Hospital revascularisation capability and quality of care after an acute coronary syndrome in Switzerland.

BACKGROUND: Patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) transferred to regional nonacademic hospitals after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may receive fewer preventive interventions than patients who remain in university hospitals. We aimed at comparing hospitals with and without PCI facilities regarding guidelines-recommended secondary prevention interventions after an ACS. METHODS: We studied patients with ACS admitted to a university hospital with PCI facilities in Switzerland, and either transferred within 48 hours to regional nonacademic hospitals without PCI facilities or directly discharged from the university hospital. We measured prescription rates of evidence-based recommended therapies after ACS including reasons for nonprescription of aspirin, statins, β-blockers, angiotensin converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) / angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB), along with cardiac rehabilitation attendance and delivery of a smoking cessation intervention. RESULTS: Overall, 720 patients with ACS were enrolled; 541 (75.1%) were discharged from the hospital with PCI facilities, 179 (24.9%) were transferred to hospitals without PCI facilities. Concomitant prescription of aspirin, β-blockers, ACEI/ARB and statins at discharge was similar in hospitals with and without PCI facilities, reaching 83.9% and 85.5%, respectively (p = 0.62). Attendance at cardiac rehabilitation reached 55.5% for the hospital with PCI facilities and 65.7% for hospitals without PCI facilities (p = 0.02). In-hospital smoking cessation interventions were delivered to 70.8% patients exclusively at the hospital with PCI facilities. CONCLUSION: Quality of care for patients with ACS discharged from hospitals without PCI facilities was similar to that of patients directly discharged from the hospital with PCI facilities, except for in-hospital smoking cessation counselling and cardiac rehabilitation attendance

Uptake and efficacy of a systematic intensive smoking cessation intervention using motivational interviewing for smokers hospitalised for an acute coronary syndrome: a multicentre before-after study with parallel group comparisons.

To compare the efficacy of a proactive approach with a reactive approach to offer intensive smoking cessation intervention using motivational interviewing (MI). Before-after comparison in 2 academic hospitals with parallel comparisons in 2 control hospitals. Academic hospitals in Switzerland. Smokers hospitalised for an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). In the intervention hospitals during the intervention phase, a resident physician trained in MI systematically offered counselling to all smokers admitted for ACS, followed by 4 telephone counselling sessions over 2 months by a nurse trained in MI. In the observation phase, the in-hospital intervention was offered only to patients whose clinicians requested a smoking cessation intervention. In the control hospitals, no intensive smoking cessation intervention was offered. The primary outcome was 1 week smoking abstinence (point prevalence) at 12 months. Secondary outcomes were the number of smokers who received the in-hospital smoking cessation intervention and the duration of the intervention. In the intervention centres during the intervention phase, 87% of smokers (N=193/225) received a smoking cessation intervention compared to 22% in the observational phase (p<0.001). Median duration of counselling was 50 min. During the intervention phase, 78% received a phone follow-up for a median total duration of 42 min in 4 sessions. Prescription of nicotine replacement therapy at discharge increased from 18% to 58% in the intervention phase (risk ratio (RR): 3.3 (95% CI 2.4 to 4.3; p≤0.001). Smoking cessation at 12-month increased from 43% to 51% comparing the observation and intervention phases (RR=1.20, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.46; p=0.08; 97% with outcome assessment). In the control hospitals, the RR for quitting was 1.02 (95% CI 0.84 to 1.25; p=0.8, 92% with outcome assessment). A proactive strategy offering intensive smoking cessation intervention based on MI to all smokers hospitalised for ACS significantly increases the uptake of smoking cessation counselling and might increase smoking abstinence at 12 months

Health utility indexes in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

BACKGROUND: Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) have been associated with lower health utilities (HUs) compared with the general population. Given the prognostic improvements after ACS with the implementation of coronary angiography (eg, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)), contemporary HU values derived from patient-reported outcomes are needed. METHODS: We analysed data of 1882 patients with ACS 1 year after coronary angiography in a Swiss prospective cohort. We used the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D) and visual analogue scale (VAS) to derive HU indexes. We estimated the effects of clinical factors on HU using a linear regression model and compared the observed HU with the average values of individuals of the same sex and age in the general population. RESULTS: Mean EQ-5D HU 1-year after coronary angiography for ACS was 0.82 (±0.16) and mean VAS was 0.77 (±0.18); 40.9% of participants exhibited the highest utility values. Compared with population controls, the mean EQ-5D HU was similar (expected mean 0.82, p=0.58) in patients with ACS, but the mean VAS was slightly lower (expected mean 0.79, p<0.001). Patients with ACS who are younger than 60 years had lower HU than the general population (<0.001). In patients with ACS, significant differences were found according to the gender, education and employment status, diabetes, obesity, heart failure, recurrent ischaemic or incident bleeding event and participation in cardiac rehabilitation (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: At 1 year, patients with ACS with coronary angiography had HU indexes similar to a control population. Subgroup analyses based on patients' characteristics and further disease-specific instruments could provide better sensitivity for detecting smaller variations in health-related quality of life

