Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Diabetic Patients

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for 30% of deaths worldwide and is the leading cause of premature mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). One of the main contributors to the increased atherothrombotic risk in DM patients relates to their pro- inflammatory and prothrombotic status that involves abnormalities in endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells, in platelet function and the coagulation cascade. The characteristics of CAD in diabetic patients is distinctive and infers an increased risk. Likewise, CAD in diabetics is characterised by being diffuse, affecting the left main stem more frequently, involving multiple vessels, and also affecting the distal coronary tree. Percutaneous coronary intervention in diabetics has been shown to have less favourable long-term clinical outcomes, compared to non-diabetics. With the advent of improved stent designs and antiplatelet drugs; the percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) results have improved in the diabetic population. However, one of the main determinants of poorer outcomes in DM is the progression of atherosclerosis, which is more pronounced in diabetics and remains the primary cause of cardiac events at one year follow up after percutaneous revascularisation. Whilst new generation of drug-eluting stents has narrowed the gap between surgery and PCI in diabetic patients, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains the gold standard in diabetics with diffuse multivessel coronary artery disease

Morphometric Assessment of Coronary Stenosis Relevance With Optical Coherence Tomography A Comparison With Fractional Flow Reserve and Intravascular Ultrasound

ObjectivesThe study sought to assess the diagnostic efficiency of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in identifying hemodynamically severe coronary stenoses as determined by fractional flow reserve (FFR). Concomitant OCT and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) area measurements were performed in a subgroup of patients to compare the diagnostic efficiency of both techniques.BackgroundThe value of OCT to determine stenosis severity remains unsettled.MethodsSixty-one stenoses with intermediate angiographic severity were studied in 56 patients. Stenoses were labeled as severe if FFR ≤0.80. OCT interrogation was performed in all cases, with concomitant IVUS imaging in 47 cases.ResultsAngiographic stenosis severity was 50.9 ± 8% diameter stenosis with 1.28 ± 0.3 mm minimal lumen diameter. FFR was ≤0.80 in 28 (45.9%) stenoses. An overall moderate diagnostic efficiency of OCT was found (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.61 to 0.84), with sensitivity/specificity of 82%/63% associated with an optimal cutoff value of 1.95 mm2. Comparison of the results in patients with simultaneous IVUS and OCT imaging revealed no significant differences in the diagnostic efficiency of OCT (AUC: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.55 to 0.83) and IVUS (AUC. 0.63; 95% CI: 0.47 to 0.77; p = 0.19). Sensitivity/specificity for IVUS was 67%/65% for an optimal cutoff value of 2.36 mm2. In the subgroup of small vessels (reference diameter <3 mm) OCT showed a significantly better diagnostic efficiency (AUC: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.60 to 0.89) than IVUS (AUC: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.46 to 0.78) to identify functionally significant stenoses (p = 0.04).ConclusionsOCT has a moderate diagnostic efficiency in identifying hemodynamically severe coronary stenoses. Although OCT seems slightly superior to IVUS for this purpose (particularly in vessels <3 mm), its low specificity precludes its use as a substitute of FFR for functional stenosis assessment

Creación de un aula práctica de oficina de farmacia para la simulación de un entorno real de enseñanza para el futuro farmacéutico

El objetivo general de este proyecto es la puesta en marcha de un aula práctica de farmacia en la Facultad de Farmacia que simula una oficina de farmacia real con el fin de su utilización en la enseñanza y evaluación de las diferentes materias y prácticas que forman parte de las titulaciones impartidas. En esta aula se ha instalado el mobiliario que requiere una oficina de farmacia (Mostrador, estanterías, cajoneras, equipamiento informático, etc.). Además, se han instalado los programas informáticos (Software BOT Plus, Pharmatics, etc.) habitualmente utilizados en las oficinas de farmacia para su adecuada gestión. Esta instalación cuenta con todas las prestaciones de una farmacia absolutamente puntera. Desde el mobiliario y el acondicionamiento tanto del espacio como de los medicamentos y productos sanitarios que van a encontrar los estudiantes, hasta los sistemas de hardware y software informáticos para la optimización de la gestión farmacéutica. Además, se han instalado recursos docentes como son pupitres y sillas con ruedas, para facilitar la enseñanza práctica por grupos, y una pantalla táctil conectada mediante red WiFi para facilitar la docencia e interacción con los estudiantes. Con la puesta en marcha del aula práctica de oficina de farmacia se ha creado por primera vez en la Facultad de Farmacia un espacio eminentemente práctico asistencial, en el que el farmacéutico puede poner a prueba su destreza tal y como se hace en otras facultades de ciencias de la salud y respondiendo a la creciente demanda de la sociedad del papel del farmacéutico

