Förbättrar "ST/HR-loopar" bedömning av ischemi vid arbets-EKG hos kvinnor?

Arbetsutlöst myokardischemi kan diagnostiseras med arbetsprovet, främst genom parametern ST60-sänkning under arbete samt återhämtningsfasen. Tidigare studier har visat arbetsprovets låga diagnostiska förmåga av arbetsutlöst myokardischemi och klassificerat det som en osäker metod, speciellt för kvinnor, och få studier har gjorts på kvinnor för förbättring. En justering av ST60-sänkning med hänsyn till hjärtfrekvensen (HR) har gjorts i flera studier, i försök att utveckla diagnostiken. När hjärtfrekvensen ritas grafiskt mot ST60- sänkning erhålls en ST/HR loop bestående av arbetsfasen och återhämtningsfasen. Den normaliserade arean (NA), som erhålls från ST/HR- loopen, är ett mått på sannolikheten för ischemi och dess grad. Studiens syfte är att, utifrån ST/HR loopars NA-värden från arbetselektrokardiogram, avgöra om diagnostiken av ischemi hos kvinnor kan förbättras i jämförelse med den konventionella bedömningen som baseras på ST60-sänkningen i slutet av arbete. Myokardscintigrafi (facitmetoden) och arbetsprov har utförts på den klinisk fysiologiska avdelningen i lund. Kontrollgruppen bestod av 80 kvinnor med normal myokardscintigrafi medan gruppen ”sjuka” omfattar 26 patienter som med myokardscintigrafi bedömts ha arbetsutlöst myokardischemi. För att i denna studie påvisa om det föreligger en statistisk skillnad mellan sjuka och friska, gällande NA – värdet respektive ST60-sänkningen, användes t-testet. En skillnad mellan sjuka och friska med NA- värde kunde inte påvisas och den konventionella bedömningen med ST60-sänkning visade sig inte heller vara bättre än NA-värdet för bedömning av arbetsutlöst myokardischemi. Nyckelord: arbets- EKG, myokardischemi, myokardscintigrafi, normaliserad area, ST60- sänkning, ST/HR- loop.Exercise induced myocardial ischemia can be diagnosed with exercise–ECG, mainly through the parameter ST60-depression during the exercise and recovery phases. However, its low diagnostic accuracy, especially in women, has been proven. An adjustment of the ST60-depression with the heart rate has been done in several studies to develop the diagnosis. When the heart rate is plotted against the ST60-depression, an ST/HR- loop is obtained where both the exercise and recovery phases are included. The normalised area (NA) of the loop is believed to be significant for the diagnosis of ischemia. The aim of the study is to decide if the diagnosis of ischemia in women can be improved with the normalised area of the loop, from exercise– ECG, compared to the conventional assessment with ST60-depression at the end of exercise. Myocardial scintigraphy (the reference method) and exercise- ECG have been performed at the department of clinical physiology in Lund. The control group included 80 women with a normal myocardial scintigraphy while the other group consists of 26 patients who, according to their myocardial scintigraphy, have exercise induced myocardial ischemia. A distinction between the groups could not be made with the normalised area. The conventional assessment with ST60-depression was not better than the normalised area for the assessment of myocardial ischemia. Key words: Exercise- ECG, myocardial ischemia, myocardial scintigraphy, normalised area, ST60- depression, ST/HR-loop

Effect of Resilience on Health-Related Quality of Life during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

The unprecedented outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a huge global health and economic crisis. The aim of the study was to examine the extent to which the resilience of a person is associated with the quality of life (QoL) of adults amongst Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of adults in Saudi Arabia. A total of 385 adults voluntarily participated in and completed the survey. The quality of life was measured using the “World Health Organization QoL”. The “Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale” instrument was also used to assess resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amongst the 385 participants, 179 (46%) showed a good QoL, and 205 (54%) reported a relatively poor QoL. The resilience was found to be significantly associated with QoL. The study further revealed that gender-based differences were dominant in the QoL; the men respondents reported a significantly higher QoL in all the domains in comparison to the women respondents. The gender, income, and psychological health and interaction effect of resilience and age explained 40% of the variance in the total score of QoL. In reference to the predictors of the physical health domain of QoL, resilience, gender, and psychological health were significantly associated with the physical health domain of the QoL (R2 = 0.26, p = 0.001). It was also noted that gender was not associated with the social relationships and environmental domains of QoL (p > 0.05). Findings showed a statistically significant association between the score of QoL and resilience, age, gender, income, and psychological health. These findings highlight the significant contribution of gender-based differences, psychological health, and resilience on the domains of QoL

