Publications by authors named "Irene Lang"
Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a common complication among patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Despite advances in PAH treatment, evidence for the benefits of PAH therapies in CHD-PAH is limited.
Objectives: This analysis aimed to evaluate outcomes in patients with repaired PAH-CHD receiving an approved PAH drug.
Background: Patients with inferior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction face a substantial risk for cardiovascular death. While left ventricular function is known to be associated with clinical outcomes in these patients, we evaluated the prognostic impact of tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and advanced measures of right ventricular function (free wall strain [FWS] and global longitudinal strain [RVGLS]).
Methods: Consecutive patients presenting with acute inferior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention between 01/2012 and 08/2015 were retrospectively analysed.
Drug development for human disease relies on preclinical model systems such as human cell cultures and animal experiments before therapeutic treatments can ultimately be tested on humans in clinical studies. We here describe the generation of a novel human cell line (HLMVEC/SVTERT289) that we generated by transfection of microvascular endothelial cells from healthy donor lung tissue with the catalytic domain of telomerase and the SV40 large T/small t-antigen. These cells exhibited satisfactory growth characteristics and largely maintained their native characteristics, including morphology, cell surface marker expression, angiogenic potential and the protein composition of secreted extracellular vesicles.
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- This study explores the link between ABO blood groups and the risk of early stent thrombosis in patients who underwent coronary interventions, focusing particularly on non-O blood groups and their association with cardiovascular issues.
- Among 10,714 patients, only 0.73% experienced early stent thrombosis, and while non-O blood groups weren't significantly linked, those with B-antigens (B and AB blood types) showed a higher risk for early thrombosis compared to O type.
- The findings suggest that B-antigen presence is a notable factor in early stent thrombosis risk, indicating a need for more research to understand the biological mechanisms behind this relationship.
Background: Elevated Lp(a) (lipoprotein[a]) is a risk marker for atherosclerotic disease, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. We examined the association of Lp(a) with changes in coronary atherosclerosis following intensive lipid-lowering therapy.
Methods: In the PACMAN-AMI trial (Effects of the PCSK9 Antibody Alirocumab on Coronary Atherosclerosis in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction), 300 patients with acute myocardial infarction were randomized to receive biweekly alirocumab 150 mg or placebo in addition to high-intensity statins.
Although anticoagulation remains the cornerstone treatment for patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE), catheter-directed therapy (CDT) has generated great interest as an adjunctive option for those presenting with hemodynamic decompensation or high risk for deterioration and in whom systemic thrombolysis has failed or is contraindicated. However, randomized controlled data supporting the efficacy and safety of CDT in addition to antithrombotic therapy in patients with high-risk and intermediate- to high-risk PE compared with anticoagulation and systemic thrombolysis alone are lacking. This paucity of high-quality data hampers guideline recommendations regarding the optimal therapeutic approach in such patients with PE.
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- Despite advancements in clinical practices, pulmonary embolism (PE) remains a significant challenge in diagnosis and treatment due to factors like aging populations and health disparities.
- Clinicians often rely on various international guidelines for managing PE, but inconsistencies and gaps in recommendations can lead to confusion.
