Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak initiated on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship at Yokohama harbor in February 2020, we have been doing our best to treat ...COVID-19 patients. In animal experiments, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II type-1 receptor blockers (ARBs) are reported to suppress the downregulation of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), and they may inhibit the worsening of pathological conditions. We aimed to examine whether preceding use of ACEIs and ARBs affected the clinical manifestations and prognosis of COVID-19 patients. One hundred fifty-one consecutive patients (mean age 60 ± 19 years) with polymerase-chain-reaction proven severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection who were admitted to six hospitals in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, were analyzed in this multicenter retrospective observational study. Among all COVID-19 patients, in the multiple regression analysis, older age (age ≥ 65 years) was significantly associated with the primary composite outcome (odds ratio (OR) 6.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.28-22.78, P < 0.001), which consisted of (i) in-hospital death, (ii) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, (iii) mechanical ventilation, including invasive and noninvasive methods, and (iv) admission to the intensive care unit. In COVID-19 patients with hypertension, preceding ACEI/ARB use was significantly associated with a lower occurrence of new-onset or worsening mental confusion (OR 0.06, 95% CI 0.002-0.69, P = 0.02), which was defined by the confusion criterion, which included mild disorientation or hallucination with an estimation of medical history of mental status, after adjustment for age, sex, and diabetes. In conclusion, older age was a significant contributor to a worse prognosis in COVID-19 patients, and ACEIs/ARBs could be beneficial for the prevention of confusion in COVID-19 patients with hypertension.
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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
Background:Three-dimensional (3D) speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) after ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with left ventricular (LV) remodeling and 1-year ...prognosis. This study investigated the clinical significance of 3D-STE in predicting the long-term prognosis of patients with STEMI.Methods and Results:A total of 270 patients (mean age 64.6 years) with first-time STEMI treated with reperfusion therapy were enrolled. At 24 h after admission, standard 2D echocardiography and 3D full-volume imaging were performed, and 2D-STE and 3D-STE were calculated. Patients were followed up for a median of 119 months (interquartile range: 96–129 months). The primary endpoint was occurrence of a major adverse cardiac event (MACE: cardiac death, heart failure with hospitalization), and 64 patients experienced MACEs. Receiver operating characteristic curves and Cox hazard multivariate analysis showed that the 3D-STE indices were stronger predictors of MACE compared with those of 2D-STE. Additionally, 3D-global longitudinal strain (GLS) was the strongest predictor for MACE followed by 3D-global circumferential strain (GCS). The Kaplan-Meier curve demonstrated that 3D-GLS >−11.0 was an independent predictor for MACE (log-rank χ2=132.2, P<0.0001). When combined with 3D-GCS >−18.3, patients with higher values of 3D-GLS and 3D-GCS were found to be at extremely high risk for MACE.Conclusions:Global strain measured by 3D-STE immediately after the onset of STEMI is a clinically significant predictor of 10-year prognosis.
Background: The role of left atrial (LA) function in the long-term prognosis of ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) is still unclear.Methods and Results: Percutaneous coronary ...intervention (PCI) was performed in 433 patients with the first episode of STEMI within 12 h of onset. The patients underwent echocardiography 24 h after admission. LA reservoir strain and other echocardiographic parameters were analyzed. Follow up was performed for up to 10 years (mean duration, 91 months). The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE): cardiac death or hospitalization due to heart failure (HF). MACE occurred in 90 patients (20%) during the follow-up period. Multivariate Cox hazard analyses showed LA reservoir strain, global longitudinal strain (GLS), age and maximum B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) were the significant predictors of MACE. Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated that LA reservoir strain <25.8% was a strong predictor (Log rank, χ2=76.7, P<0.0001). Net reclassification improvement (NRI) demonstrated that adding LA reservoir strain had significant incremental effect on the conventional parameters (NRI and 95% CI: 0.24 0.11–0.44) . When combined with GLS >−11.5%, the patients with LA reservoir strain <25.8% were found to be at extremely high risk for MACE (Log rank, χ2=126.3, P<0.0001).Conclusions: LA reservoir strain immediately after STEMI onset was a significant predictor of poor prognosis in patients, especially when combined with GLS.
