[Clinical outcome and health related quality of life in patients undergoing coronary angioplasty with balloon or stent. A prospective multicenter study]. / Resultados clínicos y de calidad de vida de los pacientes tratados con angioplastia coronaria con balón o stent. Estudio multicéntrico prospectivo.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Clinical outcome and health related quality of life after coronary angioplasty with stent or balloon are insufficiently studied in routine practice. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of angioplasty on the clinical results and quality of life in real clinical practice. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All the consecutive patients undergoing angioplasty with stent or balloon attending two Spanish tertiary hospitals from October, 1997 to July, 1998 were evaluated at baseline and one year after discharge from hospital with a structured clinical questionnaire and the generic SF-36 quality of life questionnaire. RESULTS: Three hundred ninety-seven patients with a mean age of 63 years were included in the study. A stent (or stent plus balloon) was implanted in 342 patients and angioplasty with a single balloon was performed in 55 patients. More advanced coronary disease and suboptimal lesions for treatment were found in patients treated with only balloon. At one year of follow up the total mortality was 6% and 54% of the patients were free of angina. Mean baseline scores of the SF-36 questionnaire were remarkably low (35 for physical health and 45 for mental health). At one year the scores achieved levels similar to those of the general Spanish population matched for age and sex (45 for physical health and 52 for mental health). Independent predictors of quality of life at one year were the following: baseline quality of life, age, sex, comorbidity, previous hospitalizations, hospital where the patient was attended, symptoms at admission and late angina. CONCLUSIONS: a) After percutaneous myocardial revascularization the mean quality of life achieved was similar to that of the general population; b) different clinical subgroups did not achieve these levels, although improvement was similar to that of the remaining subgroups

[Outcomes of coronary artery surgery: determinants of quality of life related to postoperative health]. / Resultados después de cirugía coronaria: determinantes de calidad de vida relacionada con la salud postoperatoria.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Little is known of the clinical and nonclinical determinants of health related quality of life after coronary artery bypass graft in routine clinical practice. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life and its determinants after a first coronary bypass in a representative population of Catalonia, Spain. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Clinical and quality of life questionnaires were given to all the patients (n = 710) undergoing a first coronary bypass in private and public Catalan hospitals, prior to surgery and at six months and one year of follow-up. Quality of life was assessed with the DASI and the SF-36. RESULTS: The rate of clinical events at one year was 23%. The mean quality of life improved to levels slightly below those in general population; with greater changes reported in physical than in mental condition although the latter was less impaired. In 24%, the quality of life scores at one year were below 1.5 standard deviations of those in the general population. Females, patients with comorbidity and those with public health care insurance showed lower quality of life scores. Independent predictors of one-year quality of life included initial quality of life scores, public insurance, comorbidity, gender, age and chronic disease. Postoperative angina and dyspnoea were also associated with quality of life. CONCLUSION: The mean quality of life improves after coronary bypass, although up to one fourth of the patients may have unsatisfactory one-year clinical or quality of life outcome. Female patients, public insurance and comorbidity predict a worse quality of life.

[The clinical practice guidelines of the Sociedad Española de Cardiología on pericardial pathology]. / Guías de práctica clínica de la Sociedad Española de Cardiología en patología pericárdica.

The pericardium is a serous membrane consisting of two layers (parietal and visceral), which may be involved by different infectious, physical, traumatic, or inflammatory agents as well as in metabolic or systemic diseases. The reactions of the pericardium to these insults result in rather nonspecific clinical features, such as the characteristic inflammatory findings in acute pericarditis, the development of pericardial effusion with the possible complication of cardiac tamponade, and a fibrous retractile reaction that may lead to constrictive pericarditis. These phenomena are not mutually exclusive and can be simultaneous or consecutive in the same patient; however, for the sake of clarity they are independently discussed. The aim of the present guidelines is to provide orientation about the management of patients with pericardial disease. Such management should basically rest on the knowledge of the clinical and epidemiological features (such as disease frequency) of the different types of pericardial disease that determine the diagnostic and therapeutic yield of the different invasive pericardial procedures (pericardiocentesis, pericardial biopsy and pericardiectomy), and, therefore, their respective indications. In addition, the indication of the different types of medical therapy are discussed. On the other hand, emphasis is made on the possible limitation of the validity of these guidelines for patients belonging to geographical areas or socioeconomic contexts with different etiologic spectra.

[Investigation methods in clinical cardiology. VI. Evaluation of results (outcomes) and its clinical relevance in cardiology: with a special reference to the quality of life]. / Métodos de investigación de cardiología clínica (VI), La evaluación de resultados (outcomes) y de su relevancia clínica en cardiología: especial referencia a la calidad de vida.

Over the last decade, changes in health care delivery and concern with costs and with dramatic variations in practice between regions, institutions and even physicians at the same institution have led the administrators and health politicians to focus on the outcomes of medical care. The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research was established with the objective of fostering research on the outcomes of medical interventions and on the development of guidelines. The Agency supports studies based not only on standard outcomes such as mortality and morbidity, but also on quality of life and patient satisfaction. The Patient Outcome Research Teams (PORTs) projects are the showcase displays of the Agency, and their goals are to identify and analyze the outcomes and costs of alternative interventions for a given clinical condition, in order to determine the most effective and cost-effective means to prevent, diagnose, treat, or manage it and develop and test methods for reducing inappropriate or unnecessary variations. Three PORTs are focused on the following cardiovascular conditions: acute myocardial infarction, chronic ischemic heart disease and stroke. There are many situations in which randomized clinical trials are not feasible and large-scale observational studies are necessary to generate information about what happens in the real practice. This information deepens the understanding of practical effectiveness as opposed to theoretical efficacy since trials do not always measure all the outcomes of interest to patients and physicians. One way to solve the problem of inaccurate data of observational studies is by establishing a specific registry to measure in an efficient way key patient characteristics, process of care elements and relevant outcomes. The Cardiac Surgery Reporting System is a registry that collects clinical data on all patients undergoing cardiac surgery in New York State. This registry has produced reliable and valid measures of quality and hospitals and cardiac surgery programs throughout New York use this information to improve outcomes for their patients. Health related quality of life can be a useful outcome measure in the assessment of clinical effectiveness. However, there are still many methodological questions regarding the validity and sensitivity of quality of life measurement an optimal study design calls for caution in the interpretation of current results and makes refinement of methodological issues a desirable goal. Nevertheless, apparently valid studies of cardiovascular diseases and interventions using health related quality of life as an outcome measures have been reported where such measures have provided information about undesirable side effects of medications and the impact of the intervention on the health related quality of life. Moreover, some of these studies have identified different patterns of health care as leading to different quality of life outcomes. Thus, quality of life measurement appears as a technology which holds promise for the future assessment of clinical effectiveness.

[Myocardial damage caused by electrical cardioversion]. / Estudio del daño miocárdico causado por la cardioversión eléctrica.

The possible myocardial injury induced by electrical cardioversion in the treatment of supraventricular arrhythmias was analyzed after 45 countershocks of 200 joules and after 6 of 600 joules (total accumulated energy). In all patients myocardial injury was evaluated by serial CK, CK-Mb, and myoglobin determinations and in 48 cases a cardiac gammagraphy with technetium pyrophosphate was also performed. Significant increases in total CK and myoglobin were observed in 2 (4%) patients treated with 200 joules and in 3 (50%) patients receiving 600 joules. CK-Mb was also increased in one patient receiving 200 joules (13.5 U/I) and in one patient treated with 600 joules (27.8 U/I). In all cases technetium gammagraphy was negative.