Results from the "Me & My Heart" (eMocial) Study: a Randomized Evaluation of a New Smartphone-Based Support Tool to Increase Therapy Adherence of Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated whether patient support, administered via an electronic device-based app, increased adherence to treatment and lifestyle changes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) treated with ticagrelor in routine clinical practice. METHODS: Patients (aged ≥ 18 years) with diagnosed ACS treated with ticagrelor co-administered with low-dose acetylsalicylic acid were randomized into an active group (with support tool app for medication intake reminders and motivational messages) and a control group (without support tool app), and observed for 48 weeks (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02615704). Patients were asked to complete the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and Lifestyle Changes Questionnaire (LSQ), and were assessed for blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) at baseline (visit 1) and at the end of the study (visit 2). Medication adherence was measured using the Brilique Adherence Questionnaire (BAQ). RESULTS: Patients (N = 676) were randomized to an active (n = 342) or a control (n = 334) group. BAQ data were available for 174 patients in the active group and 174 patients in the control group. Over the 48-week period, mean (standard deviation) adherence for the active and control groups was 96.4% (13.2%) and 91.5% (23.1%), respectively (effect of app intervention, p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in blood pressure and BMI between visits. General improvements in SF-36 and LSQ scores were observed for both groups. CONCLUSION: The patient support tool app was associated with significant improvements in patient-reported treatment adherence compared with a data collection app alone in patients prescribed ticagrelor for ACS.

Obesity and Impaired Metabolic Health Increase Risk of COVID-19-Related Mortality in Young and Middle-Aged Adults to the Level Observed in Older People: The LEOSS Registry.

Advanced age, followed by male sex, by far poses the greatest risk for severe COVID-19. An unresolved question is the extent to which modifiable comorbidities increase the risk of COVID-19-related mortality among younger patients, in whom COVID-19-related hospitalization strongly increased in 2021. A total of 3,163 patients with SARS-COV-2 diagnosis in the Lean European Open Survey on SARS-CoV-2-Infected Patients (LEOSS) cohort were studied. LEOSS is a European non-interventional multi-center cohort study established in March 2020 to investigate the epidemiology and clinical course of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Data from hospitalized patients and those who received ambulatory care, with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, were included in the study. An additive effect of obesity, diabetes and hypertension on the risk of mortality was observed, which was particularly strong in young and middle-aged patients. Compared to young and middle-aged (18-55 years) patients without obesity, diabetes and hypertension (non-obese and metabolically healthy; n = 593), young and middle-aged adult patients with all three risk parameters (obese and metabolically unhealthy; n = 31) had a similar adjusted increased risk of mortality [OR 7.42 (95% CI 1.55-27.3)] as older (56-75 years) non-obese and metabolically healthy patients [n = 339; OR 8.21 (95% CI 4.10-18.3)]. Furthermore, increased CRP levels explained part of the elevated risk of COVID-19-related mortality with age, specifically in the absence of obesity and impaired metabolic health. In conclusion, the modifiable risk factors obesity, diabetes and hypertension increase the risk of COVID-19-related mortality in young and middle-aged patients to the level of risk observed in advanced age.

