Social support for patients with coronary artery disease after percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND: To assess how social support relates to parameters of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and how social support affects patient's prognosis within 1 year after surgery. METHODS: The study included 739 male and 236 female patients (975) who underwent PCI. To determine level of social support, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support was used. The mean duration of a prospective follow-up was 12.0 ±â€¯1.7 months. The Cox multivariate regression proportional hazard model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of death from all causes and cardiovascular disease (CVD). RESULTS: A low level of social support in 5.7% of patients was observed, while 30.5% had a moderate level and 63.8% had a high level. Patients with low and moderate levels of social support were older than those with high level. Among patients with high levels of social support, more were male compared to patients with moderate level. During observation, 24 patients died from all causes (2.5%), while 21 (2.2%) died from CVD. In the multivariate Cox regression model the HR of social support for all causes of death was 0.97 (95% confidence interval, [CI], 0.94-0.99, p = 0.007), while death from CVD was 0.97 (95% CI, 0.94-1.00, p = 0.048). For patients with low level of social support, the HR for death from all causes was 4.52 (95% CI, 1.37-14.95, p = 0.013), while death from CVD was 3.66 (95% CI, 0.94-14.25, p = 0.061). CONCLUSION: Social support level was associated with age and gender, and significantly and independently affected CAD patients' risk of death after PCI.

Type D personality in Russian patients with cardiovascular disease: validity of the Russian DS14 (DS14-RU).

BACKGROUND: Type D personality is associated with unfavorable outcomes in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, there is no valid Type D Scale in Russian language. The purpose of the study was to examine the factor structure of a new Russian version of 14-item Type D Scale (DS14-RU), and to evaluate the reliability and construct validity of the DS14-RU in clinical research. METHODS: The study included 929 participants, 496 (53.4%) of which had coronary artery disease, 195 (21.0%) congestive heart failure, 84 (9.0%) arterial hypertension and 154 (16.6%) were relatively healthy volunteers. The mean age was 57.5 years, 565 (60.8%) participants were males. The respondents filled out an extended Russian version of the Type D scale and new DS14-RU, as well as the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Reeder Stress Inventory, and State-Trait Personality Inventory. RESULTS: The new Russian version of DS14-RU was internally consistent with Cronbach's α = .80 for both the negative affectivity and social inhibition subscales. The prevalence of Type D personality, as measured with the DS14-RU, was 21.4% among patients with CVD, and 20.0% among relatively healthy participants. The mean scores for anxiety, depression, psychosocial stress and anger were significantly higher in patients with Type D personality and they had significantly lower levels of social support and curiosity. CONCLUSIONS: The new DS14-RU is consistent with the original DS14 in terms of reliability, factor structure and construct validity. The DS14-RU can be used for the reliable assessment of Type D in Russian-speaking respondents.

Clinical manifestations and risk factors of coronary artery disease in patients with diabetes mellitus in western Siberia.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and clinical manifestations of coronary artery disease (CAD) between patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and CAD who lived at northern latitudes vs. those who resided at southern latitudes in the Tyumen region, western Siberia. STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective study involved 382 patients with type 2 DM selected from 8,573 patients with angiographic CAD (>50% stenosis). Out of the total, 243 patients were permanent residents at the high latitudes of the Tyumen region ("northern patients"), and 139 patients were permanent residents in areas south of the Tyumen region ("southern patients"). RESULTS: On average, northern patients were younger than southern patients (53 vs. 57 years, respectively). The odds ratio (OR) for living in the north was 2.1 (95% CI 0.99-4.53) for obesity (BMI>or=30 kg/m2), 1.87 (95% CI 1.05-3.31) for smoking, 0.93 (95% CI 0.89-0.96) per 1 year increase in age, 0.84 (95% CI 0.76-0.94) per 1 mmol/L increase of fasting plasma glucose, and 1.15 (95% CI 1.04-1.28) per 1 mm increase of right ventricular end-diastolic diameter. The proportion of patients with 3 or more CAD risk factors was higher in the north. Most patients in both groups had a history of myocardial infarction, severe angina in class III/IV as defined by the Canadian Cardiovascular System (CCS), heart failure in class II/IV as defined by the New York Heart Association (NYHA) and hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: A north-south gradient was observed in cardiovascular risk factors among patients with DM and CAD in the Tyumen region. The clinical manifestations of CAD in DM patients at high latitudes were comparable with those of patients who reside south of the Tyumen region of western Siberia, despite the younger age of northern patients.

Asymmetric septal hypertrophy in patients with coronary artery disease.

AIMS: To assess the relationship between asymmetric septal hypertrophy (ASH) and manifestations of coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 5128 consecutive patients with proven diagnosis of CAD were examined. There were 2469 patients with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH) (48.2%), among whom 297 (5.8%) had ASH (echocardiographic ventricular septum thickness to LV posterior wall thickness ratio > or =1.3). There were more male patients with ASH than patients with symmetric LVH (SLVH). ASH patients were significantly older and more obese, more of them were in NYHA class III/IV compared with SLVH patients. The prevalence of prior myocardial infarction (MI), systemic hypertension, heart rhythm disorders were higher in patients with ASH compared with SLVH patients. The groups differed significantly in echocardiographic parameters: LV and right ventricular (RV) end-diastolic dimensions, LV ejection fraction, left atrial dimension, extent of LV wall motion abnormalities, wall motion score index, LV mass/body surface area, signs of prior MI, and frequency of moderate mitral regurgitation. The frequency of stenosis and more severe (>90% stenosis) lesion of right coronary artery (RCA) and left circumflex artery (LCA) were higher in patients with ASH. Multivariate analysis identified that heart rhythm disorder, LV and RV end-diastolic dimensions, aortic root diameter, impaired LV ejection fraction, echocardiographic signs of previous MI, LV mass, and severe lesions of RCA were independently associated with ASH. CONCLUSION: In patients with CAD, ASH is associated with significant atherosclerosis of RCA and LCA, and more severe clinical manifestations of CAD and impaired LV function.