Management of immune thrombocytic purpura and acute coronary syndrome: A double-edged sword!

Treating patients known to have immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) pose challenges, especially if they undergo percutaneous coronary intervention and stenting, as they require certain period of dual anti-platelet medication based up on the type of stent been deployed. Co-existence of therapies to increase platelet number as well as anti-platelet efficacy at the same time appears contradictory; imbalance in antagonistic treatment approach of increasing platelet number to treat ITP and inhibiting their activity to treat ACS can result in life threatening complications.

Recurrent ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction: What is the Aetiology?

Coronary artery disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the western world. Plaque rupture in an atherosclerotic lesion is the most commonly encountered underlying pathophysiology. Spontaneous coronary dissection can have similar presentation, but we as a community of cardiologists may not be aware of uncommon aetiologies, such as vasculitis presenting as ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Here we present a case report of a lady, who presented with STEMI on three occasions within five days, due to underlying granulomotosis with polyangiitis (GPA).

Patients undergoing PCI from the femoral route by default radial operators are at high risk of vascular access-site complications.

AIMS: Radial artery (RA) access for PCI has a lower incidence of vascular access-site (VAS) complications than the femoral artery (FA) approach. However, even for default radial operators certain patients are intervened upon from the FA. We examined the demographics and incidence of VAS complications when default radial operators resort to the FA for PCI. METHODS AND RESULTS: The demographics and VAS complications were compared by access site retrospectively for all PCI cases performed by default radial operators (n=1,392). A modified ACUITY trial definition of major VAS complication was used. FA puncture occurred in 25.2% (351/1,392) of cases. Patients were more likely to be female, older and weigh less than patients undergoing PCI from the RA. The FA procedure was likely to be more complex with larger sheaths, more left main stem, graft and multivessel intervention, and there was a greater proportion of emergency cases. Despite increased case complexity, glycoprotein inhibitors were used less frequently in femoral cases (26.5% vs. 36.8%, p<0.001). A VAS complication occurred in 12.5% (44/351) of cases. CONCLUSIONS: The risk factors for access-site bleeding are disproportionately high in the population requiring FA puncture by default radial operators, and as a result such patients have a high rate of vascular access-site complications.

Akt controls vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo by delaying G1/S exit.

Constitutive activation of serine/threonine kinase Akt causes uncontrolled cell-cycle progression in different cell types and in malignancy. To investigate how Akt activation modulates cell-cycle progression in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in vitro and in the intact animal, we inhibited Akt-dependent signaling by adenovirus-mediated transfection of a dominant-negative Akt mutant (AA-Akt). We observed reduced proliferation rate (P<0.01), DNA synthesis (P<0.01), and a significant arrest in G1/S exit (P<0.01) both in vitro in response to serum stimulation and in vivo after vascular injury. In vivo transfection of the balloon-injured vessel with AA-Akt reduced SMC proliferation, resulting in decreased neointima compared with control virus (P<0.01). These effects were at least in part modulated, both in vitro and in vivo, by increased p21Cip1 expression, as demonstrated by lack of effect of AA-Akt on cell proliferation in p21-/- mouse SMCs. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that Akt-dependent signaling enhances cell-cycle progression of nontransformed SMCs in vitro and in response to vascular injury in the intact animal. These results suggest a role for Akt signaling in modulating the response of normal tissues to stress and the response of the arterial wall to acute and possibly repetitive injuries that ultimately contribute to restenosis and atherosclerosis.

Incidence, predictors, and prognostic implications of bleeding and blood transfusion following percutaneous coronary interventions.

Bleeding related to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) occurs relatively frequently. We retrospectively investigated the incidence, predictors, and prognostic impact of periprocedural bleeding and transfusion in 10,974 patients who underwent PCI. Bleeding definitions were based on Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) criteria: (1) major bleeding (n = 588; 5.4%): if patients had a hemorrhagic stroke or if hematocrit decreased >15 points or by 10 to 15 points with clinical bleeding; (2) minor bleeding (n = 1,394; 12.7%): if hematocrit decreased <10 points with clinical bleeding or by 10 to 15 points without clinical bleeding; and (3) no bleeding (n = 8,992; 81.9%): if hematocrit decreased <10 points without clinical bleeding. Patients with major bleeding were older than patients with minor or no bleeding (67.8 +/- 11 vs 65.9 +/- 11 vs 63.6 +/- 11 years, respectively; p <0.001) and more often experienced intraprocedural complications, such as emergency use of an intra-aortic balloon pump (13.6% vs 6.5% vs 2.3%, respectively; p <0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified the use of an intra-aortic balloon pump (odds ratio [OR] 3.0, p <0.0001), procedural hypotension (OR 2.9, p <0.001), and age >80 years (OR 1.9 compared with age <50 years, p = 0.001) as the strongest predictors for major bleeding. Patients who had major bleeding had higher in-hospital and 1-year mortality compared with patients with minor or no bleeding. Bleeding was an independent predictor of in-hospital death. Thus, periprocedural major bleeding occurs relatively frequently and is associated with adverse outcomes. Patients >80 years of age who experience intraprocedural complications are at particularly high risk.

Stroke complicating percutaneous coronary interventions: incidence, predictors, and prognostic implications.

BACKGROUND: Stroke associated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is an infrequent although devastating complication. We investigated the incidence, predictors, and prognostic impact of periprocedural stroke in unselected patients undergoing PCI. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 9662 patients who underwent 12 407 PCIs between January 1990 and July 1999 were retrospectively studied. Stroke was diagnosed in 43 patients (0.38% of procedures). Patients with stroke were older (72+/-11 versus 64+/-11 years, P<0.001), had lower left ventricular ejection fraction (42+/-12 versus 46+/-13%, P=0.04) and more diabetes (39.5% versus 27.2%, P=0.07), and experienced a higher rate of intraprocedural complications necessitating emergency use of intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) (23.3% versus 3.3%, P<0.001). In-hospital mortality (37.2% versus 1.1%, P<0.001) and 1-year mortality (56.1% versus 6.5%, P<0.001) were higher in patients with stroke. Compared with hemorrhagic stroke, patients with ischemic stroke had higher rate of in-hospital major adverse cardiac events (57.1% versus 25%, P=0.037). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified emergency use of IABP as the strongest predictors for stroke (OR=9.6, CI 3.9 to 23.9, P<0.001), followed by prophylactic use of IABP (OR=5.1), age >80 years (OR=3.2, compared with age <50 years), and vein graft intervention (OR=2.7). CONCLUSIONS: Stroke associated with contemporary PCI is associated with substantial increased mortality. Elderly patients who experience intraprocedural complications necessitating the use of IABP are at particularly high risk.