Pre-dilation and Post-dilation in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Indications, Benefits and Risks

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an established treatment for patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. In recent years, an emphasis has been placed on simplification of the procedure. Balloon predilation was initially considered a mandatory step to cross and prepare the stenotic aortic valve, but several studies demonstrated the feasibility of performing TAVR without balloon valvuloplasty. Balloon postdilation of the implanted valve is sometimes required to optimise results, although many patients do not require this step. Contemporary consensus advocates an individualised approach to TAVR procedures and so balloon pre- and post-dilation are performed selectively. This review aims to outline the advantages and disadvantages of balloon pre- and post-dilation and to identify the scenarios in which they are required during TAVR procedures

Impact of Diabetes on 10‐Year Outcomes Following ST‐Segment–Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Insights From the EXAMINATION‐EXTEND Trial

BACKGROUND: Long-term outcomes of ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction in patients with diabetes have been barely investigated. The objective of this analysis from the EXAMINATION-EXTEND (10-Years Follow-Up of the EXAMINATION trial) trial was to compare 10-year outcomes of patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction with and without diabetes. METHODS AND RESULTS: Of the study population, 258 patients had diabetes and 1240 did not. The primary end point was patient-oriented composite end point of all-cause death, any myocardial infarction, or any revascularization. Secondary end points were the individual components of the primary combined end point, cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization, and stent thrombosis. All end points were adjusted for potential confounders. At 10 years, patients with diabetes showed a higher incidence of patient-oriented composite end point compared with those without (46.5% versus 33.0%; adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.31 [95% CI, 1.05-1.61]; P=0.016) mainly driven by a higher incidence of any revascularization (24.4% versus 16.6%; adjusted HR, 1.61 [95% CI, 1.19-2.17]; P=0.002). Specifically, patients with diabetes had a higher incidence of any revascularization during the first 5 years of follow-up (20.2% versus 12.8%; adjusted HR, 1.57 [95% CI, 1.13-2.19]; P=0.007) compared with those without diabetes. No statistically significant differences were found with respect to the other end points. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction who had diabetes had worse clinical outcome at 10 years compared with those without diabetes, mainly driven by a higher incidence of any revascularizations in the first 5 years

Safety of coronary revascularization deferral based on fractional flow reserve and instantaneous wave-free ratio in patients with chronic kidney disease

Background: The safety of revascularization deferral according to pressure wire examination in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) has not been fully established. Methods: From a retrospective cohort of 439 patients in whom revascularization was deferred after physiological assessment, we examined the incidence of patient-oriented composite endpoint (POCE: all-cause death, myocardial infarction [MI] and unplanned revascularization) in patients with CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] &lt; 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) and without it. Results: At 4 years of follow-up, the primary endpoint was met by 25.0% of patients with CKD and by 14.4% of patients without CKD (hazard ratio [HR] 1.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.96–2.53, p = 0.071). The incidence of POCE was even higher in patients with an eGFR &lt; 30 mL/min/1.73 m2: 43.8% (HR 3.10, 95% CI 1.08–8.92, p = 0.036). However, no differences were observed in the incidence of MI (4.2% vs. 4.4% in non-CKD), target vessel revascularization (5.8% vs. 5.9%), and target vessel MI (0.8% vs. 4.6%). Conclusions: Patients with CKD in whom pressure-wire evaluation led to deferral of coronary revascularization develop more POCE in the long term, compared to patients with normal renal function. However, the increase in POCE in patients with CKD was seldom related to deferred vessels, thus suggesting an epiphenomenon of an intrinsically higher cardiovascular risk of CKD patients

Cardiopoietic cell therapy for advanced ischemic heart failure: results at 39 weeks of the prospective, randomized, double blind, sham-controlled CHART-1 clinical trial

Cardiopoietic cells, produced through cardiogenic conditioning of patients' mesenchymal stem cells, have shown preliminary efficacy. The Congestive Heart Failure Cardiopoietic Regenerative Therapy (CHART-1) trial aimed to validate cardiopoiesis-based biotherapy in a larger heart failure cohort