Publications by authors named "Alban Dibra"
The no-reflow phenomenon is defined as the failure to restore coronary flow demonstrated by the reduced or missing flow in angiography despite the patent artery. There are pharmacological strategies proposed and studied to manage the no-reflow phenomenon. The medication groups used are purine nucleoside (adenosine), calcium channel blockers (verapamil, nicardipine), beta 2 receptor agonists (adrenaline, nitroprusside), fibrinolytic agents (streptokinase, tissue plasminogen activators), glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (abciximab, tirofiban).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with multivessel coronary artery disease, the time at which complete revascularization of nonculprit lesions should be performed remains unknown.
Methods: We performed an international, open-label, randomized, noninferiority trial at 37 sites in Europe. Patients in a hemodynamically stable condition who had STEMI and multivessel coronary artery disease were randomly assigned to undergo immediate multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; immediate group) or PCI of the culprit lesion followed by staged multivessel PCI of nonculprit lesions within 19 to 45 days after the index procedure (staged group).
Background Multiple studies conducted worldwide and in Albania documented an important reduction of acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) admissions during the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. There are few studies regarding STEMI admissions and outcomes during the ongoing pandemic after the initial lockdown. We aimed to study STEMI admissions and in-hospital outcomes after the COVID-19 lockdown period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground The incidence of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) decreased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Few studies have investigated gender differences in ACS admissions and outcomes during pandemics and have presented divergent results. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on male and female hospitalizations and in-hospital outcomes in patients presenting with ACS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Global studies report a significant decline in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) related hospitalization rates during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak. However, there have been several divergent reports on hospital outcomes. In this study, we aim to investigate the impact of the COVID 19 outbreak on hospitalizations because of STEMI and in-hospital outcomes in Albania.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Editors' Network of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) provides a dynamic forum for editorial discussions and endorses the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) to improve the scientific quality of biomedical journals. Authorship confers credit and important academic rewards. Recently, however, the ICMJE emphasized that authorship also requires responsibility and accountability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Editors' Network of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) provides a dynamic forum for editorial discussions and endorses the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) to improve the scientific quality of biomedical journals. Authorship confers credit and important academic rewards. Recently, however, the ICMJE emphasized that authorship also requires responsibility and accountability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The Editors' Network of the European Society of Cardiology helps improve the quality of medical journals and supports the recommendations from a group called the ICMJE.
- They say that being an author is not just about getting credit; you also need to be responsible for your work.
- A new rule now requires authors to take accountability for their research to ensure that everything they publish is correct and trustworthy.
The Editors´ Network of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) provides a dynamic forum for editorial discussions and endorses the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) to improve the scientific quality of biomedical journals. Authorship confers credit and important academic rewards. Recently, however, the ICMJE emphasized that authorship also requires responsibility and accountability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Editors' Network of the European Society of Cardiology provides a dynamic forum for editorial discussions and endorses the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) to improve the scientific quality of biomedical journals. Authorship confers credit and important academic rewards. Recently, however, the ICMJE emphasized that authorship also requires responsibility and accountability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Editors' Network of the European Society of Cardiology provides a dynamic forum for editorial discussions and endorses the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) to improve the scientific quality of biomedical journals. Authorship confers credit and important academic rewards. Recently, however, the ICMJE emphasized that authorship also requires responsibility and accountability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is an ongoing debate on the optimal drug-eluting stent (DES) in diabetic patients with coronary artery disease. We addressed this issue by making a synthesis of the available evidence on the relative long-term efficacy and safety of sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) and paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) in these patients.
Methods: Individual patient data were analyzed from 6 randomized trials specifically designed to compare SES with PES in diabetic patients.
Background: The aim of the study was to compare the outcomes after placement of the everolimus-eluting stent (EES; Xience V) and the sirolimus-eluting stent (SES; Cypher) in patients with coronary artery disease. The second-generation EES is currently one of the most commonly used drug-eluting stents in clinical practice. Although it has clearly been shown superior to paclitaxel-eluting stents, its relative merits against SES have been less extensively assessed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although it is widely believed that patients with diabetes mellitus obtain the greatest benefit from drug-eluting stents, convincing evidence on long-term efficacy and safety of these stents is lacking.
Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of individual patient data from four randomized trials including 583 patients comparing sirolimus eluting with bare metal stents (median follow-up of 4.2 years).
Background: Use of drug-eluting stents in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains an "off label" indication due to concerns regarding their performance in this patient subset.
Methods: We searched Medline, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Internet-based sources of information on clinical trials in cardiology for randomized trials comparing drug-eluting stents with bare-metal stents in patients with AMI. Hazard ratios for the composite of death or recurrent myocardial infarction, (primary safety endpoint), reintervention (primary efficacy endpoint), death, recurrent myocardial infarction, and stent thrombosis were calculated performing a meta-analysis of 14 randomized trials with 7,781 patients.
Background: Repair of anterior leaflet prolapse is technically more challenging and this might influence outcomes as compared to the repair of posterior leaflet prolapse in patients undergoing surgical correction of mitral regurgitation. We investigated the association of anterior leaflet prolapse with minor residual mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) who underwent valve repair.
Methods: Eligible for this study were consecutive patients with severe MR due to MVP, who underwent mitral valve repair with residual MR by postpump transesophageal echocardiography
Introduction And Objectives: The performance of drug-eluting stents (DESs) in high-risk patients with diabetes and acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who have undergone primary angioplasty has not been previously studied. The objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of DESs in diabetic patients with STEMI.
Methods: We performed a pooled analysis of individual patient data from seven randomized trials that compared DESs (i.
Objectives: The prognosis of patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO) and diabetes mellitus treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation is unknown.
Methods: We compared the 12-month outcomes of 52 diabetic patients with CTO after successful PCI who underwent DES implantation with that of 47 patients with diabetes and CTO previously treated with bare-metal stents (BMS). Death, myocardial infarction and repeat PCI or coronary artery bypass surgery were considered as a combined primary endpoint.
Aims: Percutaneous treatment of coronary bifurcation disease remains challenging. In patient subsets in which a two-stent strategy is necessary, the culotte technique is a widely used method. We sought to examine the clinical and angiographic outcomes of patients treated in this manner at our institution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of stem cell mobilization by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) on myocardial regeneration on the basis of a synthesis of the data generated by randomized, controlled clinical trials of G-CSF after acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
Background: Experimental studies and early-phase clinical trials suggest that stem cell mobilization by G-CSF may have a positive impact on cardiac regeneration after AMI. The role of G-CSF in patients with AMI remains unclear considering the inconsistent results of several clinical trials.
Background: There is limited evidence on the medium-term prognosis of patients with chronic total occlusion successfully treated with drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation.
Methods: We compared the medium-term outcome of 111 patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO) successfully treated with implantation of sirolimus-or paclitaxel-eluting stents versus 112 patients treated with bare metal stents.
Results: During an overall follow-up period of 18 months, the composite endpoint of death, myocardial infarction or target lesion revascularization was significantly lower in the drug-eluting stent than in the bare metal stent group: 8.
Aims: This prospective, randomized study sought to directly compare the performance of paclitaxel and rapamycin on an otherwise identical, polymer-coated drug-eluting stent (DES) platform.
Methods And Results: Stents with identical design and biodegradable polymeric coating that elute either rapamycin or paclitaxel over a 2 months time period were utilized. In this pilot trial that included 91 patients, both stent platforms proved safe with no case of death, Q-wave myocardial infarction or stent thrombosis within a 9 months follow-up period.
Objectives: Our purpose was to make a synthesis of the available evidence on the relative efficacy and safety of 2 drug-eluting stents (DES)--sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) and paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES)--in patients with coronary artery disease.
Background: It is not known whether there are differences in late outcomes between the 2 most commonly used DES: SES and PES.
Methods: Sixteen randomized trials of SES versus PES with a total number of 8,695 patients were included in this meta-analysis.
Aims: To compare the efficacy and safety of drug-eluting stents vs. bare-metal stents in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.
Methods And Results: We performed a meta-analysis of eight randomized trials comparing drug-eluting stents (sirolimus-eluting or paclitaxel-eluting stents) with bare-metal stents in 2786 patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.