SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors on nutritional status in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. METHODS: The sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor treatment was initiated in 153 patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction who were symptomatic despite optimal medical treatment and were followed up for 6 months. The Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire scores, New York Heart Association functional class, NT-pro-BNP levels, and nutritional index scores of the patients were evaluated before sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor treatment and at the 6-month follow-up. The nutritional status of the patients was evaluated with the COntrolling NUTritional Status score, Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index, and Prognostic Nutritional Index. RESULTS: After sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor treatment, significant changes were observed in the mean scores of the three different nutritional indexes: COntrolling NUTritional Status (before: 2.76±2.43 vs. after: 1.12±1.23, p<0.001), Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (before: 98.2±9.63 vs. after: 104.4±5.83, p<0.001), and Prognostic Nutritional Index (before: 37.9±4.63 vs. after: 42.9±3.83, p<0.001) scores. A significant decrease in the number of patients with malnutrition was observed according to the COntrolling NUTritional Status (before: 46.4% vs. after: 9.7%, p<0.001), Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (before: 41.8% vs. after: 18.9%, p=0.006), and Prognostic Nutritional Index (before: 36.6% vs. after: 13.7%, p=0.007) scores. A significant functional improvement was observed in patients after sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 treatment: Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire scores (before: 39.2±7.2 vs. after: 20.4±7.4, p<0.001), NT-pro-BNP levels (before: 2989±681 vs. after: 1236±760, p<0.001), and New York Heart Association class (before: class II-III: 95.5%; class IV: 4.5% vs. after: class II-III: 78%; class IV: 0%, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: In patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction who are symptomatic despite optimal medical treatment, the addition of an sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor to treatment can significantly improve both the nutritional and functional statuses.

Resumen Fundamento: se ha demostrado que la deficiencia de vitamina B12, que puede causar trastornos hematológicos y neuropsiquiátricos, también puede estar asociada con disfunción autonómica cardíaca, variabilidad de la frecuencia cardíaca, disfunción endotelial y disminución de la deformación miocárdica. Objetivos: el objetivo de nuestro estudio es evaluar la relación entre los niveles de vitamina B12 y los trastornos de repolarización electrocardiográfica que son indicadores de predisposición arritmogénica en individuos sanos. Métodos: la población del estudio fue de 214 adultos sanos. Considerando la distribución de los niveles de vitamina B12 y aceptando los percentiles del 25 % y 75 % como valores de corte, los participantes se dividieron en 3 grupos. Se compararon las mediciones de laboratorio, ecocardiografía y electrocardiografía (ECG) entre tres grupos. Las mediciones del ECG se realizaron manualmente y se calcularon los intervalos Tpeak-Tend (Tp-e), Tp-e corregido (Tp-ec), QT y QT corregido (QTc). Resultados: se encontró que los pacientes del grupo 1 (vitamina B12 < 253 pg/ml) tenían dispersiones QT y QTc, intervalo Tp-e, cocientes Tp-e/QT y Tp-e/QTc significativamente más altos cuando se compararon con los del grupo 2 (253 pg/ml < vitamina B12 > 436 pg/ml) y el grupo 3 (vitamina B12 > 436 pg/ml). Por otro lado, se detectó una correlación significativa negativa entre los niveles de vitamina B12 y las relaciones Tp-e, Tp-e/QT, Tp-e/QTc, dispersiones QT y QTc. Conclusión: el bajo nivel de vitamina B12 en los individuos sanos puede ser un indicador significativo de susceptibilidad arritmogénica. Un seguimiento estrecho de estos sujetos en términos de predisposición arritmogénica podría ser útil.

Abstract Background: it has been shown that vitamin B12 deficiency, which can cause hematological and neuropsychiatric disorders, may also be associated with cardiac autonomic dysfunction, heart rate variability, endothelial dysfunction, and a decrease in myocardial deformation. Aims: the aim of our study is to evaluate the relationship between vitamin B12 levels and electrocardiographic repolarization disorders, which are indicators of arrhythmogenic predisposition in healthy individuals. Methods: our study population consisted of 214 healthy adults. Considering the distribution of vitamin B12 levels and accepting 25 % and 75 % percentiles as the cut-off values, the participants were divided into 3 groups. Laboratory, echocardiography and electrocardiography (ECG) measurements were compared between three groups. ECG measurements were performed manually and Tpeak-Tend (Tp-e), Tp-e corrected (Tp-ec), QT and QT corrected (QTc) intervals were calculated. Results: the patients in Group 1 (vitamin B12 < 253 pg/ml) were found to have significantly higher QT and QTc dispersions, Tp-e interval, Tp-e/QT and Tp-e/QTc ratios when compared to those in Group 2 (253 pg/ml < vitamin B12 > 436 pg/ml) and Group 3 (vitamin B12 > 436 pg/ml). On the other hand, a negative significant correlation was detected between vitamin B12 levels and Tp-e, Tp-e/QT, Tp-e/QTc ratios, QT and QTc dispersions. Conclusion: a low level of vitamin B12 in healthy individuals can be a significant indicator of arrhythmogenic susceptibility. A close follow-up of these subjects in terms of arrhythmogenic predisposition can be useful.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the relationship and prognostic significance of cardio-ankle vascular index, which is a measure of arterial stiffness that can lead to endothelial dysfunction and poor cardiovascular issues in COVID-19 patients, with COVID-19. METHODS: The study included 115 patients, of which 65 patients in the case group with Real time reversetranscription-polymerasechainreaction test positive and diagnosed for COVID-19 and 50 volunteers in the control group. Patients with COVID-19 were classified as moderate/severe or mild COVID-19 in the subgroup analysis based on the severity of the disease. We investigated the relationship between cardio-ankle vascular index and COVID-19 by using the VaSera VS-1000 device to automatically measure each patient’s cardio-ankle vascular index and ankle-brachial pressure index. RESULTS: The mean age of participants included in the study was 65.7±10.7 years. Patients and volunteers were statistically similar in terms of age, gender, comorbidities, Charlson comorbidity index scores, and body mass index values (p>0.05). The right-cardio-ankle vascular index value was 9.6±2.4 in the case group and 8.5±1.1 in the control group (p=0.004). The left-cardio-ankle vascular index value was 9.4±2.7 in the case group and 8.5±1.2 in the control group (p=0.01). The right-cardio-ankle vascular index value was 10.8±3.4 in the moderate/severe disease group and 8.8±0.9 in the mild disease group (p=0.008). The left-cardio-ankle vascular index value was 10.7±3.6 in the moderate/severe disease group and 8.5±1.5 in the mild disease group (p<0.001). The right-cardio-ankle vascular index and left-cardio-ankle vascular index values were found to be significantly higher in COVID-19 patients in our study. When receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to distinguish moderate/severe COVID-19 patients from mild patients, right-cardio-ankle vascular index was area under the curve 0.757 (0.630-0.884), and left-cardio-ankle vascular index was area under the curve 0.782 (0.661-0.902). CONCLUSION: The right-cardio-ankle vascular index and left-cardio-ankle vascular index values increased in COVID-19 patients in our study, and this was thought to be prognostically significant.