International journal of cardiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Diagnostic performance and cost of CT angiography versus stress ECG--a randomized prospective study of suspected acute coronary syndrome chest pain in the emergency department (CT-COMPARE).
Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) has high sensitivity, with 3 recent randomized trials favorably comparing CCTA to standard-of-care. Comparison to exercise stress ECG (ExECG), the most available and least expensive standard-of-care worldwide, has not been systematically tested. ⋯ CCTA had improved diagnostic performance compared to ExECG, combined with 35% relative reduction in length-of-stay, and 20% reduction in hospital costs. These data lend further evidence that CCTA is useful as a first line assessment in emergency department chest pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Acute decompensated heart failure patients admitted to critical care units: insights from ASCEND-HF.
Little is known about global patterns of critical care unit (CCU) care and the relationship with outcomes in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). Whether a ward or a CCU admission is associated with better outcomes is unclear. ⋯ Management of patients with ADHF varies significantly, and after adjustment, CCU care was associated with higher risk of early mortality, not explained by international differences. These findings may help to improve the early decisions regarding risk stratification of patients hospitalized with ADHF.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Remote ischemic preconditioning preserves mitochondrial function and activates pro-survival protein kinase Akt in the left ventricle during cardiac surgery: a randomized trial.
Understanding the intracellular mechanisms induced by remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) in the human left ventricle opens new possibilities for development of pharmacological cardioprotection against ischemia and reperfusion injury. In this study we investigated the effects of RIPC on mitochondrial function, activation of pro-survival protein kinase Akt and microRNA expression in left ventricular biopsies from patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). ⋯ http://www.clinicaltrials.gov, unique identifier: NCT01308138.