ST-segment resolution after primary percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction

Background: The association between ST-segment resolution and clinical outcome in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) remains unclear. Recent studies on the association between ST-segment resolution and mortality have given conflicting results. We undertook this study to assess whether ST-segment resolution in electrocardiograms recorded 90&#8211;120 min after initiation of PPCI predicts long-term mortality in patients with STEMI. Methods: The study included 900 patients with STEMI presenting within the first 24 h after symptom onset who were treated with PPCI. The ST-segment resolution was assessed in electrocardiograms recorded 90&#8211;120 min after the first balloon inflation. The ST-segment resolution was dichotomized as follows: < 30% (no resolution), 30% to &le; 70% (partial resolution) and > 70% (complete resolution). The primary endpoint was five-year mortality. Results: ST-segment resolution was < 30% in 263 (29.0%) patients, between 30% and &le; 70% in 356 (40.0%) patients and > 70% in 281 (31.0%) patients. There were 62 deaths during the follow-up. In patients with ST-segment resolution < 30%, 30 to &le; 70% and > 70%, the Kaplan-Meier estimates of mortality were 8.3% (n = 17 deaths), 11.5% (n = 29 deaths) and 6.8% (n = 16 deaths), respectively; unadjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.46&#8211;1.67, p = 0.695 for ST-segment resolution > 70% vs < 30%; adjusted HR = 0.91, 95% CI 0.61&#8211;1.33; p = 0.607, for ST-segment resolution > 70% vs ST-segment resolution < 30%. Conclusions: In patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI, ST-segment resolution in electrocardiograms recorded 90&#8211;120 min after initiation of PPCI did not predict long-term mortality. (Cardiol J 2012; 19, 1: 61&#8211;69

Statin pretreatment and presentation patterns in patients with coronary artery disease

Background: Knowledge on the impact of pretreatment statin therapy on presentation of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is incomplete. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of statin pretreatment on presentation patterns of patients with CAD. Methods: The study included 12,989 consecutive patients with CAD who underwent coronary angiography. The primary outcome was presentation as stable angina or acute coronary syndrome (ACS) according to statin pretreatment. Results: At the time of presentation, 8147 (62.7%) patients were receiving statins and 4842 (37.3%) patients were not receiving statins. Presentation pattern in patients receiving statins vs. those not receiving statins was: stable angina in 5939 (72.9%) vs. 2102 (43.4%) patients; odds ratio (OR) = 3.50, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.25&#8211;3.78; p < 0.001; unstable angina in 1435 (17.6%) vs. 1011 (20.9%) patients; OR = 0.81, 95% CI 0.74&#8211;0.89; p < 0.001; non- -ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) in 463 (5.7%) vs. 505 (10.4%) patients; OR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.45&#8211;0.59; p < 0.001; and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in 310 (3.8%) vs. 1224 (25.3%) patients; OR = 0.11, 95% CI 0.10&#8211;0.13; p < 0.001. Gensini score (median [25th to 75th percentiles]) was significantly higher in patients on statins presenting with stable angina (26.5 [13.0&#8211;59.5] vs. 21.0 [10.5&#8211;47.4]; p < 0.001) or ACS (39.3 [17.5&#8211;77.0] vs. 37.0 [18.0&#8211;64.0]; p = 0.001). In multivariable analysis, statin therapy was an independent correlate of reduced presentation with ACS (adjusted OR = 0.35 [0.32&#8211;0.39]; p < 0.001) or STEMI (adjusted OR = 0.18 [0.16&#8211;0.22]; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Despite having a higher coronary atherosclerotic burden, patients with CAD on statin therapy have reduced odds for presentation with ACS and STEMI compared to patients not receiving statins

Periprocedural Bleeding and 1-Year Outcome After Percutaneous Coronary Interventions Appropriateness of Including Bleeding as a Component of a Quadruple End Point

ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between bleeding within the 30 days after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) and 1-year mortality and to assess the appropriateness of inclusion of the periprocedural bleeding in a quadruple composite end point to assess PCI outcome.BackgroundPeriprocedural bleeding is one of the most frequent complications of PCI.MethodsThis study included 5,384 patients from 4 randomized placebo-controlled trials on the value of abciximab after pre-treatment with 600 mg of clopidogrel: ISAR-REACT, -SWEET, -SMART-2, and –REACT-2. Bleeding—defined according to the Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction criteria—included all bleeding events within 30 days after enrollment. The primary end point was 1-year mortality.ResultsIn the 4 trials, within the first 30 days there were 42 deaths (0.8%), 314 myocardial infarctions (MIs) (5.8%), 52 urgent revascularizations (1.0%), and 215 bleeding complications (4.0%). Mortality at 1 year was 3.6% (n = 197). A Cox proportional hazards model revealed that the 30-day occurrence of bleeding (hazard ratio [HR] 2.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.96 to 4.48; p < 0.001), MI (HR 2.29, 95% CI 1.52 to 3.46; p < 0.001) and urgent revascularization (HR 2.49, 95% CI 1.16 to 5.35; p = 0.019) independently predicted 1-year mortality. The c statistic was 0.79 for bleeding, 0.78 for MI, and 0.78 for urgent revascularization, demonstrating a comparable discriminatory power of these adverse events for predicting 1-year mortality.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates a strong relationship between the 30-day frequency of bleeding and 1-year mortality after PCI and supports the inclusion of periprocedural bleeding in a 30-day quadruple end point for the assessment of outcome after PCI

