Gender-related differences have been reported in patients with acute coronary syndrome. The description of this comparative finding in a Brazilian registry has not yet been documented.
To compare ...male vs. female patients regarding the baseline characteristics, coronary findings, treatment and in-hospital and long-term prognosis.
This is a retrospective, multicenter and observational study that included 3,745 patients (2,437 males and 1,308 females) between May 2010 and May 2015. The primary in-hospital outcome was all-cause mortality. The secondary outcome consisted of combined events (cardiogenic shock, reinfarction, death, stroke and bleeding). The comparison between groups was performed using the chi-square and the t test, considering p < 0.05 as significant. In the long term, mortality and combined events were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method, with a mean follow-up of 8.79 months.
The mean age was 60.3 years for males and 64.6 for females (p < 0.0001). The most prevalent risk factor was systemic arterial hypertension in 72.9% of the women and 67.8% of the men (p = 0.001). Percutaneous coronary intervention was carried out in 44.9% of the males and 35.4% of the females (p < 0.0001), and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) was performed in 17% of the males and 11.8% of females (p < 0.0001), with a higher prevalence of three-vessel coronary artery disease in males (27.3% vs. 16.2%, p < 0.0001). Approximately 79.9% of the female patients received a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation, while in the male patients, this diagnosis was attained in 71.5% (p < 0.0001). No significant differences were observed between the groups in the short and long term, regarding both mortality and the combined events.
Several gender-related differences were observed in patients with acute coronary syndrome regarding the demographic characteristics, coronary artery disease pattern and implemented treatment. However, the prognostic evolution was similar between the groups.
This study aimed to systematically identify and summarise all risk scores evaluated in the emergency department setting to stratify acute heart failure patients.
A systematic review of PubMed and Web ...of Science was conducted including all multicentre studies reporting the use of risk predictive models in emergency department acute heart failure patients. Exclusion criteria were: (a) non-original articles; (b) prognostic models without predictive purposes; and (c) risk models without consecutive patient inclusion or exclusively tested in patients admitted to a hospital ward. We identified 28 studies reporting findings on 19 scores: 13 were originally derived in the emergency department (eight exclusively using acute heart failure patients), and six in emergency department and hospitalised patients. The outcome most frequently predicted was 30-day mortality. The performance of the scores tended to be higher for outcomes occurring closer to the index acute heart failure event. The eight scores developed using acute heart failure patients only in the emergency department contained between 4-13 predictors (age, oxygen saturation and creatinine/urea included in six scores). Five scores (Emergency Heart Failure Mortality Risk Grade, Emergency Heart Failure Mortality Risk Grade 30 Day mortality ST depression, Epidemiology of Acute Heart Failure in Emergency department 3 Day, Acute Heart Failure Risk Score, and Multiple Estimation of risk based on Emergency department Spanish Score In patients with Acute Heart Failure) have been externally validated in the same country, and two (Emergency Heart Failure Mortality Risk Grade and Multiple Estimation of risk based on Emergency department Spanish Score In patients with Acute Heart Failure) further internationally validated. The c-statistic for Emergency Heart Failure Mortality Risk Grade to predict seven-day mortality was between 0.74-0.81 and for Multiple Estimation of risk based on Emergency department Spanish Score In patients with Acute Heart Failure to predict 30-day mortality was 0.80-0.84.
There are several scales for risk stratification of emergency department acute heart failure patients. Two of them are accurate, have been adequately validated and may be useful in clinical decision-making in the emergency department i.e. about whether to admit or discharge.
Short-term infusions of single vasodilators, usually given in a fixed dose, have not improved outcomes in patients with acute heart failure (AHF).
To evaluate the effect of a strategy that emphasized ...early intensive and sustained vasodilation using individualized up-titrated doses of established vasodilators in patients with AHF.
Randomized, open-label blinded-end-point trial enrolling 788 patients hospitalized for AHF with dyspnea, increased plasma concentrations of natriuretic peptides, systolic blood pressure of at least 100 mm Hg, and plan for treatment in a general ward in 10 tertiary and secondary hospitals in Switzerland, Bulgaria, Germany, Brazil, and Spain. Enrollment began in December 2007 and follow-up was completed in February 2019.
Patients were randomized 1:1 to a strategy of early intensive and sustained vasodilation throughout the hospitalization (n = 386) or usual care (n = 402). Early intensive and sustained vasodilation was a comprehensive pragmatic approach of maximal and sustained vasodilation combining individualized doses of sublingual and transdermal nitrates, low-dose oral hydralazine for 48 hours, and rapid up-titration of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, or sacubitril-valsartan.