Short-term outcome and characteristics of critical care for nontrauma patients in the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: Emergency medical care for critically ill nontrauma patients (CINT) varies between different emergency departments (ED) and healthcare systems, while resuscitation of trauma patients is always performed within the ED. In many ED CINT are treated and stabilized while in many German smaller hospitals CINT are transferred directly to the intensive care unit (ICU) without performing critical care measures in the ED. Little is known about the resuscitation room management of CINT regarding patient characteristics and outcome although bigger hospitals perform ED resuscitation of CINT in routine care. Against this background we conducted this retrospective analysis of CINT treated by an ED resuscitation room concept in a German 756 bed teaching hospital. METHODS: The collective of CINT treated within the ED resuscitation room (1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019) was analyzed after ethical approval. After each resuscitation room operation, the team leader filled out a standardized paper-based questionnaire and qualified the patient as a resuscitation room patient this way. Only patients who underwent invasive procedures and were admitted to ICU or died in the ED were included. Patient characteristics, performed critical care measures, short-term outcomes and the comparison of admission characteristics between survivors and non-survivors were evaluated. Additionally, the accordance of ED admission diagnoses and discharge diagnoses were analyzed. RESULTS: Overall, 243 of 19,854 ED patients (1.22%) were treated in the resuscitation room. After exclusion of trauma patients, 193 (0.97%) CINT were included. Overall mortality was 29% (n = 56), 24­h mortality was 13% (n = 25). Patient characteristics (vital signs, blood gas analysis) differed significantly between survivors and nonsurvivors except for respiratory rate and pain scale. An excerpt of conducted resuscitation room measures was as follows: arterial line n = 78 (40%); noninvasive ventilation n = 60 (31%); endotracheal intubation n = 56 (29%); cardiopulmonary resuscitation n = 19 (10%), central venous line n = 8 (4%). The number of conducted measures differed between survivors and nonsurvivors (median and interquartile range, IQR): 4 (IQR 2) vs. 4 (IQR 3) p = 0.0453. The length of ED stay was 148.2 ± 202.7 min until the patient was admitted to an ICU or died within the ED. ED admission diagnoses matched with hospital discharge diagnoses in 78%. CONCLUSION: The observed mortality was high and was comparable to patient collectives with septic shock. Nonsurvivors showed significantly more impaired vital parameters and blood gas analysis parameters. Vital parameters together with blood gas analysis might enable ED risk stratification of CINT. Resuscitation room management enables immediate stabilization and diagnostic work-up of CINT even when no ICU bed is available. Furthermore, optimal allocation to specialized ICUs can probably be enabled more accurately after a first diagnostic work-up; however, although a first diagnostic work-up including laboratory tests and computed tomography in many cases was performed, ED admission and hospital discharge diagnoses matched only in 78%.

Patient delay and benefit of timely reperfusion in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: In patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), it is unknown how patient delay modulates the beneficial effects of timely reperfusion. AIMS: To assess the prognostic significance of a contact-to-balloon time of less than 90 min on in-hospital mortality in different categories of symptom-onset-to-first-medical-contact (S2C) times. METHODS: A total of 20 005 consecutive patients from the Feedback Intervention and Treatment Times in ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (FITT-STEMI) programme treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were included. RESULTS: There were 1554 deaths (7.8%) with a J-shaped relationship between mortality and S2C time. Mortality was 10.0% in patients presenting within 1 hour, and 4.9%, 6.0% and 7.3% in patient groups with longer S2C intervals of 1-2 hours, 2-6 hours and 6-24 hours, respectively. Patients with a short S2C interval of less than 1 hour (S2C<60 min) had the highest survival benefit from timely reperfusion with PCI within 90 min (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.31, p<0.0001) as compared with the three groups with longer S2C intervals of 1 hour

Impact of COVID-19 outbreak on regional STEMI care in Germany.

AIMS: To assess the impact of the lockdown due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on key quality indicators for the treatment of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. METHODS: Data were obtained from 41 hospitals participating in the prospective Feedback Intervention and Treatment Times in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (FITT-STEMI) study, including 15,800 patients treated for acute STEMI from January 2017 to the end of March 2020. RESULTS: There was a 12.6% decrease in the total number of STEMI patients treated at the peak of the pandemic in March 2020 as compared to the mean number treated in the March months of the preceding years. This was accompanied by a significant difference among the modes of admission to hospitals (p = 0.017) with a particular decline in intra-hospital infarctions and transfer patients from other hospitals, while the proportion of patients transported by emergency medical service (EMS) remained stable. In EMS-transported patients, predefined quality indicators, such as percentages of pre-hospital ECGs (both 97%, 95% CI = - 2.2-2.7, p = 0.846), direct transports from the scene to the catheterization laboratory bypassing the emergency department (68% vs. 66%, 95% CI = - 4.9-7.9, p = 0.641), and contact-to-balloon-times of less than or equal to 90 min (58.3% vs. 57.8%, 95%CI = - 6.2-7.2, p = 0.879) were not significantly altered during the COVID-19 crisis, as was in-hospital mortality (9.2% vs. 8.5%, 95% CI = - 3.2-4.5, p = 0.739). CONCLUSIONS: Clinically important indicators for STEMI management were unaffected at the peak of COVID-19, suggesting that the pre-existing logistic structure in the regional STEMI networks preserved high-quality standards even when challenged by a threatening pandemic. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00794001.