Stress-induced ST elevation with or without concomitant ST depression is predictive of presence, location and amount of myocardial ischemia assessed by myocardial perfusion SPECT, whereas isolated stress-induced ST depression is not

BACKGROUND: Evaluation of stress-induced ST deviations constitutes a central part when interpreting the findings from an exercise test. The aim of this analysis was to assess the pathophysiologic correlate of stress-induced ST elevation and ST depression with regard to presence, amount and location of myocardial ischemia as assessed by myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.METHODS AND RESULTS: 226 patients who had undergone bicycle stress test in conjunction with MPS were included. Of these, 198 were consecutive patients while 28 patients were included on the basis of having stress-induced ST elevation mentioned in their clinical report. The amount and location of ST changes were related to MPS findings. Summed stress scores (SSS) from MPS images were used to measure the amount of stress-induced ischemia. The positive predictive values for detecting stress-induced ischemia were 28% for the consecutive patients with ST depression and 75% for patients with ST elevation. The maximum and sum of stress-induced ST elevations correlated with SSS (r(2)=0.58, p<0.001 and r(2)=0.73, p<0.001), whereas the maximum and sum of significant ST depressions did not (r(2)=0.022, p=0.08 and r(2)=0.024, p=0.10). The location of ST elevation corresponded to the location of ischemia by MPS (kappa=1.0), whereas the location of ST depression did not (kappa=0.20).CONCLUSIONS: Stress-induced ST elevation, with or without concomitant ST depression, is predictive of the presence, amount and location of myocardial ischemia assessed by MPS, whereas stress-induced ST depression without concomitant ST elevation is not

Qualitative assessments of myocardial ischemia by cardiac MRI and coronary stenosis by invasive coronary angiography in relation to quantitative perfusion by positron emission tomography in patients with known or suspected stable coronary artery disease

Background: To relate findings of qualitative evaluation of first-pass perfusion-CMR and anatomical evaluation on coronary angiography (CA) to the reference standard of quantitative perfusion, cardiac PET, in patients with suspected or known stable coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods and Results: Forty-one patients referred for CA due to suspected stable CAD, prospectively performed adenosine stress/rest first-pass perfusion-CMR as well as 13N-NH3 PET on the same day, 4 ± 3 weeks before CA. Angiographers were blinded to PET and CMR results. Regional myocardial flow reserve (MFR) < 2.0 on PET was considered pathological. Vessel territories with stress-induced ischemia by CMR or vessels with stenosis needing revascularization had a significantly lower MFR compared to those with no regional stress-induced ischemia or vessels not needing revascularization (P < 0.001). In 4 of 123 vessel territories with stress-induced ischemia by CMR, PET showed a normal MFR. In addition, 12 of 123 vessels that underwent intervention showed normal MFR assessed by PET. Conclusion: The limited performance of qualitative assessment of presence of stable CAD with CMR and CA, when related to quantitative 13N-NH3 cardiac PET, shows the need for fully quantitative assessment of myocardial perfusion and the use of invasive flow reserve measurements for CA, to confirm the need of elective revascularization

Appropriate coronary revascularization can be accomplished if myocardial perfusion is quantified by positron emission tomography prior to treatment decision

Background: Many patients undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) without the use of non-invasive stress testing prior to treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the potential added value of guiding revascularization by quantitative assessment of myocardial perfusion prior to intervention. Methods and Results: Thirty-three patients (10 females) with suspected or established CAD who had been referred for a clinical coronary angiography (CA) with possibility for PCI were included. Adenosine stress and rest 13N-NH3 PET, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), and cardiopulmonary exercise test were performed 4 ± 3 weeks before and 5 ± 1 months after CA. The angiographer was blinded to the PET and CMR results. Myocardial flow reserve (MFR) < 2.0 by PET was considered abnormal. A PCI was performed in 19/33 patients. In 41% (11/27) of the revascularized vessel territories, a normal regional MFR was found prior to the PCI and no improvement in MFR was found at follow-up (P = 0.9). However, vessel territories with regional MFR < 2.0 at baseline improved significantly after PCI (P = 0.003). Of the 14 patients not undergoing PCI, four had MFR < 2.0 in one or more coronary territories. Conclusion: Assessment of quantitative myocardial perfusion prior to revascularization could lead to more appropriate use of CA when managing patients with stable CAD

