Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) increases adherence to a healthy lifestyle and to secondary preventive medication. A notable example of such ...medication is lipid-lowering therapy (LLT). LLT during CR improves quality of life and prognosis, and thus is particularly relevant for patients with diabetes mellitus, which is a major risk factor for CHD. Design: A prospective, multicenter registry study with patients from six rehabilitation centers in Germany. Methods: During CR, 1100 patients with a minimum age of 18 years and CHD documented by coronary angiography were included in a LLT registry. Results: In 369 patients (33.9%), diabetes mellitus was diagnosed. Diabetic patients were older (65.5 ± 9.0 vs. 62.2 ± 10.9 years, p < 0.001) than nondiabetic patients and were more likely to be obese (BMI: 30.2 ± 5.2 kg/m2 vs. 27.8 ± 4.2 kg/m2, p < 0.001). Analysis indicated that diabetic patients were more likely to show LDL cholesterol levels below 55 mg/dL than patients without diabetes at the start of CR (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.9; 95% CI 1.3 to 2.9) until 3 months of follow-up (OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.9). During 12 months of follow-up, overall and LDL cholesterol levels decreased within the first 3 months and remained at the lower level thereafter (p < 0.001), irrespective of prevalent diabetes. At the end of the follow-up period, LDL cholesterol did not differ significantly between patients with or without diabetes mellitus (p = 0.413). Conclusion: Within 3 months after CR, total and LDL cholesterol were significantly reduced, irrespective of prevalent diabetes mellitus. In addition, CHD patients with diabetes responded faster to LTT than nondiabetic patients, suggesting that diabetic patients benefit more from LLT treatment during CR.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) increases morbidity and mortality. Our study aimed to investigate the role of baseline N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic ...peptide (NT-proBNP) as a predictor of AKI following TAVI.
All consecutive TAVI patients were included in the analysis, except patients with dialysis and those with a GFR < 15 ml/min/1.73 m2 at baseline. Rates of AKI after TAVI were assessed according to the updated valve academic research consortium definitions using AKIN classification in three stages. NT-proBNP was measured at baseline. One-year mortality rates were assessed.
We included 1973 patients treated with TAVI between January 2006 and December 2016. Median IQR age was 81.0 77.0;84.0 years, the STS score was 6.2 3.9;9.0, and the logEuroScore was 14.5 9.0;23.0. 30-day and one-year mortality was 5.1 % and 16.1 % for all patients, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that patients with NT-proBNP levels higher than two times above the upper level of normal (ULN) had an increased risk for AKI after TAVI compared to patients with NT-proBNP levels < 2× ULN (OR 1.40 1.03–1.91).
Routine assessment of baseline NT-proBNP levels might be an additional tool to identify patients at increased risk for AKI after TAVI.
•Acute kidney injury is associated with adverse outcomes in TAVI patients.•Baseline NT-proBNP is an independent predictor of AKI after TAVI.•Early identification of patients at high risk for AKI is crucial.•High-risk patients may benefit from further reducing the periprocedural amount of CM.
Background Guidelines recommend door-to-balloon times (DBTs) below 60 min for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The ...purpose of this study was to determine if an optimised STEMI-protocol reduces DBT and increases the number of patients to receive PCI within 60 min of hospital presentation. We hypothesised that DBT of <30 min can be accomplished for the majority of patients. Methods and results Between 2001 and 2008 data from 1,146 consecutive patients with acute STEMI admitted for primary PCI within 12 h after symptom-onset were analysed. Times to angioplasty from symptom-onset (pain-to-balloon time, PBT) and from hospital arrival (DBT) to PCI and clinical outcomes were analysed. In the end of 2003 numerous strategies were implemented to reduce revascularisation times. These strategies resulted in a stable reduction of median DBT to 29 min interquartile range (IQR) 22-39. Overall, 94% of patients had median DBT < 60 min and 56% <30 min. Consequently, PBT was significantly reduced from median 218 min (IQR 168-286) to 167 min (IQR 119-245) for non-transferred patients. Major cardiac adverse events (composite of congestive heart failure, reinfarction and cardiac death) were significantly associated with DBT > 30 min and age, systolic blood pressure, anterior infarction, PBT > 4 h, cardiogenic shock as well as multivessel disease. Conclusions A dedicated STEMI-protocol including several hospital strategies is feasible during daily clinical practice to decrease revascularisation times, results in a greater proportion of patients achieving guideline recommendations, and is associated with an improved clinical outcome.
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