Stent-Only Versus Adjunctive Balloon Angioplasty Approach for Saphenous Vein Graft Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

BACKGROUND: Direct stenting without pre-dilation or post-dilation has been advocated for saphenous vein graft percutaneous coronary intervention to decrease the incidence of distal embolization, periprocedural myocardial infarction, and target lesion revascularization. METHODS: We performed a post hoc analysis of patients enrolled in the DIVA (Drug-Eluting Stents Versus Bare Metal Stents in Saphenous Vein Graft Angioplasty; ) prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Patients were stratified into stent-only and balloon-stent groups. Primary end point was 12-month incidence of target vessel failure (defined as the composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularization). Secondary end points included all-cause death, stent thrombosis, myocardial infarction, and target lesion revascularization during follow-up. RESULTS: Of the 575 patients included in this substudy, 185 (32%) patients underwent stent-only percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients in the stent-only versus balloon-stent group had similar baseline characteristics and similar incidence of target vessel failure at 12-months (15% versus 19%; hazard ratio, 1.34 [95% CI, 0.86–2.08]; P=0.19). During long-term follow-up (median of 2.7 years), the incidence of definite stent thrombosis (1% versus 5%; hazard ratio, 9.20 [95% CI, 1.23–68.92]; P=0.0085), the composite of definite or probable stent thrombosis (5% versus 11%; hazard ratio, 2.52 [95% CI, 1.23–5.18]; P=0.009), and target vessel myocardial infarction (8% versus 14%; hazard ratio, 1.92 [95% CI, 1.08–3.40]; P=0.023) was lower in the stent-only group. Multivariable analysis showed that a higher number of years since coronary artery bypass grafting and >1 target saphenous vein graft lesions were associated with increased target vessel failure during entire follow-up, while preintervention Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction-3 flow was protective. CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention of de novo saphenous vein graft lesions, there was no difference in target vessel failure at 12 months and long-term follow-up in the stent-only versus the balloon-stent group; however, the incidence of stent thrombosis was lower in the stent-only group, as was target vessel myocardial infarction

Prognosis of "pre-heart failure" clinical phenotypes.

BACKGROUND:Heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome where diagnostic certainty varies. The prognosis of individuals with some clinical features of HF, but without the fully overt syndrome, is unclear. Therefore, we sought to evaluate their natural history. METHODS AND RESULTS:Between 1990 and 2009, all suspected HF cases in the Framingham Heart Study were adjudicated into 3 groups reflecting varying diagnostic certainty: definite (meeting HF diagnostic criteria; n = 479), possible (meeting HF criteria but with an alternative explanation for findings; n = 135), and probable (insufficient criteria for definite HF; n = 121) HF. Age-and-sex-matched individuals (n = 1112) without HF or cardiovascular disease (CVD) were controls. Using multivariable-adjusted Cox regression, we compared the possible/probable HF groups with controls regarding risk of incident definite HF, coronary heart disease (CHD), other CVD or death; and with definite HF regarding risk of latter three outcomes. During follow-up (mean 8.6 years), ~90% of individuals with possible, probable and definite HF experienced CVD events or died. Compared with controls, those with possible or probable HF experienced higher hazards for definite HF, CHD, other CVD and death (hazards ratios [HR] 1.35-9.31; p<0.05). The possible/probable groups did not differ from the definite HF group for risk of any outcome. Compared with the possible HF group, the probable HF group had a higher propensity for definite HF (HR 1.64, with a higher proportion of ischemic HF) but lower risk of death (HR 0.69). CONCLUSIONS:Individuals meeting partial criteria for HF are at a substantial risk for progression to HF, CVD, and mortality

Blood‐Based Fingerprint of Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Long‐Term Health Outcomes in Young Adulthood

Background Cardiorespiratory fitness is a powerful predictor of health outcomes that is currently underused in primary prevention, especially in young adults. We sought to develop a blood‐based biomarker of cardiorespiratory fitness that is easily translatable across populations. Methods and Results Maximal effort cardiopulmonary exercise testing for quantification of cardiorespiratory fitness (by peak oxygen uptake) and profiling of >200 metabolites at rest were performed in the FHS (Framingham Heart Study; 2016–2019). A metabolomic fitness score was derived/validated in the FHS and was associated with long‐term outcomes in the younger CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) study. In the FHS (derivation, N=451; validation, N=914; age 54±8 years, 53% women, body mass index 27.7±5.3 kg/m2), we used LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) regression to develop a multimetabolite score to predict peak oxygen uptake (correlation with peak oxygen uptake r=0.77 in derivation, 0.61 in validation; both P<0.0001). In a linear model including clinical risk factors, a ≈1‐SD higher metabolomic fitness score had equivalent magnitude of association with peak oxygen uptake as a 9.2‐year age increment. In the CARDIA study (N=2300, median follow‐up 26.9 years, age 32±4 years, 44% women, 44% Black individuals), a 1‐SD higher metabolomic fitness score was associated with a 44% lower risk for mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.56 [95% CI, 0.47–0.68]; P<0.0001) and 32% lower risk for cardiovascular disease (HR, 0.68 [95% CI, 0.55–0.84]; P=0.0003) in models adjusted for age, sex, and race, which remained robust with adjustment for clinical risk factors. Conclusions A blood‐based biomarker of cardiorespiratory fitness largely independent of traditional risk factors is associated with long‐term risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality in young adults