Impact on percutaneous coronary intervention for acute coronary syndromes during the COVID-19 outbreak in a non-overwhelmed European healthcare system: COVID-19 ACS-PCI experience in Ireland.

Aims: To evaluate temporal trends of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) treated via percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) throughout the COVID-19 outbreak in a European healthcare system affected but not overwhelmed by COVID-19-related pathology.

Methods And Results: We performed a retrospective multicentre analysis of the rates of PCI for the treatment of ACS within the period 2 months pre and post the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Ireland, as well as comparing PCI for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with the corresponding period in 2019. During the 2020 COVID-19 period (29 February-30 April 2020), there was a 24% decline in PCI for overall ACS (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.

MiR-93-5p is a novel predictor of coronary in-stent restenosis.

Aims: MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs, have been implicated as regulators of multiple phases of atherothrombosis, and some reports have suggested altered levels in coronary artery in-stent restenosis (ISR). We recently demonstrated that miR-93-5 p was able to discriminate between patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and those with no CAD, after adjusting for traditional risk factors (RFs). Thus, we wanted to determine if circulating miRNAs could predict coronary ISR.

miRNA-93-5p and other miRNAs as predictors of coronary artery disease and STEMI.

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs, have been implicated as regulators of all mediators of atherosclerosis, and some reports have suggested increased levels in coronary artery disease (CAD) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, the potential of miRNAs as biomarkers or predictors of disease remains to be established.

Methods: We designed a study comprising 150 patients (50 Control, 50 Stable CAD, and 50 ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI)), and measured plasma miRNAs in each.

MicroRNA Expression in Coronary Artery Disease.

The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis involves the interplay of inflammation, altered cellular activity, angiogenesis, and neointima formation. The main cellular participants in atherosclerosis include vascular endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and monocytes. The recent discovery of small, non-coding RNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs), and their influence on these processes has provided a greater molecular insight into atherosclerosis.

A global perspective on psychosocial risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Worldwide, there is variation in the incidence CVD with the greater burden being borne by low and middle-income countries. Traditional risk factors do not fully explain the CVD risk in populations, and there is increasing awareness of the impact the social environment and psychological factors have on CVD incidence and outcomes. The measurement of psychosocial variables is uniquely complex as variables are difficult to define objectively and local understanding of psychosocial risk factors may be subject to cultural influences.

Influence of race on death and ischemic complications in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes despite modern, protocol-guided treatment.

Background: In the setting of acute coronary syndromes (ACS), nonwhite patients are less likely to undergo invasive cardiac procedures and may have worse clinical outcomes than white patients. Whether the disparate outcomes exist independently of potential biases in treatment patterns remains unclear.

Methods And Results: We examined the association between race and outcome in the Treat Angina with Aggrastat and Determine Cost of Therapy With an Invasive or Conservative Strategy-Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction 18 study (TACTICS-TIMI 18), a randomized trial of invasive versus conservative treatment strategy in patients with non-ST-elevation ACS.

Postinfarction ventricular septal defect with pseudoaneurysm repair after failed percutaneous closure.

Ventricular septal defect with intramyocardial dissection of the ventricular free wall is a rare complication of myocardial infarction associated with poor prognosis. We describe a patient who developed a ventricular septal defect with intramyocardial dissection of the right ventricular free wall. Initially the patient was successfully stabilized by the placement of a percutaneous closure device.

Hemoglobin A1c level and future cardiovascular events among women.

Background: Available data suggest that hemoglobin A(1c) (A(1c)), also known as glycosylated hemoglobin, levels may be related to cardiovascular risk in the general population without diabetes mellitus. We sought to test this hypothesis prospectively in a cohort of women without overt cardiovascular disease.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study of the Women's Health Study cohort.

C-reactive protein and the risk of developing hypertension.

Context: Although it has been hypothesized that hypertension is in part an inflammatory disorder, clinical data linking inflammation with incident hypertension are scarce.

Objective: To examine whether C-reactive protein levels, a marker of systemic inflammation, are associated with incident hypertension.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A prospective cohort study that began in 1992 of 20 525 female US health professionals aged 45 years or older who provided baseline blood samples with initially normal levels of blood pressure (BP) (systolic BP <140 mm Hg and diastolic BP <90 mm Hg, and no history of hypertension or antihypertensive medications) and then followed up for a median of 7.

Blood pressure, C-reactive protein, and risk of future cardiovascular events.

Background: Accumulating data suggest a link between blood pressure and vascular inflammation.

Methods And Results: We examined the relationship between blood pressure, C-reactive protein (CRP), and incident first cardiovascular events among 15 215 women followed prospectively over a median of 8.1 years.