The primary end point was a composite of all-cause mortality or rehospitalization for AHF at 180 days.
Among 788 patients randomized, 781 (99.1%; median age, 78 years; 36.9% women) completed the trial and were eligible for primary end point analysis. Follow-up at 180 days was completed for 779 patients (99.7%). The primary end point, a composite of all-cause mortality or rehospitalization for AHF at 180 days, occurred in 117 patients (30.6%) in the intervention group (including 55 deaths 14.4%) and in 111 patients (27.8%) in the usual care group (including 61 deaths 15.3%) (absolute difference for the primary end point, 2.8% 95% CI, -3.7% to 9.3%; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.07 95% CI, 0.83-1.39; P = .59). The most common clinically significant adverse events with early intensive and sustained vasodilation vs usual care were hypokalemia (23% vs 25%), worsening renal function (21% vs 20%), headache (26% vs 10%), dizziness (15% vs 10%), and hypotension (8% vs 2%).
Among patients with AHF, a strategy of early intensive and sustained vasodilation, compared with usual care, did not significantly improve a composite outcome of all-cause mortality and AHF rehospitalization at 180 days.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00512759.
Endovascular therapeutic hypothermia (ETH) reduces the damage by ischemia/reperfusion cell syndrome in cardiac arrest and has been studied as an adjuvant therapy to percutaneous coronary intervention ...(PCI) in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). New available advanced technology allows cooling much faster, but there is paucity of resources for training to avoid delays in door-to-balloon time (DTB) due to ETH and subsequently coronary reperfusion, which would derail the procedure. The aim of the study was to describe the process for the development of a simulation, training & educational protocol for the multidisciplinary team to perform optimized ETH as an adjunctive therapy for STEMI.
We developed an optimized simulation protocol using modern mannequins in different realistic scenarios for the treatment of patients undergoing ETH adjunctive to PCI for STEMIs starting from the emergency room, through the CathLab, and to the intensive care unit (ICU) using the Proteus® Endovascular System (Zoll Circulation Inc™, San Jose, CA, USA). The primary endpoint was door-to-balloon (DTB) time. We successfully trained 361 multidisciplinary professionals in realistic simulation using modern mannequins and sham situations in divisions of the hospital where real patients would be treated. The focus of simulation and training was logistical optimization and educational debriefing with strategies to reduce waste of time in patient's transportation from different departments, and avoiding excessive rewarming during transfer. Afterwards, the EHT protocol was successfully validated in a trial randomizing 50 patients for 18 minutes cooling before coronary recanalization at the target temperature of 32 ± 1.0 ∘C or PCI-only. A total of 35 patients underwent ETH (85.7% 30/35 in 90 ± 15 minutes), without delays in the mean door-to-balloon time for primary PCI when compared to 15 control group patients (92.1 minutes versus 87 minutes, respectively;
= 0.509).
Realistic simulation, intensive training and educational debriefing for the multidisciplinary team propitiated feasible endovascular therapeutic hypothermia as an adjuvant therapy to primary PCI in STEMI.
gov: NCT02664194.
Heart failure (HF) is associated with disabling symptoms, poor quality of life, and a poor prognosis with substantial excess mortality in the years following diagnosis. Overactivation of the ...sympathetic nervous system is a key feature of the pathophysiology of HF and is an important driver of the process of adverse remodelling of the left ventricular wall that contributes to cardiac failure. Drugs which suppress the activity of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, including β-blockers, are foundation therapies for the management of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and despite a lack of specific outcomes trials, are also widely used by cardiologist in patients with HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Today, expert opinion has moved away from recommending that treatment for HF should be guided solely by the LVEF and interventions should rather address signs and symptoms of HF (e.g. oedema and tachycardia), the severity of HF, and concomitant conditions. β-blockers improve HF symptoms and functional status in HF and these agents have demonstrated improved survival, as well as a reduced risk of other important clinical outcomes such as hospitalisation for heart failure, in randomised, placebo-controlled outcomes trials. In HFpEF, β-blockers are anti-ischemic and lower blood pressure and heart rate. Moreover, β-blockers also reduce mortality in the setting of HF occurring alongside common comorbid conditions, such as diabetes, CKD (of any severity), and COPD. Higher doses of β-blockers are associated with better clinical outcomes in populations with HF, so that ensuring adequate titration of therapy to their maximal (or maximally tolerated) doses is important for ensuring optimal outcomes for people with HF. In principle, a patient with HF could have combined treatment with a β-blocker, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitor/neprilysin inhibitor, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, and a SGLT2 inhibitor, according to tolerability.
The treatment of heart failure has evolved in recent decades suggesting that survival is increasing.
