Thrombocytopenia as a Bleeding Risk Factor in Atrial Fibrillation and Coronary Artery Disease: Insights From the AFIRE Study.

Background Thrombocytopenia poses a risk of bleeding in patients with chronic coronary syndrome after coronary intervention. However, whether thrombocytopenia also increases the bleeding risk in patients with atrial fibrillation and chronic coronary syndrome remains unclear. Methods and Results This study evaluated the AFIRE (Atrial Fibrillation and Ischemic Events With Rivaroxaban in Patients With Stable Coronary Artery Disease) trial.

A Case of Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease With Resolution of Massive Pericardial Effusion After Renal Transcatheter Artery Embolization.

A 68-year-old woman being treated with hemodialysis for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease was admitted for progressive dyspnea over 6 months. On chest radiography, her cardiothoracic ratio had increased from 52.2% 6 months prior, to 71%, and echocardiography revealed diffuse pericardial effusion and right ventricular diastolic insufficiency.

Serial assessment of endothelial vasomotor function using optimal medical therapy predicts clinical outcomes in patients after complete coronary revascularization.

Objective: Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of intensive optimal medical therapy (OMT) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). To investigate our hypothesis that patients with and without OMT achievement differed with respect to the risk of future cardiac events, we investigated the endothelial function in patients with CAD who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and contemporary medical therapy.

Methods: We conducted a prospective longitudinal cohort study to evaluate the endothelial function in 96 consecutive patients at 12 h after admission and 3 months at <12 h after admission and at 3 months after discharge by measuring the brachial artery dilatation after 5 min of forearm ischemia flow-mediated dilation (FMD).

Fulminant myocardial bleeding: another clinical course of vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (vEDS) is a dominantly inherited connective tissue disorder characterised by colon rupture and arterial aneurysm, dissection and rupture. A patient was diagnosed with vEDS after a spontaneous colon rupture when he was brought to our institute because of sudden chest pain. An ECG revealed wide regional ST elevation, which was initially suggestive of acute myocarditis.

Individualized antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent deployment: Implication of clinical trials of different durations of dual antiplatelet therapy.

At present, there is consensus that prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is effective to reduce cardiovascular events at the expense of bleeding complication events. A causal relationship of prolonged DAPT with an increase in mortality remains debatable, however, it appears to be obvious that bleeding complications are associated with an increase in cardiac events. Thus, individualized optimal DAPT duration balancing the risk and benefit of DAPT should be applied.

A Case of Severe Unicuspid Aortic Valve Stenosis: Valve Repair With Tricuspidization in an Adult.

A 33-year-old male was referred to our institute with acute heart failure. The patient was found to have a unicuspid aortic valve (UAV) and severe aortic stenosis. He had been followed at a local university hospital during childhood.

SYNTAX score predicts major bleeding following drug-eluting stent implantation in an all-comers population.

Introduction And Objectives: Previous studies have reported that coronary intervention for complex lesions is independently correlated with major bleeding. The SYNTAX score is an angiographic tool used to grade the complexity of coronary artery diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of the SYNTAX score to predict major bleeding following drug-eluting stent implantation.

Bleeding risk with triple antithrombotic therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation and drug-eluting stents.

In the era of drug-eluting stents (DES), a long-term dual antiplatelet therapy is required to prevent late stent thrombosis. However, in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), there is a concern that combining warfarin with dual antiplatelet therapy may increase the risk of bleeding. We analyzed 1274 consecutive patients with coronary artery disease who were treated with coronary intervention from January 2006 through January 2009.