Monitoring Durability of Limestone Cement Paste Stored at Conditions Promoting Thaumasite Formation

The durability of Portland-limestone cement with high limestone content was monitored at conditions promoting thaumasite formation. Pore structure and deterioration characteristics were assessed with X-ray micro-computed tomography and correlated with material's strength. Changes in crystalline and amorphous phases of the cement paste were investigated with X-ray powder diffraction and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Rapid deterioration was observed, evolving as a front causing concentric crack patterns followed by detachment of the part of specimen in contact with the corrosive solution. This ultimately led to loss of structural integrity after 4 months of exposure. During sulfate attack, thaumasite, ettringite and gypsum formed at the expense of portlandite, calcite and monocarboaluminate hydrate. Furthermore, polymerization of silicate chains in C-S-H and deterioration of C-S-H also occurred

Aspirin with or without Clopidogrel after Transcatheter Aortic-Valve Implantation

BACKGROUND The effect of single as compared with dual antiplatelet treatment on bleeding and thromboembolic events after transcatheter aortic-valve implantation (TAVI) in patients who do not have an indication for long-term anticoagulation has not been well studied. METHODS In a randomized, controlled trial, we assigned a subgroup of patients who were undergoing TAVI and did not have an indication for long-term anticoagulation, in a 1:1 ratio, to receive aspirin alone or aspirin plus clopidogrel for 3 months. The two primary outcomes were all bleeding (including minor, major, and life-threatening or disabling bleeding) and non-procedure-related bleeding over a period of 12 months. Most bleeding at the TAVI puncture site was counted as non-procedure-related. The two secondary outcomes were a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, non-procedure-related bleeding, stroke, or myocardial infarction (secondary composite 1) and a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, ischemic stroke, or myocardial infarction (secondary composite 2) at 1 year, with both outcomes tested sequentially for noninferiority (noninferiority margin, 7.5 percentage points) and superiority. RESULTS A total of 331 patients were assigned to receive aspirin alone and 334 were assigned to receive aspirin plus clopidogrel. A bleeding event occurred in 50 patients (15.1%) receiving aspirin alone and in 89 (26.6%) receiving aspirin plus clopidogrel (risk ratio, 0.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42 to 0.77; P=0.001). Non-procedure-related bleeding occurred in 50 patients (15.1%) and 83 patients (24.9%), respectively (risk ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.83; P=0.005). A secondary composite 1 event occurred in 76 patients (23.0%) receiving aspirin alone and in 104 (31.1%) receiving aspirin plus clopidogrel (difference, −8.2 percentage points; 95% CI for noninferiority, −14.9 to −1.5; P<0.001; risk ratio, 0.74; 95% CI for superiority, 0.57 to 0.95; P=0.04). A secondary composite 2 event occurred in 32 patients (9.7%) and 33 patients (9.9%), respectively (difference, −0.2 percentage points; 95% CI for noninferiority, −4.7 to 4.3; P=0.004; risk ratio, 0.98; 95% CI for superiority, 0.62 to 1.55; P=0.93). A total of 44 patients (13.3%) and 32 (9.6%), respectively, received oral anticoagulation during the trial. CONCLUSIONS Among patients undergoing TAVI who did not have an indication for oral anticoagulation, the incidence of bleeding and the composite of bleeding or thromboembolic events at 1 year were significantly less frequent with aspirin than with aspirin plus clopidogrel administered for 3 months

Impact of aspirin on takotsubo syndrome: a propensity score-based analysis of the InterTAK Registry

Aims: The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of aspirin on prognosis in takotsubo syndrome (TTS). Methods and results: Patients from the International Takotsubo (InterTAK) Registry were categorized into two groups based on aspirin prescription at discharge. A comparison of clinical outcomes between groups was performed using an adjusted analysis with propensity score (PS) stratification; results from the unadjusted analysis were also reported to note the effect of the PS adjustment. Major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE: a composite of death, myocardial infarction, TTS recurrence, stroke or transient ischaemic attack) were assessed at 30-day and 5-year follow-up. A total of 1533 TTS patients with known status regarding aspirin prescription at discharge were included. According to the adjusted analysis based on PS stratification, aspirin was not associated with a lower hazard of MACCE at 30-day [hazard ratio (HR) 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.50\u20133.04, P&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.64] or 5-year follow-up (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.78\u20131.58, P&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.58). These results were confirmed by sensitivity analyses performed with alternative PS-based methods, i.e. covariate adjustment and inverse probability of treatment weighting. Conclusion: In the present study, no association was found between aspirin use in TTS patients and a reduced risk of MACCE at 30-day and 5-year follow-up. These findings should be confirmed in adequately powered randomized controlled trials. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01947621

Diabetic patients with acute coronary syndromes in contemporary European registries: characteristics and outcomes

