Myeloperoxidase: A New Biomarker of Inflammation in Ischemic Heart Disease and Acute Coronary Syndromes

Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is an enzyme stored in azurophilic granules of polymorphonuclear neutrophils and macrophages and released into extracellular fluid in the setting of inflammatory process. The observation that myeloperoxidase is involved in oxidative stress and inflammation has been a leading factor to study myeloperoxidase as a possible marker of plaque instability and a useful clinical tool in the evaluation of patients with coronary heart disease. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the pathophysiological, analytical, and clinical characteristics of MPO and to summarize the state of art about the possible clinical use of MPO as a marker for diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS)

Biomarkers in Acute Coronary Syndrome

Background: Evaluation of patients who present to the hospital with acute undifferentiated chest pain or other symptoms and signs suggestive of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) is often a clinical challenge. The initial assessment, requiring a focused history (including risk factors analysis), a physical examination, an electrocardiogram (EKG) and serum cardiac marker determination, is time-consuming and troublesome. Recent investigations have indicated that increases in biomarkers of necrosis, inflammation, ischemia and myocardial stretch may provide earlier assessment of overall patient risk, help in identifying the adequate diagnostic and therapeutic management for each patient and allow for prevention of substantial numbers of new events. Approach and Content: The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the characteristics of several biomarkers that may have potential clinical utility to identify ACS patients. Patho-physiology, analytical and clinical characteristics have been evaluated for each marker, underlying the properties for potential routine clinical use. Summary: The biomarkers discussed in this review are promising and might lead to improved diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with ACS, however their clinical application requires further studies. It is important to define their clinical role as diagnostic markers, their predictive value and the specificity, standardization and detection limits of the assays

Clinical-Genetic Features Influencing Disability in Spastic Paraplegia Type 4: A Cross-sectional Study by the Italian DAISY Network

Background and objectives: Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) are a group of inherited rare neurologic disorders characterized by length-dependent degeneration of the corticospinal tracts and dorsal columns, whose prominent clinical feature is represented by spastic gait. Spastic paraplegia type 4 (SPG4, SPAST-HSP) is the most common form. We present both clinical and molecular findings of a large cohort of patients, with the aim of (1) defining the clinical spectrum of SPAST-HSP in Italy; (2) describing their molecular features; and (3) assessing genotype-phenotype correlations to identify features associated with worse disability. Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective study with molecular and clinical data collected in an anonymized database was performed. Results: A total of 723 Italian patients with SPAST-HSP (58% men) from 316 families, with a median age at onset of 35 years, were included. Penetrance was 97.8%, with men showing higher Spastic Paraplegia Rating Scale (SPRS) scores (19.67 ± 12.58 vs 16.15 ± 12.61, p = 0.009). In 26.6% of patients with SPAST-HSP, we observed a complicated phenotype, mainly including intellectual disability (8%), polyneuropathy (6.7%), and cognitive decline (6.5%). Late-onset cases seemed to progress more rapidly, and patients with a longer disease course displayed a more severe neurologic disability, with higher SPATAX (3.61 ± 1.46 vs 2.71 ± 1.20, p < 0.001) and SPRS scores (22.63 ± 11.81 vs 12.40 ± 8.83, p < 0.001). Overall, 186 different variants in the SPAST gene were recorded, of which 48 were novel. Patients with SPAST-HSP harboring missense variants displayed intellectual disability (14.5% vs 4.4%, p < 0.001) more frequently, whereas patients with truncating variants presented more commonly cognitive decline (9.7% vs 2.6%, p = 0.001), cerebral atrophy (11.2% vs 3.4%, p = 0.003), lower limb spasticity (61.5% vs 44.5%), urinary symptoms (50.0% vs 31.3%, p < 0.001), and sensorimotor polyneuropathy (11.1% vs 1.1%, p < 0.001). Increasing disease duration (DD) and abnormal motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were also associated with increased likelihood of worse disability (SPATAX score>3). Discussion: The SPAST-HSP phenotypic spectrum in Italian patients confirms a predominantly pure form of HSP with mild-to-moderate disability in 75% of cases, and slight prevalence of men, who appeared more severely affected. Early-onset cases with intellectual disability were more frequent among patients carrying missense SPAST variants, whereas patients with truncating variants showed a more complicated disease. Both longer DD and altered MEPs are associated with worse disability

Review Article Myeloperoxidase: A New Biomarker of Inflammation in Ischemic Heart Disease and Acute Coronary Syndromes

Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is an enzyme stored in azurophilic granules of polymorphonuclear neutrophils and macrophages and released into extracellular fluid in the setting of inflammatory process. The observation that myeloperoxidase is involved in oxidative stress and inflammation has been a leading factor to study myeloperoxidase as a possible marker of plaque instability and a useful clinical tool in the evaluation of patients with coronary heart disease. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the pathophysiological, analytical, and clinical characteristics of MPO and to summarize the state of art about the possible clinical use of MPO as a marker for diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Copyright © 2008 Valentina Loria et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 1

Spontaneous coronary dissection as cause of recurring myocardial infarction

Spontaneous coronary dissection as cause of recurring myocardial infarctio

Left anterior descending artery percutaneous coronary intervention from the right radial access via the left internal mammary artery: A case report

Background: Trans-radial access in coronary intervention has gained popularity as it grants advantages in patients with higher risk of haemorrhage, especially those with non-cardiac conditions and those treated with oral anticoagulant therapy. Case report: We report a case of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery distal to left internal mammary artery (LIMA) anastomosis from the usually contraindicated right radial approach, in an actively bleeding patient affected by gastric cancer and chronic atrial fibrillation, and with no other available low-risk route. Conclusion: LAD trans-LIMA PCI via right radial access can be attempted in selected cases with suitable anatom

Multiple coronary plaque ruptures in a patient with a recent ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction causing recurrent coronary instability

Multiple plaque instability has been reported in about one-third of patients with ST elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) and could be responsible for early recurrent instability after STEMI. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a high-resolution imaging technique that may help in detection and characterization of unstable coronary plaques. We present a case of multiple coronary instability in a patient with anterior STEMI where OCT has tailored an optimal diagnosis and treatment

Data on optical coherence tomography guidance for the management of angiographically intermediate left main bifurcation lesions

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled “Optical coherence tomography guidance for the management of angiographically intermediate left main bifurcation lesions: early clinical experience” [1]. In this article we reports details about our clinical experience with frequency domain-optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) guidance for the management of patients with left main (LM) bifurcation lesions of intermediate angiographic severity. LM patients were assessed by FD-OCT and, on the bases of the findings, managed by myocardial revascularization or conservative treatment (revascularization deferral). The observed outcomes support the feasibility of FD-OCT guidance for LM bifurcated lesions and call for further clinical evaluations in appropriately designed prospective studies

Spontaneous coronary dissection as cause of recurring myocardial infarction.

Spontaneous coronary dissection as cause of recurring myocardial infarctio

Trends and outcomes of optical coherence tomography use: 877 patients single-center experience

Optical-coherence-tomography (OCT) is an emerging invasive coronary imaging with still undefined clinical value. Recent data have underlined daily impact of such technique in several clinical settings such as acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) guidance. We aimed at assessing the trends and outcomes of OCT use in a high-volume percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI)-center