Vessel Shrinkage as a Sign of Atherosclerosis Progression in Type 2 Diabetes : A Serial Intravascular Ultrasound Analysis

OBJECTIVE—The aim of this study was to determine the natural history of vascular remodeling of atherosclerotic plaques in patients with type 2 diabetes and the predictors of vessel shrinkage

Why Are Outcomes Different for Registry Patients Enrolled Prospectively and Retrospectively? Insights from the Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF).

Background: Retrospective and prospective observational studies are designed to reflect real-world evidence on clinical practice, but can yield conflicting results. The GARFIELD-AF Registry includes both methods of enrolment and allows analysis of differences in patient characteristics and outcomes that may result. Methods and Results: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and ≥1 risk factor for stroke at diagnosis of AF were recruited either retrospectively (n = 5069) or prospectively (n = 5501) from 19 countries and then followed prospectively. The retrospectively enrolled cohort comprised patients with established AF (for a least 6, and up to 24 months before enrolment), who were identified retrospectively (and baseline and partial follow-up data were collected from the emedical records) and then followed prospectively between 0-18 months (such that the total time of follow-up was 24 months; data collection Dec-2009 and Oct-2010). In the prospectively enrolled cohort, patients with newly diagnosed AF (≤6 weeks after diagnosis) were recruited between Mar-2010 and Oct-2011 and were followed for 24 months after enrolment. Differences between the cohorts were observed in clinical characteristics, including type of AF, stroke prevention strategies, and event rates. More patients in the retrospectively identified cohort received vitamin K antagonists (62.1% vs. 53.2%) and fewer received non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (1.8% vs . 4.2%). All-cause mortality rates per 100 person-years during the prospective follow-up (starting the first study visit up to 1 year) were significantly lower in the retrospective than prospectively identified cohort (3.04 [95% CI 2.51 to 3.67] vs . 4.05 [95% CI 3.53 to 4.63]; p = 0.016). Conclusions: Interpretations of data from registries that aim to evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of patients with AF must take account of differences in registry design and the impact of recall bias and survivorship bias that is incurred with retrospective enrolment. Clinical Trial Registration: - URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier for GARFIELD-AF (NCT01090362)

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Rendimiento diagnóstico del estudio ecocardiográfico en el accidente cerebrovascular: ¿debemos mejorar la selección de los pacientes?

Resumen: Introducción: El pasado año la Sociedad Europea de Ecocardiografía publicó las recomendaciones para el empleo del ecocardiograma en la identificación de las potenciales fuentes embolígenas como causa de accidente isquémico cerebral en ausencia de otra enfermedad cerebrovascular. Tanto el ecocardiograma transtorácico como el ecocardiograma transesofágico desempeñan un papel fundamental en la evaluación, el diagnóstico y el manejo de la fuente embolígena. Debido en parte a la mayor longevidad de la población y a la mejor supervivencia de los pacientes cardiológicos, asistimos, actualmente, a un incremento progresivo de la solicitud de estudios ecocardiográficos como prueba diagnóstica; esto nos ha llevado a analizar críticamente el rendimiento de los mismos. Objetivo: Analizar la rentabilidad diagnóstica del ecocardiograma transtorácico en pacientes con diagnóstico de ictus isquémico en un hospital de tercer nivel. Material y métodos: Hemos analizado retrospectivamente todos los estudios ecocardiográficos solicitados durante el año 2010 desde el servicio de neurología con diagnóstico de ictus isquémico. Se ha estudiado la eficacia diagnóstica de la prueba y su aportación al diagnóstico etiológico en función de los hallazgos ecocardiográficos mayores y menores, según las recomendaciones de la Sociedad Europea de Ecocardiografía. Resultados: Se encontraron criterios ecocardiográficos mayores en 6 pacientes (5%) de los catalogados como de perfil embólico y en 2 (0,7%) de los no embólicos, siendo la diferencia estadísticamente significativa, p = 0,005. A la vista de nuestros resultados, la realización de ETT en pacientes con ictus no embólicos tiene un bajo rendimiento diagnóstico, lo que nos lleva a plantearnos la rentabilidad del uso sistemático de esta prueba. Abstract: Introduction: Last year the European Society of Echocardiography published recommendations for the use of echocardiography in identifying potential sources of embolism as a cause of ischemic stroke in the absence of other cerebrovascular diseases. Both transthoracic echocardiography and transesophageal echocardiography play a fundamental role in the assessment, diagnosis and management of the embolic source. Due in part to the increased longevity of the population and improved survival of cardiac patients, we are now seeing a gradual increase in the application of echocardiographic studies as a diagnostic test. This has led us to critically analyse their performance in detecting various pathologies. Objective: Our aim was to analyse the diagnostic yield of transthoracic echocardiography in patients with cerebrovascular accident in a tertiary hospital. Material and methods: To this end, we retrospectively analysed all echocardiographic studies during 2010 requested from the Neurology Department with a diagnosis of stroke. We have studied the diagnostic yield of the test and its contribution to the etiological diagnosis based on major and minor echocardiographic criteria as recommended by the European Society of Echocardiography. Results: We found major echocardiographic criteria in 6 patients (5%) with embolic stroke and in 2 (0.7%) non embolic, P = .005. In view of our results, the performance of transthoracic echocardiography in patients with embolic stroke has a low diagnostic yield, which leads us to question systematic use of this technique. Palabras clave: Accidente cerebrovascular, Ecocardiograma transtorácico, Ecocardiograma transesofágico, Keywords: Cerebrovascular accident, Transthoracic echocardiogram, Transesophageal echocardiogra

