Recent ucsdsom_biomarkerssymposium items

Cardiac Testing and Return-to-Exercise Guidance in Non-Fulminant Myocarditis: A Mixed-Methods Study

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Cardiac Testing and Return-to-Exercise Guidance in Non-Fulminant Myocarditis: A Mixed-Methods Study

Oscar P. Levine, MD¹; Mark Wendle, MD¹; David Torres Barba, MD, PhD²; Ori Ben-Yehuda, MD²

Affiliations:

¹Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego

402 Dickinson St, Ste 380

San Diego, CA 92103, USA

²Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego

9434 Medical Center Drive

San Diego, CA 92037, USA

Background: Cardiac testing, including cardiac troponin levels, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), is central to risk stratification and guides return-to-exercise recommendations following myocarditis. However, contemporary guidelines show limited...

BNP is Selectively Produced by Amyloid-Associated Cardiomyocytes at Amyloid Border Zones in Patients with Cardiac Amyloidosis

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

BNP is Selectively Produced by Amyloid-Associated Cardiomyocytes at Amyloid Border Zones in Patients with Cardiac Amyloidosis

Beyond Acute Coronary Syndrome: Troponin Kinetics and Assay Concordance Reveal ICI-Associated Myocarditis

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Beyond Acute Coronary Syndrome: Troponin Kinetics and Assay Concordance Reveal ICI-Associated Myocarditis

Haley Kempf¹, Nilesh Vora²

University of California Irvine, CA, USA

Long Beach Memorial Hospital, CA, USA

Background: High-sensitivity cardiac troponin has evolved from a diagnostic marker for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) to a central tool in cardio-oncology for detecting subclinical myocardial injury, risk stratification, and treatment-related toxicity. However, interpretation remains challenging in cancer patients, where elevations may reflect overlapping processes including immune-mediated inflammation, microvascular dysfunction, and extracardiac sources. Emerging evidence highlights the importance of troponin kinetics, assay-specific differences (hs-cTnI vs hs-cTnT), and integration with multimodal imaging, yet clinical frameworks remain limited—particularly in patients with...

Non-Contact Home Bed Sensing for Continuous, Personalized, Automated Detection of Clinical Events

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Non-Contact Home Bed Sensing for Continuous, Personalized, Automated Detection of Clinical Events

Breast arterial calcification and cardiovascular risk prediction in women with and without standard modifiable risk factors

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Breast arterial calcification and cardiovascular risk prediction in women with and without standard modifiable risk factors

Authors: Sophia Y. Xiao MD, MS¹; Richard Mantey²; Quan M. Bui, MD³; Lori B. Daniels, MD, MAS⁴

¹Department of Medicine, UC San Diego Health, San Diego, CA, USA

²Department of Applied AI and Clinical Research, CureMetrix

³Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant Cardiology, Division of Cardiology, UC San Diego Health, San Diego, CA, USA

⁴Divison of Cardiology, UC San Diego Health, San Diego, CA, USA

Background: Risk identification among women, particularly those without standard modifiable risk factors (SMuRFs) for cardiovascular disease (CVD), remains suboptimal. Breast arterial calcification (BAC), found incidentally on mammography, is a promising biomarker associated with...

Threshold and Kinetic Differences Between Fifth- and Sixth-Generation High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T in Routine Clinical Care Testing

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Threshold and Kinetic Differences Between Fifth- and Sixth-Generation High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T in Routine Clinical Care Testing

Megan Palacio^1*, Lori B. Daniels^2,Nolan R. Martin², Spencer Seely¹, Ronald W. McLawhon¹, Robert L. Fitzgerald¹, Raymond T. Suhandynata^1,3

¹Department of Pathology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

²Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

³Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

*Author for correspondence

Center for Advanced Laboratory Medicine

University of California San Diego

10300 Campus Point Dr.

San Diego, CA 92121

mepalacio@health.ucsd.edu

Background: High-sensitivity cardiac...

