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The infrastructure of an established PCI registry was used to conduct a randomized trial comparing manual thrombus aspiration before PCI with PCI alone in patients with STEMI. There was no significant difference between the two groups in mortality at 30 days. One of the most important therapeutic challenges in the management of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is the establishment of normal coronary blood flow after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Reduced flow is closely associated with reperfusion injury, 1 which can lead to arrhythmias, contractile dysfunction, microvascular impairment, and irreversible myocardial damage. 2 Reduced myocardial perfusion is also associated with heart failure and death. 3 , 4 Coronary-artery thrombus aspiration, a simple, rapidly performed, and relatively inexpensive adjunct to PCI, may improve blood flow and resolution of ST-segment elevation, 5 – 9 although this is not a universal finding. 10 – 12 Previous studies of thrombus aspiration have not . . .

In a randomized trial, over 7000 patients with ST-segment elevation MI were assigned to undergo thrombus aspiration followed by percutaneous coronary intervention or PCI alone. At 1 year, there was no significant between-group difference in the rate of death from any cause. Acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is often caused by intracoronary thrombus formation with blockage of antegrade coronary flow leading to myocardial ischemia and cell death. 1 Thrombus burden, reduced coronary flow, and reduced myocardial perfusion are important predictors of a poor clinical outcome, including recurrence of myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, and death. 2 Prompt initiation of antithrombotic therapy in combination with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the preferred approach to optimize myocardial perfusion and clinical outcomes. 3 Coronary-artery thrombus aspiration before PCI reduces the thrombus burden and improves ST-segment resolution and coronary flow. 4 , 5 To our knowledge, however, no adequately powered randomized . . .

Incidentally diagnosed giant coronary artery aneurysms (gCAA) exceeding 50 mm in diameter are extremely rare and carry increased risks of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Currently, surgery is the preferred treatment for such gCAA. Incidentally diagnosed giant coronary artery aneurysms (gCAA) exceeding 50 mm in diameter are extremely rare and carry increased risks of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Currently, surgery is the preferred treatment for such gCAA.

BackgroundIt is still uncertain whether coronary bifurcations with lesions involving a large side branch (SB) should be treated by stenting the main vessel and provisional stenting of the SB (simple) or by routine two-stent techniques (complex). We aimed to compare clinical outcome after treatment of lesions in large bifurcations by simple or complex stent implantation.MethodsThe study was a randomised, superiority trial. Enrolment required a SB≥2.75 mm, ≥50% diameter stenosis in both vessels, and allowed SB lesion length up to 15 mm. The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiac death, non-procedural myocardial infarction and target lesion revascularisation at 6 months. Two-year clinical follow-up was included in this primary reporting due to lower than expected event rates.ResultsA total of 450 patients were assigned to simple stenting (n=221) or complex stenting (n=229) in 14 Nordic and Baltic centres. Two-year follow-up was available in 218 (98.6%) and 228 (99.5%) patients, respectively. The primary endpoint of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 6 months was 5.5% vs 2.2% (risk differences 3.2%, 95% CI −0.2 to 6.8, p=0.07) and at 2 years 12.9% vs 8.4% (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.35 to 1.13, p=0.12) after simple versus complex treatment. In the subgroup treated by newer generation drug-eluting stents, MACE was 12.0% vs 5.6% (HR 0.45, 95% CI 0.17 to 1.17, p=0.10) after simple versus complex treatment.ConclusionIn the treatment of bifurcation lesions involving a large SB with ostial stenosis, routine two-stent techniques did not improve outcome significantly compared with treatment by the simpler main vessel stenting technique after 2 years.Trial registration numberNCT01496638.

