Abstract
Aims
Pressure-wire assessment of coronary stenosis is considered the invasive reference standard for detection of ischaemia-generating lesions. Recently, methods to estimate the fractional ...flow reserve (FFR) from conventional angiography without the use of a pressure wire have been developed, and were shown to have an excellent diagnostic accuracy. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at determining the diagnostic performance of angiography-derived FFR for the diagnosis of haemodynamically significant coronary artery disease.
Methods and results
A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies assessing the diagnostic performance of angiography-derived FFR systems were performed. The primary outcome of interest was pooled sensitivity and specificity. Thirteen studies comprising 1842 vessels were included in the final analysis. A Bayesian bivariate meta-analysis yielded a pooled sensitivity of 89% (95% credible interval 83–94%), specificity of 90% (95% credible interval 88–92%), positive likelihood ratio (+LR) of 9.3 (95% credible interval 7.3–11.7) and negative likelihood ratio (−LR) of 0.13 (95% credible interval 0.07–0.2). The summary area under the receiver-operating curve was 0.84 (95% credible interval 0.66–0.94). Meta-regression analysis did not find differences between the methods for pressure-drop calculation (computational fluid dynamics vs. mathematical formula), type of analysis (on-line vs. off-line) or software packages.
Conclusion
The accuracy of angiography-derived FFR was good to detect haemodynamically significant lesions with pressure-wire measured FFR as a reference. Computational approaches and software packages did not influence the diagnostic accuracy of angiography-derived FFR. A diagnostic strategy trial with angiography-derived FFR evaluating clinical endpoints is warranted.
Background:A global study designed to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a transcatheter pacing system included 38 Japanese patients enrolled at 4 sites. Subgroup analysis to evaluate the ...performance of the leadless intracardiac transcatheter pacing system in Japanese patients was performed.Methods and Results:Safety and efficacy outcomes, patient and implant procedure characteristics, and patient and physician acceptability from the Japanese population were compared with those from outside Japan. Differences in patient characteristics, implant procedure characteristics and patient acceptability were observed. There were no major complications in Japanese patients and pacing thresholds remained low and stable throughout follow-up. There were no observable differences between Japanese patients and patients from outside Japan in the freedom from major complication rate at 12-months post-implant (100.0% vs. 95.7%, P=0.211) or physician acceptability.Conclusions:Although some differences in specific baseline characteristics, such as body size and pacing indication, and in implant procedure characteristics, including anticoagulation strategy and hospitalization period, were observed in the Japanese patients, transcatheter pacemaker performance was similar to that in the global trial. (Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT02004873.)
Background:The optimal implantation technique for the bioresorbable scaffold (Absorb, Abbott Vascular) is still a matter of debate. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of ...implantation technique on strut embedment and scaffold expansion.Methods and Results:Strut embedment depth and scaffold expansion index assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT) (minimum scaffold area/reference vessel area) were evaluated in the ABSORB Japan trial (OCT subgroup: 87 lesions) with respect to implantation technique using either quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) or OCT. Strut embedment was assessed at the strut level (n=667), while scaffold expansion was assessed at the lesion level (n=81). The mean embedment depth was 63±59 µm. Balloon sizing and inflation pressure had no direct effect on strut embedment. Plaque morphology affected strut embedment nonatherosclerotic (58.9±54.3 µm), fibroatheroma (73.3±59.6 µm), fibrous plaque (59.7±51.1 µm), and fibrocalcific plaque (–3.1±61.6 µm, negative value means malapposition), P <0.001. The balloon-artery ratio positively correlated with the expansion index. This relationship was stronger when the OCT-derived reference vessel diameter (RVD) was used as a reference for balloon selection rather than the QCA-derived one predilatation (Pearson correlation r: QCA: 0.167 vs. OCT: 0.552), postdilatation (QCA: 0.316 vs. OCT: 0.717).Conclusions:Underlying plaque morphology influenced strut embedment, whereas implantation technique had no direct effect on it. Optimal balloon sizing based on OCT-derived RVD might be recommended. However, the safety of such a strategy should be investigated in a prospective trial. (Circ J 2016; 80: 2317–2326)