Deletion of Sirt3 does not affect atherosclerosis but accelerates weight gain and impairs rapid metabolic adaptation in LDL receptor knockout mice: implications for cardiovascular risk factor development.

Sirt3 is a mitochondrial NAD(+)-dependent deacetylase that governs mitochondrial metabolism and reactive oxygen species homeostasis. Sirt3 deficiency has been reported to accelerate the development of the metabolic syndrome. However, the role of Sirt3 in atherosclerosis remains enigmatic. We aimed to investigate whether Sirt3 deficiency affects atherosclerosis, plaque vulnerability, and metabolic homeostasis. Low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout (LDLR(-/-)) and LDLR/Sirt3 double-knockout (Sirt3(-/-)LDLR(-/-)) mice were fed a high-cholesterol diet (1.25 % w/w) for 12 weeks. Atherosclerosis was assessed en face in thoraco-abdominal aortae and in cross sections of aortic roots. Sirt3 deletion led to hepatic mitochondrial protein hyperacetylation. Unexpectedly, though plasma malondialdehyde levels were elevated in Sirt3-deficient mice, Sirt3 deletion affected neither plaque burden nor features of plaque vulnerability (i.e., fibrous cap thickness and necrotic core diameter). Likewise, plaque macrophage and T cell infiltration as well as endothelial activation remained unaltered. Electron microscopy of aortic walls revealed no difference in mitochondrial microarchitecture between both groups. Interestingly, loss of Sirt3 was associated with accelerated weight gain and an impaired capacity to cope with rapid changes in nutrient supply as assessed by indirect calorimetry. Serum lipid levels and glucose tolerance were unaffected by Sirt3 deletion in LDLR(-/-) mice. Sirt3 deficiency does not affect atherosclerosis in LDLR(-/-) mice. However, Sirt3 controls systemic levels of oxidative stress, limits expedited weight gain, and allows rapid metabolic adaptation. Thus, Sirt3 may contribute to postponing cardiovascular risk factor development

Quality of care after acute coronary syndromes in a prospective cohort with reasons for non-prescription of recommended medications.

BACKGROUND: Adherence to guidelines is associated with improved outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Clinical registries developed to assess quality of care at discharge often do not collect the reasons for non-prescription for proven efficacious preventive medication in Continental Europe. In a prospective cohort of patients hospitalized for an ACS, we aimed at measuring the rate of recommended treatment at discharge, using pre-specified quality indicators recommended in cardiologic guidelines and including systematic collection of reasons for non-prescription for preventive medications. METHODS: In a prospective cohort with 1260 patients hospitalized for ACS, we measured the rate of recommended treatment at discharge in 4 academic centers in Switzerland. Performance measures for medication at discharge were pre-specified according to guidelines, systematically collected for all patients and included in a centralized database. RESULTS: Six hundred and eighty eight patients(54.6%) were discharged with a main diagnosis of STEMI, 491(39%) of NSTEMI and 81(6.4%) of unstable angina. Mean age was 64 years and 21.3% were women. 94.6% were prescribed angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers at discharge when only considering raw prescription rates, but increased to 99.5% when including reasons non-prescription. For statins, rates increased from 98% to 98.6% when including reasons for non-prescription and for beta-blockers, from 82% to 93%. For aspirin, rates further increased from 99.4% to 100% and from to 99.8% to 100% for P2Y12 inhibitors. CONCLUSIONS: We found a very high adherence to ACS guidelines for drug prescriptions at discharge when including reasons for non-prescription to drug therapy. For beta-blockers, prescription rates were suboptimal, even after taking into account reason for non-prescription. In an era of improving quality of care to achieve 100% prescription rates at discharge unless contra-indicated, pre-specification of reasons for non-prescription for cardiovascular preventive medication permits to identify remaining gaps in quality of care at discharge. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01000701

Diabetes and baseline glucose are associated with inflammation, left ventricular function and short- and long-term outcome in acute coronary syndromes: role of the novel biomarker Cyr 61.

