Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma when jumping from aircraft: randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if using a parachute prevents death or major traumatic injury when jumping from an aircraft. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Private or commercial aircraft between September 2017 and August 2018. PARTICIPANTS: 92 aircraft passengers aged 18 and over were screened for participation. 23 agreed to be enrolled and were randomized. INTERVENTION: Jumping from an aircraft (airplane or helicopter) with a parachute versus an empty backpack (unblinded). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Composite of death or major traumatic injury (defined by an Injury Severity Score over 15) upon impact with the ground measured immediately after landing. RESULTS: Parachute use did not significantly reduce death or major injury (0% for parachute v 0% for control; P>0.9). This finding was consistent across multiple subgroups. Compared with individuals screened but not enrolled, participants included in the study were on aircraft at significantly lower altitude (mean of 0.6 m for participants v mean of 9146 m for non-participants; P<0.001) and lower velocity (mean of 0 km/h v mean of 800 km/h; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Parachute use did not reduce death or major traumatic injury when jumping from aircraft in the first randomized evaluation of this intervention. However, the trial was only able to enroll participants on small stationary aircraft on the ground, suggesting cautious extrapolation to high altitude jumps. When beliefs regarding the effectiveness of an intervention exist in the community, randomized trials might selectively enroll individuals with a lower perceived likelihood of benefit, thus diminishing the applicability of the results to clinical practice.

In-hospital outcomes of emergent and elective percutaneous coronary intervention in octogenarians.

OBJECTIVES: Although the prevalence of coronary artery disease increases with age, elderly patients are underrepresented in clinical trials. We sought to describe the short-term outcomes of octogenarians undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in both emergent and elective settings. METHODS: We retrospectively identified all octogenarians undergoing PCI at our institution from January 2002 to December 2005. The outcomes of those undergoing primary PCI for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (group A) were compared with a randomly selected cohort of octogenarians undergoing elective PCI (group B). RESULTS: Group A comprised 91 patients and group B 88 patients. Procedure success was high with Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction grade 3 flow achieved in greater than 90% of patients in both groups. Group A experienced more postprocedure morbidity including acute renal failure (47 vs. 8%) and bleeding requiring transfusion (51 vs. 17%) (P<0.0001 for both comparisons). In-hospital mortality was higher in group A (21 vs. 0%). In multivariate analysis, the risk of in-hospital mortality was predicted by lower admission systolic blood pressure (odds ratio 1.026 per point decrease in systolic blood pressure; 95% confidence interval 1.003-1.049; P = 0.030) and development of cardiogenic shock (odds ratio 7.506; 95% confidence interval, 1.865-30.207; P = 0.005). Mortality in group A was significantly higher among patients with cardiogenic shock (42 vs. 6%, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: PCI is a safe and highly effective procedure in octogenarians during both emergent and elective settings. However, elderly patients undergoing primary angioplasty who develop hemodynamic instability during ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction remain at increased risk for mortality. Measures to reduce postprocedure bleeding and renal dysfunction may improve outcomes among elderly patients undergoing PCI.

Anticoagulation with the direct thrombin inhibitor argatroban in patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the efficacy and safety of the direct thrombin inhibitor argatroban in patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes undergoing cardiac catheterization. BACKGROUND: Argatroban is a direct-thrombin inhibitor approved for use in percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. Few studies have examined its use in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization for acute coronary syndromes. We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes who received argatroban anticoagulation during cardiac catheterization. METHODS: Consecutive patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes who received argatroban while undergoing cardiac catheterization from 2002 to 2005 were included. Patient characteristics and in-hospital outcomes were examined retrospectively via detailed chart review. The primary endpoints of the study were combined death, myocardial infarction or urgent revascularization, and major bleeding during the index hospitalization. RESULTS: A total of 144 patients presenting with an acute coronary syndrome received argatroban during cardiac catheterization within the study period: 25% presented with ST-elevation myocardial infarction and 75% presented with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome. The combined endpoint of death, myocardial infarction or urgent revascularization occurred in 13.2% of patients during the hospitalization. Major bleeding occurred in 2.1% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes, patients receiving argatroban during cardiac catheterization had a moderate rate of adverse cardiac events and a very low rate of major bleeding.