The cause and effect relationship between serum uric acid levels and hypertension can be difficult to evaluate because antihypertensive drugs sometimes affect uric acid levels. This cross-sectional ...study investigated the relationship between serum uric acid levels and hypertension in a general, healthy Japanese population who were not receiving medication for hyperuricemia or hypertension. We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 90 143 Japanese people (men, 49.1%; age, 46.3±12.0 years) undergoing an annual medical examination at St Luke's International Hospital Center for Preventive Medicine, Tokyo, between January 2004 and June 2010. Of these individuals, 82 722 (91.8%) who had never taken medications for gout, hyperuricemia or hypertension were enrolled. We compared the participant characteristics and prevalence of diastolic hypertension (⩾90 mm Hg) and/or systolic hypertension (⩾140 mm Hg) by serum uric acid quartile. The odds ratio (OR) of hypertension was 1.20 for each 1 mg dl(-1) increase in serum uric acid level after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), dyslipidemia, diabetes, smoking and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Compared with the lowest serum uric acid quartile, participants in the highest quartile had a 3.7-fold higher OR for hypertension. After adjustment for age, BMI, dyslipidemia, diabetes, smoking and eGFR, these ORs were 1.79 (1.62-1.98) in the total study population, 1.58 (1.44-1.75) in men and 1.60 (1.39-1.84) in women. The results were similar for both systolic and diastolic hypertension. Elevated serum uric acid levels may be as important as obesity, dyslipidemia, diabetes, smoking and reduced kidney function for the development of hypertension and should be considered in hypertension prevention programs.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of post–percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) quantitative flow ratio (QFR) on clinical outcomes in patients with de novo 3-vessel disease (3VD) ...treated with contemporary PCI.
The clinical impact of post-PCI QFR in patients treated with state-of-the-art PCI for de novo 3VD is undetermined.
All vessels treated in the SYNTAX (SYNergy between percutaneous coronary intervention with TAXus and cardiac surgery) II trial were retrospectively screened and analyzed for post-PCI QFR. The primary endpoint of this substudy was vessel-oriented composite endpoint (VOCE) at 2 years, defined as the composite of vessel-related cardiac death, vessel-related myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization. The receiver-operating characteristic curve was used to calculate the optimal cutoff value of post-PCI QFR for predicting 2-year VOCE. All the analyzable vessels were stratified on the basis of the optimal cutoff value.
A total of 968 vessels treated with PCI were screened. Post-PCI QFR was analyzable in 771 (79.6%) vessels. A total of 52 (6.7%) VOCEs occurred at 2 years. The mean value of post-PCI QFR was 0.91 ± 0.07. The diagnostic performance of post-PCI QFR to predict 2-year VOCE was moderate (area under the curve: 0.702; 95% confidence interval: 0.633 to 0.772), with the optimal cutoff value of post-PCI QFR for predicting 2-year VOCE 0.91 (sensitivity 0.652, specificity 0.635). The incidence of 2-year VOCE in the vessels with post-PCI QFR <0.91 (n = 284) was significantly higher compared with vessels with post-PCI QFR ≥0.91 (n = 487) (12.0% vs. 3.7%; hazard ratio: 3.37; 95% confidence interval: 1.91 to 5.97; p < 0.001).
A higher post-PCI QFR value is associated with improved vessel-related clinical outcomes in state-of-the art PCI practice for de novo 3VD. Achieving a post-PCI QFR value ≥0.91 in all treated vessels should be a target when treating de novo 3VD. These findings require confirmation in future prospective trials.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
With the improvements of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) technology and post-PCI patient management, several registry studies reported temporal trends in post-PCI clinical outcomes. However, ...their results are inconclusive, potentially reflecting region-specific trends, based on site-reported events without external validity.
This study aimed to investigate temporal trends in post-PCI clinical outcomes in all-comers randomised controlled trials (RCTs) involving coronary stents.
We performed a systematic review identifying RCTs comparing a clinical outcome as a primary endpoint among different coronary stents with an all-comers design and independent clinical event adjudication, extracting the study start year, patient baseline characteristics, and one- and five-year clinical outcomes. Temporal trends in clinical outcomes (cardiac death, myocardial infarction MI, target lesion revascularisation TLR, stent thrombosis ST) were assessed using random-effects meta-regression analyses, estimating the relationship between clinical outcomes and study start year.
Overall, 25 all-comers trials (51 device arms, 66,327 patients) conducted between 2003 and 2018 fulfilled the eligibility criteria. Random-effects meta-regression analysis revealed significant decreasing trends in one- and five-year cardiac death, one-year TLR, and five-year ST incidences (relative risk per 10-year increase: 0.69 0.51-0.92, 0.66 0.44-0.98, 0.60 0.41-0.88, and 0.18 0.07-0.44, respectively). There was no significant trend in myocardial infarction incidences.