Statin effect on thrombin inhibitor effectiveness during percutaneous coronary intervention: a post-hoc analysis from the ISAR-REACT 3 trial

Objective: To determine whether statin therapy influences the efficacy of thrombin inhibitor bivalirudin or unfractionated heparin (UFH) during PCI. Setting and patients: The post-hoc analysis of the ISAR-REACT 3 Trial included 4,570 patients: 3,106 patients were on statin therapy and 1,464 patients were not on statin therapy at the time of PCI procedure. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome of this analysis was the 30-day composite of death, myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization (TVR) or major bleeding. Results: The primary outcome occurred in 7.9% patients (n=246) in the statin group versus 9.8% (n=143) in the non-statin group (P=0.036). There was an interaction in univariate (P=0.028) and multivariable (P=0.026) analysis between pre-PCI statin therapy and the type of antithrombotic therapy regarding myocardial infarction. In the statin group, bivalirudin significantly reduced the incidence of major bleeding (2.6 vs. 4.3%, P=0.013) with no significant difference in the incidence of myocardial infarction (4.9 vs. 5.2%; P=0.73) compared with UFH. In the non-statin group, bivalirudin was inferior to UFH regarding the incidence of myocardial infarction (7.1 vs. 4.1%, P=0.013), yet major bleeding remained lower among bivalirudin-treated patients (4.0 vs. 5.2%, P=0.25). Conclusion: This post-hoc analysis suggests the existence of an interaction between statin therapy before PCI and antithrombotic therapy during PCI. Patients receiving bivalirudin therapy at the time of PCI showed less periprocedural myocardial infarction when on pre-PCI statin therapy which has to be investigated in further studie

Cardiac procedural myocardial injury, infarction, and mortality in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention: a pooled analysis of patient-level data

AIMS: The prognostic importance of cardiac procedural myocardial injury and myocardial infarction (MI) in chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is still debated. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analysed individual data of 9081 patients undergoing elective PCI with normal pre-PCI baseline cardiac troponin (cTn) levels. Multivariate models evaluated the association between post-PCI elevations in cTn and 1-year mortality, while an interval analysis evaluated the impact of the size of the myocardial injury on mortality. Our analysis was performed in the overall population and also according to the type of cTn used [52.0% had high-sensitivity cTn (hs-cTn)]. Procedural myocardial injury, as defined by the Fourth Universal Definition of MI (UDMI) [post-PCI cTn elevation ≥1 × 99th percentile upper reference limit (URL)], occurred in 52.8% of patients and was not associated with 1-year mortality [adj odds ratio (OR), 1.35, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.84-1.77), P = 0.21]. The association between post-PCI cTn elevation and 1-year mortality was significant starting ≥3 × 99th percentile URL. Major myocardial injury defined by post-PCI ≥5 × 99th percentile URL occurred in 18.2% of patients and was associated with a two-fold increase in the adjusted odds of 1-year mortality [2.29, 95% CI (1.32-3.97), P = 0.004]. In the subset of patients for whom periprocedural evidence of ischaemia was collected (n = 2316), Type 4a MI defined by the Fourth UDMI occurred in 12.7% of patients and was strongly associated with 1-year mortality [adj OR 3.21, 95% CI (1.42-7.27), P = 0.005]. We also present our results according to the type of troponin used (hs-cTn or conventional troponin). CONCLUSION: Our analysis has demonstrated that in CCS patients with normal baseline cTn levels, the post-PCI cTn elevation of ≥5 × 99th percentile URL used to define Type 4a MI is associated with 1-year mortality and could be used to detect 'major' procedural myocardial injury in the absence of procedural complications or evidence of new myocardial ischaemia

Weight of the bleeding impact on early and late mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention.

The association between bleeding and timing of mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains poorly investigated. We aimed to investigate the impact of bleeding on early (30-day) and late (30-day to 1 year) mortality after PCI. The study includes 14,180 patients. Bleeding within 30 days after PCI was defined using the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium criteria. Landmark analysis pre-specified at 1 month was performed to assess early and late mortality associated with bleeding. The main outcome was all-cause early and late mortality after PCI. Overall, 414 patients (2.9 %) died within the first year after PCI. Within 30 days after PCI there were 36 deaths among patients with bleeding (n = 1,510) and 44 deaths among patients without bleeding (n = 12,670; Kaplan-Meier [KM] estimates of mortality, 2.4 and 0.3 %; adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 5.00, 95 % confidence interval 3.16-7.88, P < 0.001). In the 30-day to 1-year period there were 68 deaths among patients with bleeding and 266 deaths among patients without bleeding (KM estimates, 4.7 and 2.1 %; adjusted HR = 1.65 [1.25-2.17], P < 0.001. Bleeding was the strongest correlate of 30-day mortality. The association of bleeding with late mortality was significant but was weaker than that of age, diabetes, C-reactive protein, serum creatinine and platelet count. In conclusion, patients with bleeding after PCI continue to be at higher risk of early and late mortality compared to patients without bleeding. Bleeding was the strongest associate of early mortality whereas the increased risk for late mortality was mostly mediated by cardiovascular risk factors clustered in patients with bleeding

Association of progression or regression of coronary artery atherosclerosis with long-term prognosis.

