Prospective Randomized Trial of Na/K Citrate for the Prevention of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy in High-risk Patients.

Background: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) or contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) refers to an acute kidney injury (AKI) occurring after exposure to contrast media, commonly used in diagnostic procedures or therapeutic angiographic interventions. Recently, Na/K citrate, used for urine alkalinization, has been assessed for preventing CIN. This experiment evaluated Na/K citrate's efficacy in preventing CIN in high-risk patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Methods: A prospective randomized clinical trial involved 400 patients with moderate- to high-risk factors for CIN undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). They were randomly assigned to either the control or Na/K citrate groups. The Na/K citrate group (n = 200) received a 5 g Na/K citrate solution diluted in 200 mL water 2 hours before and 4 hours after the first administration, along with intravenous hydration for 2 hours before and 6 hours after the procedure. In contrast, the control group (n = 200) received only intravenous hydration. Serum creatinine (SCr) levels were measured before contrast exposure and 48 hours afterward. CIN was defined as a 25% increase in serum creatinine (SCr) or > 0.5 mg/dL 48 hours after contrast administration. The significance level was set at P ˂ 0.05. Results: CIN was observed in 33 patients (16.5%) in the control group and 6 patients (3%) in the Na/K citrate group. The incidence of CIN was found to have a significant difference between the 2 groups 48 hours after receiving the radiocontrast agent (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Our results show that Na/K citrate is helpful and substantially reduces the incidence of CIN.

A rare case of spontaneous and simultaneous multivessel coronary artery spasm leading to multisite myocardial infarction and ventricular fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery spasm (CAS) can result in life-threatening arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death. Although this disorder has been known for a long time, little is known about it, and its mechanisms have been not identified yet. CASE REPORT: We describe a 52-year-old woman with no significant cardiovascular risk factors who experienced several episodes of spontaneous and coincident multivessel coronary artery spasm, which led to myocardial infarction as well as malignant arrhythmias. Coronary angiography revealed severe migratory narrowing in the left anterior descending artery and right coronary artery. CONCLUSION: Simultaneous multivessel coronary artery spasm develop multisite myocardial infarction (MI), and malignant arrhythmias could occur even in the absence of significant stenosis and triggering factors, which would lead to an increased risk of life-threatening cardiac events.

In-Hospital Clinical Outcomes and Procedural Complications of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Elderly Patients.

BACKGROUND: As population growth leads to an increase in the number of the elderly with coronary artery disease, an evaluation of the clinical outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the elderly patients seems to be essential. METHODS: A prospective, observational cohort study was performed on 468 patients in two groups of elderly and non-elderly patients (mean age: 60.01 ± 10.84 years; ≥ 70 years, 20.1%; men, 62%) who underwent PCI, to evaluate the procedural success and in-hospital major and minor adverse cardiovascular events in the elderly patients. RESULTS: The procedural success rate was significantly lower (95.7% vs. 99.5%, P = 0.017) and the rates of in-hospital complications were significantly higher (10.6% vs. 0.8%, P < 0.0001) in elderly (+70) than in non-elderly patients. On the basis of a multivariate analysis, being elderly was not an independent predictor of procedural failure, but increased the chance of in-hospital complications to 8% higher (odds ratio: 0.08; 95% confidence interval: 0.01 - 0.39; P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Regardless of the difference in the procedural success and in-hospital complication rates between our two study groups, aging is not an important predictor of them. Furthermore, PCI should not be refused in elderly patients if indicated.