Usefulness of the updated logistic clinical SYNTAX score after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with prior coronary artery bypass graft surgery: Insights from the GLOBAL LEADERS trial.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the prognostic utility of the anatomical CABG SYNTAX and logistic clinical SYNTAX scores for mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with prior coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG). BACKGROUND: The anatomical SYNTAX score evaluated the anatomical complexity of coronary artery disease and helped predict the prognosis of patients undergoing PCI. The anatomical CABG SYNTAX score was derived from the anatomical SYNTAX score in patients with prior CABG, whilst the logistic clinical SYNTAX score was developed by incorporating clinical factors into the anatomical SYNTAX score. METHODS: We calculated the anatomical CABG SYNTAX score and logistic clinical SYNTAX score in 205 patients in the GLOBAL LEADERS trial. The predictive abilities of these scores for 2-year all-cause mortality were evaluated. RESULTS: Using the median scores as categorical thresholds between low and high score groups, the logistic clinical SYNTAX score was able to discriminate the risk of 2-year mortality, unlike the anatomical CABG SYNTAX score. The logistic clinical SYNTAX was significantly better at predicting 2-year mortality, compared to the anatomical CABG SYNTAX score, as evidenced by AUC values in receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis (0.806 vs. 0.582, p < .001) and integrated discrimination improvement (0.121, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The logistic clinical SYNTAX score was superior to the anatomical CABG SYNTAX score in predicting 2-year mortality.

[Policy paper nuclear cardiology - update 2018 - Current status of clinical practice]. / Positionspapier Nuklearkardiologie ­ Update 2018.

The joint position paper of the working community "Cardiovascular Nuclear Medicine" of the German Society of Nuclear Medicine (DGN) and the working group "Nuclear Cardiology Diagnostics" of the German Cardiac Society (DKG) updates the former 2009 paper. It is the purpose of this paper to provide an overview about the application fields, the state-of-the-art and the current value of nuclear cardiology imaging. The topics covered are chronic coronary artery disease, including viability imaging, furthermore cardiomyopathies, infective endocarditis, cardiac sarcoidosis and amyloidosis.

[Myokard-Perfusions-SPECT. Myocardial perfusion SPECT - Update S1 guideline]. / Myokard-Perfusions-SPECT. Update S1-Leitlinie1.

The S1 guideline for myocardial perfusion SPECT has been published by the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF) and is valid until 2/2022. This paper is a short summary with comments on all chapters and subchapters wich were modified and amended.

Prospective, randomised trial of the time dependent antiplatelet effects of 500 mg and 250 mg acetylsalicylic acid i. v. and 300 mg p. o. in ACS (ACUTE).

Little is known about the onset of action after intravenous or oral administration of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). The aim of the study was to compare intravenous 250 or 500 mg acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) with oral 300 mg in ASA naïve patients with ACS concerning the onset of antiplatelet effects measured by time dependent thromboxane inhibition. A total of 270 patients with ACS < 24 hours were randomised into one of three treatment arms comprising administration of a single dose of ASA as soon as possible after admission. The primary endpoint was platelet inhibition assessed by measurement of arachidonic acid (AA)-induced platelet thromboxane release (TXB2) 5 minutes (min) after study drug administration. Both 250 mg and 500 mg ASA i. v. inhibited TXB2 formation nearly completely (geometric means: from 581.7 and 573.9 ng/ml at baseline to 3.9 and 3.1 ng/ml at 5 min, respectively) compared to 300 mg oral ASA (geometric means: from 652.0 to 223.7 ng/ml) (p-value, ANCOVA: < 0.0001). Similar results were obtained for inhibition of AA-induced platelet aggregation (Multiplate ASPItest; from means 86.41 and 85.72 U to 23.04 and 20.57 U at 5 min, respectively) compared to 300 mg oral ASA from mean 87.18 to 75.56 U (p-value, ANCOVA: <0.0001). The rate of bleedings was low and comparable between the groups. In summary, the administration of a single dose of 250 or 500 mg ASA IV compared to 300 mg orally is associated with a faster and more complete inhibition of thromboxane generation and platelet aggregation. Bleeding complications were comparable between the groups.