Effect of pravastatin on LDL particle concentration as determined by NMR spectroscopy: a substudy of a randomized placebo controlled trial.

Aim: Recent data suggests that LDL particle concentration, as determined by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, may be associated with cardiovascular risk. We sought to determine the effect of randomization to pravastatin therapy on LDL particle concentration-NMR, among a primary prevention population.

Methods And Results: LDL particle concentration-NMR, LDL size-NMR, and standard chemical lipid parameters were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks among 500 individuals without overt coronary disease randomly allocated to pravastatin 40mg (n=256) or placebo (n=244).

Inflammatory biomarkers of the patient with myocardial insufficiency.

Purpose Of Review: Inflammation plays a central role in the genesis of atherosclerosis and its complications. In this regard, plasma levels of several markers of inflammation have been shown to predict risk of future cardiovascular events, including cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and ischemic stroke. Furthermore, the predictive value of inflammatory markers is independent of traditional risk markers such as lipid levels, or cardiac troponin levels among those with acute coronary syndromes.

Potential cost-effectiveness of C-reactive protein screening followed by targeted statin therapy for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease among patients without overt hyperlipidemia.

Background: Evidence suggests that statin therapy reduces the rate of cardiovascular events among patients with low lipid levels but elevated C-reactive protein levels. However, no cost-effectiveness analyses have been performed to assist in determining whether large-scale randomized trials are merited to test this hypothesis.

Methods: We used a Markov model to estimate the benefits, costs, and incremental cost-effectiveness of C-reactive protein screening followed by targeted statin therapy for elevated C-reactive protein levels, compared with dietary counseling alone, for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events among patients with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels <149 mg/dL.

C-reactive protein and other inflammatory risk markers in acute coronary syndromes.

Markers of myocyte necrosis such as cardiac troponin or creatine kinase-myocardial band are invaluable tools for risk stratification among patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Nonetheless, many patients without any evidence of myocyte necrosis may be at high risk for recurrent ischemic events. In consideration of the important role that inflammatory processes play in determining plaque stability, recent work has focused on whether plasma markers of inflammation may help improve risk stratification.

Soluble CD40 ligand levels indicate lipid accumulation in carotid atheroma: an in vivo study with high-resolution MRI.

Objective: The CD40/CD40 ligand pathway mediates inflammatory processes important in atherogenesis and the formation of the intraplaque lipid pool. We tested the hypothesis that plasma levels of soluble CD40 ligand are elevated in patients with evidence of a lipid pool on high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of carotid stenoses.

Methods And Results: We recruited 49 patients with evidence of carotid atherosclerosis on ultrasonography; 3 patients could not undergo carotid MRI because of claustrophobia.

Low-density lipoprotein particle concentration and size as determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as predictors of cardiovascular disease in women.

Background: Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) offers an alternative, spectroscopic means of quantifying LDL and of measuring LDL particle size.

Methods And Results: We conducted a prospective nested case-control study among healthy middle-aged women to assess LDL particle size (NMR) and concentration (NMR) as risk factors for future myocardial infarction, stroke, or death of coronary heart disease. Median baseline levels of LDL particle concentration (NMR) were higher (1597 vs 1404 nmol/L; P= 0.

Projected life-expectancy gains with statin therapy for individuals with elevated C-reactive protein levels.

Objectives: We sought to estimate the potential gains in life expectancy achieved with statin therapy for individuals without overt hyperlipidemia but with elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.

Background: Persons with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels below current treatment guidelines and elevated CRP levels are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and may benefit from statin therapy.

Methods: We constructed a decision-analytic model to estimate the gains in life expectancy with statin therapy for individuals without overt hyperlipidemia but with elevated CRP levels.

Rescue percutaneous coronary intervention following coronary artery bypass graft--a descriptive analysis of the changing interface between interventional cardiologist and cardiac surgeon.

Background: Despite decreasing rates of acute and subacute complications of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), these procedures are generally only performed in centers where it is possible for failed PCI to be treated by rescue coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Case reports and case series have documented successful PCI following failed CABG. We sought to confirm this decrease in the need for rescue CABG following failed PCI and to examine trends in the utilization of rescue PCI following failed CABG.

Are statins anti-inflammatory?

Large scale clinical trials demonstrate significant reductions in cardiovascular event rates with statin therapy. The observed benefit of statin therapy, however, may be larger in these trials than that expected on the basis of lipid lowering alone. Emerging evidence from both clinical trials and basic science studies suggest that statins have anti-inflammatory properties, which may additionally lead to clinical efficacy.