- This review focuses on key similarities and differences in PE guidelines and emphasizes the need for clearer management strategies and further research in this area.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide, and despite treatment efforts, cardiovascular function cannot always be restored, and progression of disease be prevented. Critical insights are oftentimes based on tissue samples. Current knowledge of tissue pathology typically relies on invasive biopsies or postmortem samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRenal sympathetic denervation (RDN) is an interventional supplement to medical treatment in patients with arterial hypertension. While the first sham-controlled trial, SYMPLICITY HTN‑3 was neutral, with improved procedural details, patient selection and follow-up, recent randomized sham-controlled trials of second-generation devices show a consistent blood pressure lowering effect of RDN, as compared to sham controls. These new data and the recent U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiovascular diseases (CVD) and their complications continue to be the leading cause of mortality globally. With recent advancements in molecular analytics, individualized treatments are gradually applied to the diagnosis and treatment of CVD. In the field of diagnostics, liquid biopsy combined with modern analytical technologies is the most popular natural source to identify disease biomarkers, as has been successfully demonstrated in the cancer field.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The European Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH) registry, conducted between 2007 and 2012, reported the major impact of pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) on the long-term survival of patients with CTEPH. Since then, 2 additional treatments for inoperable CTEPH have become available: balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA), and an approved oral drug therapy with the guanylate cyclase stimulator riociguat. The current registry aimed to evaluate the effect of these new therapeutic approaches in a worldwide context.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mortality risk assessment informs clinical management of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The Registry to Evaluate Early and Long-Term PAH Disease Management (REVEAL) Lite 2 is a simplified risk calculator discriminating 1-year mortality risk.
Methods: This post-hoc analysis of the phase 3 GRIPHON study assessed changes in REVEAL Lite 2 risk score with selexipag versus placebo and whether changes were prognostic or predictive of time to first morbidity/mortality (M/M) event.
Importance: Previous studies investigated atherosclerotic changes induced by lipid-lowering therapy in extensive coronary segments irrespective of baseline disease burden (a vessel-level approach).
Objective: To investigate the effects of lipid-lowering therapy on coronary lesions with advanced atherosclerotic plaque features and presumably higher risk for future events.
Design, Setting, And Participants: The PACMAN-AMI randomized clinical trial (enrollment: May 2017 to October 2020; final follow-up: October 2021) randomized patients with acute myocardial infarction to receive alirocumab or placebo in addition to high-intensity statin therapy.
Background And Aims: Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) trigger atherothrombosis during acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but mechanisms of induction remain unclear. Levels of extracellular vesicles (EV) carrying oxidation-specific epitopes (OSE), which are targeted by specific natural immunoglobulin M (IgM), are increased at the culprit site in AMI. This study investigated EV as inducers of NETosis and assessed the inhibitory effect of natural anti-OSE-IgM in this process.
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- Left heart disease (LHD) is a leading cause of pulmonary hypertension (PH), further classified into isolated post-capillary (ipcPH) or combined pre- and post-capillary PH (cpcPH).
- Recent clinical trials emphasize avoiding pulmonary arterial hypertension treatments for PH-LHD patients outside of trials, as these treatments may cause harm.
- A new PH-LHD staging system categorizes patients into four stages based on their clinical and hemodynamic characteristics, which aims to improve diagnosis and treatment through a more individualized approach.
In patients with prevalent or incident atrial fibrillation (AF) after successful transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) enrolled in the EdoxabaN Versus standard of care and theIr effectS on clinical outcomes in pAtients havinG undergonE Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation - in Atrial Fibrillation (ENVISAGE-TAVI AF) trial, the incidence of ischemic stroke (IS) and any stroke was numerically less in the edoxaban group than in the vitamin K antagonist (VKA) group. The present study aimed to identify risk factors associated with IS in an on-treatment subanalysis in patients from ENVISAGE-TAVI AF who received ≥1 dose of edoxaban or VKA. Baseline patient characteristics were compared in patients with and those without IS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is conflicting evidence whether prediabetes is associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with chronic coronary syndrome. We aimed to assess the effect of prediabetes in patients with chronic coronary syndrome on clinical outcomes.
Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data from the ISCHEMIA and ISCHEMIA-CKD trials, including patients with chronic coronary syndrome determined by coronary computed tomography angiography or exercise-stress testing.
Background: Among patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), acute vasoreactivity testing during right heart catheterization may identify acute vasoresponders, for whom treatment with high-dose calcium channel blockers (CCBs) is recommended. However, long-term outcomes in the current era remain largely unknown. We sought to evaluate the implications of acute vasoreactivity response for long-term response to CCBs and other outcomes.
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