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Aferdita Spahillari

Associate Professor of Medicine
Medicine, Cardiology

Selected Publications


Efficacy, Safety and Mechanistic Impact of a Heart Failure Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy Clinic.

Journal Article JACC. Heart failure · October 2024 BackgroundAlthough clinical evidence supports rapid institution of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) for heart failure (HF), in actual practice, there remain large gaps in adherence to guideline recommendations. Recent data support safety ... Full text Cite

MicroRNAs are associated with cardiac biomarkers, cardiac structure and function and incident outcomes in heart failure.

Journal Article ESC Heart Fail · June 2024 AIMS: The association between microRNAs (miRNAs) and established cardiac biomarkers is largely unknown. We aimed to measure the association between plasma miRNAs and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), cardiac troponin I, soluble urokina ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cost-Effectiveness of Quadruple Therapy in Management of Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction in the United States.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · June 2023 BACKGROUND: The 2022 clinical guidelines for management of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction call for quadruple therapy. Quadruple therapy consists of an angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor (ARNi), sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Prediction of Cardiac Events Using Contemporary Risk Prediction Models after Radiation Therapy for Head and Neck Cancer

Journal Article Cancers · August 1, 2022 This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of the Pooled Cohort Equation (PCE), U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF), and Framingham Risk Score (FRS) models in predicting ASCVD events among patients receiving radiation therapy (RT) for head and nec ... Full text Cite

Cancer therapeutic drug guide

Chapter · January 1, 2022 Full text Cite

Accelerated in Vivo Cardiac Diffusion-Tensor MRI Using Residual Deep Learning-based Denoising in Participants with Obesity.

Journal Article Radiol Cardiothorac Imaging · June 2021 PURPOSE: To develop and assess a residual deep learning algorithm to accelerate in vivo cardiac diffusion-tensor MRI (DT-MRI) by reducing the number of averages while preserving image quality and DT-MRI parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospectiv ... Full text Link to item Cite

Anatomic and Flow Characteristics of Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery Angiographic Stenoses Predisposing to Myocardial Infarction.

Journal Article Am J Cardiol · February 15, 2021 The impact of the anatomic characteristics of coronary stenoses on the development of future coronary thrombosis has been controversial. This study aimed at identifying the anatomic and flow characteristics of left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Dynamic Platelet Transcriptome in Obesity and Weight Loss.

Journal Article Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol · February 2021 OBJECTIVE: Adiposity is associated with oxidative stress, inflammation, and glucose intolerance. Previous data suggest that platelet gene expression is associated with key cardiometabolic phenotypes, including body mass index but stable in healthy individu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cost-effectiveness of Contemporary Statin Use Guidelines With or Without Coronary Artery Calcium Assessment in African American Individuals.

Journal Article JAMA Cardiol · August 1, 2020 IMPORTANCE: Clinical and economic consequences of statin treatment guidelines supplemented by targeted coronary artery calcium (CAC) assessment have not been evaluated in African American individuals, who are at increased risk for atherosclerotic cardiovas ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pericardial Disease and Hemodynamics

Chapter · January 1, 2020 In this chapter, we will discuss several different key aspects of pericardial physiology and pathology, including acute and chronic inflammatory states of the pericardium, cardiac tamponade, and chronic constrictive pericarditis. In addition, we will provi ... Full text Cite

On-call transthoracic echocardiographic interpretation by first year cardiology fellows: comparison with attending cardiologists.

Journal Article BMC Med Educ · June 14, 2019 BACKGROUND: Transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE) performed and interpreted by cardiology fellows during off-duty hours are critical to patient care, however limited data exist on their interpretive accuracy. Our aims were to determine the discordance rate b ... Full text Link to item Cite

Subclinical Atherosclerosis, Statin Eligibility, and Outcomes in African American Individuals: The Jackson Heart Study.

Journal Article JAMA Cardiol · June 1, 2017 IMPORTANCE: Modern prevention guidelines substantially increase the number of individuals who are eligible for treatment with statins. Efforts to refine statin eligibility via coronary calcification have been studied in white populations but not, to our kn ... Full text Link to item Cite

Ideal Cardiovascular Health, Cardiovascular Remodeling, and Heart Failure in Blacks: The Jackson Heart Study.

Journal Article Circ Heart Fail · February 2017 BACKGROUND: The lifetime risk of heart failure (HF) is higher in the black population than in other racial groups in the United States. METHODS AND RESULTS: We measured the Life's Simple 7 ideal cardiovascular health metrics in 4195 blacks in the JHS (Jack ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cardiometabolic disease in South Asians: A global health concern in an expanding population.

Journal Article Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis · January 2017 Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. As an emerging population, South Asians (SAs) bear a disproportionately high burden of CVD relative to underlying classical risk factors, partly attributable to a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hepatic steatosis is associated with cardiometabolic risk in a rural Indian population: A prospective cohort study.

Journal Article Int J Cardiol · December 15, 2016 BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: While adiposity and hepatic steatosis are linked to cardiovascular risk in developed countries, their prevalence and impact in low-income countries are poorly understood. We investigated the association of anthropomorphic variables a ... Full text Link to item Cite

The association of lean and fat mass with all-cause mortality in older adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study.

Journal Article Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis · November 2016 BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Understanding contributions of lean and fat tissue to cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality may help clarify areas of prevention in older adults. We aimed to define distributions of lean and fat tissue in older adults and the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Serum cystatin C- versus creatinine-based definitions of acute kidney injury following cardiac surgery: a prospective cohort study.

Journal Article Am J Kidney Dis · December 2012 BACKGROUND: The primary aim of this study was to compare the sensitivity and rapidity of acute kidney injury (AKI) detection by cystatin C level relative to creatinine level after cardiac surgery. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTINGS & PARTICIP ... Full text Link to item Cite