Evaluation of bioresorbable vascular scaffolds in acute coronary syndrome: A two-center, one-year follow-up analysis

Background: Bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) have emerged as a new treatment option in cardiovascular medicine. Nonetheless, there is still limited data on the use of these novel devices in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of BVS implantation in patients with ACS.Methods: The present report is a prospective, two-center registry that involved 165 consecutive patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of ACS and treated with the Absorb BVS (Abbot Vascular, Santa Clara, USA). During 1-year, all patients were monitored for the following endpoints: death, myocardial infarction (MI), scaffold thrombosis (ST), target lesion revascularization (TLR), target vessel revascularization (TVR) and target vessel failure (TVF), defined as cardiac death, target vessel MI, and TVR.Results: A total of 165 patients underwent 179 BVS implantations. 94 patients were diagnosed with unstable angina (UA; 57.6%), 45 with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI; 27.3%) and 26 with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI; 15.7%). Procedural success was achieved in all patients with thrombolysis in myocardial infarction flow 3. During a follow-up of 14.1 ± 8.5 months (median 12.4 months, IQR 8.7 [8.4 to 12.1] months) death occurred in 4 (2.4%) patients, including 2 (1.3%) cardiac deaths. There was only 1 case of subacute ST (0.66%), without late ST. The incidence of MI, TLR, TVR and TVF were: 2.65%, 2.65%, 7.95%, 9.3%, respectively.Conclusions: The present results suggest that BVS implantation in ACS patients is feasible and safe inhighly experienced centers. One-year clinical results are encouraging with a low rate of stent thrombosis

The Role of Toll-Like Receptors and Vitamin D in Cardiovascular Diseases—A Review

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Therefore, a better understanding of their pathomechanisms and the subsequent implementation of optimal prophylactic and therapeutic strategies are of utmost importance. A growing body of evidence states that low-grade inflammation is a common feature for most of the cardiovascular diseases in which the contributing factors are the activation of toll-like receptors (TLRs) and vitamin D deficiency. In this article, available data concerning the association of cardiovascular diseases with TLRs and vitamin D status are reviewed, followed by a discussion of new possible approaches to cardiovascular disease management

Comparison of fecal pyruvate kinase isoform M2 and calprotectin in assessment of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease severity and activity

Aims: Accurate assessment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) activity is the cornerstone of effective therapy. Fecal M2 isoform of pyruvate kinase (M2-PK) and fecal calprotectin (FC) are noninvasive markers of mucosal inflammation in IBD. The aim of this study was to compare performance of M2-PK and FC in assessment of pediatric ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) severity and activity. Materials and methods: 121 patients with IBD, including 75 with UC and 46 with CD were recruited. Control group consisted of 35 healthy children (HS). Patients were assigned to groups depending on disease severity and activity. M2-PK and calprotectin concentration were determined in stool samples using ELISA. Areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) for FC and M2-PK with cut-off level at which M2-PK specificity was matching FC specificity were calculated and compared. Results: Performance of M2-PK at identifying patients with IBD, UC and CD among HS was inferior to FC. The differences in AUC were respectively: -0.10 (95% confidence interval [CI] [-0.13-(-0.06)], p<0.0001), -0.14 (95% CI [-0.19-(-0.09)], p<0.0001) and -0.03 (95% CI [-0.05-(-0.001)], p<0.02). M2-PK was inferior to FC in discriminating patients with mild UC from those with HS (AUC difference -0.23, 95% CI [-0.31-(-0.15)], p<0.0001). Conclusions: FC reflects pediatric IBD severity and activity better than M2-PK. This difference is particularly pronounced when identifying patients with mild UC and UC in remission

Comparison of fecal pyruvate kinase isoform M2 and calprotectin in assessment of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease severity and activity

Conclusions: FC reflects pediatric IBD severity and activity better than M2-PK. This difference is particularly pronounced when identifying patients with mild UC and UC in remission