10 Apr 2025 • Tobacco smoking significantly raises the risk of aortic dissection. In a study of 500,000 people over 12.3 years, current smokers had over double the risk of aortic dissection (HR 2.48) vs never smokers, while former smokers showed no increased risk (HR 1.03).

Risk peaked at HR 2.94 for those smoking 10–19 cigarettes/day and was elevated with ≥30 pack-years (HR 1.66). Smoking cessation cut risk by up to 75%, with meta-analysis showing 22% risk reduction per decade (RR 0.78).

The findings highlight the lifesaving value of quitting smoking.

Source: Nature | Read Full Story

10 Apr 2025 • A cross-sectional study found that 25% of postpartum women had cognitive dysfunction, with high rates of stress (80.5%), anxiety (27%), and depression (30).

Lactational failure affected 21%, significantly linked to mental health issues and cognitive deficits. Risk factors included poor partner support, low education, delayed breastfeeding, and low birth weight.

Cognitive issues were also associated with male infants and insufficient milk production, highlighting the need for integrated postpartum mental health and lactation support.

Source: International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology | Read Full Story

10 Apr 2025 • In a randomized trial of neonates <29 weeks’ gestation, adding multimodal hemodynamic monitoring targeted echocardiography and cerebral near-infrared spectroscopy to standard care did not significantly lower vasoactive-ventilation-renal (VVR) scores at day 7 (16.5 vs 18.9).

No infants in the multimodal group hit critically high VVR scores (>95th percentile) vs 11.1% in standard care.

Importantly, BPD incidence was significantly reduced (41.3% vs 59.0%), suggesting potential for preventing severe outcomes despite no short-term VVR improvement.

Source: JAMA Network | Read Full Story

9 Apr 2025 • The visual coronary artery calcification (VCAC) score derived from standard chest CT scans may help identify cardiac arrest patients without ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who are likely to benefit from emergency coronary angiography.

Among the patients, a VCAC score of ≥4 demonstrated excellent predictive value for significant coronary artery stenosis (AUC = 0.95) and was 100% sensitive in identifying those who ultimately underwent ad hoc or delayed PCI.

A threshold of VCAC ≥5 also reliably predicted culprit lesions (AUC = 0.90) and the need for PCI (AUCs = 0.886–0.921).

Source: Springer Open | Read Full Story

9 Apr 2025 • Researchers developed and validated a predictive nomogram to identify chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients at heightened risk for myelosuppression following peginterferon (Peg-IFN) therapy—a common but serious side effect.

Among the patients, four independent risk factors were identified: lower body mass index (BMI), white blood cell (WBC) count, and globulin (GLB) levels, along with elevated serum creatinine (SCR).

The nomogram incorporating these factors showed strong predictive accuracy, with AUCs of 0.824, 0.812, and 0.870 across training, test, and external validation cohorts, respectively.

Source: Taylor & Francis | Read Full Story

9 Apr 2025 • A recent study has shed light on the long-term outcomes of invasive (percutaneous coronary intervention, PCI) versus conservative treatment strategies for stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) patients.

Among 3,045 SCAD patients, those who underwent PCI experienced a 59% increase in bleeding events and did not reduce the incidence of ischemic events such as cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and ischemic stroke.

However, in the moderate-to-high-risk patients, PCI was associated with a reduced risk of ischemic events (HR 0.67) and lower all-cause mortality (HR 0.73), without a higher risk of bleeding. These findings highlight the importance of risk stratification in SCAD treatment decisions.

Source: BMC Medicine | Read Full Story

8 Apr 2025 • Tracking over 413,000 adults has found that sarcopenia—characterized by low muscle strength, mass, and gait speed—is a key predictor of progression along the cardiometabolic disease (CMD) trajectory, including coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Individuals with confirmed or severe sarcopenia faced a 42% higher risk of developing a single CMD and were more than twice as likely to die (HR 2.08) compared to those without sarcopenia.

They were also significantly more likely to progress from single CMD to multimorbidity (HR 1.69) and death (HR 2.05).

Source: BMC Public Health | Read Full Story

8 Apr 2025 • A meta-analysis involving over 56 million mother–child pairs has found that maternal diabetes—both gestational and pre-gestational—is significantly associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring.

Children exposed to maternal diabetes had a 28% higher risk of any neurodevelopmental disorder (RR 1.28), including autism spectrum disorder (RR 1.25), ADHD (RR 1.30), intellectual disability (RR 1.32), and various developmental and learning disorders.

Pre-gestational diabetes posed a greater risk (RR 1.39) compared to gestational diabetes (RR 1.18).

Source: The Lancet | Read Full Story

8 Apr 2025 • A recent study tracking 2,825 atrial fibrillation patients has raised concerns over unregulated non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) dosing, revealing that overdosing is associated with significantly higher mortality rates.

Those receiving excessive NOAC doses had higher mortality at 24 months (18.75 vs.10.92) events/patient-year) and 60 months (10.00 vs. 6.49) compared to standard and underdosing groups. Additionally, overdosing led to a higher rate of composite endpoint events, such as stroke and major bleeding.

Age, anemia and renal insufficiency further elevated these risks, suggesting the need for more precise and regulated anticoagulant management, particularly for older patients and those with other comorbidities.

Source: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders | Read Full Story

7 Apr 2025 • A novel artificial intelligence model, PROMPT (Preeclampsia Risk factor + Ophthalmic data + Mean arterial pressure Prediction Test), is transforming prenatal care with a simple retinal photograph.

In a study of 1,812 pregnancies before 14 weeks gestation, PROMPT accurately predicted preeclampsia (PE) with an AUC of 0.87 and preterm PE with an impressive AUC of 0.91—significantly outperforming existing models.

The tool also improved the detection rate of severe pregnancy complications from 35% to 41%.

Source: Nature | Read Full Story