Outcomes Related to Antiplatelet Therapy in a High-Risk ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Population: A Retrospective Real-World Analysis of an Italian ECMO Center.

AIM: To evaluate outcomes related to antiplatelet therapy in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) admitted to the San Gerardo Hospital in Monza, an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) reference center in the Monza-Brianza area. METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled patients with STEMI hospitalized between 2013 and 2017. RESULTS: This study included 653 patients (mean age: 67.5 years, 71% male). Across the study period, ticagrelor use showed consistent increases, from 22% of patients during 2013 to 85% in 2017. Cardiac arrest prehospitalization occurred in 100 patients (15.3%), either at home (n = 85, 13.0%) or during transfer (n = 15, 2.3%); 46 patients underwent ECMO for refractory cardiac arrest. Rates of 90-day survival (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.4, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3-4.4, P = .004) and ST resolution (odds ratio [OR]: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.6-4.1, P = .000) were higher with ticagrelor than with other antiplatelet agents. When analyzed by each agent, patients on ticagrelor had longer survival (HR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2-0.8, P = .008) than patients on clopidogrel and more frequent ST resolution than those on clopidogrel or prasugrel (OR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2-0.7, P = .002 and OR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2-0.7, P = .006). There was no difference in mortality between ticagrelor and prasugrel. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in the treatment of high-risk patients with STEMI over time are in line with changes in treatment guidelines. In these patients, ticagrelor is associated with significantly improved 90-day mortality compared with clopidogrel.

[Updated SICI-GISE position paper on institutional and operator requirements for transcatheter aortic valve implantation]. / Update del documento di posizione della Società Italiana di Cardiologia Interventistica (SICI-GISE) sui requisiti minimi per ospedali ed operatori che eseguono procedure di impianto transcatetere di protesi valvolare aortica.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has revolutionized the management of patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis and has become the standard of care for inoperable patients and the preferred therapy for those at increased surgical risk with peculiar clinical and anatomic features. Technology advances, growing experience and accumulating data prompted the update of the 2011 Italian Society of Interventional Cardiology (SICI-GISE) position paper on institutional and operator requirements to perform TAVI. The main objective of this document is to provide a guidance to assess the potential of institutions and operators to initiate and maintain an efficient TAVI program.

Persistence of arterial functional abnormalities after successful coronary revascularization.

BACKGROUND: In patients with myocardial ischemia and coronary atherosclerosis, arterial stiffness and endothelial function are impaired. Whether these alterations can be favorably affected by successful coronary revascularization is debated. METHODS: We studied 39 hospitalized patients 59.3 ± 3.2 years old (mean ± SEM). In 21 patients with angiographic evidence of significant coronary artery stenosis, revascularization procedures were performed (stenting n = 11 and bypass surgery n = 10). The remaining patients had no significant stenosis and thus served as controls. Prerevascularization measurements included carotido-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), radial artery flow-mediated vasodilatation and a complete echocardiographic examination. The same measurements were performed 6 months later. Pharmacological treatment consisted of different cardiovascular drugs and remained substantially unchanged over the 6-month follow-up period. RESULTS: With the exception of an increased left ventricular mass index (LVMI; 130 ± 5.3 versus 105.8 ± 7.2 g/m(2), P < 0.05) and a lower Em/Am (0.6 ± 0.01 and 0.8 ± 0.01 respectively, P < 0.05) observed in patients with coronary stenosis, all other hemodynamic, cardiac and vascular variables were similar in the two groups. Following the 6-month follow-up period, all variables remained substantially unchanged, with the exception, in revascularized patients, of a significant reduction in LVMI (-12%, P < 0.05) and an improvement in Tissue Doppler Imaging-measured diastolic function (Em/Am + 30%, P < 0.05). This was not associated, however, with any significant change in PWV and in flow-mediated vasodilatation. CONCLUSION: Cardiac revascularization has no effect on arterial function, assessed either as arterial stiffness or as flow-mediated vasodilatation. On the contrary, the improvement in coronary blood flow triggers local cardiac changes, namely, a reduction in LVMI and an improvement in diastolic function.

Relationship between arterial distensibility and coronary atherosclerosis in angina patients.

OBJECTIVE: Arterial stiffening is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, limited evidence exists on whether it also relates to subclinical atherosclerosis, thereby providing a non-invasive marker of the overall cardiovascular status. The aim of the present study was to provide information on arterial stiffening in angina patients in whom angiographic evaluation allowed quantification of coronary atherosclerosis. METHODS: We studied 101 patients with angina from a large number admitted to our hospital for coronary angiography. In each patient, radial (RA), subdiaphragmatic aorta (AO) and carotid (CA) distensibility (Dist) were measured by an ultrasonic device, following ultrasonic exclusion of atherosclerotic lesions at these specific sites. Patients were classified into three groups according to the angiographic findings: (i) no significant coronary lesions (lumen obstruction < 50%, group A); (ii) one (group B); and (iii) two or three (group C) coronary vessels with hemodynamic significant plaques (lumen obstruction > 50%). RESULTS: Age, male prevalence, previous cardiovascular disease and interventions were progressively greater or more common from group A to C, whereas several other risk factors (plasma glucose, serum cholesterol, smoking, history of hypertension, etc.) did not differ between the three groups or between the group with single vessel (B) versus the group with multivessel disease (C). CA and AO Dist decreased progressively from group A to C with a significant relationship in the group as a whole between distensibility values and the number of diseased vessels. The progressive decrease in AO Dist from group A to C remained significant after adjustment for variables that showed between-group differences (such as gender, age and systolic blood pressure) and the ROC curve showed it to be a more sensitive and specific marker of coronary atherosclerosis than CA Dist. RA Dist was similar in the three groups and showed no relationship with the number of diseased vessels in the group as a whole. CONCLUSION: In patients with angina, AO and CA Dist are related to the severity of coronary atherosclerosis, with the relationship being better for alterations in aortic than in carotid mechanical properties. Large elastic artery (and in particular aortic) stiffening can thus be considered as a marker of the severity of coronary atherosclerosis, providing non-invasive obtainable information on the need to proceed with further clinical examinations.

Dual left anterior descending coronary artery from right aortic sinus: report of a case of recurrent unstable angina after CABG.

Anomalies of the left coronary artery are very rare, with an incidence range between .3% and 1.64%. The diagnosis is generally incidental during coronary angiogram, coronary artery bypass operation, or autopsy. However, sometimes this anomaly is not recognized during CABG operation and can be responsible for the recurrence of angina after CABG operation and even compromise the outcome. We presented a case in which the dual left anterior coronary artery from the right aortic sinus occasionally was shown in a coronary angiogram after CABG operation; the angiogram was performed because of the recurrence of angina.