Factors associated with coronary heart disease in COPD patients and controls.

Background: COPD and coronary heart disease (CHD) frequently co-occur, yet which COPD phenotypes are most prone to CHD is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to see whether COPD patients did have a true higher risk for CHD than subjects without COPD, and to examine a range of potential factors associated with CHD in COPD patients and controls.

Methods: 347 COPD patients and 428 non-COPD controls, were invited for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and pulmonary CT.

Indwelling urinary catheters, aortic valve treatment and delirium: a prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To determine whether an association exists between delirium and length of time indwelling urine catheters (IUC) are used in octogenarian patients treated with surgical aortic valve treatment (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary university hospital covering the western region of Norway.

"Eight Days of Nightmares … " - Octogenarian Patients' Experiences of Postoperative Delirium after Transcatheter or Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement.

Background: Surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) are increasingly performed in octogenarian patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS), including those with high surgical risk. Postoperative delirium (PD) is a common and serious complication in older patients, characterised by reduced awareness, change in consciousness, disturbance in logical thinking and hallucinations.

Methods: To explore how octogenarian patients experienced PD, a qualitative study was conducted including five women and five men between 81 and 88 years.

Readmissions and mortality in delirious versus non-delirious octogenarian patients after aortic valve therapy: a prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To determine whether postoperative delirium predicts first-time readmissions and mortality in octogenarian patients within 180 days after aortic valve therapy with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), and to determine the most common diagnoses at readmission.

Design: Prospective cohort study of patients undergoing elective SAVR or TAVI.

Setting: Tertiary university hospital that performs all SAVRs and TAVIs in Western Norway.

Delirium as a Predictor of Physical and Cognitive Function in Individuals Aged 80 and Older After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation or Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement.

Objectives: To determine how development of delirium after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) could predict activity of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADLs (IADL) disability, cognitive function, and self-reported health in individuals aged 80 and older.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary university hospital.

Comparison of frequency, risk factors, and time course of postoperative delirium in octogenarians after transcatheter aortic valve implantation versus surgical aortic valve replacement.

Postoperative delirium (PD) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remains to be explored. We sought to (1) determine the incidence of PD in octogenarians who underwent TAVI or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), (2) identify its risk factors, and (3) describe possible differences in the onset and course of PD between treatment groups. A prospective cohort study of consecutive patients aged ≥80 years with severe aortic stenosis who underwent elective TAVI or SAVR (N = 143) was conducted.

Effects of local delivery of tetradecylthioacetic acid within the injured coronary vessel wall.

Objectives: Inflammation is involved in cell proliferation and collagen deposition causing vessel wall remodeling and restenosis after plain balloon angioplasty. Local drug delivery of bioactive agents that reduce the incidence of adverse wall remodeling is of considerable interest concerning treatment strategies for coronary vessel disease and could alter the need of repeated revascularization.

Design: In this study, 34 domestic pigs undergoing coronary balloon injury were randomly assigned to Tetradecylthioacetic acid (TTA) or placebo delivered locally.

Dose-dependent coronary artery intimal thickening after local delivery of the anti-oxidant tetradecylthioacetic acid from stents.

Objective: To examine the in vitro uptake and elution of the anti-oxidant tetradecylthioacetic acid (TTA) from phosphorylcholine (PC)-coated stents, and the in vivo uptake, retention, inflammatory response and histomorphometric changes after overstretch injury of the porcine coronary artery.

Methods: PC-coated stents were loaded in one of three different concentrations of TTA (87, 174 and 347 mmol/L, i.e.

Implementing a best-treatment strategy with intracoronary brachytherapy for in-stent restenosis in patients at high risk for recurrence.

Background: The deployment of drug-eluting stents (DES) to treat bare-metal stent restenosis [in-stent restenosis (ISR)] has become routine practice, with a consequential decline in the use of intracoronary brachytherapy (ICBT). However, there are concerns as to the long-term safety profile of DES, particularly in terms of late stent thrombosis. In addition, an appropriate treatment strategy for stenosis within DES has not been developed.

Nonemergent coronary angioplasty without on-site surgical backup: a randomized study evaluating outcomes in low-risk patients.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in nonemergent patients with coronary artery disease in hospitals without on-site cardiac surgery backup is still controversial. To prospectively evaluate a set of low procedural risk criteria for PCI, patients with stable or unstable angina were randomized to treatment in either a community hospital, which had all supportive services except for on-site cardiac surgery, or a regional surgical hospital 213 km away.

Methods And Results: During a 4-year period, 609 (57%) of 1064 consecutive patients with stable or unstable angina who underwent coronary angiography at a teaching community hospital in Norway fulfilled the predefined low-risk criteria for PCI.