Smoking abstinence 1 year after acute coronary syndrome: follow-up from a randomized controlled trial of varenicline in patients admitted to hospital.

Background: Patients who continue to smoke after acute coronary syndrome are at increased risk of reinfarction and death. We previously found use of varenicline to increase abstinence 24 weeks after acute coronary syndrome; here we report results through 52 weeks.

Methods: The EVITA trial was a multicentre, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of varenicline for smoking cessation in patients admitted to hospital with acute coronary syndrome.

Smokers and Postcessation Weight Gain After Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Background: Smoking cessation and weight management are recommended after acute coronary syndrome (ACS); however, little is known about the effects of smoking cessation on weight change after ACS. We aimed to assess the effect of smoking cessation after ACS on weight over a 12-month follow-up period.

Methods And Results: Data were prospectively collected from the EVITA (Evaluation of Varenicline in Smoking Cessation for Patients Post-Acute Coronary Syndrome) trial.

Varenicline for Smoking Cessation in Hospitalized Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Background: Less than one-third of smokers hospitalized with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remain abstinent following discharge. We assessed whether varenicline, begun in-hospital, is efficacious for smoking cessation following ACS.

Methods And Results: We conducted a multi-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in which smokers hospitalized with an ACS were randomized to varenicline or placebo for 12 weeks.

Progressive dilation of the diameter of the aortic root in adults with a bicuspid aortic valve.

Background: To determine the rate of progression of dilation of the aortic root in adults with a bicuspid aortic valve.

Methods: We reviewed retrospectively the transthoracic echocardiograms of 50 adults with a bicuspid aortic valve. Each patient had had at least two examinations made 12 months apart.

Improvement in exercise capacity in asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic adults after atrial septal defect percutaneous closure.

Background: Controversy exists as to whether secundum atrial septal defects (ASDs) in asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic New York Heart Association (NYHA) class I or II adult patients should be closed.

Methods And Results: Thirty-seven patients (24 females; mean age 49.4 years, range 19 to 76) with a mean pulmonary to systemic flow ratio (Qp:Qs) of 2.