The TASTE trial did not demonstrate clinical benefit of thrombus aspiration (TA). High-risk patients might benefit from TA. The TASTE trial was a multicenter, randomized, controlled, open-label trial obtaining end points from national registries. Patients (n = 7,244) with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were randomly assigned 1:1 to TA and PCI or to PCI alone. We assessed the 1-year clinical effect of TA in a subgroup with potentially large anterior STEMI: mid or proximal left anterior descending coronary artery infarct lesion, thrombolysis in myocardial infarction 0 to 2 flow, and symptom onset to PCI time ≤5 hours. In this substudy, patient eligibility criteria corresponded to that of the INFUSE-AMI study. In total, 1,826 patients fulfilled inclusion criteria. All-cause mortality at 1 year of patients randomized to TA did not differ from those randomized to PCI only (hazard ratio [HR] 1.05, 95% CI 0.74-1.49, P = .77). Rates of rehospitalization for myocardial infarction, heart failure, and stent thrombosis did not differ between groups (HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.51-1.46, P = .59; HR 1.10 95% CI 0.77-1.58, P = .58; and HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.30-1.86, P = .53, respectively). This was also the case for the combined end point of all-cause mortality and rehospitalization for myocardial infarction, heart failure, or stent thrombosis (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.79-1.26, P = .99). In patients with STEMI and large area of myocardium at risk, TA did not affect outcome within 1 year.

Background: Newer therapeutic agents for type 2 diabetes mellitus can improve cardiovascular outcomes, but diabetes remains underdiagnosed in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). We sought to identify proteomic markers of undetected dysglycaemia (impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, or diabetes mellitus) to improve the identification of patients at highest risk for diabetes. Materials and methods: In this prospective cohort, 626 patients without known diabetes underwent oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) during admission for MI. Proximity extension assay was used to measure 81 biomarkers. Multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for risk factors, was used to evaluate the association of biomarkers with dysglycaemia. Subsequently, lasso regression was performed in a 2/3 training set to identify proteomic biomarkers with prognostic value for dysglycaemia, when added to risk factors, fasting plasma glucose, and glycated haemoglobin A1c. Determination of discriminatory ability was performed in a 1/3 test set. Results: In total, 401/626 patients (64.1%) met the criteria for dysglycaemia. Using multivariable logistic regression, cathepsin D had the strongest association with dysglycaemia. Lasso regression selected seven markers, including cathepsin D, that improved prediction of dysglycaemia (area under the receiver operator curve [AUC] 0.848 increased to 0.863). In patients with normal fasting plasma glucose, only cathepsin D was selected (AUC 0.699 increased to 0.704). Conclusions: Newly detected dysglycaemia, including manifest diabetes, is common in patients with acute MI. Cathepsin D improved the prediction of dysglycaemia, which may be helpful in the a priori risk determination of diabetes as a motivation for confirmatory OGTT. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01452178.

In a randomized trial, patients with coronary artery disease underwent PCI guided by either the instantaneous wave-free ratio or fractional flow reserve. At 1 year, iFR-guided PCI was noninferior to FFR-guided PCI with respect to the rate of major adverse cardiac events. Coronary revascularization is warranted only if a patient has one or more coronary-artery stenoses that are hemodynamically important. Large randomized studies have shown that fractional flow reserve (FFR) is superior to angiographic assessment for the detection of hemodynamically important coronary-artery stenoses and that use of FFR to guide coronary revascularization improves clinical outcomes. 1 – 3 FFR is measured by advancing a coronary-pressure guidewire distal to a stenotic lesion and then administering adenosine to assess the pressure gradient across the lesion during hyperemia. Studies have shown that resting indexes (derived from the pressure measurement at rest, without the administration of adenosine) have . . .