Background:Two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) after ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) can predict the prognosis. This study ...investigated the clinical significance of a serial 3D-STE can predict the prognosis after onset of STEMI.Methods and Results:This study enrolled 272 patients (mean age, 65 years) with first-time STEMI treated with reperfusion therapy. At 24 h after admission, standard 2D echocardiography and 3D full-volume imaging were performed, and 2D-STE and 3D-STE were calculated. Within 1 year, 19 patients who experienced major adverse cardiac events (MACE; cardiac death, heart failure requiring hospitalization) were excluded. Among the 253 patients, 248 were examined with follow-up echocardiography. The patients were followed up for a median of 108 months (interquartile range: 96–129 months). The primary endpoint was the occurrence of a MACE; 45 patients experienced MACEs. Receiver operating characteristic curves and Cox hazard multivariate analysis showed that the 2D-global longitudinal strain (GLS) and 3D-GLS at 1-year indices were significant predictors of MACE. The Kaplan-Meier curve demonstrated that a 3D-GLS of >−13.1 was an independent predictor for MACE (log-rank χ2=165.5, P<0.0001). The deterioration of 3D-GLS at 1 year was a significant prognosticator (log-rank χ2=36.7, P<0.0001).Conclusions:The deterioration of 3D-GLS measured by STE at 1 year after the onset of STEMI is the strongest predictor of long-term prognosis.
Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of arterial stiffness assessed using Cardio-ankle Vascular Index (CAVI) on long-term outcome after acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: ...A total of 387 consecutive patients (324 males; age, 64±11 years) with ACS were enrolled. We examined CAVI and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba PWV) as the parameters of arterial stiffness. The patients were divided into two groups according to the cut-off value of CAVI determined using the receiver operating characteristic curve for the prediction of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE): low-CAVI group, 177 patients with CAVI ＜8.35; high-CAVI group, 210 patients with CAVI ≥ 8.35. The primary endpoint was the incidence of MACE (cardiovascular death, recurrence of ACS, heart failure requiring hospitalization, or stroke). Results: A total of 62 patients had MACE. Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated a significantly higher probability of MACE in the high-CAVI group than in the low-CAVI group (median follow-up: 62 months; log-rank, p＜0.001). Multivariate analysis suggested that CAVI was an independent predictor of MACE (hazard ratio HR, 1.496; p=0.02) and cardiovascular death (HR, 2.204; p=0.025), but ba PWV was not. We investigated the incremental predictive value of adding CAVI to the GRACE score (GRS), a validated scoring system for risk assessment in ACS. Stratified by CAVI and GRS, a significantly higher rate of MACE was seen in patients with both higher CAVI and higher GRS than the other groups (p＜0.001). Furthermore, the addition of CAVI to GRS enhanced net reclassification improvement (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) (NRI, 0.337, p=0.034; and IDI, 0.028, p=0.004). Conclusion: CAVI was an independent long-term predictor of MACE, especially cardiovascular death, adding incremental clinical significance for risk stratification in patients with ACS.
Background:The early mitral inflow velocity to mitral early diastolic velocity ratio (E/e′) and electrocardiogram (ECG) determination of QRS score are useful for risk stratification in patients with ...ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).Methods and Results:In this study, 420 consecutive patients (357 male; mean ±SD age 63.6±12.2 years) with first-time STEMI who successfully underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention within 12 h of symptom onset were followed-up for 5 years (median follow-up 67 months). Echocardiography, ECG, and blood samples were obtained 2 weeks after onset. Infarct size was estimated by the QRS score after 2 weeks (QRS-2wks) and creatine phosphokinase-MB concentrations (peak and area under the curve). The primary endpoint was death from cardiac causes or rehospitalization for heart failure (HF). During follow-up, 21 patients died of cardiac causes and 62 had HF. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that mean E/e′ (hazard ratio HR 1.152; 95% confidence interval CI 1.088–1.215; P<0.0001), QRS-2wks (HR 1.153; 95% CI 1.057–1.254; P<0.0001), and hypertension (HR 1.702; 95% CI 1.040–2.888; P=0.03) were independent predictors of the primary endpoint. Kaplan-Meier curve analysis showed that patients with QRS-2wks >4 and mean E/e′ >14 were at an extremely high risk of cardiac death or HF (log rank, χ2=116.3, P<0.0001).Conclusions:In patients with STEMI, a combination of QRS-2wks and mean E/e′ was a simple but useful predictor of cardiac death and HF.
