Effect of Pressure-controlled intermittent Coronary Sinus Occlusion (PiCSO) on infarct size in anterior STEMI: PiCSO in ACS study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this clinical research was to investigate the effects of Pressure-controlled intermittent Coronary Sinus Occlusion (PiCSO) on infarct size at 5 days after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). METHODS AND RESULTS: This comparative study was carried out in four UK hospitals. Forty-five patients with anterior STEMI presenting within 12 h of symptom onset received pPCI plus PiCSO (initiated after reperfusion; n = 45) and were compared with a propensity score-matched control cohort from INFUSE-AMI (n = 80). Infarct size (% of LV mass, median [interquartile range]) measured by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) at day 5 was significantly lower in the PiCSO group (14.3% [95% CI 9.2-19.4%] vs. 21.2% [95% CI 18.0-24.4%]; p = 0.023). There were no major adverse cardiac events (MACE) related to the PiCSO intervention. CONCLUSIONS: PiCSO, as an adjunct to pPCI, was associated with a lower infarct size at 5 days after anterior STEMI in a propensity score-matched population.

Provision of gastroprotective medication and bleeding risk following acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is associated with increased mortality. ACCF/AHA/SCAI guidelines recommend prophylaxis to prevent GI bleeding in patients, with the highest GI bleeding risks taking dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). The REPLACE risk score identifies factors predictive of peri-PCI bleeding from vascular access and non-access sites. We determined whether high bleeding risk acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients taking DAPT were appropriately provided with GI prophylaxis and investigated the association between age and clinical presentation on the likelihood of receiving prophylactic therapy. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of all non-elective PCI patients at a single center between May and December 2008 stratified by age (<65, 65-74, and ≥ 75 years). REPLACE scores were calculated and discharge medication was obtained from case records. RESULTS: Complete discharge medication data were available for 800 patients (median age, 63 years; 45.1% with ST-elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI]). A total of 370 patients (46.3%) were high bleeding risk (REPLACE scores ≥ 10), including all patients ≥ 75 years (n = 173), 83.5% of patients 65-74 years (n = 177), and 4.8% of patients <65 years (n = 20). In total, 97.6% were discharged on DAPT. Within the high bleeding risk group, 45.1% received GI prophylaxis. Patients 65-74 years were least likely to receive prophylaxis (<65 years, 60%; 65-74 years, 38.4%; ≥ 75 years, 50.3%; P<.03). Presentation with STEMI was independently associated with a reduced likelihood of GI prophylaxis provision (odds ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.99; P=.045). CONCLUSIONS: Less than half of ACS patients at high bleeding risk taking DAPT are provided with GI prophylaxis. Increased use of objective bleeding risk scores may help guide risk/benefit decisions in patients taking clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitors.

Laser Doppler assessment of dermal circulatory changes in people with coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: Dermal microcirculation provides an easily accessible vasculature bed which can be used to assess endothelial mediated vasodilatation. We studied and compared microcirculatory changes in response to acetylcholine iontophoresis (ACh), local heating of the skin and reactive hyperaemia in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty eight patients with CAD were studied and compared with 25 age and sex matched control subjects. Vasodilatory changes in the dermal microcirculation were assessed in response to ACh iontophoresis, local heating of the skin and reactive hyperaemia using a laser Doppler flowmeter (LDF). RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI) and systolic BP were higher in people with CAD, (p=0.001, 0.043). The perfusion change (measured as absolute in agreement with our previous publish results) in response to ACh iontophoresis, local heating of the skin and reactive hyperaemia, in healthy controls was 234 (190-286), 90 (69-118), 139(106-172) arbitrary perfusion units (APU) compared to 161 (121-214), 50 (39-63), 116(77-143) APU in patients with CAD; p<0.03. The time to peak perfusion in response to reactive hyperaemia was significantly higher in patients with CAD, 14.1±4.0 vs 10.9±1.7s; p=0.001. There was a small but significant positive correlation between the perfusion change in response to ACh iontophoresis and local heating (r=0.31, p=0.035). On ROC curve analysis, perfusion changes with heating had higher sensitivity and specificity in discriminating patients with CAD from the healthy controls with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.86, with a specificity of 92% and sensitivity of 77% compared to a perfusion changes by reactive hyperaemia, AUC of 0.68 (41% sensitivity and 91% specificity) and ACh iontophoresis, AUC of 0.76 (88% sensitivity and 60% specificity). CONCLUSION: Vasodilatation in the dermal microcirculation measured by the three techniques is attenuated in patients with coronary artery disease. Local heating of the skin is a better discriminator of patients with CAD than ACh iontophoresis and reactive hyperaemia.

Comparative reproducibility of dermal microvascular blood flow changes in response to acetylcholine iontophoresis, hyperthermia and reactive hyperaemia.

Laser Doppler fluxmetry (LDF) can non-invasively measure skin microvascular changes in response to acetylcholine (ACh), local heating of the skin and reactive hyperaemia following arterial occlusion. Various studies have used microvascular changes in response to these stimuli, especially ACh iontophoresis and local heating, as a surrogate marker of endothelial function. There are few data in the literature regarding the comparative reproducibility of microvascular perfusion changes induced by the three stimuli. The aim of this study was to systematically assess and compare the reproducibility of skin microcirculatory function in response to each of these challenges. Ten healthy non-smoking subjects (seven males) median age 36 years (range 23-46), with no history of hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease or any connective tissue disorder, were studied. Changes in skin microcirculation in response to ACh iontophoresis, local heating of the skin and post-occlusive reactive hyperaemia, on two separate days (median 31, range 11-42 days), were assessed in all subjects. We measured three parameters: the change in perfusion from baseline perfusion (peak minus baseline perfusion), the relative percentage change in perfusion from baseline (peak--baseline)/baseline x 100 (%) and also the time-to-peak perfusion. The reproducibility of the change in perfusion had coefficients of variation (CV) of 9.3% for local skin heating, 19.4% for reactive hyperaemia and 25.5% for ACh iontophoresis. The relative percentage change in perfusion from baseline was more variable with CVs ranging from 23% to 39%. The coefficient of variation of time-to-peak perfusion was 7.0% for heating, 15.1% for reactive hyperaemia and 10.4% for ACh iontophoresis. We have shown that microcirculatory changes measured by the change in perfusion from baseline and time-to-peak perfusion in response to ACh, post-occlusive reactive hyperaemia and local skin heating had good reproducibility when carried out in a controlled environment with a standardized protocol. Relative change in perfusion had relatively poor reproducibility. The change in perfusion and time-to-peak perfusion for local skin heating were the most reproducible overall.