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Fulltext Cardiovascular involvement and manifestations of systemic Chikungunya virus infection: A systematic review

Alvarez MF, Bolívar-Mejía A, Rodriguez-Morales AJ, Ramirez-Vallejo E

F1000Res, 2017;6:390.
PMID: 28503297 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.11078.2

BACKGROUND: In the last three years, chikungunya virus disease has been spreading, affecting particularly the Americas, producing more than two million cases. In this setting, not only new disease-related epidemiological patterns have been found, but also new clinical findings have been reported by different research groups. These include findings on the cardiovascular system, including clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic alterations. No previous systemic reviews have been found in major databases about it.
METHODS: We performed a systematic review looking for reports about cardiovascular compromise during chikungunya disease. Cardiac compromise is not so common in isolated episodes; but countries where chikungunya virus is an epidemic should be well informed about this condition. We used 6 bibliographical databases as resources: Medline/Pubmed, Embase, ScienceDirect, ClinicalKey, Ovid and SciELO. Dengue reports on cardiovascular compromise were included as well, to compare both arbovirus' organic compromises. Articles that delved mainly into the rheumatic articular and cutaneous complications were not considered, as they were not in line with the purpose of this study. The type of articles included were reviews, meta-analyses, case-controls, cohort studies, case reports and case series. This systematic review does not reach or performed a meta-analysis.
RESULTS: Originally based on 737 articles, our reviewed selected 40 articles with 54.2% at least mentioning CHIKV cardiovascular compromise within the systemic compromise. Cardiovascular manifestations can be considered common and have been reported in France, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Colombia, Venezuela and USA, including mainly, but no limited to: hypotension, shock and circulatory collapse, Raynaud phenomenon, arrhythmias, murmurs, myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy, congestive insufficiency, heart failure and altered function profile (Troponins, CPK).
CONCLUSIONS: Physicians should be encouraged to keep divulgating reports on the cardiovascular involvement of chikungunya virus disease, to raise awareness and ultimately encourage suitable diagnosis and intervention worldwide. More research about cardiovascular involvement and manifestations of systemic Chikungunya virus infection is urgently needed.
Determining interfacial tension and critical micelle concentrations of surfactants from atomistic molecular simulations

Cárdenas H, Kamrul-Bahrin MAH, Seddon D, Othman J, Cabral JT, Mejía A, et al.

J Colloid Interface Sci, 2024 Jul 08;674:1071-1082.
PMID: 39013277 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.07.002

Hypothesis Atomistically-detailed models of surfactants provide quantitative information on the molecular interactions and spatial distributions at fluid interfaces. Hence, it should be possible to extract from this information, macroscopical thermophysical properties such as interfacial tension, critical micelle concentrations and the relationship between these properties and the bulk fluid surfactant concentrations. Simulations and Experiments Molecular-scale interfacial of systems containing n-dodecyl β-glucoside (APG12) are simulated using classical molecular dynamics. The bulk phases and the corresponding interfacial regions are all explicitly detailed using an all-atom force field (PCFF+). During the simulation, the behaviour of the interface is analyzed geometrically to obtain an approximated value of the critical micelle concentration (CMC) in terms of the surfactant area number density and the interfacial tension is assessed through the analysis of the forces amongst molecules. New experimental determinations are reported for the surface tension of APG12 at the water/air and at the water/n-decane interfaces. Findings We showcase the application of a thermodynamic framework that inter-relates interfacial tensions, surface densities, CMCs and bulk surfactant concentrations, which allows the in silico quantitative prediction of interfacial tension isotherms.
Challenges of Health Technology Assessment in Pluralistic Healthcare Systems: An ISPOR Council Report

Drummond MF, Augustovski F, Bhattacharyya D, Campbell J, Chaiyakanapruk N, Chen Y, et al.

Value Health, 2022 Aug;25(8):1257-1267.
PMID: 35931428 DOI: 10.1016/j.jval.2022.02.006

Health technology assessment (HTA) has been growing in use over the past 40 years, especially in its impact on decisions regarding the reimbursement, adoption, and use of new drugs, devices, and procedures. In countries or jurisdictions with "pluralistic" healthcare systems, there are multiple payers or sectors, each of which could potentially benefit from HTA. Nevertheless, a single HTA, conducted centrally, may not meet the needs of these different actors, who may have different budgets, current standards of care, populations to serve, or decision-making processes. This article reports on the research conducted by an ISPOR Health Technology Assessment Council Working Group established to examine the specific challenges of conducting and using HTA in countries with pluralistic healthcare systems. The Group used its own knowledge and expertise, supplemented by a narrative literature review and survey of US payers, to identify existing challenges and any initiatives taken to address them. We recommend that countries with pluralistic healthcare systems establish a national focus for HTA, develop a uniform set of HTA methods guidelines, ensure that HTAs are produced in a timely fashion, facilitate the use of HTA in the local setting, and develop a framework to encourage transparency in HTA. These efforts can be enhanced by the development of good practice guidance from ISPOR or similar groups and increased training to facilitate local use of HTA.
Corrigendum to "Challenges of Health Technology Assessment in Pluralistic Healthcare Systems: An ISPOR Council Report": [Value in Health 25 (2022) 1257-1267/3488]

Drummond MF, Augustovski F, Bhattacharyya D, Campbell J, Chaiyakunapruk N, Chen Y, et al.

Value Health, 2023 Jul 11.
PMID: 37436332 DOI: 10.1016/j.jval.2023.06.010