Mad Honey Disease.

Unlabelled: A 46-year-old woman presented to the emergency room with acute onset of nausea, vomiting and prostration. She appeared ill and was poorly responsive to verbal stimuli. Physical examination showed a systolic blood pressure of 60 mmHg and a pulse of 40 bpm.

[Treatment and Secondary Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism - Change in Oral Anticoagulation].

With the recent approval of the fourth direct non vitamin K dependent oral anticoagulant (NOAC) edoxaban the range of available NOACs for the treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) has expanded. Shortly thereafter, two updated guidelines for the prevention and treatment of VTE have been published. In these NOACs are listed as equal anticoagulants to low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH), or fondaparinux (FDX), and VKA for the initial or maintenance treatment of VTE.

[Non-vitamin K dependent oral anticoagulants : What is important in intensive care medicine].

Since first used in 2009, non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOAC) have gained world-wide acceptance. Two groups of NOAC are currently used: the direct thrombin antagonist dabigatran and three direct factor  Xa antagonists apixaban, edoxaban, and ricaroxaban. With their increasing use for prevention of thromboembolism, the probability increases that NOAC-pretreated patients are admitted to emergency departments or intensive care units.

Late Consequences of Acute Coronary Syndromes: Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) Follow-up.

Purpose: Short-term outcomes have been well characterized in acute coronary syndromes; however, longer-term follow-up for the entire spectrum of these patients, including ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction, non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction, and unstable angina, is more limited. Therefore, we describe the longer-term outcomes, procedures, and medication use in Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) hospital survivors undergoing 6-month and 2-year follow-up, and the performance of the discharge GRACE risk score in predicting 2-year mortality.

Methods: Between 1999 and 2007, 70,395 patients with a suspected acute coronary syndrome were enrolled.

Management and outcomes of patients presenting with STEMI by use of chronic oral anticoagulation: results from the GRACE registry.

Aims: To describe the characteristics, treatment, and mortality in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) by use of chronic oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy.

Methods: Using data from the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes (GRACE), patient characteristics, treatment, and reperfusion strategies of STEMI patients on chronic OAC are described, and relevant variables compared with patients not on chronic OAC. Six-month post-discharge mortality rates were evaluated by Cox proportional hazard models.

Independent predictors of bleeding complications in patients undergoing PCI with concomitant treatment with bivalirudin in clinical practice results from the ImproveR registry.

Background: Bleeding complications are associated with an adverse outcome after a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is performed. Traditional risk factors for bleeding complications are age, gender, underweight, hypertension, and renal impairment. The aim of our study was to identify the independent predictors of bleeding complications in patients undergoing a PCI with concomitant treatment with bivalirudin.

Antiplatelet agents for the treatment and prevention of atherothrombosis.

The clinical pharmacology of antiplatelet drugs has been reviewed previously by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Task force and by the 8th American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines. Moreover, information on the efficacy and safety of antiplatelet drugs in the treatment and prevention of atherothrombosis is provided by collaborative meta-analyses of 287 secondary prevention trials and 6 primary prevention trials. The present document intends to provide practicing physicians with an updated instrument to guide their choice of the most suitable antiplatelet strategy for the individual patient at risk, or with different clinical manifestations, of atherothrombosis.

Bleeding in acute coronary syndromes and percutaneous coronary interventions: position paper by the Working Group on Thrombosis of the European Society of Cardiology.

Bleeding has recently emerged as an important outcome in the management of acute coronary syndromes (ACS), which is relatively frequent compared with ischaemic outcomes and has important implications in terms of prognosis, outcomes, and costs. In particular, there is evidence that patients experiencing major bleeding in the acute phase are at higher risk for death in the following months, although the causal nature of this relation is still debated. This position paper aims to summarize current knowledge regarding the epidemiology of bleeding in ACS and percutaneous coronary intervention, including measurement and definitions of bleeding, with emphasis on the recent consensus Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) definitions.

Argatroban for elective percutaneous coronary intervention: the ARG-E04 multi-center study.

Unlabelled: The synthetic arginine-derived direct thrombin inhibitor argatroban is an attractive anticoagulant for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), because of its rapid onset and offset, and its hepatic elimination. Argatroban was approved for PCI in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). However, there are limited data about argatroban in non-HIT patients.

Prognostic utility of quantifying evolutionary ST-segment depression on early follow-up electrocardiogram in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes.

Aims: Although ST-segment depression (STD) on the admission electrocardiogram (ECG) confers adverse prognosis in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS), the implications of STD on follow-up ECG remain uncertain. We determined the prognostic significance of STD on follow-up ECG performed within 12-24 h of admission and whether its quantitative evaluation can further refine risk stratification.

Methods And Results: The admission and follow-up ECGs of 3877 patients in the SYNERGY trial were analysed for the presence (>or=1 mm) and extent (maximum magnitude on any single lead) of STD.

[Challenge in diabetes therapy: effects of glitazones beyond blood glucose control].

Not just since the results of ACCORD, ADVANCE and VADT were published, it is clear that lowering blood glucose alone does not reduce the cardiovascular risk of patients with type 2 diabetes. In fact, many studies also indicate that some treatment strategies may even have adverse effects. To treat type 2 diabetes appropriately, the co-morbidities such as diabetic dyslipidaemia, hypertension or nephropathy must also be taken into account.