To verify whether there has been improvement in the survival of patients with advanced heart ...failure.
We retrospectively compared the treatment and follow-up data from two cohorts of patients with systolic heart failure admitted for compensation up to 2000 (n = 353) and after 2000 (n = 279). We analyzed in-hospital death, re-hospitalization and death in 1 year of follow-up. We used Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square test for comparison between groups. The predictors of mortality were identified by regression analysis through Cox proportional hazards model and survival analysis by the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.
The patients admitted until 2000 were younger, had lower left ventricular impairment and received a lower proportion of beta-blockers at discharge. The survival of patients hospitalized before 2000 was lower than those hospitalized after 2000 (40.1% vs. 67.4%; p<0.001). The independent predictors of mortality in the regression analysis were: Chagas disease (hazard ratio: 1.9; 95% confidence interval: 1.3-3.0), angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors (hazard ratio: 0.6; 95% confidence interval: 0.4-0.9), beta-blockers (hazard ratio: 0.3; 95% confidence interval: 0.2-0.5), creatinine ≥ 1.4 mg/dL (hazard ratio: 2.0; 95% confidence interval: 1.3-3.0), serum sodium ≤ 135 mEq/L (hazard ratio: 1.8; 95% confidence interval: 1.2-2.7).
Patients with advanced heart failure showed a significant improvement in survival and reduction in re-hospitalizations. The neurohormonal blockade, with angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors and beta-blockers, had an important role in increasing survival of these patients with advanced heart failure.
Recent studies have shown fondaparinux's superiority over enoxaparin in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (ACS), especially in relation to bleeding reduction. The description of ...this finding in a Brazilian registry has not yet been documented.
To compare fondaparinux versus enoxaparin in in-hospital prognosis of non-ST elevation ACS.
Multicenter retrospective observational study. A total of 2,282 patients were included (335 in the fondaparinux group, and 1,947 in the enoxaparin group) between May 2010 and May 2015. Demographic, medication intake and chosen coronary treatment data were obtained. Primary outcome was mortality from all causes. Secondary outcome was combined events (cardiogenic shock, reinfarction, death, stroke and bleeding). Comparison between the groups were done through Chi-Square test and T test. Multivariate analysis was done through logistic regression, with significance values defined as p < 0.05.
With regards to treatment, we observed the performance of a percutaneous coronary intervention in 40.2% in the fondaparinux group, and in 35.1% in the enoxaparin group (p = 0.13). In the multivariate analysis, we observed significant differences between fondaparinux and enoxaparin groups in relation to combined events (13.8% vs. 22%. OR = 2.93, p = 0.007) and bleeding (2.3% vs. 5.2%, OR = 4.55, p = 0.037), respectively.
Similarly to recently published data in international literature, fondaparinux proved superior to enoxaparin for the Brazilian population, with significant reduction of combined events and bleeding.
Estudos recentes têm apresentado superioridade do fondaparinux em relação à enoxaparina em pacientes com síndrome coronariana aguda (SCA) sem supradesnivelamento de ST, principalmente relacionada à redução de sangramentos. A descrição desse achado em registro brasileiro ainda não foi documentada.
Comparar fondaparinux versus enoxaparina no prognóstico intrahospitalar em SCA sem supradesnivelamento de ST.
Estudo retrospectivo, multicêntrico e observacional. Foram incluídos 2.282 pacientes (335 no grupo fondaparinux e 1.947 no grupo enoxaparina) entre maio de 2.010 e maio de 2.015. Foram obtidos dados demográficos, medicações utilizadas e tratamento coronariano adotado. O desfecho primário foi mortalidade por todas as causas. O desfecho secundário foi eventos combinados (choque cardiogênico, reinfarto, morte, acidente vascular cerebral e sangramentos). A comparação entre os grupos foi realizada por meio de Q-quadrado e teste-T. A análise multivariada foi realizada por regressão logística, sendo considerado significativo p < 0,05.
Em relação ao tratamento, observou-se realização de intervenção coronária percutânea em 40,2% no grupo fondaparinux e 35,1% no grupo enoxaparina (p = 0,13). Na análise multivariada, observaram-se diferenças significativas entre os grupos fondaparinux e enoxaparina em relação a eventos combinados (13,8% vs. 22%, OR = 2,93, p = 0,007) e sangramentos (2,3% vs. 5,2%, OR = 4,55, p = 0,037), respectivamente.
Semelhante aos dados recentemente publicados na literatura mundial, fondaparinux mostrou-se superior à enoxaparina para a população brasileira, com redução significativa de eventos combinados e sangramentos.