The position of renal denervation in treatment of hypertension: an expert consensus statement.

Hypertension is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In the Netherlands, there are approximately 2.8 million people with hypertension. Despite treatment recommendations including lifestyle changes and antihypertensive drugs, most patients do not meet guideline-recommended blood pressure (BP) targets. In order to improve BP control and lower the risk of subsequent cardiovascular events, renal sympathetic denervation (RDN) has been introduced and studied as a non-pharmacological approach. While early data on the efficacy of RDN showed conflicting results, improvements in treatment protocols and study design resulted in robust new evidence supporting the potential of the technology to improve patient care in hypertensive subjects. Recently, 5 randomised sham-controlled trials demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the technology. Modelling studies have further shown that RDN is cost-effective in the Dutch healthcare setting. Given the undisputable disease burden along with the shortcomings of current therapeutic options, we postulate a new, clearly framed indication for RDN as an adjunct in the treatment of hypertension. The present consensus statement summarises current guideline-recommended BP targets, proposed workup and treatment for hypertension, and position of RDN for those patients with primary hypertension who do not meet guideline-recommended BP targets (see central illustration).

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide analysis of the first COVID-19 wave in the Netherlands.

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has put tremendous pressure on healthcare systems. Most transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) centres have adopted different triage systems and procedural strategies to serve highest-risk patients first and to minimise the burden on hospital logistics and personnel. We therefore assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient selection, type of anaesthesia and outcomes after TAVI. METHODS: We used data from the Netherlands Heart Registration to examine all patients who underwent TAVI between March 2020 and July 2020 (COVID cohort), and between March 2019 and July 2019 (pre-COVID cohort). We compared patient characteristics, procedural characteristics and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: We examined 2131 patients who underwent TAVI (1020 patients in COVID cohort, 1111 patients in pre-COVID cohort). EuroSCORE II was comparable between cohorts (COVID 4.5 ± 4.0 vs pre-COVID 4.6 ± 4.2, p = 0.356). The number of TAVI procedures under general anaesthesia was lower in the COVID cohort (35.2% vs 46.5%, p < 0.001). Incidences of stroke (COVID 2.7% vs pre-COVID 1.7%, p = 0.134), major vascular complications (2.3% vs 3.4%, p = 0.170) and permanent pacemaker implantation (10.0% vs 9.4%, p = 0.634) did not differ between cohorts. Thirty-day and 150-day mortality were comparable (2.8% vs 2.2%, p = 0.359 and 5.2% vs 5.2%, p = 0.993, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, patient characteristics and outcomes after TAVI were not different than before the pandemic. This highlights the fact that TAVI procedures can be safely performed during the COVID-19 pandemic, without an increased risk of complications or mortality.

Report on outcomes of valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve implantation and redo surgical aortic valve replacement in the Netherlands.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate real-world outcomes of patients with degenerated biological aortic valve prostheses who had undergone valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve implantation (ViV-TAVI) or reoperative surgical aortic valve replacement (redo-SAVR) in the Netherlands. METHODS: Patients who had undergone ViV-TAVI or redo-SAVR for a degenerated biological aortic valve prosthesis in the Netherlands between January 2014 and December 2018 were eligible for this retrospective study. Patients with a prior homograft, active endocarditis or mechanical aortic valve prosthesis were excluded. Patients were matched using the propensity score. The primary endpoint was a composite of 30-day all-cause mortality and in-hospital postoperative stroke. Secondary endpoints were all-cause mortality at different time points, in-hospital postoperative stroke, pacemaker implantation and redo procedures within one year. Baseline characteristics and outcome data were collected from the Netherlands Heart Registration. RESULTS: From 16 cardiac centres, 653 patients were included in the study (374 ViV-TAVI and 279 redo-SAVR). European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation I (EuroSCORE I) was higher in ViV-TAVI patients (19.4, interquartile range (IQR) 13.3-27.9 vs 13.8, IQR 8.3-21.9, p < 0.01). After propensity score matching, 165 patients were matched with acceptable covariate balance. In the matched cohorts, the primary endpoint was not significantly different for ViV-TAVI and redo-SAVR patients (odds ratio 1.30, 95% confidence interval 0.57-3.02). Procedural, 30-day and 1­year all-cause mortality rates, incidence of in-hospital postoperative stroke, pacemaker implantation and redo procedures within one year were also similar between cohorts. CONCLUSION: Patients with degenerated aortic bioprostheses treated with ViV-TAVI or redo-SAVR have similar mortality and morbidity.