Efficacy of nicorandil treatment for prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy in high-risk patients undergoing cardiac catheterization: A prospective randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) remains to be a potentially serious complication of radiographic procedures and is the third leading cause of the acute kidney injury (AKI) among hospitalized patients. This clinical trial was performed to assess the preventive effect of oral nicorandil on CIN in high-risk patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. METHODS: In this prospective, randomized, controlled trial, 128 patients with at least two risk factors for CIN undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were randomly assigned to either the nicorandil group or the control group. Patients in the nicorandil group (n = 64) received 10 mg nicorandil, daily from 30 min before and up to 3 days after procedure and intravenous hydration for 2 h before and 6 h after the procedure, whereas patients in the control group (n = 64) just received intravenous hydration. Serum creatinine (SCr) was measured before contrast exposure and at 72 h. CIN was defined as an increase of 25% in SCr or > 0.5 mg/dL 72 h after contrast administration. RESULTS: Contrast-induced nephropathy occurred in 14 out of 64 (21.9%) patients in the control group and in 3 out of 64 (4.7%) patients in the nicorandil group. There was a significant difference in the incidence of CIN between the two groups at 72 h after administering the radiocontrast agent (p = 0.008). Moreover, there were significant differences between the two groups in SCr and estimated glomerular filtration rate 72 h after radiocontrast administration (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The findings revealed that oral nicorandil had substantial efficacy over hydration protocol for the development of CIN in high-risk patients undergoing cardiac catheterization.

Allopurinol prophylactic therapy and the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy in high-risk patients undergoing coronary angiography: A prospective randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is considered to be a possibly severe complication of radiography and thus, remains to be the main cause of acute kidney injury (AKI) for inpatients. A clinical trial was executed to measure the preventive effect of allopurinol against CIN in high-risk patients undertaking coronary angiography. METHODS: Through randomized controlled trial, 140 patients with at minimum two risk factors of CIN, undertaking coronary angiography, were randomly allocated to the allopurinol (n = 70) or control group (n = 70). Those in the allopurinol group received allopurinol (300 mg) a day before their coronary angiography and intravenous hydration for 12 hours before and after their procedure, while members of the control group only received intravenous hydration. Serum creatinine (SCr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and uric acid were measured before and 48 hours after the procedure. CIN was defined by a 25% increase in SCr or the concentration of > 0.5 mg/dl, 48 hours after coronary angiography. RESULTS: CIN was observed in 8 (11.4%) patients in the allopurinol group and 11 (15.7%) patients in the control group. There was no significant difference in the incidence of CIN between the two groups at 48 hours after coronary angiography (P = 0.459). In the allopurinol group, the median SCr concentration decreased non-significantly from 1.16 mg/dl to 1.13 mg/dl, 48 hours after coronary angiography (P = 0.189). In the control group, the median SCr concentration increased significantly from 1.11 mg/dl to 1.2 mg/dl, 48 hours after coronary angiography (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Allopurinol presents no considerable effectiveness over the hydration protocol for development of CIN in high-risk patients.

Comparison between three supportive treatments for prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy in high-risk patients undergoing coronary angiography.

Contrast-induced nephropathy is the third most common cause of acute renal failure in hospitalized patients. The purpose of this study was to compare three supportive treatments for prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy in high-risk patients undergoing coronary angiography. In this randomized clinical trial study, 150 patients with at least one risk factor, such as, congestive heart failure, history of diabetes mellitus, age>65 years or renal failure were randomly assigned to three equal groups: First group (Sodium (Na) bicarbonate infusion), second group [(N-Acetylcysteine (NAC)+Sodium Chloride (Nacl)], third group (Nacl). Angiography was performed with 350 mgI/mL of Iohexol (Omnipaque). Serum creatinine (Cr), blood blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and urine pH were measured at the start of angiography and 48 hours later. The three groups had no significant difference in demographic characteristics or other risk factors before intervention (P>0.05). Forty eight hours after exposure, the Cr level increased significantly in the Nacl group (P=0.039), while these changes were not significant in the other groups (P>0.05). The incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy was not statistically significant between all the groups (P=0.944). Although the Cr clearance had no statistically significant difference, it was lower in the NaCl group. Therefore, Na bicarbonate may be the treatment of choice in the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy, because of less prescribed fluid volume and a lesser time required for infusion of the fluid.