Decrease in annual incidence of acute coronary syndrome and restructuring of coronary care in Latvia

Funding Information: No financial support was provided for the conduct of the research and the preparation of this article. Copyright: Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Introduction Improvement in coronary heart disease prevention and treatment, as well as availability of coronary care facilities, is important for the reduction of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) incidence. Centralized acute coronary care system is crucial to provide optimal hospitalization and management algorithm for ACS patients. Aim The aim of the current report was to assess the annual incidence of ACS and the quality of acute coronary care in Latvia. Methods The Data from The Latvian Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes were analyzed covering the time period from 2005 to 2010. Results Since the year 2005 the annual incidence of hospitalization due to ACS decreased significantly in Latvia. The annual incidence of non-ST-elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS) decreased from 8019 to 4613 in absolute numbers based on the registry data during six years. Improvement in the use of guidelines based therapy and early invasive strategy in ACS patients was observed. Increase in primary percutaneous coronary intervention was achieved from 7.9% in 2005 to 57.0% in 2010, contributing to reduction in the proportion of STEMI patients without any reperfusion (from 45% in 2005 to 21% in 2010). Conclusions The annual incidence of hospitalized ACS, especially NSTE-ACS, decreased and guidelines based management of ACS improved from 2005 to 2010 in Latvia.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Heart rate and other risk factors in outpatients with stable coronary artery disease in Latvia

Funding Information: This survey was supported by Servier Latvia.The aim of the study was to characterise coronary artery disease (CAD) outpatients in Latvia by risk factors (RF) including heart rate (HR), physical examination data, clinical data and treatment. Twelve practitioners had each examined and questioned 6 to 12 patients with established CAD (n = 120). The most frequent cardiovascular (CV) RF and co-morbidity were dyslipidemia (94.2%) and hypertension (78.3%), respectively. Prevalence of increased resting HR (≥70 bpm) was 35.9% and 33.6%, when measured by pulse palpation and electrocardiography, respectively. Regarding other RFs, prevalence of treated but insufficiently controlled blood pressure 140/90 mmHg, total cholesterol 1 > 5 mmol/l and triglycerides > 1.7 mmol/l was 25.8%, 30.1% and 33.3%, respectively. Aspirin, statins and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers were used in 96.7%, 94.2% and 85.0% of cases, respectively. Beta blockers were used in 81.7% of cases. Average daily doses of most frequently used β blockers (metoprolol and bisoprolol) were 32% and 53% from target doses, respectively. In three cases β blockers were combined with ivabradin. Our results suggest that practitioners follow guidelines and consider CV prevention by treating CAD patients. Our data identified, however, unused potential for better control of increased HR by higher doses and combinations of HR-reducing agents.publishersversionPeer reviewe

A population-based cross-sectional study of cardiovascular risk factor in Latvia

Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background and Objective: To date, the epidemiological studies of noncommunicable diseases in Latvia were more episodic and covered only selected areas. The first national crosssectional population-based survey of cardiovascular risk factors after regaining independence was carried out to provide reliable information on the cardiovascular risk factor profile in adults. Material and Methods: Computerized random sampling from the Registry of Latvian population was carried out. A total of 6000 enrolled subjects aged 25-74 years were divided into 10 age subgroups. The data of 3807 respondents (63.5% of all) were included into the final analysis. Results: The mean number of cardiovascular risk factors was 2.99±0.026 per subject: 3.45±0.043 and 2.72±0.030 for men and women, respectively. Of all the respondents, 75.2% had an increased total cholesterol level. Hypercholesterolemia was found in almost 56% of men and 41% of women in the age group of 25-34 years. Hyperglycemia was documented in 34.1% of the respondents (41.6% of men and 29.8% of women). More than two-thirds (67.8%) of the persons were overweight, while obesity was found in 25.6% of men and 32.6% of women. Arterial hypertension was identified in 44.8% of the respondents; its prevalence was higher in men than women (52.9% vs. 40.2%). There were more current smokers among men than women (30.5% vs. 11.4%). Conclusions: The levels of cardiovascular risk factors in Latvia were found to be relatively high. The data can be utilized as baseline characteristics that can be compared down the road including the monitoring of health prevention activities.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Plasma circulating microRNAs in patients with stable coronary artery disease - Impact of different cardiovascular risk profiles and glomerular filtration rates