Clinical outcome after saphenous vein stenting with Taxus Liberté stent: results from the OLYMPIA Registry (TAXUS Liberté Postapproval Global Program).

We evaluated the incidence of clinical events after implantation of the TAXUS Liberté paclitaxel-eluting stent in saphenous vein graft (SVG) lesions in an unselected patient population. The OLYMPIA (TAXUS Liberté Post-Approval Global Registry) program gathered data on 21 954 patients receiving at least 1 TAXUS Liberté stent, including 345 patients with SVG lesions. All cardiac events were monitored with independent adjudication of end points. Patients enrolled at procedure started with no mandated inclusion/exclusion criteria. In SVG-OLYMPIA (n = 345), baseline comorbidities/complex disease were more frequent than the rest of the OLYMPIA (n = 21 560). SVG-OLYMPIA had similar cardiac death, target vessel revascularization, and definitive stent thrombosis rates than the rest of OLYMPIA. Despite higher baseline risk, the SVG-OLYMPIA had similar 12-month clinical outcome than the rest of the OLYMPIA registry, confirming the safety and efficacy of the TAXUS Liberté stent in this high-risk group.

Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy in Germany in 2009: utilization and state of the practice.

PURPOSE: Since 2006, the working group Cardiovascular Nuclear Medicine of the German Society of Nuclear Medicine, in cooperation with the working group Nuclear Cardiology of the German Cardiac Society, has been surveying the utilization and technical realization of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) in Germany. This paper presents the results of the reporting year 2009. METHODS: A total of 291 centres participated in the inquiry, including 179 private practices (PP), 86 hospitals (HO) and 26 university hospitals (UH). RESULTS: MPS of 98,103 patients were reported. The MPS numbers per million population (pmp) were estimated at 2,360; 76% of the MPS were performed in PP, 17% in HO and 7% in UH. The ratio of MPS to coronary angiography to revascularization was 0.5 to 2.3 to 1. Data from 134 centres which participated in the surveys from 2005 to 2009 showed a decrease in MPS utilization of 2.2%. Nearly half of the MPS were requested by ambulatory care cardiologists. Of all MPS studies, 89% were conducted with (99m)Tc perfusion tracers. Ergometry was the preferred stress test (69%). Adenosine was used in 16%, adenosine + exercise in 7%, dipyridamole in 3%, dipyridamole + exercise in 5% and dobutamine in <1%. Gated single proton emission computed tomography (SPECT) acquisition was performed in 56% of all rest MPS and in 56% of all stress MPS. Both rest and stress MPS were ECG gated in 41%. Only 33% of the centres always performed a quantification of the perfusion studies, whereas 51% did not apply any quantification; 4% of the MPS studies were corrected for attenuation, and 17 centres used transmission sources of 12 CT-based systems. CONCLUSION: A scan activity of 2,380 MPS pmp is in the upper third of the European range. The ratios to coronary angiography and to revascularization suggest that angiography dominates diagnosis and management of coronary artery disease (CAD). The clinical and technical realizations reveal that the predominant goals of further trainings to optimize MPS are in the field of gated SPECT and quantitative perfusion SPECT.

[Position paper nuclear cardiology: update 2008]. / Positionsbericht Nuklearkardiologie Update 2008: Aktueller Stand der szintigraphischen Methodik.

Nuclear cardiology is well established in clinical diagnostic algorithms for many years. This is an update 2008 of the first common position paper of the German Association of Nuclear Medicine and the German Association of Cardiology, Heart and Circulation Research published in 2001 aiming at an overview of state-of-the-art scintigraphic methods.

[Development of systemic lupus erythematosus with focal proliferative lupus nephritis during anti-TNF-alpha therapy for psoriatic arthritis]. / Entwicklung eines systemischen Lupus erythematodes mit fokaler proliferativer Lupusnephritis unter einer Anti-TNF-alpha-Therapie bei Psoriasisarthritis.