ObjectiveMost reports on the declining incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) during the COVID-19 have either been anecdotal, survey results or geographically limited to areas with lockdowns. We examined the incidence of MI during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, which has remained an open society with a different public health approach fighting COVID-19.MethodsWe assessed the incidence rate (IR) as well as the incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of all MI referred for coronary angiography in Sweden using the nationwide Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry (SCAAR), during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden (1 March 2020–7 May 2020) in relation to the same days 2015–2019.ResultsA total of 2443 MIs were referred for coronary angiography during the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in an IR 36 MIs/day (204 MIs/100 000 per year) compared with 15 213 MIs during the reference period with an IR of 45 MIs/day (254 MIs/100 000 per year) resulting in IRR of 0.80, 95% CI (0.74 to 0.86), p<0.001. Results were consistent in all investigated patient subgroups, indicating no change in patient category seeking cardiac care. Kaplan-Meier event rates for 7-day case fatality were 439 (2.3%) compared with 37 (2.9%) (HR: 0.81, 95% CI (0.58 to 1.13), p=0.21). Time to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was shorter during the pandemic and PCI was equally performed, indicating no change in quality of care during the pandemic.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced the incidence of MI referred for invasive treatment strategy. No differences in overall short-term case fatality or quality of care indicators were observed.

A vegetarian diet has been associated with a lower risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). Plasma triacylglycerols, ceramides, and phosphatidylcholines may improve prediction of recurrent coronary events. We sought to investigate effects of a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet (VD) on plasma lipidome in CAD patients and simultaneously assess associations of plasma lipids with the extent of coronary atherosclerotic burden. We analyzed 214 plasma lipids within glycerolipid, sphingolipid, and sterol lipid classes using lipidomics from a randomized controlled, crossover trial comprising 31 CAD patients on standard medical therapy. Subjects completed a four-week intervention with VD and isocaloric meat diet (MD), separated by a four-week washout period. The VD increased levels of 11 triacylglycerols and lowered 7 triacylglycerols, 21 glycerophospholipids, cholesteryl ester (18:0), and ceramide (d18:1/16:0) compared with MD. VD increased triacylglycerols with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acyls while decreased triacylglycerols with saturated fatty acyls, phosphatidylcholines, and sphingomyelins than MD. The Sullivan extent score (SES) exhibited on coronary angiograms were inversely associated with triacylglycerols with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acyls. Phosphatidylcholines that were lower with VD were positively associated with SES and the total number of stenotic lesions. The VD favorably changed levels of several lipotoxic lipids that have previously been associated with increased risk of coronary events in CAD patients.

Influenza vaccination early after myocardial infarction (MI) improves prognosis but vaccine effectiveness may differ dependent on type of MI. A total of 2,571 participants were prospectively enrolled in the Influenza vaccination after myocardial infarction (IAMI) trial and randomly assigned to receive in-hospital inactivated influenza vaccine or saline placebo. The trial was conducted at 30 centers in eight countries from October 1, 2016 to March 1, 2020. Here we report vaccine effectiveness in the 2,467 participants with ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI, n = 1,348) or non-ST-segment elevation MI (NSTEMI, n = 1,119). The primary endpoint was the composite of all-cause death, MI, or stent thrombosis at 12 months. Cumulative incidence of the primary and key secondary endpoints by randomized treatment and NSTEMI/STEMI was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Treatment effects were evaluated with formal interaction testing to assess for effect modification. Baseline risk was higher in participants with NSTEMI. In the NSTEMI group the primary endpoint occurred in 6.5% of participants assigned to influenza vaccine and 10.5% assigned to placebo (hazard ratio [HR], 0.60; 95% CI, 0.39-0.91), compared to 4.1% assigned to influenza vaccine and 4.5% assigned to placebo in the STEMI group (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.54-1.50, P = .237 for interaction). Similar findings were seen for the key secondary endpoints of all-cause death and cardiovascular death. The Kaplan-Meier risk difference in all-cause death at one year was more pronounced in participants with NSTEMI (NSTEMI: HR, 0.47; 95% CI 0.28-0.80, STEMI: HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.43-1.70, interaction P = .028). The beneficial effect of influenza vaccination on adverse cardiovascular events may be enhanced in patients with NSTEMI compared to those with STEMI.