Association between Triglyceride-Glucose Index and Heart Failure Risk by Body MassIndex in a Multi-Ethnic Cohort

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Association between Triglyceride- Glucose Index and Heart Failure Risk by Body Mass Index in a Multi-Ethnic Cohort

Nandan Thakkar, MD, MSc¹; Kimberly Hong, MD, MHSA²; Michael D. Shapiro, DO, MCR³; Alain G. Bertoni, MD, MPH⁴; Harpreet S. Bhatia, MD, MAS, FACC²¹ Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA² Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA³ Center for Preventive Cardiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC⁴ Department of Internal Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NCBackground: Insulin resistance contributes to heart failure (HF) through metabolic dysregulation, systemic inflammation, and adverse myocardial remodeling. However, commonly used measures of cardiometabolic risk, such as body-mass-index (BMI), may not capture...

Comparison of Gen5 and Gen6 high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T in a real-world setting

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Comparison of Gen5 and Gen6 high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T in a real-world setting

Nolan R. Martin, Megan Woelkers, Megan Palacio, Raymond T. Suhandynata, Robert L. Fitzgerald, Lori B. Daniels

Background: Accuracy and precision are crucial characteristics of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) assays, since results are instrumental in managing patients in acute care settings. We examined discrepancies between the Gen5 and Gen6 cTnT assays in paired analyses of real-world cases.

Methods: This retrospective analysis compared same-specimen Gen5 and Gen6 assay results from 1,847 encounters at a single center. Cases were classified by peak cTnT (based on sex-specific 99^th percentile upper reference limit [URL]) and time-to-peak cTnT. Cases with discordance in peak or time-to-peak cTnT were categorized into four groups: Gen5 normal/Gen6 positive (+), Gen5+/Gen6 normal, concordant but...

Rilonacept Reduces Pericarditis Recurrence Risk, Hospitalizations, and ED visits: Outcomes from the RESONANCE Patient Registry

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

RILONACEPT REDUCES PERICARDITIS RECURRENCE RISK, HOSPITALIZATIONS, AND ED VISITS: OUTCOMES FROM THE RESONANCE PATIENT REGISTRY

Paul C. Cremer, MD¹, Michael S. Garshick, MD^2,3, Sushil A. Luis, MBBS, PhD⁴, Ajit Raisinghani, MD⁵, Brittany Weber, MD, PhD⁶,MohamedAl-Kazaz, MD¹, Tracy Hagerty, MD⁷, John J. Ryan, MD⁸, Jonathan R. Salik, MD⁹, Taylor Corey¹⁰, Vidhya Parameswaran, MPH¹⁰, Allan L. Klein, MD¹¹, John F. Paolini,MD, PhD¹⁰, on behalf of the RESONANCE Study Group.

Presenter: Corina Grancorvitz¹⁰

*Corresponding author:

Vidhya Parameswaran, MPH

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

100 Hayden Ave. Lexington, MA 02421

+1 7814319100

vparameswaran@kiniksa.com

¹Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute,...

Association of Lipoprotein(a) with ASCVD Risk in Women by Menopausal Status: the UK Biobank

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Title: Association of Lipoprotein(a) with ASCVD Risk in Women by Menopausal Status: the UK Biobank

Author names: Mikaila P. Reyes¹, Alexander C. Razavi², Harpreet S. Bhatia³

Affiliations:

¹University of California San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA, USA; mpr006@health.ucsd.edu

²Division of Cardiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA; alexander.c.razavi@emory.edu

³Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of California San Diego, CA, USA; hsbhatia@health.ucsd.edu

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a predominantly genetically determined risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD); however, menopause is one of the few conditions that can lead to an increase in Lp(a). We aimed to investigate...

Nocturnal Respiratory Rate: a Stable, Heritable Trait that Predicts All-Cause Mortality

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Nocturnal Respiratory Rate: a Stable, Heritable Trait that Predicts All-Cause Mortality

Raimon Padrós-Valls, MS1,2, Mijia Ma, MS3, Keshav Gupta, MBBS, MS1, Nicholas Harrington, PhD1, Jeremy E. Orr, MD4, Robert L. Owens, MD4, Rany Salem, PhD5, Kevin R. King, MD, PhD1,6

1.Department of Bioengineering, Jacobs School of Engineering, UC San Diego; 2.Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Graduate Program, UC San Diego; 3.Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; 4.Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, UC San Diego; 5.Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Longevity Science, UC San Diego; 6.Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, UC San Diego.

Abstract:

Respiratory rate is a fundamental vital sign controlled by brainstem circuits, yet its determinants and prognostic potential remain poorly defined....