Copyright: © Whioce Publishing Pte. Ltd.Background and Aim: Plasma circulating microRNA (miRNA)-126, -145, and -155 are associated with vascular remodeling, atherosclerotic lesion formation, and plaque vulnerability. In this study, we evaluated the levels of plasma circulating miRNAs in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD), different cardiovascular risk profiles, and different glomerular filtration rates (GFR). Methods and Results: Forty patients with stable CAD admitted for elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were enrolled in a prospective study. Before PCI, fasting blood samples were obtained to evaluate clinical parameters and miRNA-126 and miRNA-155 expression. The GFR was calculated by the MDRD and CKD-EPI formulas, and the severity of CAD was calculated according to the SYNTAX score. All these parameters were correlated with miRNAs. The association between miRNA levels and clinical characteristics was evaluated. The expression of miRNA-126 positively correlated with a higher SYNTAX score (r = 0.337; p=0.034); however, no significant correlations between miR-126, GFR, and clinical characteristics were observed. Higher plasma levels of miRNA-155 correlated with increased levels of triglycerides (r = 0.317; P = 0.049), C-peptide (r = 0.452; P = 0.011), and the HOMA index (r = 0.447; P = 0.012) and a higher body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.385; P = 0.015). GFR and miRNA-155 (MDRD - Rho=0.353; P = 0.027. CKD-EPI - Rho=0.357; P = 0.026) were found to have a moderate correlation, although miRNA-155 had no correlation with the SYNTAX score. Conclusion: Plasma circulating miRNA-126 levels were increased in patients with severe atherosclerosis as determined by the SYNTAX score. Elevated miRNA-155 expression was observed in patients with Stage 1 GFR but was lower in patients with Stages 2 and 3 GFR. Plasma circulating miRNA-155 had positive correlations with higher levels of BMI, HOMA index, C-peptide, and triglycerides. Relevance for Patients: Although further investigations are needed to confirm the role of miRNA-155 and miRNA-126, they may serve as potential biomarkers detecting severity of CAD, lowering of kidney function and metabolic syndrome.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Four-Year Outcomes of Left Main Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with a Bioresorbable Scaffold in the Circumflex Ostium

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Andrejs Erglis et al.Objectives. The study aimed to investigate the long-term outcomes of a double stent scaffold strategy in patients with left main (LM) bifurcation lesions involving the ostium of the left circumflex artery (LCX), utilizing a drug-eluting stent (DES) in the LM extending into the left anterior descending artery (LAD) and a bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) in the LCX ostium. Background. The high occurrence of in-stent restenosis of the LCX ostium is the major limitation of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for LM lesions with a two-stent strategy. Methods. This was a single-center, prospective, single-arm study of 46 consecutively enrolled patients with a stable coronary artery disease and significant unprotected LM distal bifurcation disease. Patients underwent imaging-guided PCI using DES in the LM-LAD and BVS in the LCX using a T-stent or mini-crush technique. The primary outcome at four years was the composite of death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and target lesion revascularization (TLR). Results. At four years, the primary outcome was identified in 9 patients (19.6%). All events were TLRs except one myocardial infarction due to BVS thrombosis. Seven of the eight TLRs were a result of side branch BVS restenosis. Univariate predictors of the 4-year outcome were higher LDL cholesterol and BVS size ≤2.5 mm. On multivariate analysis, LCX lesion preparation with a cutting balloon and post-procedure use of intravascular ultrasound for optimization were found to be independent protective factors of MACE. Conclusions. In selected patients with LM distal bifurcation disease, an imaging-guided double stent scaffold strategy with DES in the LM and BVS in the LCX ostium was technically successful in all patients and was reasonably safe and effective for four years.Peer reviewe

European Society of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Disease Statistics 2019

Aims The 2019 report from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Atlas provides a contemporary analysis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) statistics across 56 member countries, with particular emphasis on international inequalities in disease burden and healthcare delivery together with estimates of progress towards meeting 2025 World Health Organization (WHO) non-communicable disease targets. Methods and results In this report, contemporary CVD statistics are presented for member countries of the ESC. The statistics are drawn from the ESC Atlas which is a repository of CVD data from a variety of sources including the WHO, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and the World Bank. The Atlas also includes novel ESC sponsored data on human and capital infrastructure and cardiovascular healthcare delivery obtained by annual survey of the national societies of ESC member countries. Across ESC member countries, the prevalence of obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2) and diabetes has increased two- to three-fold during the last 30 years making the WHO 2025 target to halt rises in these risk factors unlikely to be achieved. More encouraging have been variable declines in hypertension, smoking, and alcohol consumption but on current trends only the reduction in smoking from 28% to 21% during the last 20 years appears sufficient for the WHO target to be achieved. The median age-standardized prevalence of major risk factors was higher in middle-income compared with high-income ESC member countries for hypertension {23.8% [interquartile range (IQR) 22.5–23.1%] vs. 15.7% (IQR 14.5–21.1%)}, diabetes [7.7% (IQR 7.1–10.1%) vs. 5.6% (IQR 4.8–7.0%)], and among males smoking [43.8% (IQR 37.4–48.0%) vs. 26.0% (IQR 20.9–31.7%)] although among females smoking was less common in middle-income countries [8.7% (IQR 3.0–10.8) vs. 16.7% (IQR 13.9–19.7%)]. There were associated inequalities in disease burden with disability-adjusted life years per 100 000 people due to CVD over three times as high in middle-income [7160 (IQR 5655–8115)] compared with high-income [2235 (IQR 1896–3602)] countries. Cardiovascular disease mortality was also higher in middle-income countries where it accounted for a greater proportion of potential years of life lost compared with high-income countries in both females (43% vs. 28%) and males (39% vs. 28%). Despite the inequalities in disease burden across ESC member countries, survey data from the National Cardiac Societies of the ESC showed that middle-income member countries remain severely under-resourced compared with high-income countries in terms of cardiological person-power and technological infrastructure. Under-resourcing in middle-income countries is associated with a severe procedural deficit compared with high-income countries in terms of coronary intervention, device implantation and cardiac surgical procedures. Conclusion A seemingly inexorable rise in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes currently provides the greatest challenge to achieving further reductions in CVD burden across ESC member countries. Additional challenges are provided by inequalities in disease burden that now require intensification of policy initiatives in order to reduce population risk and prioritize cardiovascular healthcare delivery, particularly in the middle-income countries of the ESC where need is greatest