Safety and Efficacy of Antithrombotic Strategies in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Network Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Importance: The antithrombotic treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and coronary artery disease, in particular with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and/or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), poses a significant treatment dilemma in clinical practice.

Objective: To study the safety and efficacy of different antithrombotic regimens using a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in this population.

Data Sources: PubMed, EMBASE, EBSCO, and Cochrane databases were searched to identify randomized controlled trials comparing antithrombotic regimens.

Rivaroxaban With or Without Aspirin in Patients With Heart Failure and Chronic Coronary or Peripheral Artery Disease.

Background: Patients with chronic coronary artery disease or peripheral artery disease and history of heart failure (HF) are at high risk for major adverse cardiovascular events. We explored the effects of rivaroxaban with or without aspirin in these patients.

Methods: The COMPASS trial (Cardiovascular Outcomes for People Using Anticoagulation Strategies) randomized 27 395 participants with chronic coronary artery disease or peripheral artery disease to rivaroxaban 2.

Trends in elective and ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm repair by practice setting in Ontario, Canada, from 2003 to 2016: a population-based time-series analysis.

Background: Recent years have seen centralization of vascular surgery services in Ontario. We sought to examine the trends in overall and approach-specific elective and ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm repair by hospital type (teaching v. community).

Effects of alirocumab on types of myocardial infarction: insights from the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial.

Aims: The third Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction (MI) Task Force classified MIs into five types: Type 1, spontaneous; Type 2, related to oxygen supply/demand imbalance; Type 3, fatal without ascertainment of cardiac biomarkers; Type 4, related to percutaneous coronary intervention; and Type 5, related to coronary artery bypass surgery. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) reduction with statins and proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin Type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors reduces risk of MI, but less is known about effects on types of MI. ODYSSEY OUTCOMES compared the PCSK9 inhibitor alirocumab with placebo in 18 924 patients with recent acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and elevated LDL-C (≥1.

Thrombolysis in young adults with stroke: Findings from Get With The Guidelines-Stroke.

Objective: To determine whether young adults (≤40 years old) with acute ischemic stroke are less likely to receive IV tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and more likely to have longer times to brain imaging and treatment.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke registry for patients with acute ischemic stroke hospitalized between January 2009 and September 2015. We used multivariable models with generalized estimating equations to evaluate tPA treatment and outcomes between younger (age 18-40 years) and older (age >40 years) patients with acute ischemic stroke.

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program - Time for a Reboot.

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) was established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2010 with a goal of reducing preventable hospitalizations by imposing financial penalties on hospitals with higher-than-expected 30-day readmission rates. After the program was created, readmission rates appeared to decrease nationwide for patients hospitalized with heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, and pneumonia, the three conditions it originally targeted.

Pantoprazole to Prevent Gastroduodenal Events in Patients Receiving Rivaroxaban and/or Aspirin in a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Background & Aims: Antiplatelets and anticoagulants are associated with increased upper gastrointestinal bleeding. We evaluated whether proton pump inhibitor therapy could reduce this risk.

Methods: We performed a 3 × 2 partial factorial double-blind trial of 17,598 participants with stable cardiovascular disease and peripheral artery disease.

Bariatric surgery is associated with a lower rate of death after myocardial infarction and stroke: A nationwide study.

Aim: To assess the potential protective effect of bariatric surgery on mortality after myocardial infarction (MI) or cerebrovascular accident (CVA).

Materials And Methods: Using the National Inpatient Sample (2007-2014), 2218 patients with a principal discharge diagnosis of acute MI and 2168 patients with ischaemic CVA who also had history of prior bariatric surgery were identified. Utilizing propensity scores, these patients were matched 1:5 with patients who had similar principal diagnoses but no history of bariatric surgery (controls).

Coronary microvascular dysfunction, left ventricular remodeling, and clinical outcomes in aortic stenosis.

Background: We investigated role of coronary microvascular disease (CMD) in maladaptive LV remodeling and prognosis in patients with aortic sclerosis or stenosis and no overt CAD.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with aortic sclerosis or stenosis, normal myocardial perfusion and LV ejection fraction (EF) > 50% (n = 43) and matched controls without AS (n = 43). PET and echocardiograms were performed within 1 year of each other.

Intravenous Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients With History of Stroke Plus Diabetes Mellitus.

Background and Purpose- Acute ischemic stroke patients with history of prior ischemic stroke plus concomitant diabetes mellitus (DM) were excluded from the ECASS III trial (European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study) because of safety concerns. However, there are few data on use of intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator and symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage or outcomes in this population. Methods- Using data from the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Registry between February 2009 and September 2017 (n=1619 hospitals), we examined characteristics and outcomes among patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with tissue-type plasminogen activator within the 3- to 4.