Association of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with outcomes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated with fibrinolytic therapy: an ExTRACT-TIMI 25 analysis.

Background: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may be prothrombotic, may worsen hypertension or congestive heart failure and obstruct access to the binding site of aspirin to cyclooxygenase-1 and thereby interfere with aspirin's mechanism of action in reducing death and recurrent myocardial infarction (MI). We hypothesized that treatment with NSAIDs prior to an index MI would be associated with an increase in the risk of death, heart failure and recurrent MI among patients with ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI) treated with fibrinolytic therapy.

Methods: In ExTRACT-TIMI 25, patients with STEMI were treated with aspirin and fibrinolytic therapy and randomized to either enoxaparin or unfractionated heparin.

Time to coronary angiography and outcomes among patients with high-risk non ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes: results from the SYNERGY trial.

Background: Optimal timing for an early invasive strategy in patients with non-ST-segment-elevation acute coronary syndrome remains unclear. We evaluated the relationship between time from hospital admission to coronary angiography and outcomes in high-risk patients with non-ST-segment-elevation acute coronary syndrome who underwent angiography within 48 hours of admission.

Methods And Results: Data from 10 027 patients enrolled in the Superior Yield of the New Strategy of Enoxaparin, Revascularization, and Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa Inhibitors (SYNERGY) trial were analyzed.

[Treatment of the acute coronary syndrome in Germany: experiences in a German cluster of the GRACE registry].

Background: The acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the western world. The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) documents inpatients with all types of ACS and a follow-up at three months in Germany and worldwide.

Methods: The data of the German Cluster Detmold were compared with data from the worldwide GRACE registry (31,070 patients).

Combining warfarin and antiplatelet therapy after coronary stenting in the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events: is it safe and effective to use just one antiplatelet agent?

Aims: To identify factors associated with the use of single or dual antiplatelet therapy in patients prescribed warfarin following coronary stenting and to investigate whether single (aspirin or thienopyridine) vs. dual antiplatelet therapy plus warfarin leads to an excess of adverse outcomes.

Methods And Results: We analysed data from 800 patients with an acute coronary syndrome who underwent coronary stenting (130 patients received a drug-eluting stent) and were discharged on warfarin and either dual (n = 580) or single (n = 220) antiplatelet therapy.

Percutaneous coronary intervention in patients receiving enoxaparin or unfractionated heparin after fibrinolytic therapy for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction in the ExTRACT-TIMI 25 trial.

Objectives: We sought to evaluate whether enoxaparin (ENOX) is superior to unfractionated heparin (UFH) as adjunctive therapy for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who receive fibrinolytic therapy and subsequently undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by analyzing data from the ExTRACT-TIMI 25 (Enoxaparin and Thrombolysis Reperfusion for Acute Myocardial Infarction Treatment-Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction 25) trial.

Background: Limited data are available on the use of ENOX compared with UFH as adjunctive therapy in STEMI patients treated with fibrinolytic therapy and subsequent PCI.

Methods: A total of 20,479 STEMI patients who received fibrinolytic therapy were randomized to a strategy of ENOX throughout index hospitalization or UFH for at least 48 h, with blinded study drug to continue if PCI was performed.

[Clinical assessment of potential fields of application of recombinant factor VIIa in internal and pediatric diseases. Recommendations of an expert group].

Recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa) is increasingly used outside the labeled indications for treatment of life-threatening bleeding episodes after failure of the respective standard therapy. An interdisciplinary group of experts summarizes the state of knowledge of the use of rFVIIa in gastroenterology and hepatology, thrombocytopenia and -pathia, coagulation factor deficiencies, von Willebrand's disease, periinterventional bleeding without specific bleeding diathesis, drug-induced bleeding, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and neonatology. The most commonly used dose is 90 microg/kg body weight rFVIIa as bolus, if necessary followed by additional injections at intervals of 2-3 h.

[Coronary artery disease--relevance of total coronary revascularization on the incidence of malignant arrhythmias].

Myocardial ischemia induces redistribution of different ions (H(+), K(+), Na(+), Ca(++)) across the cardiomyocyte membrane, as well as the loss of intracellular ATP content. This results in changes in the electrical properties including shortening of the action potential, appearance of delayed afterpotentials, and a modified refractoriness of the cardiomyocyte. These changes may induce or support malignant cardiac arrhythmias.

Bleeding complications in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing early invasive management can be reduced with radial access, smaller sheath sizes, and timely sheath removal.

Objectives: Our objective was to analyze the impact of arterial access site, sheath size, timing of sheath removal, and use of access site closure devices on high-risk patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS).

Background: In the SYNERGY trial, 9,978 patients with ACS were randomly assigned to receive enoxaparin or unfractionated heparin.

Methods: This analysis includes 9,404 patients for whom sheath access information was obtained for the first PCI procedure or diagnostic catheterization.

[Postoperative antithrombotic treatment in diabetic patients].

Diabetes mellitus patients after aorto-coronary bypass operation constitute a patient cohort at largely increased risk for secondary coronary events. Antiplatelet agents and antithrombotic agents are applied for secondary prevention. Up to now, secondary prevention has not been addressed specifically in the cohort of diabetic patients after bypass operation.