This is the first attempt to clarify and quantify the temporal trends of post-PCI outcome incidence. The 15-year improvements in PCI therapy and post-therapeutic patient management are associated with reduced incidences of cardiac death and PCI-related adverse events.
Catheterization of the right side of the heart shows an elevated right ventricular pressure, a prominent "y" descent, known as Friedreich's sign, and a dip‐and‐plateau configuration.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a potential biomarker for monitoring the status of heart failure. However, the optimal monitoring interval of NT-proBNP is unknown. This study ...sought to investigate the minimal informative monitoring interval of NT-proBNP in patients with stable chronic heart failure.
This retrospective cohort study included patients who were admitted due to heart failure and subsequently followed with serial NT-proBNP measurements in a tertiary hospital. We analyzed NT-proBNP measured between six months after discharge and the earliest timepoint of: an alteration of medication regimen, readmission due to worsening of heart failure, or all-cause death. To distinguish progression of the disease from biological variability and measurement error, the signal-to-noise ratio method was applied with a random-effects model.
In the 368 patients included, NT-proBNP was measured for a median 6 times. In the random-effects model, signal (progression of disease) exceeded noise (biological variability and measurement error) at 7.9 months (95% confidence interval CI: 5.1-9.6), while noise corresponded to a 61% increase from baseline. In stratified analysis using the AHEAD risk score, the minimal informative monitoring interval shortened as the risk score increased (0-1 point: 12.2 months 95%CI: 10.3-14.4; 2-3 points: 8.0 months 95%CI: 6.8-9.7; 4-5 points: 3.3 months 95%CI: 3.0-3.8).
In patients with stable chronic heart failure, the minimal informative monitoring interval of NT-proBNP measurement was 7.9 months in the current population, which varied with underlying risks. The optimal monitoring interval could be lengthened for patients at lower risks.
Background:Characteristics and treatment outcomes of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients have been studied; however, those of recent myocardial infarction (RMI) patients remain unclear. This ...study aimed to clarify characteristics, treatment strategy, and in-hospital outcomes of RMI patients in the Tokyo CCU network database.Methods and Results:In total, 1,853 RMI and 12,494 AMI patients from the Tokyo CCU network database during 2013–2016 were compared. Both RMI and AMI were redefined by onset times of 2–28 days and ≤24 h, respectively. The RMI group had a higher average age (70.4±12.9 vs. 68.0±13.4 years, P<0.001), more women (27.6% vs. 23.6%, P<0.001), lower proportion of patients with chest pain as the chief complaint (75.2% vs. 83.6%, P<0.001), higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus (35.9% vs. 31.0%, P<0.001), and higher mechanical complication incidence (3.0% vs. 1.5%, P<0.001) than did the AMI group. Thirty-day mortality was comparable (5.3% vs. 5.8%, P=0.360); major causes of death were cardiogenic shock and mechanical complications in the AMI and RMI groups, respectively. Death from mechanical complications (not onset time) in the AMI group plateaued almost 1 week after hospitalization, whereas it continued to increase in the RMI group.Conclusions:Both RMI and AMI patients have distinctive clinical features, sequelae, and causes of death. Although treatment of RMI patients adhered to guidelines, it was insufficient, and death from mechanical complications continues to increase.
Background: P2Y12 inhibitor monotherapy without aspirin immediately after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been tested in East Asian patients, so in this study we aimed to assess the ...safety and feasibility of reduced dose (3.75 mg/day) prasugrel monotherapy in Japanese patients presenting with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS).Methods and Results: ASET-JAPAN is a prospective, multicenter, single-arm pilot study that completed enrolment of 206 patients from 12 Japanese centers in September 2022. Patients with native de-novo coronary lesions and a SYNTAX score <23 were treated exclusively with biodegradable-polymer platinum-chromium everolimus-eluting stent(s). Patients were loaded with standard dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) and following successful PCI and optimal stent deployment, they received low-dose prasugrel (3.75 mg/day) monotherapy for 3 months. The primary ischemic endpoint was a composite of cardiac death, spontaneous target-vessel myocardial infarction, or definite stent thrombosis. The primary bleeding endpoint was Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) type 3 or 5. At 3-month follow-up, there were no primary bleeding or ischemic events, or any stent thrombosis.Conclusions: This pilot study showed the safety and feasibility of prasugrel monotherapy in selected low-risk Japanese patients with CCS. This “aspirin-free” strategy may be a safe alternative to traditional DAPT following PCI.