Hyperglycemia in the setting of an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) impacts short term outcomes, but little is known about longer term effects. We therefore designed this study to firstly determine the association between hyperglycemia and short term and longer term outcomes in patients presenting with ACS and secondly evaluate the prognostic role of diabetes, body mass index (BMI) and the novel biomarker Cyr61 on outcomes. The prospective Special Program University Medicine-Acute Coronary Syndrome (SPUM-ACS) cohort enrolled 2168 patients with ACS between December 2009 and October 2012, of which 2034 underwent PCI (93.8%). Patients were followed up for 12 months. Events were independently adjudicated by three experienced cardiologists. Participants were recruited from four tertiary hospitals in Switzerland: Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne and Bern. Participants presenting with acute coronary syndromes and who underwent coronary angiography were included in the analysis. Patients were grouped according to history of diabetes (or HbA1c greater than 6%), baseline blood sugar level (BSL; < 6, 6-11.1 and > 11.1 mmol/L) and body mass index (BMI). The primary outcome was major adverse cardiac events (MACE) which was a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke and all-cause death. Secondary outcomes included the individual components of the primary endpoint, revascularisations, bleeding events (BARC classification) and cerebrovascular events (ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke or TIA). Patients with hyperglycemia, i.e. BSL ≥ 11.1 mmol/L, had higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell count (WBC), creatinine kinase (CK), higher heart rates and lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and increased N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide. At 30 days and 12 months, those with BSL ≥ 11.1 mmol/L had more MACE and death compared to those with BSL < 6.0 mmol/L or 6.0-11.1 mmol/L (HR-ratio 4.78 and 6.6; p < 0.001). The novel biomarker Cyr61 strongly associated with high BSL and STEMI and was independently associated with 1 year outcomes (HR 2.22; 95% CI 1.33-3.72; Tertile 3 vs. Tertile 1). In this large, prospective, independently adjudicated cohort of in all comers ACS patients undergoing PCI, both a history of diabetes and elevated entry glucose was associated with inflammation and increased risk of MACE both at short and long-term. The mediators might involve increased sympathetic activation, inflammation and ischemia as reflected by elevated Cyr61 levels leading to larger levels of troponin and lower LVEF. Trial registration Clinical Trial Registration Number: NCT01000701. Registered October 23, 2009

Identifying the anti-inflammatory response to lipid lowering therapy: a position paper from the working group on atherosclerosis and vascular biology of the European Society of Cardiology

Dysregulated lipid metabolism induces an inflammatory and immune response leading to atherosclerosis. Conversely, inflammation may alter lipid metabolism. Recent treatment strategies in secondary prevention of atherosclerosis support beneficial effects of both anti-inflammatory and lipid-lowering therapies beyond current targets. There is a controversy about the possibility that anti-inflammatory effects of lipid-lowering therapy may be either independent or not of a decrease in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In this Position Paper, we critically interpret and integrate the results obtained in both experimental and clinical studies on anti-inflammatory actions of lipid-lowering therapy and the mechanisms involved. We highlight that: (i) besides decreasing cholesterol through different mechanisms, most lipid-lowering therapies share anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties, and the anti-inflammatory response to lipid-lowering may be relevant to predict the effect of treatment, (ii) using surrogates for both lipid metabolism and inflammation as biomarkers or vascular inflammation imaging in future studies may contribute to a better understanding of the relative importance of different mechanisms of action, and (iii) comparative studies of further lipid lowering, anti-inflammation and a combination of both are crucial to identify effects that are specific or shared for each treatment strategy

Association between income and control of cardiovascular risk factors after acute coronary syndromes: an observational study.