In acute coronary syndromes (ACS), those with diabetes mellitus (DM) are at high risk of recurrent cardiovascular events and premature death. We described patient characteristics, ACS management, and outcomes up to 1 year after hospital admission for an ACS/index-ACS event, in patients with DM in 10 contemporary European registries. In the 10 registries there were 28,899 with and 97,505 without without DM. In the DM population, the proportion of patients with ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) ranged from 22.1% to 100.0% (other patients had non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI-ACS) or unstable angina). All-cause mortality in the registries ranged from 1.4% to 9.4% in-hospital; 2.8% to 7.9% at 30 days post-discharge; 5.1% to 10.7% at 180 days post-discharge; and 3.3% to 10.5% at 1 year post-discharge. Major bleeding events were reported in up to 3.8% of patients while in hospital (8 registries); up to 1.3% at 30 days (data from two registries only), and 2.0% at 1 year (one registry only). Registries differed substantially in terms of study setting, site, patient selection, definition and schedule of endpoints, and use of various P2Y12 inhibitors. Pooled risk ratios comparing cohorts with DM vs. no DM were in-hospital significantly higher in DM for all-cause death (1.66; 95% CI 1.42-1.94), for cardiovascular death (2.33; 1.78 - 3.03), and for major bleeding (1.35; 1.21-1.52)

Prognostic impact of acute pulmonary triggers in patients with Takotsubo syndrome : new insights from the International Takotsubo Registry

© 2021 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.Aims: Acute pulmonary disorders are known physical triggers of takotsubo syndrome (TTS). This study aimed to investigate prevalence of acute pulmonary triggers in patients with TTS and their impact on outcomes. Methods and results: Patients with TTS were enrolled from the International Takotsubo Registry and screened for triggering factors and comorbidities. Patients were categorized into three groups (acute pulmonary trigger, chronic lung disease, and no lung disease) to compare clinical characteristics and outcomes. Of the 1670 included patients with TTS, 123 (7%) were identified with an acute pulmonary trigger, and 194 (12%) had a known history of chronic lung disease. The incidence of cardiogenic shock was highest in patients with an acute pulmonary trigger compared with those with chronic lung disease or without lung disease (17% vs. 10% vs. 9%, P = 0.017). In-hospital mortality was also higher in patients with an acute pulmonary trigger than in the other two groups, although not significantly (5.7% vs. 1.5% vs. 4.2%, P = 0.13). Survival analysis demonstrated that patients with an acute pulmonary trigger had the worst long-term outcome (P = 0.002). The presence of an acute pulmonary trigger was independently associated with worse long-term mortality (hazard ratio 2.12, 95% confidence interval 1.33-3.38; P = 0.002). Conclusions: The present study demonstrates that TTS is related to acute pulmonary triggers in 7% of all TTS patients, which accounts for 21% of patients with physical triggers. The presence of acute pulmonary trigger is associated with a severe in-hospital course and a worse long-term outcome.C. T. has been supported by the H.H. Sheikh Khalifa binHamad Al-Thani Research Programme and the Swiss HeartFoundation. The InterTAK Registry is supported by the BissDavies Charitable Trust. L. S. M. has been supported by EUHORIZON 2020(SILICOFCM ID777204)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ethnic comparison in takotsubo syndrome : novel insights from the International Takotsubo Registry

© The Author(s) 2021. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Background: Ethnic disparities have been reported in cardiovascular disease. However, ethnic disparities in takotsubo syndrome (TTS) remain elusive. This study assessed differences in clinical characteristics between Japanese and European TTS patients and determined the impact of ethnicity on in-hospital outcomes. Methods: TTS patients in Japan were enrolled from 10 hospitals and TTS patients in Europe were enrolled from 32 hospitals participating in the International Takotsubo Registry. Clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes were compared between Japanese and European patients. Results: A total of 503 Japanese and 1670 European patients were included. Japanese patients were older (72.6 ± 11.4 years vs. 68.0 ± 12.0 years; p < 0.001) and more likely to be male (18.5 vs. 8.4%; p < 0.001) than European TTS patients. Physical triggering factors were more common (45.5 vs. 32.0%; p < 0.001), and emotional triggers less common (17.5 vs. 31.5%; p < 0.001), in Japanese patients than in European patients. Japanese patients were more likely to experience cardiogenic shock during the acute phase (15.5 vs. 9.0%; p < 0.001) and had a higher in-hospital mortality (8.2 vs. 3.2%; p < 0.001). However, ethnicity itself did not appear to have an impact on in-hospital mortality. Machine learning approach revealed that the presence of physical stressors was the most important prognostic factor in both Japanese and European TTS patients. Conclusion: Differences in clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes between Japanese and European TTS patients exist. Ethnicity does not impact the outcome in TTS patients. The worse in-hospital outcome in Japanese patients, is mainly driven by the higher prevalence of physical triggers.Open Access funding provided by Universität Zürich. CT has been supported by the H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani Research Programme and the Swiss Heart Foundation. L.S.M. has been supported by EU HORIZON 2020 (SILICOFCM ID777204). J.R.G has received a grant “Filling the gap” from the University of Zurich. The InterTAK Registry is supported by The Biss Davies Charitable Trust.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cardiac arrest in takotsubo syndrome: Results from the InterTAK Registry

