Progress in cardiovascular diseases
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Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common disorder caused largely by atherosclerosis. Although it is associated with increased morbidity and cardiovascular mortality, PAD remains underdiagnosed. ⋯ Despite this, ET faces several challenges to implementation. Notably, the lack of reimbursement by third party payers remains the major challenge to routine use of ET.
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Prog Cardiovasc Dis · Nov 2010
Primary percutaneous coronary intervention for patients presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction: process improvements in rural prehospital care delivered by emergency medical services.
Safe and effective patient care for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) relies on prompt emergency medical service (EMS) and established care coordination with receiving hospitals to conduct primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Likewise, a new emphasis has been placed on first medical contact-to-balloon (E2B) times as opposed to door-to-balloon times, identifying prehospital care as an important contributing factor for high-quality STEMI care. Therefore, we evaluated EMS processes of care before and after a period of continuous quality improvement to improve E2B times in our rural tertiary care medical center. ⋯ The time saving benefits of prehospital ECGs may not be fully realized unless prehospital CCL activations also occur. EMS providers achieved further reductions in median E2B of approximately 24 minutes when prehospital ECGs were combined with prehospital CCL activation. Every effort should be made by PCI-capable medical centers to assess prehospital STEMI care and to integrate EMS providers into regional STEMI care quality improvement initiatives and education.
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Prog Cardiovasc Dis · Nov 2010
Primary percutaneous coronary intervention for patients presenting with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: process improvement in a rural ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction receiving center.
Rural ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) care networks may be particularly disadvantaged in achieving a door-to-balloon time (D2B) of less than or equal to 90 minutes recommended in current guidelines. ST-ELEVATION MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION PROCESS UPGRADE PROJECT: A multidisciplinary STEMI process upgrade group at a rural percutaneous coronary intervention center implemented evidence-based strategies to reduce time to electrocardiogram (ECG) and D2B, including catheterization laboratory activation triggered by either a prehospital ECG demonstrating STEMI or an emergency department physician diagnosing STEMI, single-call catheterization laboratory activation, catheterization laboratory response time less than or equal to 30 minutes, and prompt data feedback. ⋯ Important improvement in the process of acute STEMI patient care was accomplished in the rural percutaneous coronary intervention center setting by implementing evidence-based strategies.
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Prog Cardiovasc Dis · Sep 2010
ReviewMechanisms of anthracycline cardiac injury: can we identify strategies for cardioprotection?
Anthracycline antibiotics have saved the lives of many cancer victims in the 50 plus years since their discovery. A major limitation of their use is the dose-limiting cardiotoxicity. Efforts focusing on understanding the biochemical basis for anthracycline cardiac effects have provided several strategies currently in clinical use: limit dose exposure, encapsulate anthracyclines in liposomes to reduce myocardial uptake, administer concurrently with the iron chelator dexrazoxane to reduce free iron-catalyzed reactive oxygen species formation; and modify anthracycline structure in an effort to reduce myocardial toxicity. ⋯ There is now evidence that erbB2 signaling in response to the ligand neuregulin regulates anthracycline uptake into cells via the multidrug-resistance protein. Therefore, up-regulation of cardiac neuregulin signaling may be one strategy to limit myocardial anthracycline injury. Moreover, assessing an individual's risk for anthracycline injury may be improved by having some measure of endogenous activity of this and other myocardial protective signals.
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Prog Cardiovasc Dis · Sep 2010
ReviewCardiac toxicity from systemic cancer therapy: a comprehensive review.
Cardiovascular toxicity is a potential short- or long-term complication of anticancer therapy. Exposure to chemotherapy medications, primarily the anthracycline class, can lead to potentially irreversible clinically significant cardiac dysfunction. The advent of novel biologic agents, including monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, has revolutionized the treatment of several types of malignancies. ⋯ Given the rate of new drug development designed to fulfill unmet oncologic needs, efforts are needed to promote strategies for cardiac risk detection and management and to avoid unintended consequences potentially impeding development of, regulatory approval for, and patient access to novel therapies. These advances require ongoing research to assess and manage the cardiovascular safety of patients treated with anticancer agents, as well as a well-organized collaboration between oncologists and cardiologists. The aim of this review is to summarize potential cardiovascular toxicities for a range of cancer chemotherapeutics and to review general mechanisms of cardiovascular toxicity for each agent.