2: 67.3%). However, there was no difference in the incidence of bleeding with LMWH compared with UFH (RR 0.27; 95% CI 0.07-1.01; I2: 64.6%). CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis showed that administration of LMWH was associated with better outcomes compared with UFH in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Prospective cohorts and RCTs are urgently needed to explore the definitive effect of LMWH to provide direct high-certainty evidence. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021271977.

Impact of the virtual anti-hypertensive educational campaign towards knowledge, attitude, and practice of hypertension management during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: One of the efforts to reduce hypertension rates in the community is through an educational campaign that refers to the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute curricula or abbreviated as NHLBI. However, during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, one of the hardest hit areas is health promotion, and there is a significant obstacle regarding the most effective way to transfer knowledge, attitude and practice towards society without transmitting the virus. AIM: To evaluate the impact of the virtual anti-hypertensive educational campaign towards knowledge, attitude, and the practice of hypertension management in the primary care setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An online action research with a randomized crossover-controlled trial using a pretest-posttest control group design. The study was conducted in October 2020-April 2021. The population in this study were patients with hypertension who were treated in the Mojo primary health care setting. A purposive sampling technique was done to receive 110 participants using an online questionnaire and invitation letter. RESULTS: A total of 110 participants were included in the analysis, 55 in the intervention group and 55 in the control group. Following the Virtual Anti-Hypertensive Educational Campaign implementation, the only parameter that showed significant improvement was knowledge and attitude (P < 0.001). There is no significant change in the practice parameters (P = 0.131). CONCLUSION: The Virtual Anti-Hypertensive Educational Campaign implementation in our study population seems to be effective to improve knowledge and attitude of participants, nevertheless, this program seems to be ineffective to improve the practice of hypertension management aspect in participants. Future study with longer durations and more comprehensive programs need to be done to scrutinize the clinical impact of this program nationwide.