Aims: We aimed to evaluate the frequency, clinical features, and prognostic implications of cardiac arrest (CA) in takotsubo syndrome (TTS).Methods and results: We reviewed the records of patients with CA and known heart rhythm from the International Takotsubo Registry. The main outcomes were 60-day and 5-year mortality. In addition, predictors of mortality and predictors of CA during the acute TTS phase were assessed. Of 2098 patients, 103 patients with CA and known heart rhythm during CA were included. Compared with patients without CA, CA patients were more likely to be younger, male, and have apical TTS, atrial fibrillation (AF), neurologic comorbidities, physical triggers, and longer corrected QT-interval and lower left ventricular ejection fraction on admission. In all, 57.1% of patients with CA at admission had ventricular fibrillation/tachycardia, while 73.7% of patients with CA in the acute phase had asystole/pulseless electrical activity. Patients with CA showed higher 60-day (40.3% vs. 4.0%, P Conclusions: Cardiac arrest is relatively frequent in TTS and is associated with higher short- and long-term mortality. Clinical and electrocardiographic parameters independently predicted mortality after CA.</p

Impact of atrial fibrillation on outcome in Takotsubo syndrome: data from the international Takotsubo registry

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major risk factor for mortality. The prevalence, clinical correlates, and prognostic impact of AF in Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) have not yet been investigated in a large patient cohort. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, clinical correlates, and prognostic impact of AF in patients with TTS. Methods and Results Patients with TTS were enrolled from the International Takotsubo Registry, which is a multinational network with 26 participating centers in Europe and the United States. Patients were dichotomized according to the presence or absence of AF at the time of admission. Of 1584 patients with TTS, 112 (7.1%) had AF. The mean age was higher (P<0.001), and there were fewer women (P=0.046) in the AF than in the non-AF group. Left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly lower (P=0.001), and cardiogenic shock was more often observed (P<0.001) in the AF group. Both in-hospital (P<0.001) and long-term mortality (P<0.001) were higher in the AF group. Multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed that AF was independently associated with higher long-term mortality (hazard ratio, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.50-3.55; P<0.001). Among patients with AF on admission, 42% had no known history of AF before the acute TTS event, and such patients had comparable in-hospital and long-term outcomes compared with those with a history of AF. Conclusions In patients presenting with TTS, AF on admission is significantly associated with increased in-hospital and long-term mortality rates. Whether antiarrhythmics and/or cardioversion are beneficial in TTS with AF should thus be tested in a future trial. Registration URL: ; Unique identifier: NCT01947621.Cardiolog

Prognostic impact of acute pulmonary triggers in patients with takotsubo syndrome: new insights from the International Takotsubo Registry

Aims Acute pulmonary disorders are known physical triggers of takotsubo syndrome (TTS). This study aimed to investigate prevalence of acute pulmonary triggers in patients with TTS and their impact on outcomes.Methods and results Patients with TTS were enrolled from the International Takotsubo Registry and screened for triggering factors and comorbidities. Patients were categorized into three groups (acute pulmonary trigger, chronic lung disease, and no lung disease) to compare clinical characteristics and outcomes.Of the 1670 included patients with TTS, 123 (7%) were identified with an acute pulmonary trigger, and 194 (12%) had a known history of chronic lung disease. The incidence of cardiogenic shock was highest in patients with an acute pulmonary trigger compared with those with chronic lung disease or without lung disease (17% vs. 10% vs. 9%, P = 0.017). In-hospital mortality was also higher in patients with an acute pulmonary trigger than in the other two groups, although not significantly (5.7% vs. 1.5% vs. 4.2%, P = 0.13). Survival analysis demonstrated that patients with an acute pulmonary trigger had the worst long-term outcome (P = 0.002). The presence of an acute pulmonary trigger was independently associated with worse long-term mortality (hazard ratio 2.12, 95% confidence interval 1.33-3.38; P = 0.002).Conclusions The present study demonstrates that TTS is related to acute pulmonary triggers in 7% of all TTS patients, which accounts for 21% of patients with physical triggers. The presence of acute pulmonary trigger is associated with a severe in-hospital course and a worse long-term outcome.Cardiolog