Fully quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance myocardial perfusion ready for clinical use : A comparison between cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography

Background: Recent studies have shown that quantification of myocardial perfusion (MP) at stress and myocardial perfusion reserve (MPR) offer additional diagnostic and prognostic information compared to qualitative and semi-quantitative assessment of myocardial perfusion distribution in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Technical advancements have enabled fully automatic quantification of MP using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) to be performed in-line in a clinical workflow. The aim of this study was to validate the use of the automated CMR perfusion mapping technique for quantification of MP using 13N-NH3 cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) as the reference method. Methods: Twenty-one patients with stable CAD were included in the study. All patients underwent adenosine stress and rest perfusion imaging with 13N-NH3 PET and a dual sequence, single contrast bolus CMR on the same day. Global and regional MP were quantified both at stress and rest using PET and CMR. Results: There was good agreement between global MP quantified by PET and CMR both at stress (-0.1 ± 0.5 ml/min/g) and at rest (0 ± 0.2 ml/min/g) with a strong correlation (r = 0.92, p < 0.001; y = 0.94× + 0.14). Furthermore, there was strong correlation between CMR and PET with regards to regional MP (r = 0.83, p < 0.001; y = 0.87× + 0.26) with a good agreement (-0.1 ± 0.6 ml/min/g). There was also a significant correlation between CMR and PET with regard to global and regional MPR (r = 0.69, p = 0.001 and r = 0.57, p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: There is good agreement between MP quantified by 13N-NH3 PET and dual sequence, single contrast bolus CMR in patients with stable CAD. Thus, CMR is viable in clinical practice for quantification of MP

Quantitative myocardial perfusion should be interpreted in the light of sex and co-morbidities in patients with suspected chronic coronary syndrome - a cardiac positron emission tomography study

Diagnosis and treatment of patients with suspected chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) currently relies on the degree of coronary artery stenosis and its significance for myocardial perfusion. However, myocardial perfusion can be affected by factors other than coronary stenosis. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent sex, age, diabetes, hypertension and smoking affect quantitative myocardial perfusion, beyond the degree of coronary artery stenosis, in patients with suspected CCS. Eighty-six patients (median age 69 [range 46-86] years, 24 females) planned for elective coronary angiography due to suspected CCS were included. All patients underwent cardiac 13 N-NH3 Positron Emission Tomography to quantify myocardial perfusion at rest and stress. Lowest myocardial perfusion (perfusionmin ) at stress and rest and lowest myocardial perfusion reserve (MPRmin ) for all vessel territories was used as dependent variables in a linear mixed model. Independent variables were vessel territory, degree of coronary artery stenosis (as a continuous variable of 0-100% stenosis), sex, age, diabetes, hypertension and smoking habits. Degree of coronary artery stenosis (P<0.001), male sex (1.8±0.6 vs 2.3±0.6 ml/min/g, P<0.001), increasing age (P=0.03), diabetes (1.6±0.5 vs 2.0±0.6 ml/min/g, P=0.02) and smoking (1.9±0.6 vs 2.1±0.6 ml/min/g, P=0.05) were independently associated with myocardial perfusionmin at stress. Degree of coronary artery stenosis (P<0.001), age (P=0.05), diabetes (1.8±0.6 vs 2.3±0.7, P=0.05) and hypertension (2.2±0.7 vs 2.5±0.6, P=0.03) were independently associated with MPRmin . Sex, increasing age, diabetes, hypertension and smoking affect myocardial perfusion independent of coronary artery stenosis in patients with suspected CCS. Thus, these factors need to be considered when assessing the significance of reduced quantitative myocardial perfusion of patients with suspected CCS. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Discrimination of ST deviation caused by acute coronary occlusion from normal variants and other abnormal conditions, using computed electrocardiographic imaging based on 12-lead ECG.

Many graphical methods for displaying ST-segment deviation in the ECG have been tried for enhancing decision-making in patients with suspected acute coronary syndromes. Computed electrocardiographic imaging (CEI), based on a mathematical inverse solution, has been recently applied to transform ST-J point measurements made in conventional 12-lead ECG into a display of epicardial potentials in bull's-eye format. The purpose of this study is to assess utility of CEI in the clinical setting