BACKGROUND: Treatment with tumor necrosis factor-(TNF-)alpha-blocking agents is used in a variety of autoimmune diseases. In anti-TNF-alpha therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, occasionally, the development of autoantibodies as well as lupus-like syndromes have been observed, rarely, glomerulonephritides are also induced. The authors first report the development of lupus erythematosus with renal involvement in a patient with psoriatic arthritis during therapy with the soluble TNF-alpha receptor etanercept. CASE REPORT: A 70-year-old patient with long-standing psoriatic arthritis developed pleuritis, pericarditis, as well as marked arthralgias during therapy with etanercept. Laboratory investigation showed markedly increased parameters of inflammation, antinuclear antibodies (ANA), a proteinuria of 3.2 g/day, mild impairment of renal function, as well as a nephritic urinary sediment. A subsequently performed renal biopsy was diagnostic for focal proliferative lupus nephritis. After withdrawal of etanercept and initiation of a cyclophosphamide pulse therapy in combination with oral steroids, parameters of inflammation and renal function rapidly normalized; pleuritis and pericarditis were not detectable anymore. CONCLUSION: Anti-TNF-alpha therapy in patients with psoriatic arthritis or other autoimmune diseases may lead to induction of systemic lupus with renal involvement.

Identification of central venous hemodialysis catheter-related infection by a semiquantitative culture method.

BACKGROUND: Central venous hemodialysis catheter-related infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the hemodialysis (HD) population. Due to an impaired immune response, symptoms and signs of infection may not be obvious, and thus bacteremia is often diagnosed and treated protractedly. In contrast, induction of the acute phase response is frequently observed in HD patients even without infection. Moreover, positive catheter cultures may result from contamination, asymptomatic colonization or infection. The aim of the present study was to compare the number of colonies from HD catheter tips, with symptoms and signs of infection in HD patients. METHODS: In a 10-year, single-center study, 53 HD patients (29 men, 24 women; mean age 66 +/- 10 years) who had their dialysis catheters removed were divided into 3 groups according to the number of colonies growing after rolling the catheter tip across blood agar (group I: <15 colonies [n=22], II: 15-50 colonies [n=15], III: >50 colonies [n=16]). RESULTS: The maximum white blood cell (WBC) count did not differ significantly between patients with low- and high-density colonization (group I: 11.746 +/- 9.680 WBC/microL vs. group III: 13.479 +/- 6.252 WBC/microL, p=NS) while maximum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were higher in patients with high-density colonization (group I: 8.6 +/- 6.8 vs. group III: 19.2 +/- 12.2 mg/dL, p<0.05). Density of bacterial colonization was associated with the maximum body temperature (group I: 37.6 degrees C +/- 1.1 degrees C vs. 38.7 degrees C +/- 0.9 degrees C, p<0.05). Moreover patients with high-density colonization showed increased bacteremia (group I: 33% vs. group III: 93%, p<0.01) as well as an increased mortality due to septicemia (group I: 9% vs. group III: 50%, p<0.01). Patients of group II exhibited intermediate values in all analyses. CONCLUSION: The semiquantitative culture technique can help to differentiate between contamination and infection of central venous HD catheters and provides important prognostic information in dialysis patients.

Advantage of sirolimus-eluting stents compared to intracoronary radiation therapy 30 months after treatment of in-stent restenosis.

