Renal denervation in resistant hypertension treatment.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Purpose of the study is the assessment of the effectiveness of renal denervation with different types of catheters, as well as its long-term effects, in the patients with resistant hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This single-center prospective study included 81 patients who underwent a renal denervation procedure using 2 types of catheters: monopolar and helical (Medtronic Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota, the USA) between 2015 and 2018. Baseline demographics, clinical, functional and laboratory characteristics of the patients were assessed. A comparative analysis of the dynamics of office systolic and diastolic blood pressure during 5 years of follow-up was carried out. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to study the survival of the patients with resistant hypertension after renal denervation. RESULTS: A total of 81 patients with a mean age of 57.79 ± 9.87 years, of whom 37.04 % were men, were included in the 2-stage study (first stage using monopolar catheters and second stage using spiral catheters). At the time of inclusion, study participants were receiving an average of 4.5 ± 1.4 antihypertensive medications. In 36 (or 44.4 %), the procedure was performed using a monopolar catheter; in 45 (or 55.6 %), a spiral catheter was used. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups of the patients. The analysis established statistically significant changes in the dynamics of office SBP and DBP (p < 0.001) assessed 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years after the renal denervation procedure. The analysis demonstrated a stability in the reduction of office SBP and DBP during the 5-year follow-up. The results of the study showed that the median survival time was 1061 days from the beginning of follow-up (95% CI: 728.03 to 1 393.97 days); the median survival time in the monopolar catheter group was 777 days (95% CI: 692.314 to 861.686) and in the spiral catheter group 1 294 days (95% CI: 713.079 to 1 874.921). FINDINGS: Our results demonstrated the efficiency and safety of renal denervation in both short-term and long-term follow-up using monopolar and spiral catheters in the treatment of uncontrolled hypertension with combined antihypertensive therapy. The most significant is the demonstrated stability of the effect after the procedure. In addition, the survival rate of the patients with resistant hypertension after the intervention has been carried out (Tab. 2, Fig. 3, Ref. 22).

Baseline platelet count in percutaneous coronary intervention: a dose-response meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The nature of the relationship between baseline platelet count and clinical outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is unclear. We undertook dose-response and pairwise meta-analyses to better describe the prognostic value of the initial platelet count and clinical endpoints in patients after PCI. METHODS: A search of PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science (up to 9 October 2021) was performed to identify studies that evaluated the association between platelet count and clinical outcomes following PCI. The primary outcomes of interest were all-cause mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and major bleeding. We performed random-effects pairwise and one-stage dose-response meta-analyses by calculating HRs and 95% CIs. RESULTS: The meta-analysis included 19 studies with 217 459 patients. We report a J-shaped relationship between baseline thrombocyte counts and all-cause death, MACE and major bleeding at follow-up. The risk of haemorrhagic events exceeded the risk of thrombotic events at low platelet counts (<175×109/L), while a predominant ischaemic risk was observed at high platelet counts (>250×109/L). Pairwise meta-analyses revealed a robust link between initial platelet counts and the risk of postdischarge all-cause mortality, major bleeding (for thrombocytopenia: HR 1.39, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.49; HR 1.51, 95% CI 1.15 to 2.00, respectively) and future death from any cause and MACE (thrombocytosis: HR 1.60, 95% CI 1.29 to 1.98; HR 1.47, 95% CI 1.22 to 1.78, respectively). CONCLUSION: Low platelet counts were associated with the predominant bleeding risk, while high platelet counts were only associated with the ischaemic events. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021283270.

The implications of blood pressure targets from the 2018 European Society of Cardiology hypertension guidelines in Asian patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The evidence for optimal blood pressure (BP) targets in Asian patients with hypertension is insufficient and controversial. Western guidelines should be used with caution in clinical practice until there is supporting evidence. OBJECTIVE: Systematically synthesize the evidence on the efficacy of achieving the strict 2018 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guideline BP targets versus standard BP targets in Asian patients. DATA SOURCES: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, the Cochrane Central Register of controlled trials, and additional databases to retrieve relevant Asian studies. STUDY SELECTION: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies that reported clinical endpoints, had a minimal follow-up period of one year and included Asian patients older than 18 years with essential hypertension. DATA EXTRACTION: Two investigators independently conducted the study selection with any discrepancies resolved between team members. DATA SYNTHESIS: We selected 15 studies for analysis (4 RCTs, 7 observational studies, and 4 post-hoc analyses). The evidence for the strict BP targets in elderly patients was insufficient. In middle-aged patients, the meta-analysis of observational studies revealed a significant reduction in major adverse cardiac events (MACCE) (hazard ratio (HR)=0.78; 95% confidence interval (CI: 0.74-0.81). For studies that reported results for patients of any age, the tight systolic BP-lowering therapy was associated with a decrease in MACCE (HR=0.80; 95% CI: 0.69-0.92), stroke (HR=0.82; 95% CI: 0.71-0.94), but not in cardiac events (HR=0.91; 95% CI: 0.72-1.14, P=.41), all-cause (HR=0.80; 95% CI: 0.57-1.13) and cardiovascular mortality (HR=0.73; 95% CI: 0.40-1.33, P=.30). Similar findings were obtained for the strict diastolic BP targets. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide evidence for Asian patients that support the efficacy of the strict antihypertensive treatment with BP targets proposed by the 2018 ESC hypertension guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular events. However, these data were obtained from only observational studies and the results were not confirmed by RCTs, probably due to insufficient power. Therefore, further high-quality RCTs are crucial. LIMITATIONS: Use of aggregated data, the subgroup and meta-regression analyses are inconclusive, limited to English language, unable to estimate summary measures for some outcomes, publication bias difficult to assess, and unclear that results could be extrapolated. REGISTRATION: The protocol registered in PROSPERO (CRD42018115570). CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.

Kazakhstan: coronary and structural heart interventions from 2010 to 2015.

This paper presents data on the nascence and development of the interventional cardiology service in Kazakhstan. It provides details of the structure of the Kazakhstan interventional cardiology service, staff training, the number of coronary and structural heart interventions for the period of 2010-2015, as well as the peculiarities of the capitation payment method. The number of coronary interventions is increasing year by year, though the number of intracoronary imaging techniques and intracoronary flow/pressure techniques remains inadequate. Structural heart interventions are mostly performed at tertiary hospital level, with an ever increasing number of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedures.