Acute Myocardial Infarction and Stress Cardiomyopathy Are Not Mutually Exclusive.

Background: Stress cardiomyopathy is a transient cardiac syndrome characterized by reversible left ventricular systolic dysfunction precipitated by emotional or physiologic stress. The presence of obstructive coronary artery disease has been noted in stress cardiomyopathy.

Methods: We describe 3 case reports of patients with acute coronary syndrome and transient wall motion abnormalities not usually seen in the distribution of coronary artery disease.

Trends and predictors of smoking cessation after percutaneous coronary intervention (from Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1999 to 2010).

Smoke-free ordinance implementation and advances in smoking cessation (SC) treatment have occurred in the past decade; however, little is known about their impact on SC in patients with coronary artery disease. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 2,306 consecutive patients from Olmsted County, Minnesota, who underwent their first percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) from 1999 to 2009, and assessed the trends and predictors of SC after PCI. Smoking status was ascertained by structured telephone survey 6 and 12 months after PCI (ending in 2010).

The prognostic importance of weight loss in coronary artery disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To assess the prognostic impact of weight loss on clinical outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the prognostic effects of weight loss in patients with CAD on a composite outcome of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and major adverse cardiac events considering studies published between January 1, 1964, and August 8, 2013. We considered weight loss "intentional" when it occurred in the presence of programmed therapeutic lifestyle changes and "observational" when no such intervention was specified.

Mechanisms of adverse cardiometabolic consequences of obesity.

Obesity is an epidemic that threatens the health of millions of people worldwide and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. There are multiple and complex mechanisms to explain how obesity can cause cardiovascular disease. In recent years, studies have shown some limitations in the way we currently define obesity and assess adiposity.

Diagnostic performance of weight loss to predict body fatness improvement in cardiac rehabilitation patients.

Purpose: To determine the diagnostic performance of weight loss to identify fat mass loss in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) patients.

Methods: We included consecutive patients enrolled in early outpatient CR who underwent air displacement plethysmography with measurements of height, weight, and waist circumference at initiation and completion of CR. We calculated the accuracy of >1 kg of weight loss to predict a >1 kg loss of fat mass.

Availability and characteristics of cardiovascular rehabilitation programs in South America.

Purpose: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs decrease morbidity and mortality rates in patients with coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death in Latin America. This study was carried out to assess the characteristics and current level of CR program implementation in South America.

Methods: We carried out a survey of CR programs that were identified using the directory of the South American Society of Cardiology and through an exhaustive search by the investigators.

[Evidence-based cardiology: practical applications from epidemiology. IV Cardiovascular risk prediction].

Cardiovascular risk assessment in patients without established disease allows to match the intensity of risk factor modification to the underlying hazard for cardiovascular events. The cardiologist needs to know the characteristics of current risk prediction algorithms, their advantages and limitations.

[Evidence-based cardiology: practical applications from epidemiology. III. Diagnostic capacity of a clinical test].

This article reviews different characteristics of validity in a clinical diagnostic test. In particular, we emphasize the likelihood ratio as an instrument that facilitates the use of epidemiologic concepts in clinical diagnosis.