The role of income in cardiovascular disease prevention after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains unclear. We aimed to assess the association between income and control of cardiovascular risk factors one year after an ACS in a country with universal health insurance. Between 2013 and 2014, we studied 255 consecutive patients with ACS in an observational study in a university hospital in Switzerland in which self-reported household income was assessed. We classified patients into two categories based on the median income in Switzerland: higher than CHF 6000 (€ 5300) or less than or equal to CHF 6000 (€ 5300) per month. One year after discharge, patients were evaluated for the achievement of lipid and blood pressure targets, smoking cessation and drug adherence. Multivariate odds ratios (OR) were adjusted for age, sex, education, living status and working status. Overall, 52.2% (n = 133) of patients with ACS were in the low-income category and 47.8% (n = 122) were in the high-income category. One year after discharge, high-income patients had higher rates of smoking cessation (64.2 vs 30.1%, multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (OR) 3.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.58–9.24) and blood pressure target achievement (78.6 vs 60.2%, multivariate-adjusted OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.09–4.41) compared to those in the low-income category. There were no differences regarding adherence to drugs or lipid control between the two income groups. A high household income was associated with a higher rate of smoking cessation and better control of blood pressure one year after ACS, independently of education, living status and working status

Eligibility for PCSK9 Inhibitors According to American College of Cardiology (ACC) and European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society (ESC/EAS) Guidelines After Acute Coronary Syndromes.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society (ESC/EAS) have recently published recommendations for the use of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin-9 (PCSK9) inhibitors in situations of very high risk. We aim to assess in the real world the suitability of PCSK9 inhibitors for acute coronary syndromes. We analyzed a prospective Swiss cohort of 2023 patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndromes between 2009 and 2014 with available data for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and lipid-lowering therapy at 1 year. Clinical familial hypercholesterolemia was defined using the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network algorithm as unlikely, possible, probable, or definite. We simulated a fixed relative reduction of 24% in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels at 1 year in all patients not treated with ezetimibe, irrespective of the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and statin regimen. At 1 year, 94.3% of patients were treated with statin, 5.8% with ezetimibe, and 35.8% of patients had on-target low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (<1.8 mmol/L); 25.6% met criteria for possible or probable/definite familial hypercholesterolemia. After a simulation of the lipid-lowering effect of ezetimibe, the proportion of patients who would be eligible for PCSK9 inhibitors at 1 year was 13.4% using American College of Cardiology criteria and 2.7% using European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society criteria. Patients with possible or probable/definite familial hypercholesterolemia were more eligible for PCSK9 inhibitors compared with their non-familial hypercholesterolemia counterparts: 27.6% versus 8.8% according to American College of Cardiology criteria and 6.6% versus 1.8% according to European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society criteria ( <i>P</i> <0.001). Recommendations made by the American College of Cardiology guidelines would lead to 5-fold higher eligibility rates for PCSK9 inhibitors compared to the European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society consensus statement in acute coronary syndrome patients

A high Gas6 level in plasma predicts venous thromboembolism recurrence, major bleeding and mortality in the elderly: a prospective multicenter cohort study.

Essentials Predictive ability of pro-hemostatic Gas6 for recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) is unknown. We measured Gas6 levels in 864 patients with VTE over 3 years. High Gas6 (> 157%) at diagnosis is associated with VTE recurrence, major bleeding and mortality. Gas6 plasma levels measured 12 months after the index VTE are discriminatory for VTE recurrence. SUMMARY: Background Growth arrest-specific gene 6 (Gas6) is a prohemostatic protein with an unknown predictive ability for recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE). In the elderly, VTE results in higher mortality but does not have a higher rate of recurrence than in younger patients. Consequently, anticoagulation management in the elderly is challenging. Objective To prospectively investigate the performance of Gas6 in predicting VTE recurrence, major bleeding and mortality in the elderly. Methods Consecutive patients aged ≥ 65 years with acute VTE were followed for a period of 3 years. Primary outcomes were symptomatic VTE recurrence, major bleeding, and mortality. Plasma Gas6 was measured with ELISA. Results Gas6 levels were measured in 864 patients at the time of the index VTE (T1) and, in 70% of them, also 12 months later (T2). The Gas6 level at T1 was discriminatory for VTE recurrence (C-statistic, 0.56; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.51-0.62), major bleeding (0.60, 95% CI 0.55-0.65) and mortality (0.69, 95% CI 0.65-0.73) up to 36 months. VTE recurrence up to 24 months after T2 was discriminated by the Gas6 level at T2 (0.62, 95% CI 0.54-0.71). High Gas6 levels (> 157%) and continuous Gas6 levels at T1 were associated with VTE recurrence up to 6 months and 12 months, respectively. Conclusions In elderly patients, a high Gas6 level is associated with higher risks of VTE recurrence, major bleeding, and death. These findings support further studies to assess the performance of Gas6 in adjusting the length of anticoagulation