In the transition from fibrinolysis to primary PCI, the HERO trials help refine STEMI ECG interpretation and Q wave analysis potentially alters future management.

Electrocardiogram sub-studies from the Hirulog Early Reperfusion/Occlusion 1 and 2 trials, which tested bivalirudin as an adjunctive anticoagulant to fibrinolysis in ST-elevation myocardial infarction, have contributed to the literature. The concept of using the presence of infarct lead Q waves to determine reperfusion benefit has subsequently been explored in multiple primary percutaneous coronary intervention studies. The angiographic findings before percutaneous coronary intervention combine with the baseline electrocardiogram to accurately diagnose ST-elevation myocardial infarction and evaluate its potential territory. This review discusses the relative merits of the presence of infarct lead Q waves versus time duration from symptom onset using observational data from cohorts of patients from multiple clinical trials. The presence of infarct lead Q waves at presentation has been repeatedly shown to be superior to time duration from symptom onset in determining prognosis, despite that continuous variable (time duration) statistically should be more powerful than dichotomous variable (Q wave). If quantitative or semi-quantitative measurement of Q waves correlates well with irreversible myocardial injury in vivo (a research goal of many cardiac magnetic resonance imaging studies), Q waves measurements by mirroring ST-elevation myocardial infarction evolution better than the current metric of time duration of symptoms will impact future ST-elevation myocardial infarction reperfusion management. Newer methodology will more quickly capture and transmit electrocardiogram information including infarct lead Q waves potentially before first medical contact, and help differentiate new evolving Q waves of the ongoing ST-elevation myocardial infarction from old changes. Q waves as the new metric in ST-elevation myocardial infarction reperfusion should be tested in upcoming trials.

Simplifying electrocardiographic assessment in STEMI reperfusion management: Pros and cons.

Current guidelines on STEMI reperfusion management do not incorporate further electrocardiographic details over the presence of significant ST elevation. Fibrinolysis is considered an alternative therapy to primary PCI if there is a long PCI-related delay, but the 2 therapies should not be combined. Meanwhile, reperfusion for ischemic stroke has evolved on mechanistic understanding - reperfusion benefit being greatest in the patient with small "core" infarct and large ischemic "penumbra". Fibrinolysis is not regarded as an alternative to mechanical thrombectomy, and the 2 therapies can be combined. In this article describing how reperfusion regimes have evolved along different paths for STEMI and for ischemic stroke, a new concept is made that in STEMI infarct lead Q waves can be the counterpart of the "core" and ST elevation the "penumbra". Suggestions to modify STEMI treatment algorithms are made, exploring further the relative role of (pre-hospital) fibrinolysis versus PCI particularly in younger patients presenting at the onset of their STEMI (no Q waves). In contrast, some patients particularly the older ones with more evolved STEMI (large Q waves present) may be much more suited for PCI despite expecting a long delay. The article finishes by describing potential future alterations in the method of reperfusion. Despite primary PCI being the well-established therapy, there are rooms for further research to optimize STEMI outcomes.

Q waves and failed ST resolution: will intra-myocardial haemorrhage be a concern in reperfusing "late presenting" STEMIs?

Animal studies have demonstrated that intra-myocardial haemorrhage does not occur with STEMI unless myocardium is reperfused with blood. Managing late presenting STEMI is a challenge because reperfusion of non-viable myocardium will not salvage myocardium but potentially causes intra-myocardial haemorrhage which has negative connotations. In the infarct leads, there are pathologic Q waves of variable depth and width together with ST elevation. The latter often fails to resolve despite an angiographically successful primary PCI. This article reviews the literature of ST resolution after reperfusion therapy, recent mechanistic insights on intra-myocardial haemorrhage gleaned from cardiac MRI, the patho-physiology of STEMI including also findings from animal models, and the role of Q waves in characterising the evolution of STEMI towards its irreversible destiny. The MRI studies have correlated intra-myocardial haemorrhage with worse ventricular remodelling and worse outcome. A suggestion is made incorporating infarct-lead Q waves and time duration from symptom onset to discern whether late reperfusion attempts should be initiated or aborted. This suggestion should be confirmed through appropriate size randomized trials with mechanistic endpoints from serial MRI evaluations and, more importantly, with clinical endpoints on long-term outcome. Table 4 summarizes current STEMI guidelines for late-presenting patients and Fig. 5 suggests potential future alterations.

Has the difference in mortality between percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass grafting in people with heart disease and diabetes changed over the years? A systematic review and meta-regression.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the difference in outcome between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), to see if it has changed over the years in diabetics deemed eligible for both treatments; and to contrast the long-term mortality findings with those in non-diabetics. DESIGN: Meta-analyses using data from randomised controlled trials found by searches on MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, from their inception until March 2015. SETTING: Studies had to be randomised controlled trials comparing PCI with CABG. PARTICIPANTS: Those taking part in the studies had to have multivessel cardiac or left main artery cardiac disease and be deemed eligible for both treatments. INTERVENTIONS: PCI or CABG. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES: The primary outcome was all cause mortality. Secondary outcomes were a composite of mortality, stroke and myocardial infarction; cardiovascular death; and MACCE (Major Adverse Cardiac or Cerebrovascular Event). The longest follow-up was used in the analysis. RESULTS: Among 14 studies (4868 diabetics) reported over three decades, meta-regression shows no relationship between the year of publication and the difference in long term all cause mortality between PCI and CABG. CABG has maintained an approximately 30% mortality advantage compared to PCI. The other outcomes used showed the same lack of change over the years. These findings held true among insulin-requiring and non-insulin-requiring diabetics. However, among non-diabetics included in the 14 studies, there was no difference in mortality outcome between PCI and CABG. CONCLUSIONS: The difference in outcome between PCI and CABG in diabetics has not narrowed from the beginning-with balloon angioplasty to current PCI-with the second generation of drug eluting stents. In contrast to the non-diabetics, there is a persistent 30% benefit in all cause mortality favouring CABG in diabetics, and this should be a major factor in treatment recommendation.