Diagnostic yield of echocardiography in stroke: Should we improve patient selection?

Introduction: Last year the European Society of Echocardiography published recommendations for the use of echocardiography in identifying potential sources of embolism as a cause of ischaemic stroke in the absence of other cerebrovascular disease. Both transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transoesophageal echocardiography play a fundamental role in the assessment, diagnosis and management of the embolic source. Due, in part, to the increased longevity of the population and improved survival of cardiac patients, we are now seeing a gradual increase in the application of echocardiographic studies as a diagnostic test. This has led us to critically analyse their performance in the various pathologies. Objective: Our aim was to analyse the diagnostic yield of TTE in patients with cerebrovascular accident in a tertiary hospital. Materials and methods: For this, we retrospectively analysed all echocardiographic studies during 2010 requested from the Neurology Department with a diagnosis of stroke. We have studied the diagnostic yield of the test and its contribution to the etiological diagnosis based on major and minor echocardiographic criteria as recommended by the European Society of Echocardiography. Results: We found major echocardiographic criteria in 6 patients (5%) with embolic stroke and in 2 (0.7%) non-embolic stroke, P = .005. In view of our results, the performance of TTE in patients with embolic stroke has a low diagnostic yield, which leads us to consider the systematic use of this technique. Resumen: Introducción: El pasado año la Sociedad Europea de Ecocardiografía publicó las recomendaciones para el empleo del ecocardiograma en la identificación de las potenciales fuentes embolígenas como causa de accidente isquémico cerebral en ausencia de otra enfermedad cerebrovascular. Tanto el ecocardiograma transtorácico como el ecocardiograma transesofágico desempeñan un papel fundamental en la evaluación, el diagnóstico y el manejo de la fuente embolígena. Debido en parte a la mayor longevidad de la población y a la mejor supervivencia de los pacientes cardiológicos, asistimos, actualmente, a un incremento progresivo de la solicitud de estudios ecocardiográficos como prueba diagnóstica; esto nos ha llevado a analizar críticamente el rendimiento de los mismos. Objetivo: Analizar la rentabilidad diagnóstica del ecocardiograma transtorácico en pacientes con diagnóstico de ictus isquémico en un hospital de tercer nivel. Material y métodos: Hemos analizado retrospectivamente todos los estudios ecocardiográficos solicitados durante el año 2010 desde el servicio de neurología con diagnóstico de ictus isquémico. Se ha estudiado la eficacia diagnóstica de la prueba y su aportación al diagnóstico etiológico en función de los hallazgos ecocardiográficos mayores y menores, según las recomendaciones de la Sociedad Europea de Ecocardiografía. Resultados: Se encontraron criterios ecocardiográficos mayores en 6 pacientes (5%) de los catalogados como de perfil embólico y en 2 (0,7%) de los no embólicos, siendo la diferencia estadísticamente significativa, p = 0,005. A la vista de nuestros resultados, la realización de ETT en pacientes con ictus no embólicos tiene un bajo rendimiento diagnóstico, lo que nos lleva a plantearnos la rentabilidad del uso sistemático de esta prueba. Keywords: Cerebrovascular accident, Transthoracic echocardiogram, Transesophageal echocardiogram, Palabras clave: Accidente cerebrovascular, Ecocardiograma transtorácico, Ecocardiograma transesofágic

Aldosterone induces intracardiac volume overload in patients with resistant hypertension - spironolactone but not thiazide diuretics overcomes it

Aldosterone increases sodium and fluid retention. However, the reported effects of aldosterone on the heart have been largely limited to left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and fibrosis. Here we test the hypothesis that hyperaldosteronism (HA) results in volume overload of the heart