Prediction of Post-Discharge Bleeding in Elderly Patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes: Insights from the BleeMACS Registry

Background A poor ability of recommended risk scores for predicting in-hospital bleeding has been reported in elderly patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). No study assessed the prediction of post-discharge bleeding in the elderly. The new BleeMACS score (Bleeding complications in a Multicenter registry of patients discharged with diagnosis of Acute Coronary Syndrome), was designed to predict post-discharge bleeding in ACS patients. We aimed to assess the predictive ability of the BleeMACS score in elderly patients. Methods We assessed the incidence and characteristics of severe bleeding after discharge in ACS patients aged ≥ 75 years. Bleeding was defined as any intracranial bleeding or bleeding leading to hospitalization and/or red blood transfusion, occurring within the first year after discharge. We assessed the predictive ability of the BleeMACS score according to age by Fine-Gray proportional hazards regression analysis, calculating receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under the ROC curves (AUC). Results The BleeMACS registry included 15,401 patients of whom 3,376/15,401 (21.9%) were aged ≥ 75 years. Elderly patients were more commonly treated with clopidogrel and less often treated with ticagrelor or prasugrel. Of 3,376 elderly patients, 190 (5.6%) experienced post-discharge bleeding. The incidence of bleeding was moderately higher in elderly patients (hazard ratio [HR], 2.31, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.92-2.77). The predictive ability of the BleeMACS score was moderately lower in elderly patients (AUC, 0.652 vs. 0.691, p = 0.001). Conclusion Elderly patients with ACS had a significantly higher incidence of post-discharge bleeding. Despite a lower predictive ability in older patients, the BleeMACS score exhibited an acceptable performance in these patients

Association of Beta-Blockers with Survival on Patients Presenting with ACS Treated with PCI: A Propensity Score Analysis from the BleeMACS Registry

Purpose: The aim was to evaluate prognostic value of beta-blocker (BB) administration in acute coronary syndromes (ACS) patients in the percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) era. Methods and Results: The BleeMACS project is a multicenter, observational, retrospective registry enrolling patients with ACS worldwide in 15 hospitals. Patients discharged with BB therapy were compared to those discharged without a BB before and after propensity score with matching. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality at 1 year. Secondary endpoints included in-hospital reinfarction, in-hospital heart failure, 1-year myocardial infarction, 1-year bleeding and 1-year composite of death and recurrent myocardial infarction. After matching, 2935 patients for each group were enrolled. The primary endpoint of 1-year death was significantly lower in the group on BB therapy (4.5 vs 7%, p < 0.05), while only a trend was noted for recurrent acute myocardial infarction (4.5 vs 4.9%, p = 0.54). These results were consistent for patients older than 80 years of age, for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients, and for those discharged with complete versus incomplete revascularization, but not for non-STEMI/unstable angina patients. Conclusions: BB therapy was related to 1-year lower risk of all-cause mortality, independently from completeness of revascularization, admission diagnosis, age and ejection fraction. Randomized controlled trials for patients treated with PCI for ACS should be performed

Untersuchung des Mortalitätsrisikos im septischen Schock unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der hämodynamischen Funktion

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Implementing and Standardising Systems Engineering Practices within a Global Corporation

Developing new products is in many respects the process of identifying and envisaging user needs and bringing those needs into life in a cost-efficient manner, either utilizing existing technologies and solutions, or developing new ones. Product developing organisations are constantly challenged since new products must exceed expectations on quality standards in form, fit, and function – and that they must stand out from competition. This requires people with knowledge in many areas. Consequently, it is a multi-disciplinary process involving many parallel activities, such as product planning, design, production, marketing and after-sale.Systems Engineering (SE) has become increasingly important in these organizations in order to manage the shear complexity of managing large scale development projects and secure the quality standards for all emergent properties of a system. The main driver for introducing SE is that the complexity and interconnectedness of systems continues to grow and the growing shift of focus to the complete offer rather than the product itself. However, there exist little research summarizing experiences of implementing SE, and there remain uncertainties as to how SE should be tailored to specific settings in order to add value to a development organization. Especially, focus needs to be put on managing the complexity of creating product variety.This paper summarises our experiences from implementing and standardising Systems Engineering practices within a global corporation in the transport solution industry. This includes a review of reports on SE implementations, a short description of the Volvo Group, and a summary of our experiences when implementing SE at various units and organisational levels

Effective treatment of electrical storm by a wearable cardioverter defibrillator in a patient with severely impaired left ventricular function after myocardial infarction: a case report