Extended prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism after hospitalization for medical illness: A trial sequential and cumulative meta-analysis.

Background: The efficacy, safety, and clinical importance of extended-duration thromboprophylaxis (EDT) for prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in medical patients remain unclear. We compared the efficacy and safety of EDT in patients hospitalized for medical illness.

Methods And Findings: Electronic databases of PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central, and ClinicalTrials.

Nine contemporary therapeutic directions in heart failure.

The global burden of heart failure has continued to increase dramatically with 26 million people affected and an estimated health expenditure of $31 billion worldwide. Several practice-influencing studies were reported recently, bringing advances along many frontiers in heart failure, particularly heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. In this article, we discuss nine distinct therapeutic areas that were significantly influenced by this scientific progress.

Duration of Dual Antiplatelet Therapy in Patients with CKD and Drug-Eluting Stents: A Meta-Analysis.

Background And Objectives: Whether prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is more protective in patients with CKD and drug-eluting stents compared with shorter DAPT is uncertain. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine whether shorter DAPT in patients with drug-eluting stents and CKD is associated with lower mortality or major adverse cardiovascular event rates compared with longer DAPT.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: A Medline literature research was conducted to identify randomized trials in patients with drug-eluting stents comparing different DAPT duration strategies.

Relationship of stroke and bleeding risk profiles to efficacy and safety of dabigatran dual therapy versus warfarin triple therapy in atrial fibrillation after percutaneous coronary intervention: An ancillary analysis from the RE-DUAL PCI trial.

Background: In the RE-DUAL PCI trial of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), dabigatran dual therapy (110 or 150 mg bid, plus clopidogrel or ticagrelor) reduced International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis bleeding events compared with warfarin triple therapy, with noninferiority in overall thromboembolic events. This analysis assessed outcomes in relation to patient bleeding and stroke risk profiles, based on the modified HAS-BLED and CHADS-VASc scores.

Methods: The primary endpoint, major bleeding event (MBE) or clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding event (CRNMBE), was compared across study arms in patients categorized by modified HAS-BLED score 0-2 or ≥3.

A Fully Magnetically Levitated Left Ventricular Assist Device - Final Report.

Background: In two interim analyses of this trial, patients with advanced heart failure who were treated with a fully magnetically levitated centrifugal-flow left ventricular assist device were less likely to have pump thrombosis or nondisabling stroke than were patients treated with a mechanical-bearing axial-flow left ventricular assist device.

Methods: We randomly assigned patients with advanced heart failure to receive either the centrifugal-flow pump or the axial-flow pump irrespective of the intended goal of use (bridge to transplantation or destination therapy). The composite primary end point was survival at 2 years free of disabling stroke or reoperation to replace or remove a malfunctioning device.

Antibody-Based Ticagrelor Reversal Agent in Healthy Volunteers.

Background: Ticagrelor is an oral P2Y inhibitor that is used with aspirin to reduce the risk of ischemic events among patients with acute coronary syndromes or previous myocardial infarction. Spontaneous major bleeding and bleeding associated with urgent invasive procedures are concerns with ticagrelor, as with other antiplatelet drugs. The antiplatelet effects of ticagrelor cannot be reversed with platelet transfusion.

Periprocedural Outcomes According to Timing of Clopidogrel Loading Dose in Patients Who Did Not Receive P2Y Inhibitor Pretreatment.

Background: In patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), who did not receive P2Y inhibitor pretreatment, the optimal timing of P2Y inhibitor loading dose remains debated. We sought to examine whether the choice of administration of the clopidogrel loading dose before or after the start of PCI had an impact on periprocedural complications, including bleeding.

Methods And Results: The CHAMPION PHOENIX (A Clinical Trial Comparing Cangrelor to Clopidogrel Standard Therapy in Subjects Who Require Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) double-blind randomized trial compared cangrelor with clopidogrel loading dose at the time of PCI.

Rationale, design and baseline characteristics of the effect of ticagrelor on health outcomes in diabetes mellitus patients Intervention study.

In the setting of prior myocardial infarction, the oral antiplatelet ticagrelor added to aspirin reduced the risk of recurrent ischemic events, especially, in those with diabetes mellitus. Patients with stable coronary disease and diabetes are also at elevated risk and might benefit from dual antiplatelet therapy. The Effect of Ticagrelor on Health Outcomes in diabEtes Mellitus patients Intervention Study (THEMIS, NCT01991795) is a Phase 3b randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of ticagrelor vs placebo, on top of low dose aspirin.