Cardiogenic shock (CS) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in cardiac intensive care units (CICUs), even in the contemporary era.
Although mechanical circulatory supports have recently ...become widely available and used in transforming the management of CS, their routine use to improve outcomes has not been established. Transportation to a high-volume center, early reperfusion, tailored mechanical circulatory supports, regionalized systems of care with multidisciplinary CS teams, a dedicated CICU, and a systemic approach, including preventing noncardiogenic complications, are the key components of CS treatment strategies.
This narrative review aimed to discuss the challenges of preventing patients from developing CS-related complications and provide a comprehensive practical approach for its management.
Aim: Early and intensive low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C)-lowering therapy plays important roles in secondary prevention of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), but the treatment period for further clinical ...benefit remains undefined. This single-center, retrospective study explored LDL-C trajectory after ACS and its associations with subsequent cardiovascular events (CVE).Methods: In 831 patients with ACS, we evaluated LDL-C reduction during the first 2 months post-ACS as an index of early intervention and the area over the curve for LDL-C using 70 mg/dl as the threshold in the next 6 months (AOC-70) as a persistent intensity index. Patients were followed for a median of 3.0 (1.1-5.2) years for CVE, defined as the composite of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, angina pectoris requiring revascularization, cerebral infarction, and coronary bypass grafting.Results: LDL-C decreased from baseline to 2 months post-ACS (107±38 mg/dl to 78±25 mg/dl, p＜0.001) through high-intensity statin prescription (91.8%), while achieving rates of LDL-C ＜70 mg/dl at 2 months remained only 40.2% with no significant changes thereafter. During the follow-up period, CVE occurred in 200 patients. LDL-C reduction during the first 2 months and AOC-70 in the next 6 months were both associated with subsequent CVE risk (sub-HR hazard ratio 95% confidence interval: 1.48 1.16-1.89 and 1.22 1.05-1.44). Furthermore, early intervention followed by persistently intensive LDL-C-lowering therapy resulted in further CVE risk reduction.Conclusions: The present study observed that achieving early and intensive LDL-C reduction within the first two months after ACS and maintaining it for the next six months suppressed subsequent CVE risk, suggesting the importance of early, intensive, and persistent LDL-C-lowering therapy in the secondary prevention of ACS.
Background: The aim of this study was to create a risk scoring model to differentiate obstructive coronary artery (CA) from CA spasm in the etioology of acute coronary syndrome (ACS).Methods and ...Results: We included 753 consecutive patients with ACS without persistent ST-segment elevation (p-STE). The exclusion criteria were: (1) out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; (2) cardiogenic shock; (3) hemodialysis; (4) atrial fibrillation/flutter; (5) severe valvular disease; (6) no coronary angiography; (7) non-obstructive coronary artery without “definite” vasospastic angina definition; and/or (8) missing data. From the multivariate logistic regression analysis for prediction of obstructive CA, an integer score of 2 to each 0.5 increment in odds ratio was given, and values were divided into quartiles according to the total score. The scores were as follows: age >70 years (6 points), non-STE myocardial infarction (9 points), diabetes mellitus (5 points), B-type natriuretic peptide >90 pg/mL (7 points), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio >2 (5 points), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol <50 mg/dL (5 points). CA spasm-induced ACS occurred in 50.0% in Quartile 1 (total score: 0–13), 20.5% in Quartile 2 (total score: 14–19), 4.9% in Quartile 3 (total score: 20–26), and 2.2% in Quartile 4 (total score: 27–37) (P<0.001), indicating that a total score of <20 was a potential clinical indicator of CA spasm-induced ACS.Conclusions: CA spasm-induced ACS should be suspected if a total score of <20, and a spasm provocation test was being considered.
Immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced myocarditis (ICIM) has been reported to be complicated by a complete atrioventricular block. Even though steroids are used in the treatment thereof, there is no ...standard protocol for their use. We report two cases of ICIM with a complete atrioventricular block with different outcomes. In the first case, the complete atrioventricular block did not recover. In contrast, in the second case, the complete atrioventricular block did recover. We discuss the different courses and outcomes of the two cases in relation to steroid use.
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