Relationship between pulmonary exacerbations and daily physical activity in adults with cystic fibrosis

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between pulmonary exacerbations and physical activity (PA) in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF)

Assessment of data quality in an international multi-centre randomised trial of coronary artery surgery

ART is a multi-centre randomised trial of cardiac surgery which provided a unique opportunity to evaluate the data from a large number of centres from a variety of countries. We attempted to assess data quality, including recruitment rates, timeliness and completeness of the data obtained from the centres in different socio-economic strata

Medication-related harm in older adults following hospital discharge: development and validation of a prediction tool

Objectives: To develop and validate a tool to predict the risk of an older adult experiencing medication-related harm (MRH) requiring healthcare use following hospital discharge. Design, setting, participants: Multicentre, prospective cohort study recruiting older adults (65 years) discharged from five UK teaching hospitals between 2013 and 2015. Primary outcome measure: Participants were followed up for 8 weeks in the community by senior pharmacists to identify MRH (adverse drug reactions, harm from non-adherence, harm from medication error). Three data sources provided MRH and healthcare use information; hospital readmissions, primary care use, participant telephone interview. Candidate variables for prognostic modelling were selected using two systematic reviews, the views of patients with MRH, and an expert panel of clinicians. Multivariable logistic regression with backward elimination, based on the Akaike Information Criterion, was used to develop the PRIME tool. The tool was internally validated. Results: 1116 out of 1280 recruited participants completed follow-up (87%). Uncertain MRH cases (‘possible’ and ‘probable’) were excluded, leaving a tool derivation cohort of 818. 119 (15%) participants experienced ‘definite’ MRH requiring healthcare use and 699 participants did not. Modelling resulted in a prediction tool with eight variables measured at hospital discharge; age, gender, antiplatelet drug, sodium level, antidiabetic drug, past adverse drug reaction, number of medicines, living alone. The tool’s discrimination C-statistic was 0.69 (0.66 after validation) and showed good calibration. Decision curve analysis demonstrated the potential value of the tool to guide clinical decision making compared with alternative approaches. Conclusions: The PRIME tool could be used to identify older patients at high risk of MRH requiring healthcare use following hospital discharge. Prior to clinical use we recommend the tool’s evaluation in other settings

The effects of a video intervention on posthospitalization pulmonary rehabilitation uptake

Rationale: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) after hospitalizations for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) improves exercise capacity and health-related quality of life and reduces readmissions. However, posthospitalization PR uptake is low. To date, no trials of interventions to increase uptake have been conducted.Objectives: To study the effect of a codesigned education video as an adjunct to usual care on posthospitalization PR uptake.Methods: The present study was an assessor- and statistician-blinded randomized controlled trial with nested, qualitative interviews of participants in the intervention group. Participants hospitalized with COPD exacerbations were assigned 1:1 to receive either usual care (COPD discharge bundle including PR information leaflet) or usual care plus the codesigned education video delivered via a handheld tablet device at discharge. Randomization used minimization to balance age, sex, FEV1 % predicted, frailty, transport availability, and previous PR experience.Measurements and Main Results: The primary outcome was PR uptake within 28 days of hospital discharge. A total of 200 patients were recruited, and 196 were randomized (51% female, median FEV1% predicted, 36 [interquartile range, 27-48]). PR uptake was 41% and 34% in the usual care and intervention groups, respectively (P = 0.37), with no differences in secondary (PR referral and completion) or safety (readmissions and death) endpoints. A total of 6 of the 15 participants interviewed could not recall receiving the video.Conclusions: A codesigned education video delivered at hospital discharge did not improve posthospitalization PR uptake, referral, or completion

FRailty and Arterial stiffness – the role of oXidative stress and Inflammation (FRAXI study)

Objective: There is an association between frailty and arterial stiffness. However, arterial stiffness does not uniformly correlate with the spectrum of frailty states. Both oxidative stress and inflammaging contribute to vascular ageing. There are no human studies exploring links between arterial stiffness, oxidative stress, inflammaging and frailty. Our objective is to investigate arterial stiffness and inflammaging as predictors of frailty states. Methods: An observational longitudinal cohort study will be used to examine the association between arterial stiffness, oxidative stress and inflammation in 50 older adults (⩾70 years) with clinical frailty scores (CFS) ⩽6 over 6 months. All study measurements will be taken at baseline. Frailty assessment will include hand-grip strength, timed-up and go test, mini-mental state examination, geriatric depression scale and sarcopenia using body composition measurements with Tanita®. Arterial stiffness measurements will include carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and carotid-radial pulse wave velocity (crPWV) using Complior (Alam Medical, France). CAVI device will measure Cardio-ankle vascular index and ankle brachial index (ABI). Oxidative stress blood markers nitrotyrosine (NT) and 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosin (8-oxo-dG) and inflammation markers high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interlukin-6(IL-6) will be measured at baseline and 6 month along with lipid profile and glycated haemoglobin. Results (data analysis plan): Descriptive statistics for continuous data using means and standard deviations for normality distributed variables or medians and inter-quartile ranges for skewed variables will be used. Participants will be categorised into CFS 1-3, and CFS 4-6. Categorical data will use frequencies and comparison between groups. Change in frailty between the groups over 6 months will be compared using paired t-test. Simple linear regression will be done between frailty measures, arterial stiffness, inflammation and oxidative stress biomarkers. Significance will be at P < .05. Conclusion: This study data will inform a larger, multi-centre study exploring further the interplay between frailty, biomarkers and arterial stiffness parameters