Background!#!The implantation of cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) is an established therapy in the prevention of sudden cardiac death in patients with systolic dysfunction after myocardial infarction. To avoid immediate implantation of an ICD, wearable cardioverter defibrillator vests (WCD) can be used to protect patients against malignant rhythm disorders, while at the same time drug-based heart failure therapy has to be initiated. This drug therapy can improve left ventricular ejection fraction and primary prophylactic cardioverter defibrillator implantation may not be necessary. However, the recent Vest Prevention of Early Sudden Death Trial (VEST) questioned the regular use of the WCD in this setting.!##!Case presentation!#!A 47-year-old Caucasian man with severely impaired left ventricular function early after myocardial infarction was prescribed a WCD as primary prophylaxis to prevent sudden cardiac death. Seven days after the patient was supplied with a WCD, the patient suffered from an electrical storm with recurrent ventricular tachycardia (VT), which was successfully terminated 17 times by the WCD. On coronary angiography, the formerly infarct-related right coronary artery had TIMI (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Ischemia Trial) III flow, and a remaining stenosis in the left anterior descending artery (LAD) was stented, which did not stop recurrent VT. In the electrophysiology (EP) study, a focus was mapped in the left inferior ventricle, which was ablated. This stopped the VT. A second radio-frequency (RF) ablation in the same area was necessary after 14 days. Finally, a permanent cardioverter defibrillator was implanted.!##!Conclusion!#!We report the case of a patient who survived recurrent episodes of VT early after myocardial infarction by effective defibrillation with a WCD. The WCD is a useful device to bridge time until a final decision for implantation of a defibrillator

The impact of aerobic and isometric exercise on different measures of dysfunctional high-density lipoprotein in patients with hypertension.

BackgroundExercise training increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, but its effect on HDL function is unclear. In hypertensives, exercise improves endothelial dysfunction, which is related to HDL function. In the present study, we assess for the first time the effects of different exercise modalities on two cell-free assays of HDL function.DesignThe study was conducted as a prospective randomized controlled trial in 75 hypertensive patients.MethodsPatients were randomized in three groups: (a) handgrip isometric training five times weekly; (b) placebo-handgrip; and (c) aerobic exercise training at least three times per week. HDL function was assessed in serum samples at baseline and after 12 weeks of training by two independent assays that determine the proinflammatory phenotype (haptoglobin content) of a specific amount of HDL (Haptoglobin-HDL [HPHDL]) and oxidized HDL (HDLox) as a measure of reduced antioxidant function of HDL. HDL function measures were normalized by the measures of a pooled control of sera from healthy participants and by HDL-C levels (normalized ratio, no units).ResultsAerobic exercise led to significant reduction of the HDLox from 0.99 ± 0.27 to 0.90 ± 0.29 (no units, p = 0.03). The HPHDL did not change in any training group. Changes of HDLox correlated with reduction of the systolic blood pressure only after aerobic exercise (R = 0.64, p = 0.03).ConclusionsAerobic but not isometric exercise improves the antioxidant function of HDL in patients with hypertension. This improvement correlates positively with reductions of blood pressure

Factors associated with use of percutaneous coronary intervention among elderly patients presenting with ST segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI): Results from the ISACS-TC registry

Background A substantial proportion of elderly with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) do not undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We sought to investigate factors associated with the decision not to perform coronary angiography at admission in these patients. Methods We evaluated 1315 STEMI patients aged 65\ua075\ua0years old enrolled in the International Survey of Acute Coronary Syndromes in Transitional Countries (ISACS TC) registry between October 2010 and February 2015. They were compared with 6667 patients aged <\ua075\ua0years old enrolled in the registry in the same time frame. Results Elderly patients were less likely to undertake invasive coronary evaluation compared with younger patients (62.1% vs. 78.9; p\ua0<\ua00.001%). In the older group there were a lower proportion of patients presenting <\ua012\ua0h after symptom onset (66.5% vs.76.9%, p\ua0<\ua00.001), and a higher prevalence of comorbidities. Few elderly were treated with current recommended evidence based treatments (aspirin, clopidogrel, heparins, beta-blocker, statins, and ACE-inhibitors). Logistic analysis adjusted for age and sex showed that older age was associated with underuse of coronary angiography (OR 0.46, 95% CI: 0.41\u20130.53, p\ua0<\ua00.001). Clinical factors that were associated with underuse of angiography in patients over 75 were: female sex (OR: 0.77), presence of comorbidities (OR: 0.91), anemia (OR: 0.44) and late hospital admission (OR: 0.89). Conclusions In the ISACS-TC, more than one third of the elderly with STEMI did not undergo coronary angiography at admission. Sex, comorbidities, and late hospital admission were independent factors associated with the underuse of PCI in these patients