Better survival after transcatheter aortic valve replacement by process improvements.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to assess the effects on procedural, 30-day, and 1­year all-cause mortality by a newly introduced quality improvement strategy in patients after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). METHODS: In October 2015, a coherent set of quality improving interventions with respect to patient geriatric screening, general diagnostic examination and safety of the procedure was implemented at a single centre in the Netherlands. Patients undergoing TAVR in 2013-2018 were included for retrospective analysis. Mortality was assessed in the pre-quality improvement strategy cohort (January 2013 to October 2015; cohort A) and in the post-quality improvement strategy cohort (November 2015 to December 2018; cohort B). Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the influence of patient and procedural characteristics on the results of the quality improvement strategy in terms of procedural, 30-day, and 1­year all-cause mortality. RESULTS: In total, 806 patients were analysed with 274 patients in cohort A and 532 patients in cohort B. After introduction of the quality improvement strategy, procedural (4.4% to 1.3%, p < 0.01), 30-day (8.4% to 2.7%, p < 0.01) and 1­year (16.4% to 8.5%, p < 0.01) all-cause mortality significantly decreased. Multivariate regression analysis showed that the quality improvement strategy also significantly reduced 30-day (odds ratio [OR] 0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.09-0.42) and 1­year (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.24-0.61) all-cause mortality if corrected for patient characteristics. CONCLUSION: Structural meetings on evaluation of outcomes highlight potential areas for improvement and subsequent outcome-based quality improvement initiatives can result in lower procedural, 30-day, and 1­year all-cause mortality.

Indications for an early invasive strategy in NSTE-ACS patients.

An early invasive strategy in patients who have acute coronary syndrome without ST-elevation (NSTE-ACS) can improve clinical outcome in high-risk subgroups. According to the current guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the majority of NSTE-ACS patients are classified as "high-risk". We propose to prioritise patients with a global registry of acute coronary events (GRACE) risk score >140 over patients with isolated troponin rise or electrocardiographic changes and a GRACE risk score <140. We also acknowledge that same-day transfer for all patients at a high risk is not necessary in the Netherlands since the majority of Dutch cardiology departments are equipped with a catheterisation laboratory where diagnostic coronary angiography is routinely performed in NSTE-ACS patients. Therefore, same-day transfer should be restricted to true high-risk patients (in addition to those NSTE-ACS patients with very high-risk (VHR) criteria) in centres without coronary angiography capabilities.

Sex differences in characteristics and outcome in acute coronary syndrome patients in the Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: Sex differences in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have been reported, but little is known about the situation in the Netherlands. METHODS: This registry is a merge of available data on ACS patients in the electronic data capture systems of 11 centres with 24/7 interventional cardiology services. We included patients >18 years undergoing a cardiac catheterisation between 2010-2012. We evaluated sex differences in clinical and procedural characteristics and 1­year mortality. RESULTS: A total of 29,265 ACS patients (8,720 women and 20,545 men) were registered. Women were on average 4.5 years older (68.5 vs 63.0 years, p < 0.001) and had a higher prevalence of hypertension (62.7 vs 49.8%, p < 0.001) and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (9.6 vs 6.8%, p < 0.001) than men. Women less often presented with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (43.7% vs 47.6%, p < 0.001) and appeared to have less extensive coronary artery disease than men. Women less often underwent coronary angiography by radial access (52.5 vs 55.9%, p < 0.001). One-year mortality was higher in women than in men (7.3% and 5.6%, p < 0.001). More specific, the relationship between sex and mortality was age-dependent and showed higher mortality in women ≤71 years, but lower mortality in older women compared with men (p-interaction <0.001). CONCLUSION: We found differences in clinical and procedural characteristics and outcome between women and men admitted for ACS, which are in line with other Western countries. The limitations of our registry, based on existing local databases, can be overcome by the use of the prospective Netherlands Heart Registry that is currently in development.