Effects of combined deferiprone with deferoxamine on right ventricular function in thalassaemia major

BACKGROUND: Combination therapy with deferoxamine and oral deferiprone is superior to deferoxamine alone in removing cardiac iron and improving left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). The right ventricle (RV) is also affected by the toxic effects of iron and may cause additional cardiovascular perturbation. We assessed the effects of combination therapy on the RV in thalassaemia major (TM) using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). METHODS: We retrieved imaging data from 2 treatment trials and re-analyzed the data for the RV responses: Trial 1 was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of 65 TM patients with mild-moderate cardiac siderosis receiving combination therapy or deferoxamine with placebo; Trial 2 was an open label longitudinal trial assessing combination therapy in 15 TM patients with severe iron loading. RESULTS: In the RCT, combination therapy with deferoxamine and deferiprone was superior to deferoxamine alone for improving RVEF (3.6 vs 0.7%, p = 0.02). The increase in RVEF was greater with lower baseline T2* 8-12 ms (4.7 vs 0.5%, p = 0.01) than with T2* 12-20 ms (2.2 vs 0.8%, p = 0.47). In patients with severe cardiac siderosis, substantial improvement in RVEF was seen with open-label combination therapy (10.5% ± 5.6%, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In the RCT of mild to moderate cardiac iron loading, combination treatment improved RV function significantly more than deferoxamine alone. Combination treatment also improved RV function in severe cardiac siderosis. Therefore adding deferiprone to deferoxamine has beneficial effects on both RV and LV function in TM patients with cardiac siderosis

Randomized trial of complete versus lesion-only revascularization in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention for STEMI and Multivessel Disease

BACKGROUND: The optimal management of patients found to have multivessel disease while undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (P-PCI) for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction is uncertain.   OBJECTIVES: CvLPRIT (Complete versus Lesion-only Primary PCI trial) is a U.K. open-label randomized study comparing complete revascularization at index admission with treatment of the infarct-related artery (IRA) only.   METHODS: After they provided verbal assent and underwent coronary angiography, 296 patients in 7 U.K. centers were randomized through an interactive voice-response program to either in-hospital complete revascularization (n = 150) or IRA-only revascularization (n = 146). Complete revascularization was performed either at the time of P-PCI or before hospital discharge. Randomization was stratified by infarct location (anterior/nonanterior) and symptom onset (≤3 h or >3 h). The primary endpoint was a composite of all-cause death, recurrent myocardial infarction (MI), heart failure, and ischemia-driven revascularization within 12 months.   RESULTS: Patient groups were well matched for baseline clinical characteristics. The primary endpoint occurred in 10.0% of the complete revascularization group versus 21.2% in the IRA-only revascularization group (hazard ratio: 0.45; 95% confidence interval: 0.24 to 0.84; p = 0.009). A trend toward benefit was seen early after complete revascularization (p = 0.055 at 30 days). Although there was no significant reduction in death or MI, a nonsignificant reduction in all primary endpoint components was seen. There was no reduction in ischemic burden on myocardial perfusion scintigraphy or in the safety endpoints of major bleeding, contrast-induced nephropathy, or stroke between the groups.   CONCLUSIONS: In patients presenting for P-PCI with multivessel disease, index admission complete revascularization significantly lowered the rate of the composite primary endpoint at 12 months compared with treating only the IRA. In such patients, inpatient total revascularization may be considered, but larger clinical trials are required to confirm this result and specifically address whether this strategy is associated with improved survival. (Complete Versus Lesion-only Primary PCI Pilot Study [CvLPRIT]; ISRCTN70913605)

Right ventricular dysfunction is a predictor of non-response and clinical outcome following cardiac resynchronization therapy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an established treatment in advanced heart failure (HF). However, an important subset does not derive a significant benefit. Despite an established predictive role in HF, the significance of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction in predicting clinical benefit from CRT remains unclear. We investigated the role of RV function, assessed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), in predicting response to and major adverse clinical events in HF patients undergoing CRT.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixty consecutive patients were evaluated with CMR prior to CRT implantation in a tertiary cardiac centre. The primary end-point was a composite of death from any cause or unplanned hospitalization for a major cardiovascular event. The secondary end-point was response to therapy, defined as improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction ≥ 5% on echocardiography at one year.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eighteen patients (30%) met the primary end-point over a median follow-up period of 26 months, and 27 out of 56 patients (48%) were considered responders to CRT. On time-to-event analysis, only atrial fibrillation (HR 2.6, 95% CI 1.02-6.84, p = 0.047) and RV dysfunction, either by a reduced right ventricular ejection fraction-RVEF (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.99, p = 0.006) or tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion-TAPSE (HR 0.88, 95% CI, 0.80-0.96, p = 0.006), were significant predictors of adverse events. On logistic regression analysis, preserved RVEF (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.01-1.09, p = 0.01) and myocardial scar burden (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.83-0.96, p = 0.004) were the sole independent predictors of response to CRT. Patients with marked RV dysfunction (RVEF < 30%) had a particularly low response rate (18.2%) to CRT.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Right ventricular function is an important predictor of both response to CRT and long-term clinical outcome. Routine assessment of the right ventricle should be considered in the evaluation of patients for CRT.</p