In a randomized trial, 706 patients with acute myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock were assigned to either culprit-lesion-only PCI or immediate multivessel PCI. At 1 year, mortality did not ...differ significantly between the two groups.
Older patients are underrepresented in prospective studies and randomized clinical trials of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Over the last decade, a few specific trials have been conducted in this ...population, allowing more evidence-based management. Older adults are a heterogeneous, complex, and high-risk group whose management requires a multidimensional clinical approach beyond coronary anatomic variables. This review focuses on available data informing evidence-based interventional and pharmacological approaches for older adults with ACS, including guideline-directed management. Overall, an invasive approach appears to demonstrate a better benefit-risk ratio compared to a conservative one across the ACS spectrum, even considering patients' clinical complexity and multiple comorbidities. Conversely, more powerful strategies of antithrombotic therapy for secondary prevention have been associated with increased bleeding events and no benefit in terms of mortality reduction. An interdisciplinary evaluation with geriatric assessment should always be considered to achieve a holistic approach and optimize any treatment on the basis of the underlying biological vulnerability.
Pregnancy-associated acute myocardial infarction is a rare condition usually occurring during the third trimester of pregnancy, and associated with three-to-four-fold higher mortality compared with ...rates among non-pregnant women of the same age. As in non-pregnant women, in cases of ST elevation myocardial infarction, the most effective treatment is primary percutaneous coronary intervention with stent implantation. Unfortunately, management of these patients could be challenging because little is known about the optimal medical strategy; the potential teratogenic effects of the third generation thienopyridines are not fully established too. In fact current guidelines do not provide enough recommendations about tailoring dual antiplatelet therapy prescription according to ischemic profile of the pregnant patients. Moreover, the bleeding risk class of cesarean delivery/hysterectomy is not stated in current consensus documents. We report the second pregnancy-associated acute myocardial infarction case successfully treated with ticagrelor before and after primary percutaneous coronary intervention with drug eluting stent implantation on left coronary artery, but also the first report on use of bridging antiplatelet therapy with tirofiban during temporary withdrawal of ticagrelor because of a C-section.
Background
Age‐ and sex‐specific differences exist in the treatment and outcome of ST‐elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We sought to describe age‐ and sex‐matched contemporary trends of ...in‐hospital management and outcome of patients with STEMI.
Methods and Results
We analyzed data from 5 Italian nationwide prospective registries, conducted between 2001 and 2014, including consecutive patients with STEMI. All the analyses were age‐ and sex‐matched, considering 4 age classes: <55, 55 to 64, 65 to 74, and ≥75 years. A total of 13 235 patients were classified as having STEMI (72.1% men and 27.9% women). A progressive shift from thrombolysis to primary percutaneous coronary intervention occurred over time, with a concomitant increase in overall reperfusion rates (P for trend <0.0001), which was consistent across sex and age classes. The crude rates of in‐hospital death were 3.2% in men and 8.4% in women (P<0.0001), with a significant increase over age classes for both sexes and a significant decrease over time for both sexes (all P for trend <0.01). On multivariable analysis, age (odds ratio 1.09, 95% CI 1.07–1.10, P<0.0001) and female sex (odds ratio 1.44, 95% CI 1.07–1.93, P=0.009) were found to be significantly associated with in‐hospital mortality after adjustment for other risk factors, but no significant interaction between these 2 variables was observed (P for interaction=0.61).
Conclusions
Despite a nationwide shift from thrombolytic therapy to primary percutaneous coronary intervention for STEMI affecting both sexes and all ages, women continue to experience higher in‐hospital mortality than men, irrespective of age.
Background In acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock (CS), up to 80% of patients present with multivessel coronary artery disease. Currently, the best revascularization strategy ...is unknown. Therefore, a prospective randomized adequately powered clinical trial is warranted. Study design The CULPRIT-SHOCK study is a 706-patient controlled, international, multicenter, randomized, open-label trial. It is designed to compare culprit lesion only percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with possible staged non-culprit lesion revascularization versus immediate multivessel PCI in patients with CS complicating acute myocardial infarction. Patients will be randomized in a 1:1 fashion to one of the two treatment arms. The primary efficacy endpoint of CULPRIT-SHOCK is 30-day mortality and severe renal failure requiring renal replacement therapy. Secondary outcome measures such as hemodynamic, laboratory, and clinical parameters will serve as surrogate endpoints for prognosis. Furthermore, an intermediate- and long-term follow-up at 6 and 12 months will be performed. Safety endpoints include the assessment of bleeding and stroke. Conclusions The CULPRIT-SHOCK trial will address the question of optimal revascularization strategy in patients with multivessel disease and acute myocardial infarction complicated by CS.