Reduced number of cardiovascular events and increased cost-effectiveness by genotype-guided antiplatelet therapy in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions in the Netherlands.

AIM: This study explores clinical outcome in cytochrome P450 2C19 (CYP2C19)-related poor metaboliser patients treated with either clopidogrel or prasugrel after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and investigates whether this could be cost-effective. METHODS AND RESULTS: This single-centre, observational study included 3260 patients scheduled for elective PCI between October 2010 and June 2013 and followed for adverse cardiovascular events until October 2014. Post PCI, CYP2C19 poor metaboliser patients were treated with clopidogrel or prasugrel, in addition to aspirin. In total, 32 poor metabolisers were treated with clopidogrel and 41 with prasugrel. The number of adverse cardiovascular events, defined as death from cardiovascular cause, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, every second visit to the catheterisation room for re-PCI in the same artery, or stroke, within 1.5 years of PCI, was significantly higher in the CYP2C19 poor metaboliser group treated with clopidogrel (n = 10, 31 %) compared with the poor metaboliser group treated with prasugrel (n = 2, 5 %) (p = 0.003). Costs per gained quality-adjusted life years (QALY) were estimated, showing that genotype-guided post-PCI treatment with prasugrel could be cost-effective with less than € 10,000 per gained QALY. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that for CYP2C19-related poor metabolisers prasugrel may be more effective than clopidogrel to prevent major adverse cardiovascular events after PCI and this approach could be cost-effective.

Recent insights into the treatment of stable CAD : FFR-guided PCI vs. medical therapy.

Cornerstones in the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD) are medical therapy and coronary revascularization. In acute settings (ST-elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has proven to improve prognosis. The optimal treatment of stable CAD is subject to great controversy. By using fractional flow reserve to guide PCI, it is possible to stent only those lesions that induce myocardial ischemia. This review aims to reflect on the use of FFR-guided PCI in stable CAD.

Nitric oxide contributes to the regulation of vasomotor tone but does not modulate O(2)-consumption in exercising swine.

OBJECTIVE: The role of nitric oxide (NO) in the regulation of vasomotor tone and tissue O(2)-consumption is incompletely understood. We therefore determined the contribution of endogenous NO to regulation of systemic, pulmonary and coronary vasomotor tone and myocardial (MV(O(2))) and whole body (BV(O(2))) O(2)-consumption in exercising swine. METHODS AND RESULTS: Exercise (1-5 km/h) up to 85% of maximum heart rate in 11 swine produced a 4-fold increase in BV(O(2)), which was accommodated for by 2-fold increases in both cardiac output (CO) and body O(2)-extraction. The NO synthase inhibitor N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine (NLA, 20 mg/kg, i.v.) increased mean aortic pressure by 30 mmHg both at rest and during exercise, due to a decrease in systemic vascular conductance from 37+/-2 to 22+/-1 ml/min mmHg(-1) at rest and from 88+/-3 to 60+/-3 ml/min mmHg(-1) at 5 km/h (all P< or =0.05 versus control). NLA produced vasoconstriction at rest and at 5 km/h in virtually all regional beds but did not affect the exercise-induced redistribution of CO. NLA increased mean pulmonary artery pressure from 15+/-1 to 21+/-1 mmHg at rest and from 30+/-2 to 40+/-2 mmHg at 5 km/h, due to a decrease in pulmonary vascular conductance (all P< or =0.05). BV(O(2)) remained unchanged and consequently the decrease in CO resulted in a compensatory increase in O(2)-extraction. NLA in a dose of 40 mg/kg produced similar responses. NLA had no significant effect on myocardial O(2)-demand or MV(O(2)) either at rest or during exercise, but decreased coronary vascular conductance which resulted in a decrease in coronary venous PO(2) from 24.5+/-1.1 to 21.9+/-0.8 mmHg at rest and from 23.5+/-0.5 to 21.0+/-0.6 mmHg at 5 km/h (all P< or =0. 05). CONCLUSIONS: Endogenous NO dilates the systemic, pulmonary and coronary vascular bed, but does not modify MV(O(2)) or BV(O(2)) in swine at rest and during exercise.