Safety and Feasibility of a Novel, Second-Generation Robotic-Assisted System for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: First-in-Human Report.

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the second-generation robotic-assisted system CorPath GRX (Corindus) for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). BACKGROUND: The first-generation CorPath 200 robotic-assisted system for PCI is effective, but is limited by the lack of an active robotic guide-catheter control. The CorPath GRX device enables robotic guide-catheter manipulation, in addition to guidewire and balloon/stent delivery. However, there have been no clinical data reported with this device. METHODS: Consecutive patients with demonstrated obstructive coronary artery disease (>70% stenosis) and clinical indications for PCI were treated with the CorPath GRX system and enrolled in the study. The two co-primary endpoints were clinical procedural success (final TIMI 3 flow, and <30% residual stenosis without in-hospital major adverse cardiac event) and device technical success (robotic clinical procedural success without the need for unplanned manual assistance/conversion). RESULTS: The study enrolled 40 subjects (65.7 ± 11.9 years; 72.5% males; 54 lesions) with a high proportion of American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association type B2/C lesions (77.8%). Clinical procedural success and device technical success rates were 97.5% (n = 39 of 40) and 90.0% (n = 36 of 40), respectively. CONCLUSION: The second-generation CorPath GRX system for robotic-assisted PCI is safe and effective, and achieves high rates of clinical and technical success in a cohort of patients with complex coronary disease.

Association of Blood Pressure Trajectory With Mortality, Incident Cardiovascular Disease, and Heart Failure in the Cardiovascular Health Study.

BACKGROUND: Common blood pressure (BP) trajectories are not well established in elderly persons, and their association with clinical outcomes is uncertain. METHODS: We used hierarchical cluster analysis to identify discrete BP trajectories among 4,067 participants in the Cardiovascular Health Study using repeated BP measures from years 0 to 7. We then evaluated associations of each BP trajectory cluster with all-cause mortality, incident cardiovascular disease (CVD, defined as stroke or myocardial infarction) (N = 2,837), and incident congestive heart failure (HF) (N = 3,633) using Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: Median age was 77 years at year 7. Over a median 9.3 years of follow-up, there were 2,475 deaths, 659 CVD events, and 1,049 HF events. The cluster analysis identified 3 distinct trajectory groups. Participants in cluster 1 (N = 1,838) had increases in both systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BPs, whereas persons in cluster 2 (N = 1,109) had little change in SBP but declines in DBP. Persons in cluster 3 (N = 1,120) experienced declines in both SBP and DBP. After multivariable adjustment, clusters 2 and 3 were associated with increased mortality risk relative to cluster 1 (hazard ratio = 1.21, 95% confidence interval: 1.06-1.37 and hazard ratio = 1.20, 95% confidence interval: 1.05-1.36, respectively). Compared to cluster 1, cluster 3 had higher rates of incident CVD but associations were not statistically significant in demographic-adjusted models (hazard ratio = 1.16, 95% confidence interval: 0.96-1.39). Findings were similar when stratified by use of antihypertensive therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Among community-dwelling elders, distinct BP trajectories were identified by integrating both SBP and DBP. These clusters were found to have differential associations with outcomes.

No association of cryptococcal antigenemia with poor outcomes among antiretroviral therapy-experienced HIV-infected patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

INTRODUCTION: There are limited data on clinical outcomes of ART-experienced patients with cryptococcal antigenemia. We assessed clinical outcomes of a predominantly asymptomatic, ART-experienced cohort of HIV+ patients previously found to have a high (8.4%) prevalence of cryptococcal antigenemia. METHODS: The study took place at All Africa Leprosy, Tuberculosis and Rehabilitative Training Centre and Black Lion Hospital HIV Clinics in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A retrospective study design was used to perform 12-month follow-up of 367 mostly asymptomatic HIV-infected patients (CD4<200 cells/µl) with high levels of antiretroviral therapy use (74%) who were previously screened for cryptococcal antigenemia. Medical chart abstraction was performed approximately one year after initial screening to obtain data on clinic visit history, ART use, CD4 count, opportunistic infections, and patient outcome. We evaluated the association of cryptococcal antigenemia and a composite poor outcome of death and loss to follow-up using logistic regression. RESULTS: Overall, 323 (88%) patients were alive, 8 (2%) dead, and 36 (10%) lost to follow-up. Among the 31 patients with a positive cryptococcal antigen test (titers ≥1∶8) at baseline, 28 were alive (all titers ≤1∶512), 1 dead and 2 lost to follow-up (titers ≥1∶1024). In multivariate analysis, cryptococcal antigenemia was not predictive of a poor outcome (aOR = 1.3, 95% CI 0.3-4.8). A baseline CD4 count <100 cells/µl was associated with an increased risk of a poor outcome (aOR 3.0, 95% CI 1.4-6.7) while an increasing CD4 count (aOR 0.1, 95% CI 0.1-0.3) and receiving antiretroviral therapy at last follow-up visit (aOR 0.1, 95% CI 0.02-0.2) were associated with a reduced risk of a poor outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike prior ART-naïve cohorts, we found that among persons receiving ART and with CD4 counts <200 cells/µl, asymptomatic cryptococcal antigenemia was not predictive of a poor outcome.