Summary Background Thrombolysis remains the treatment of choice in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) when primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) cannot be done within 90 ...min. However, the best subsequent management of patients after thrombolytic therapy remains unclear. To assess the best management, we randomised patients with STEMI treated by thrombolysis and abciximab at a non-interventional hospital to immediate transfer for PCI, or to standard medical therapy with transfer for rescue angioplasty. Methods 600 patients aged 75 years or younger with one or more high-risk features (extensive ST-segment elevation, new-onset left bundle branch block, previous myocardial infarction, Killip class >2, or left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35%) in hospitals in France, Italy, and Poland were treated with half-dose reteplase, abciximab, heparin, and aspirin, and randomly assigned to immediate transfer to the nearest interventional centre for PCI, or to management in the local hospital with transfer only in case of persistent ST-segment elevation or clinical deterioration. The primary outcome was a composite of death, reinfarction, or refractory ischaemia at 30 days, and analysis was by intention to treat. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , number 00220571. Findings Of the 299 patients assigned to immediate PCI, 289 (97·0%) underwent angiography, and 255 (85·6%) received PCI. Rescue PCI was done in 91 patients (30·3%) in the standard care/rescue PCI group. The primary outcome occurred in 13 patients (4·4%) in the immediate PCI group compared with 32 (10·7%) in the standard care/rescue PCI group (hazard ratio 0·40; 95% CI 0·21–0·76, log rank p=0·004). Major bleeding was seen in ten patients in the immediate group and seven in the standard care/rescue group (3·4% vs 2·3%, p=0·47). Strokes occurred in two patients in the immediate group and four in the standard care/rescue group (0·7% vs 1·3%, p=0·50). Interpretation Immediate transfer for PCI improves outcome in high-risk patients with STEMI treated at a non-interventional centre with half-dose reteplase and abciximab.
Thrombocytopenia (TP) is a common finding in patients hospitalized for cardiovascular causes and needing antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapies. However, TP is not only a numeric parameter, but ...mostly a dynamic condition affected by the patients' underlying disorders and concomitant treatments. Platelets are important players in the hemostatic process, taking part to both primary and secondary hemostasis. Although both TP and antithrombotic treatment contribute to the risk of bleeding, the complexity of the pathogenesis of bleeding events makes it difficult to predict them accurately simply based on these two parameters. It should be considered that, under certain clinical conditions, TP may be associated with an increased risk of thrombosis. In order to manage antithrombotic therapies in patients with TP, the frail balance between bleeding and thrombotic complications needs to be estimated. A joint hematological and cardiological evaluation is mandatory in order to avoid stopping an otherwise lifesaving treatment and to decrease the individual patient risk for both thrombotic and/or bleeding events, in each different setting. The purpose of this review is to describe an operative work flow aimed at helping clinicians to face this challenging issue.
The Italian Elderly ACS study was the first randomized controlled trial comparing an early aggressive with an initially conservative strategy in patients with non–ST-segment elevation acute coronary ...syndromes aged ≥75 years, with the results showing no significant benefit of early aggressive therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of trial patients, according to the treatment actually received during hospitalization. The trial enrolled 313 patients. The primary end point was the composite of death, myocardial infarction (MI), disabling stroke, and repeat hospital stay for cardiovascular causes or bleeding within 1 year. All patients in whom coronary angiography was performed during initial hospitalization were defined as having undergone invasive treatment (182 patients), whereas all patients who did not undergo coronary angiography were classified as medically managed (conservative treatment CT group, 131 patients). The primary end point occurred in 53 patients (40.5%) in the CT group and 45 patients (24.7%) in the invasive treatment group (hazard ratio 0.56, 95% confidence interval 0.37 to 0.83, p = 0.003). The invasive treatment group showed significantly lower rates of MI (6% vs 13% in the CT group; hazard ratio 0.43, 95% confidence interval 0.20 to 0.92, p = 0.034) and the aggregate of death and MI (14.3% vs 27.5% CT group; hazard ratio 0.48, 95% confidence interval 0.29 to 0.81, p = 0.004). In conclusion, elderly patients with non–ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes treated invasively experienced significantly better survival free from the composite of all-cause mortality, nonfatal MI, disabling stroke, and repeat hospitalization for cardiovascular causes or bleeding.
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