Trends and Disparities in Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Utilization During Index Hospitalization for Myocarditis (2015–2025)

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Trends and Disparities in Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Utilization During Index Hospitalization for Myocarditis (2015–2025)

Oscar P. Levine, MD¹; Ido Avivi²; Mattheus Ramsis²; Ori Ben-Yehuda, MD²

Affiliations:

¹Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego

402 Dickinson St, Ste 380

San Diego, CA 92103, USA

²Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego

9434 Medical Center Drive

San Diego, CA 92037, USA

Background: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is a key tool in the diagnosis of myocarditis and provides valuable prognostic information. However, real-world utilization and variation in access remain incompletely characterized. We sought to evaluate temporal...

Early Rise in Urinary TIMP-2 and IGF-BP7 and Prediction of Contrast-Associated Acute Kidney Injury after Invasive Angiography

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Early Rise in Urinary TIMP-2 and IGF-BP7 and Prediction of Contrast-Associated Acute Kidney Injury after Invasive Angiography

Authors: Megan Woelkers, Melody Sedighi, Harini Rangarajan, Alekhya Pushadapu, Srusti Acharya, Saiharinath Nerella, Elizabeth Tabornal, Lori B. Daniels, MD, MAS

Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Background: Contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) occurs in approximately 12% of patients following exposure to iodinated contrast media during angiography and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality; reported mortality approaches 20% in some cohorts. Early detection of CA-AKI is essential in mitigating long-term complications and improving outcomes, yet current diagnosis relies largely on serum creatinine (sCr) which typically rises 24-48h after contrast exposure. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2)...

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging paralleled recurrent pericarditis clinical response to rilonacept treatment over 18 months: a RHAPSODY subgroup analysis

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging paralleled recurrent pericarditis clinical response to rilonacept treatment over 18 months: a RHAPSODY subgroup analysis

Authors:

Paul C. Cremer, MD¹, Antonio Brucato, MD², Antonella Insalaco, MD³, David Lin, MD⁴, Sushil A. Luis, MBBS, PhD⁵, Deborah H. Kwon, MD¹, Christine L. Jellis, MD, PhD¹, JoAnn Clair, PhD, MBA⁶, Allison Curtis, PhD⁶, Sheldon Wang, PhD⁶, Allan L. Klein, MD¹, Massimo Imazio, MD⁷, John F. Paolini,MD, PhD⁶, for the RHAPSODY investigators.

¹Department of Cardiovascular Imaging, Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pericardial Diseases, Heart and Vascular Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA;

²Department of Biomedical and Clinical Science, University...

Evaluating Pediatric High-Sensitivity Troponin Thresholds and Testing Trends: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Evaluating Pediatric High-Sensitivity Troponin Thresholds and Testing Trends: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study

Alexander J F Thurston^1*, Eirik Å. Røys^2,3*, Ragnhild Røysland^4,5, Øyvind Skadberg⁶, Dorien M Kimenai⁷, Nicholas L Mills^7,8, Kristin M Aakre^2,3,9

¹Centre for Cardiovascular Science, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK² Department of clinical science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway³ Department of Medical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway⁴Multidisciplinary Laboratory Medicine and Medical Biochemistry, Division of Diagnostics and Technology, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway⁵Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway⁶Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry,...

Management of Uncomplicated Myocarditis in a Young Athlete

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Management of Uncomplicated Myocarditis in a Young Athlete

Oscar Levine, Masihullah Barat, David Torres Barba, Ori Ben-Yehuda¹

¹UC San Diego Health

Background: A 17-year-old previously healthy male competitive soccer player presented to the emergency department with chest pain.

History: The patient woke up with sharp, pleuritic, substernal chest pain radiating to his right shoulder. One week prior, he had fever and myalgias, was diagnosed with influenza, and was treated with oseltamivir. He had no cardiac history, no family history of premature coronary artery disease, and denied alcohol, tobacco, or drug use.

Exams and images: Vital signs and physical exam were unremarkable. Lab work was notable for troponin T generation 5 initially at 169 ng/L and peaking at 493 ng/L (normal: <22 ng/L), with corresponding creatine kinase-myocardial...