Components of depression and 6-year mortality after an acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Post-myocardial infarct depression includes both somatic depressive symptoms and nonsomatic cognitive symptoms. Their respective relationships to long-term survival are unclear. METHODS: Depression was diagnosed by measuring the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) on consecutive patients who presented with acute coronary syndrome in 2005. Six-year mortality data were extracted from the National Health Index. This study investigated whether mortality was related to the somatic or cognitive elements of the BDI-II score, controlling for baseline characteristics including the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events score. The BDI-II, somatic, and cognitive scores were treated as continuous variables. RESULTS: Of the 277 patients, 52 died over 6 years. Higher BDI-II score did not predict mortality at 6 years (odds ratio [OR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.98-1.06). In the Cognitive/Affective-Somatic model, somatic depressive symptoms (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.01-1.20) predicted all-cause mortality, but cognitive/affective depressive symptoms (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.96-1.08) did not. This association attenuated after controlling for age and sex (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.99-1.22), and age, sex, and Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events score (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.99-1.21). Results from the Somatic/Affective-Cognitive model did not reach statistical significance. Differences were small and unlikely to be of clinical importance. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with acute coronary syndrome, those who died had a higher baseline BDI-II score, particularly somatic score, although this did not reach statistical significance.

Reperfusion therapy for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: has ECG information been underutilized?

This perspective makes a contentious viewpoint that ECG information is underutilized in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and the next breakthrough rests on its full utilization. This is to better diagnose difficult cases such as ST changes during bundle branch block, posterior ST elevation and right-sided ST elevation during normal conduction, and aVR ST elevation. More importantly, this is to better characterize the STEMI for tailored reperfusion. The proposal is to develop a system capable of recording from multiple electrodes that one can apply onto oneself, and having analysis coordinated centrally via phone-internet transmission. This provides 'longitudinal' in addition to 'cross-sectional' ECG information. STEMI will be classified on a gray-scale according to its potential size and speed of Q wave evolution. The hypothesis is that large rapidly progressive STEMI is best treated by on-site fibrinolysis with prompt transferral to a percutaneous coronary intervention center; while small stuttering STEMI is best treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention despite a long delay.

Is the advantage of coronary bypass graft surgery over percutaneous coronary intervention in diabetic patients with severe multivessel disease influenced by the status of insulin requirement?

Several studies have shown that coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is superior to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with diabetes and multi-vessel disease. Whether this advantage of CABG over PCI is confined to diabetics who require insulin is unknown. We review the published literature comparing CABG with PCI in diabetics including 8 cohorts and 4,786 patients. There was a lower rate for all-cause mortality (Relative risk (RR): 0.78, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.62-0.99), and for major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE, RR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.47-0.75) for CABG compared to PCI. Composite outcome of mortality, myocardial infarction and stoke was similar between CABG and PCI (RR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.54-1.42). Visual inspection of the forest plots showed that in most analyses, the point estimates of the RR are similar between the insulin requiring group and non-insulin requiring group. On meta-regression, there was no interaction between status of insulin requirement and revascularization strategies (P > 0.05 for all). The presented data on the still unpublished analysis of the FREEDOM trial showed similar results. Thus, in the current era, CABG is superior to PCI with lower mortality and MACCE rates, but the state of insulin requirement had no effect on the outcomes from the two revascularization strategies.

The HERO-2 ECG sub-studies in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction: implications for clinical practice.

The ECG studies of the international HERO-2 trial in ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients evaluated the prognostic value of ECGs systematically recorded at baseline and at 60-min post-administration of fibrinolytic therapy. Patients were overall managed conservatively with a low percentage undergoing angiography. Many of the analyses were pre-specified. While modern management of STEMI has improved, particularly with the widespread use of primary angioplasty, the HERO-2 database documents the prognostic relationship between ECG findings in STEMI patients managed with fibrinolytic therapy and 30-day mortality. This article describes the history of the HERO-2 ECG sub-studies, discloses new information in the project development and summarizes its findings. The strength of having serial ECG recordings is discussed as is the weakness of lacking angiographic correlation. The paper discusses with take-home points (Table 1) the prognostic implications of bundle branch blocks, QRS duration, Q waves in infarct leads, V1 ST elevation during inferior STEMI, lead aVR ST changes and new ST depression in the infarct leads after fibrinolysis. With the ever increasing emphasis on early (including pre-hospital) therapies for STEMI, a diagnosis based on the 12-lead ECG, the current summary article provides helpful hints to fully extract ECG information, and a vision for future STEMI diagnosis and management.