AIMS: Sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) have been shown during short follow-up periods to be effective for treatment of in-stent restenosis (ISR). This study evaluated the 30-months clinical efficacy after SES for treatment of ISR in comparison with intracoronary radiation therapy (IRT). METHOD AND RESULTS: Seventy-two consecutive ISR lesions in native coronary arteries (<30 mm lesion length, reference diameter <3.5 mm) of 72 patients were treated with SES. SES were used in 16 lesions after failed IRT and in 56 lesions for first time ISR. Seventy-two patients with 72 lesions from a prospective registry of 141 patients treated with IRT (beta-radiation) were matched for diabetes, reference vessel diameter, lesion length, and pattern of ISR to present the control group. At 6-months in-stent late loss was 0.29+/-0.48 vs 0.53+/-0.63 mm for the SES group compared to the IRT group (p=0.025). Target lesion revascularisation (TLR) at 12 month follow-up was performed in 7 lesions (10%) after SES and in 17 lesions (24%) after IRT (P=0.025). TLR rate at 30-months was 13% in the SES group vs 32% in the IRT group (P=0.008). MACE (death, myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularisation) at 30-months was observed in 13 patients (18%) in the SES group and in 25 patients (35%) in the IRT group (P=0.024). Considering only patients treated with SES for first-time ISR, TLR rate was 3.5% at 30-months. In the 16 patients treated with SES after failed IRT TLR rate was 44% at 30-months. CONCLUSIONS: Thirty month clinical follow-up of patients treated with SES for first time ISR is favourable compared to follow-up after IRT. However, use of SES after IRT failure is associated with a high rate of recurrent and potentially late treatment failure.

Long-term assessment of a novel biodegradable paclitaxel-eluting coronary polylactide stent.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess technical feasibility, biocompatibility, and impact on coronary stenosis of a new biodegradable paclitaxel-loaded polylactide stent. Due to high rates of in-stent restenosis and permanent nature of metal stent implants, synthetic polymers have been proposed as surrogate materials for stents and local delivery systems for drugs. Paclitaxel was shown to inhibit vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration. METHODS AND RESULTS: A novel biodegradable double-helical stent was manufactured using controlled expansion of saturated polymers (CESP) for the moulding of a bioresorbable poly(D,L)-lactic acid (PDLLA). A modified balloon catheter for stent deployment was developed according to the mechanical stent properties. Twelve paclitaxel-loaded (170 microg) polylactide stents, 12 unloaded polylactide stents, and 12 316L bare metal stents were deployed in porcine coronary arteries of 36 animals. Six pigs of each group were sacrificed after 3 weeks and 3 months, respectively, for every setting. Drug release kinetics as well as histomorphometrical and histopathological analyses were performed. A slow paclitaxel release kinetic for more than 2 months and therapeutic tissue concentrations were demonstrated. Coronary stenosis after implantation of paclitaxel-loaded stents (30+/-5% or 49+/-4%) was significantly inhibited compared to unloaded PDLLA stents (65+/-10%, P=0.021 or 71+/-4%, P=0.004) and metal stents (53+/-6% or 68+/-8%, P=0.029 and P=0.020) after 3 weeks or 3 months. Early complete endothelialisation was shown. Nevertheless, a local inflammatory response to the polylactide as a result of the polymer resorption process was observed. CONCLUSIONS: This novel polylactide stent showed sufficient mechanic stability, and by incorporation of paclitaxel, a significant potential to reduce restenosis development after vascular intervention was seen.

Imaging techniques for the assessment of myocardial hibernation. Report of a Study Group of the European Society of Cardiology.

This report of an ESC Study Group reviews current knowledge on myocardial hibernation and relevant imaging techniques, and provides an algorithm for investigation and management when a patient presents with ischaemic left ventricular dysfunction. It covers the definitions of myocardial viability, stunning and hibernation, it reviews the morphological findings in hibernation and it describes relevant clinical settings. The imaging and other techniques that are reviewed are electrocardiography, positron-emitting and single photon-emitting scintigraphic imaging, echocardiography, radionuclide angiocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray transmission tomography, invasive X-ray angiocardiography and electromechanical mapping. The evidence for the techniques to predict improvement of regional and global function after revascularisation is summarised and patient symptoms and clinical outcome are also considered. Each technique is classified in its ability to assess myocardial viability, function and perfusion and also for their roles in the assessment of the patient with ischaemic left ventricular dysfunction who is asymptomatic or who has angina or heart failure. A simplified clinical algorithm describes the initial assessment of left ventricular function, then viability and then perfusion reserve allowing regions of myocardium to be characterised as transmural scar, intramural scar, hibernation or ischaemia.

Angiographic outcome in multivessel disease (GABI II study) using new coronary device interventions and comparison with GABI I trial results.

