American heart journal
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American heart journal · Jul 2014
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialPreprocedural statin use in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.
Earlier studies suggest that administering statins prior to percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) is associated with lower risk of periprocedural myocardial infarction and contrast-induced nephropathy. Current American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines recommend routine use of statins prior to PCI. It is unclear how commonly this recommendation is followed in clinical practice and what its effect on outcomes is. ⋯ A significant number of patients undergo PCI without statin pretreatment, but this is not associated with in-hospital major complications or long-term mortality.
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American heart journal · Jul 2014
Which risk score best predicts perioperative outcomes in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients undergoing noncardiac surgery?
Patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) are at increased risk for adverse events after noncardiac surgery. The Revised Cardiac Index (RCI) is commonly used to predict perioperative events; however, the prognostic utility of NVAF risk scores (CHADS2, CHA2DS2-VASc, and R2CHADS2) has not been evaluated in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. ⋯ In NVAF patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, the CHADS2, CHA2DS2-VASc, and R2CHADS2 scores all improved the prediction of major perioperative events including mortality compared to the RCI.
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American heart journal · Jul 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyImpact of smoking status on platelet function and clinical outcomes with prasugrel vs. clopidogrel in patients with acute coronary syndromes managed without revascularization: Insights from the TRILOGY ACS trial.
To further explore the impact of smoking on antiplatelet activity and treatment response, we evaluated time-dependent relationships between smoking status with on-treatment platelet reactivity and clinical outcomes for prasugrel vs. clopidogrel in patients with acute coronary syndromes managed medically without revascularization. ⋯ Among medically managed ACS patients <75 years of age, the risk of ischemic outcomes was significantly reduced with prasugrel vs. clopidogrel among smokers vs. non-smokers. No interaction between on-treatment platelet reactivity and smoking status was found.
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American heart journal · Jul 2014
ReviewA systematic review of statin-induced muscle problems in clinical trials.
Statin therapy is associated with muscle problems in approximately 10% to 25% of patients treated in clinical practice, but muscle problems have rarely been reported in controlled clinical trials. We performed a systematic search and review of statin clinical trials to examine how these studies evaluated muscle problems and to determine why there are apparent differences in muscle problems between clinical trials and practice. We initially identified 1,012 reports related to clinical trials of statin therapy, 42 of which qualified for analysis. ⋯ Three trials used a run-in period to eliminate participants with statin intolerance and noncompliance. The percentage of muscle problems tended to be higher with statin treatment (12.7%) than with placebo group (12.4%, P = .06). This small difference probably reflects a high background rate of nonspecific muscle problems in both groups that could not be distinguished from statin-associated myalgia because most clinical trials did not use a standard definition for statin myalgia.
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American heart journal · Jun 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyRationale and design of the PeriOperative ISchemic Evaluation-2 (POISE-2) trial: an international 2 × 2 factorial randomized controlled trial of acetyl-salicylic acid vs. placebo and clonidine vs. placebo in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery.
Worldwide, 200 million adults undergo major noncardiac surgery annually, and 10 million of these patients will have a major vascular complication. Low-dose clonidine and low-dose acetyl-salicylic acid (ASA) may prevent major perioperative vascular complications. We therefore initiated the POISE-2 trial to establish the perioperative effects of these 2 interventions. ⋯ POISE-2 is a large international trial that will rigorously evaluate the effects of low-dose clonidine and ASA in patients having noncardiac surgery.