The Sources of Normativity: the Case for Instrumental and Epistemic Normativity in Political Realism.

This article argues that political realists have at least two strategies to provide distinctively political normative judgements that have nothing to do with morality. The first ground is instrumental normativity, which states that if we believe that something is a necessary means to a goal we have, we have a reason to do it. In politics, certain means are required by any ends we may intend to pursue.

Management and 5-year outcome of patients with coronary artery disease in different periods of stent technology.

Background: The availability of bare metal stents (BMS) followed by drug-eluting stents of first- (DES1) and second-generation (DES2) progressively increased the rate of the percutaneous revascularizations [percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)] with unknown impact on the long-term outcome of real-world patients with established coronary artery disease. We sought to investigate treatments applied in patients with coronary artery disease in BMS, DES1 and DES2 eras and their 5-year outcome.

Methods: A total of 3099 consecutive patients with at least one coronary stenosis more than 50% observed in 2002 (BMS era), 2005 (DES1 era) and 2011(DES2 era) were enrolled at 13 hospitals in Veneto region, Italy.

The impact of drug eluting stents availability on the treatment choice among medical therapy, percutaneous or surgical revascularisation and on 4-year clinical outcome in patients with coronary artery disease: a cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the influence of the availability of drug eluting stents (DES) on treatment choice (TC) among medical therapy (MT), coronary by-pass surgery (CABG) or percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) and the consequent clinical outcomes in patients hospitalised because of coronary artery disease (CAD).

Design: Observational study comparing two cohorts hospitalised immediately before, and 3 years after DES availability.

Setting: Thirteen hospitals with cardiology facilities.

Association between carotid and coronary artery disease in patients with aortic valve stenosis: an angiographic study.

Background: Patients with aortic stenosis have a high prevalence of coronary artery disease, but there is little information about the association of coronary artery disease and carotid artery disease.

Methods: The study includes 317 consecutive patients with aortic stenosis, who underwent carotid and coronary angiography during the same catheterization before aortic valve replacement.

Results: At univariate analysis, the prevalence of coronary artery disease was associated with (1) presence of carotid artery disease (P < .

Late coronary thrombosis in paclitaxel-eluting stents. Case reports.

Drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation has reduced angiographic and clinical restenosis that actually develops in less than 10% of treated patients. DESs also tend to delay the endothelialisation process increasing the risk of stent thrombosis. Subacute stent thrombosis may complicate long-term success of coronary angioplasty; it is a sudden event and usually causes acute myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac death.