International journal of cardiology
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Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Novel oral anticoagulants versus warfarin in non-valvular atrial fibrillation: a meta-analysis of 50,578 patients.
Warfarin, despite its known limitations, is the reference standard treatment for patients with AF and risk factors for stroke. We performed a meta-analysis of phase III trials that compare novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) with warfarin to determine whether they improve clinical outcomes of patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). ⋯ In patients with non-valvular AF, NOACs decrease stroke or systemic embolism, hemorrhagic stroke and mortality, with similar risk of major bleeding compared to warfarin.
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Multicenter Study
Utility of 14 novel biomarkers in patients with acute chest pain and undetectable levels of conventional cardiac troponin.
Patients with acute chest pain having serial undetectable cardiac troponin (cTn) levels, as measured with conventional assays, are considered at very low risk. The aim of this multicenter study was to determine the accuracy of multiple biomarkers in these patients. ⋯ Patients with serial undetectable levels of cTnT using the contemporary 4th generation assay are at low but not negligible risk of future cardiac events. Hs-cTnT, MR-proADM and/or GDF-15 might help to further improve risk-stratification in this group.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Adherence to ACC/AHA performance measures for myocardial infarction in six Middle-Eastern countries: association with in-hospital mortality and clinical characteristics.
This study assesses adherence to performance measures for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in six Middle-Eastern countries, and its association with in-hospital mortality. Few studies have previously assessed these performance measures in the Middle East. ⋯ Overall adherence was lowest among the highest-risk patients. Lower in-hospital mortality was independently associated with adherence to early performance measures, comprising observational evidence for their effectiveness in a Middle East cohort. These data provide a focus for regional quality improvement initiatives and research.
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Multicenter Study
Incremental prognostic value of cardiopulmonary exercise testing and resting haemodynamics in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a fatal disease despite recent treatment advances. Individual risk stratification is important. Exercise capacity and invasive haemodynamic data are both relevant, but data on the combined prognostic power are lacking. ⋯ Peak VO2, PVR and ΔHR independently predict prognosis in patients with PAH. Low peak VO2, high PVR and low ΔHR refer to poor prognosis. Combined use of peak VO2 and PVR provides accurate risk stratification underlining the complementary prognostic information from cardiopulmonary exercise testing and resting invasive haemodynamic data.
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Current European guidelines recommend the use of sensitive or high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays to reduce the minimal sampling interval from 6 to 3h. ⋯ Rule-in and rule-out of non-STEMI may be accomplished comparably effective at 3 or 6h. For rule-in, absolute kinetic changes perform better than relative changes at all time points. ROC-optimal absolute δ-change was 6.95 ng/L at 3h and 8.9 ng/L at 6h.