Cause of Death and Predictors of All-Cause Mortality in Anticoagulated Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation : Data From ROCKET AF

M. Kaste on työryhmän ROCKET AF Steering Comm jäsen.Background-Atrial fibrillation is associated with higher mortality. Identification of causes of death and contemporary risk factors for all-cause mortality may guide interventions. Methods and Results-In the Rivaroxaban Once Daily Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (ROCKET AF) study, patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation were randomized to rivaroxaban or dose-adjusted warfarin. Cox proportional hazards regression with backward elimination identified factors at randomization that were independently associated with all-cause mortality in the 14 171 participants in the intention-to-treat population. The median age was 73 years, and the mean CHADS(2) score was 3.5. Over 1.9 years of median follow-up, 1214 (8.6%) patients died. Kaplan-Meier mortality rates were 4.2% at 1 year and 8.9% at 2 years. The majority of classified deaths (1081) were cardiovascular (72%), whereas only 6% were nonhemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism. No significant difference in all-cause mortality was observed between the rivaroxaban and warfarin arms (P=0.15). Heart failure (hazard ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.33-1.70, P= 75 years (hazard ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.51-1.90, P Conclusions-In a large population of patients anticoagulated for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, approximate to 7 in 10 deaths were cardiovascular, whereasPeer reviewe

The awareness of physicians and allied health professionals about cardiopulmonary rehabilitation: A cross-sectional survey study [Kardiyopulmoner rehabilitasyon konusunda hekimler ve diger sagli{dotless}k çali{dotless}şanlari{dotless}ni{dotless}n farki{dotless}ndali{dotless}k düzeyi: Kesitsel bir anket çali{dotless}şmasi{dotless}]

Objective: Cardiopulmonary (CPR) programs were developed to improve and stabilize the physical, psychological, social, mental, professional, and economic conditions of patients with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. Although it is known that CPR reduces mortality and morbidity, it is not widely implemented as it is in Turkey. In this study, we aimed to determine the level of CPR awareness among physicians and allied health professionals. Material and Methods: This was a multi-center, cross-sectional survey study. The study included physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, and other allied health professionals who were informed about the survey and provided written consent to participate. Results: A total of 727 volunteers from 12 different centers were included in the study. Of the participants, 59.5% were physicians, 31.4% were nurses, 5.9% were physiotherapists, and 3.2% were other allied health professionals; 79.3% participants answered the question on if they have had any idea about CPR. Participants indicated that patients should be referred to cardiac pulmonary rehabilitation after a coronary artery bypass (83.8%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (83.2%), and cardiac valve surgery (38.9%). Only 40.1% of the survey participants provided information about CPR to patients, while 20.5% did not provide any information about CPR. Conclusion: This survey study determined that in centers where CPR could be implemented, health professionals have knowledge about CPR. If the study were conducted nationwide, the level of awareness might be even lower. Although it is an idea of CPR, the level of knowledge for this issue is not adequate. As the number of the CPR centers will increase, the knowledge of doctors and allied health professionals will advance. © 2014 by Turkish Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Associations between Pneumococcal Vaccinationand Adverse Outcomes in Patients with Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome*

Background: Although pneumococcal vaccination prevents the most common pneumonia of bacterial etiology, its as-sociations without comes of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) are unknown. Methods: This is a prospective cohort study of 1436 patients hospitalized with suspected ACS/non-ST elevation MI that were eligible for pneumococcal vac-cination. Primary outcomes were death and subsequent Myocardial Infarction (MI) within 6-months of the index hospi-talization. We used Cox regression to assess associations between pneumococcal vaccination and outcomes, adjusting for influenza vaccination and relevant clinical covariates. We also utilized propensity scores to adjust for potential con-founding. Results: Overall, 937 (65.3%) patients received pneumococcal vaccination either prior to or during the index hospitalization. Unvaccinated patients had higher mortality (26.9 % vs 7.9%; p < 0.001) and non-significantly higher frequency of subsequent MI (7.4 % vs 3.5%; p = 0.06).Compared to patients who did not receive either pneumococcal or influenza vaccination, the unadjusted Hazard Ratio (HR) of death was significantly lower for those who received only pneumococcal vaccination (HR = 0.13; 95 % CI 0.07- 0.23) or both vaccinations (HR = 0.66, 95 % CI 0.47- 0.92), an