Percutaneous coronary interventions using stents were investigated in patients with multivessel disease. Acute and long-term results were compared with those of the German Angioplasty Bypass Surgery Investigation trial in a prospective multicenter study. The study included 134 patients in whom 277 lesions were treated. Angiographic success and procedural success were achieved in 268 of 277 lesions (97%) and 118 of 134 patients (88%), respectively. Control angiography performed in 90 of 118 eligible patients (76%) exhibited restenosis in 43 of 182 lesions (24%). Multivariate regression analysis found that a diffuse lesion, the lesion and stent length, and the final luminal diameter were predictive for restenosis. Thus, immediate and long-term results of multivessel coronary intervention utilizing stents were improved compared to percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty of multivessel lesions. However, there is still need for improvement of long-term results, especially in particular lesion subgroups.

A randomized trial of polytetrafluoroethylene-membrane-covered stents compared with conventional stents in aortocoronary saphenous vein grafts.

We compared a conventional stent (Jostent Flex, Jomed GmbH, Rangendingen, Germany) with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-membrane-covered stent (Jostent Stentgraft) in patients undergoing intervention of a stenosis in an obstructed vein graft. The use of stents improved results of percutaneous revascularization of obstructed vein grafts, but did not demonstrate the reduced elevated restenosis rate. In addition, long-term clinical event rate is still high compared with intervention in native vessels. Observational studies suggested that stents covered with a PTFE membrane might be associated with a low complication and restenosis rate in venous bypass grafts. This prospective multicenter study included a total of 211 patients who were randomly assigned to receive either a Flex stent or Stentgraft. The primary end point was binary restenosis rate at six months by core lab quantitative coronary angiography. Acute success and procedural events were comparable between the two groups. Restenosis rate was not significantly different between the Flex (20%) and the Stentgraft (29%) groups (p = 0.15), although there was a nonsignificant trend toward a higher late occlusion rate in the Stentgraft group (7% vs. 16%, p = 0.069) at follow-up. Likewise, after a mean observation period of 14 months, cumulative event rates (death, myocardial infarction, or target lesion revascularization) were comparable in the two groups (31% vs. 31%, p = 0.93). This controlled trial does not indicate a superiority of the PTFE-membrane-covered Stentgraft compared with a conventional stent with respect to acute results, restenosis, or clinical event rates.

Expression patterns of integrins on quiescent and invasive smooth muscle cells and impact on cell locomotion.

Migration and invasion of human arterial smooth muscle cells (haSMCs) are essential steps during the development of atherosclerosis, restenosis, and transplant vasculopathy. The molecular mechanisms leading to these processes are only incompletely understood. Due to their contact to the surrounding extracellular matrix, integrins have been shown to be essentially involved in cell locomotion. Therefore, the function of integrins during this process was analyzed in an in vitro model which was based on the defined quiescent and invasive phenotypes of human haSMCs induced by cell culture conditions. Flow-cytometric analysis of integrin expression between both phenotypes showed a strong upregulation of alpha 5 beta 1 (13.1x) and a modest upregulation of alpha vs beta 3 (3.4x) and alpha IIb (3.0x) in invasive haSMCs in comparison to quiescent ones. Other integrins analyzed (alpha 2, alpha 3, alpha 4, beta 1) did not show differential regulation. Functional inhibition of alpha 5 beta 1 reduced cell migration (-29%+/-8), invasion (-49%+/-16), collagen contraction (-125%), and attachment to fibronectin. Although, there was a clear discrepancy between alpha 5 beta 1 and alpha vs beta 3 expression levels, inhibition of alpha vs beta 3 (-45%+/-9) reduced haSMC invasion equally. Interestingly, alpha vs beta 3 unlike alpha 5 beta 1 blockade caused a significant stimulation of collagen contraction (+52% vs 154%) with possible implications on vascular remodeling. In conclusion, alpha 5 beta 1 blockade or combined alpha 5 beta 1/alpha v beta 3 blockade by specific antibodies or selective RGD peptides together with local drug delivery strategies could be a promising strategy for the therapy of restenotic lesions or atheromatous plaques.