Variation in secondary prevention of coronary heart disease: the INTERASPIRE study.

Background And Aims: INTERASPIRE is an international study of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients, designed to measure if guideline standards for secondary prevention and cardiac rehabilitation are being achieved in a timely manner.

Methods: Between 2020 and 2023, adults hospitalized in the preceding 6-24 months with incident or recurrent CHD were sampled in 14 countries from all 6 World Health Organization regions and invited for a standardized interview and examination. Direct age and sex standardization was used for country-level prevalence estimation.

Population attitude and access to the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic elicited important changes in community habits and behaviors, including a distancing of people from the healthcare system. The objective of this work was to understand the causes that gave rise to changes in behavior from an individual perspective in the Argentine Republic. We performed a cross-sectional, web-based survey using an online questionnaire.

Renal Function and Outcomes With Dabigatran Dual Antithrombotic Therapy in Atrial Fibrillation Patients After PCI.

Objectives: The study sought to evaluate the effect of dabigatran dual therapy versus warfarin triple therapy across categories of renal function in the RE-DUAL PCI (Randomized Evaluation of Dual Antithrombotic Therapy with Dabigatran versus Triple Therapy with Warfarin in Patients with Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) trial.

Background: The RE-DUAL PCI (NCT02164864) trial of patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention reported that dabigatran dual therapy (110 or 150 mg twice daily, plus clopidogrel or ticagrelor) reduced the primary endpoint of major bleeding events (MBE) or clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding events (CRNMBE) compared with warfarin triple therapy, with noninferiority in overall thromboembolic events.

Methods: Risk of a first MBE or CRNMBE and the composite of death or thromboembolic event (DTE) or unplanned revascularization were evaluated in 2,725 patients according to baseline creatinine clearance (CrCl) categories: 30 to <50, 50 to <80, and ≥80 ml/min.

[Medication adherence to secondary prevention for coronary artery disease].

We compared the use of evidence-based secondary prevention drugs for coronary artery disease at hospital discharge and 3 years of follow-up in a group of patients associated to an integrated network of health services. We conducted a retrospective group study that included 125 patients under 80 years of age who were hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome. McNemar's test was used to compare values at baseline and 3 years.

Anticoagulation with otamixaban and ischemic events in non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes: the TAO randomized clinical trial.

Importance: The optimal anticoagulant for patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS) managed with an invasive strategy remains controversial.

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of otamixaban, a novel intravenous direct factor Xa inhibitor, with that of unfractionated heparin plus downstream eptifibatide in patients with NSTE-ACS undergoing a planned early invasive strategy.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Randomized, double-blind, active-controlled superiority trial that enrolled 13,229 patients with NSTE-ACS and a planned early invasive strategy, at 568 active sites in 55 countries and conducted between April 2010 and February 2013.

Improved diagnostic and prognostic performance of a new high-sensitive troponin T assay in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Background: In the present study, we aimed to analyze the diagnostic and prognostic potential of a newly developed high-sensitive troponin T assay and compared these results with those of a contemporary troponin T assay in 2 distinct patient cohorts, one including patients with evident ACS and the other one including patients with general chest pain.

Methods And Results: For this study, we analyzed data from 2 independent patient cohorts, the Bad Nauheim ACS registry and the Prognosis in Acute Coronary Syndromes registry, with a total of 2,506 patients. On admission, clinical data have been recorded, and a single measurement of troponin T has been performed with a contemporary assay (TnT) and a new high-sensitive troponin T assay (hsTnT).

Gender bias in acute coronary syndromes.

The major aim of this review was to ascertain whether effective evidence-based treatments for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are underutilized in women in various geographic areas compared with men. The focus of our review was the relative use of effective treatments in patients with coronary angiographic evidence of obstructive coronary disease, defined as a lumen stenosis >50% of the adjacent non-diseased arterial diameter. We searched MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Database between January 1998 and May 2008.

N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide assessment provides incremental prognostic information in patients with acute coronary syndromes and normal troponin T values upon admission.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the prognostic value of N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in two independent samples of patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and normal troponin T (TnT) values.

Background: Recently assessment of NT-proBNP has been studied in patients with ACS. However, the clinical relevance in patients who present without troponin elevation is unclear.

NT-probrain natriuretic peptide predicts complexity and severity of the coronary lesions in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes.

Unlabelled: NT-probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) has been associated with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and adverse outcome in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTEACS). However, the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for this association have not been well established. We sought to explore the relation between NT-proBNP levels and extension of coronary artery disease (CAD) and the presence of more complex and severe coronary lesions.

Relation of C-reactive protein to extent and complexity of coronary narrowing in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes. A prospective cohort study.

Background: Inflammatory markers have been associated with adverse clinical outcome in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). In addition, angiographic plaque morphology and extension of coronary artery disease has been related to worse prognosis in this group of patients. The aim of the present study was to determine if the clinical prognostic value of C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker, can by associated with the angiographic findings in patients with non-ST elevation ACS.