A Case of Olanzapine-Induced Dyslipidemia

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A Case of Olanzapine-Induced Dyslipidemia

Andrew S. Kao MD¹, Harpreet S. Bhatia MD, MAS²

¹Department of Medicine, UC San Diego Health, La Jolla, CA, USA

²Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, UC San Diego Health, La Jolla, CA, USA

Introduction: Elevation in lipid biomarkers, specifically total cholesterol (TC), LDL-C, and triglyceride levels, can be observed within 4 weeks of initiation of atypical anti-psychotic medications without significant HDL-C alteration. Olanzapine use is associated with a five-fold risk increase in risk of developing dyslipidemia and higher predisposition to an ASCVD event. Routine assessment of lipid profile is crucial to minimize cardiovascular risk among patients with psychiatric comorbidities in need of long-term anti-psychotics.

Case: A 51-year-old woman with history of breast cancer on adjuvant...

Impact of Polygenic Risk Scoring on Lipid-Lowering Therapy in Primary Prevention for Coronary Artery Disease

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Impact of Polygenic Risk Scoring on Lipid-Lowering Therapy in Primary Prevention for Coronary Artery Disease

Matthew Sangoi, Pranav Mellacheruvu, Nawaz Safdar, Rishitha Penmetsa, Skyler Burke, Maxwell Ambrosino, Nasser Monzer, Deepak Vedamurthy, Daniel Soffer, Douglas Jacoby

Corresponding Author: Rishitha Penmetsa, 9729889664, rishitha.penmetsa@utsouthwestern.edu

Pennsylvania Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States

UT Southwestern School of Medicine, Dallas, TX, United States

Background: Polygenic risk scores (PRS) estimate inherited risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) by aggregating multiple genetic variants. Emerging data suggest PRS can enhance traditional risk models, particularly in younger or borderline-risk patients, before clinical risk factors develop. As validation across...

Contemporary Recurrent Pericarditis Management – Real-World Evidence of Limited Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Prior to Initiating Rilonacept

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Contemporary Recurrent Pericarditis Management – Real-World Evidence of Limited Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Prior to Initiating Rilonacept

Brittany Weber, MD, PhD¹,Paul C. Cremer, MD², Michael S. Garshick, MD^3,4, Sushil A. Luis, MBBS, PhD⁵,Ajit Raisinghani, MD⁶, Vidhya Parameswaran, MPH⁷, Allison Curtis, PhD^7*, Allan L. Klein, MD⁸, John F. Paolini,MD, PhD⁷, on behalf of the RESONANCE Study Group.

Presenter: Corina Grancorvitz⁷

*Corresponding author:

¹Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women‘s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA;

²Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, Northwestern University Feinberg School...

Serial Lipoprotein(a) Measurements in Heart Transplant Recipients

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Serial Lipoprotein(a) Measurements in Heart Transplant Recipients

Andrew S. Kao MD¹, Antoinette Birs MD², Jose Cruz Rodriguez MD²

¹Department of Medicine, UC San Diego Health, La Jolla, CA, USA

²Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, UC San Diego Health, La Jolla, CA, USA

Introduction: Lipoprotein (a), a genetically determined lipid carrier molecule consists of low-density lipoprotein with apolipoprotein B-100 and apolipoprotein (a), is a well-established biomarker with casual association to development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events.¹ ACC/AHA guidelines recommend lipid lowering therapy for Lp(a) level >50 mg/dL,² as Lp(a) has a positive association with intima thickening leading to coronary allograft vasculopathy (CAV).^3-4 The following case demonstrates the utility in serial Lp(a)...

Lipoprotein(a) and Oxidized Phospholipids in Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Background/Synopsis:

Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is an inherited pro-atherogenic lipoprotein associated with cardiovascular diseases. Lp(a) acts as a carrier of oxidized phospholipids, which activate inflammatory response and promote formation of atherosclerotic plaques. The OxPL-apoB method quantifies the content of oxidized phospholipids on apolipoprotein B-100 containing particles, particularly Lp(a) and LDL-C. Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is characterized by progressive coronary intimal thickening in heart allografts. This study aims to investigate the association of Lp(a) and OxPL-apoB with early CAV development in cardiac transplant (HTx) recipients.

Methods: A single-center, retrospective study analyzed 99 HTx recipients between 2015 to 2025 with measured Lp(a) and at least one post-HTx coronary angiogram with highly sensitive intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). We defined elevated Lp(a) as >50...