The association between coronary atherosclerosis progression or regression and long-term prognosis remains poorly defined. We assessed the association of atherosclerosis progression or regression with long-term mortality and factors that promote angiographic progression or regression of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with angiographically proven coronary artery disease.The study included 605 patients with coronary artery disease who underwent coronary angiography at baseline and at 2 years later. Pan-coronary artery tree quantitative coronary angiography was performed. Of 6259 coronary segments (10.3 lesions per patient) analyzed, 1790 non-stented segments with >=25% diameter stenosis at baseline were included. Atherosclerosis progression or regression was defined as a decrease or increase in the mean minimal lumen diameter (MLD) of the non-stented segments of >=0.2 mm in the 2-year angiography compared to baseline angiography. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality.Based on the change in mean MLD between baseline and 2-year angiography, patients were divided into 3 groups: the group with progression of atherosclerosis (n=53; 8.8%), the group with no progression or regression of atherosclerosis (n=472; 78.0%) and the group with regression of atherosclerosis (n=80; 13.2%). There were 126 deaths over 8-year follow-up: 17 deaths among patients with progression, 103 deaths among patients with no progression/regression and 6 deaths among patients with regression (Kaplan-Meier estimates of mortality, 37.5%, 25.2% and 8.9%, respectively; adjusted hazard ratio=1.16, 95% confidence interval 1.05 to 1.29, P=.004 for 0.1 mm reduction in mean MLD).Progression or regression of coronary atherosclerosis in non-treated coronary segments was significantly associated with 8-year mortality

Alkaline phosphatase and prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease.

The evidence on the association between alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and prognosis of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is limited. The aim of this study was to assess the association of ALP with the risk of mortality or coronary events in patients with CAD.The study included 5540 patients with angiography-proven CAD treated with catheter-based coronary revascularization. Baseline ALP measurements were available for analysis in all patients. Patients were divided into three groups: a group with an ALP activity in the 1st tertile (ALP 65·5 to 85·7 U/L; n = 1839) and a group with an ALP in the 3rd tertile (ALP > 85·7 U/L; n = 1846). The primary outcome was all-cause mortality at 3-year follow-up.All-cause deaths (number [Kaplan-Meier estimates]) occurred in 443 patients: 117 (7·2%), 130 (8·1%) and 196 deaths (11·8%) among patients of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd ALP tertiles (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1·33, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1·19 to 1·50; P < 0·001, calculated per tertile increment in the ALP activity). After adjustment in multivariable Cox proportional hazards model, ALP was independently associated with the risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted HR = 1·33 [1·18-1·51], P < 0·001, calculated per unit increment in log ALP). The multivariable model for all-cause mortality with baseline variables without ALP had a C statistic of 0·820 [0·797-0·843] which increased to 0·825 [0·804-0·849] after ALP inclusion; delta C statistic 0·005 [0·001-0·011]; P < 0·001.In patients with CAD, elevated ALP activity was independently associated with the risk of 3-year all-cause mortality

Prognostic value of gamma-glutamyl transferase in patients with diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease.

The aim of the study was to investigate the association between gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity and mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease (CAD).The study included 1448 patients with diabetes and angiography-proven CAD who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Baseline GGT measurements were available in all patients. The primary outcome was 3-year mortality.Patients were divided into 3 groups: a group consisting of patients with a GGT activity in the 1st tertile (GGT29.4-52.5U/L; n=479) and a group consisting of patients with GGT in the 3rd tertile (GGT>52.5U/L; n=482). Overall, there were 179 deaths: 46 (11.9%), 49 (12.1%) and 84 deaths (21.4%) among patients of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd GGT tertiles, respectively (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]=1.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-1.49, P=0.011). Cardiac death occurred in 101 patients: 22 (5.8%), 30 (7.2%) and 49 deaths (12.9%) among patients of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd GGT tertiles, respectively (adjusted HR=1.23 [0.96-1.58], P=0.104, with risk estimates calculated per standard deviation increase in the logarithmic scale of GGT). GGT improved the risk prediction of models of all-cause (P=0.020) but not cardiac (P=0.135) mortality (P values show the difference in C-statistics between the models without and with GGT).In patients with diabetes and CAD treated with PCI, elevated GGT was independently associated with the risk of 3-year all-cause mortality