Effect of Aspirin Coadministration on the Safety of Celecoxib, Naproxen, or Ibuprofen.

Background: The safety of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and aspirin coadministration is uncertain.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the safety of combining NSAIDs with low-dose aspirin.

Methods: This analysis of the PRECISION (Prospective Randomized Evaluation of Celecoxib Integrated Safety Versus Ibuprofen or Naproxen) trial included 23,953 patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis at increased cardiovascular risk randomized to celecoxib, ibuprofen, or naproxen.

Differential blood pressure effects of ibuprofen, naproxen, and celecoxib in patients with arthritis: the PRECISION-ABPM (Prospective Randomized Evaluation of Celecoxib Integrated Safety Versus Ibuprofen or Naproxen Ambulatory Blood Pressure Measurement) Trial.

Aims: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), both non-selective and selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, are among the most widely prescribed drugs worldwide, but associate with increased blood pressure (BP) and adverse cardiovascular (CV) events. PRECISION-ABPM, a substudy of PRECISION was conducted at 60 sites, to determine BP effects of the selective COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib vs. the non-selective NSAIDs naproxen and ibuprofen.

Budget Impact of Adding Ivabradine to Standard of Care in Patients with Chronic Systolic Heart Failure in the United States.

Background: Heart failure (HF) costs $21 billion annually in direct health care costs, 80% of which is directly attributable to hospitalizations. The SHIFT clinical study demonstrated that ivabradine plus standard of care (SoC) reduced HF-related and all-cause hospitalizations compared with SoC alone.

Objective: To estimate the budget impact of ivabradine from a U.

Histopathologic evaluation of a novel-design nitinol stent: the Biflex stent.

Background: Optimalization and improvement in stent material, stent design and deployment may alleviate the problem of restenosis after stenting. The Biflex stent is a novel-design stent made of nitinol; the vascular response after deployment in rabbit iliac arteries was evaluated.

Methods And Results: Normocholesterolemic New Zealand white rabbits (n = 8) were used.

Intravascular thermography: Immediate functional and morphological vascular findings.

Aims: To investigate safety, feasibility, and injurious effect on endothelial cells of a thermography catheter as well as effect of flow on measured temperature in non-obstructive arteries.

Methods And Results: Safety and feasibility were tested in both rabbit aortas and pig coronary arteries. Evaluation of endothelial damage by the catheter (acute, 7 and 14 days) was performed in pig coronaries using Evans Blue, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Factor-VIII antibody and compared with normal arteries and arteries that underwent intravascular ultrasound (IVUS).

Imaging of atherosclerosis. Intravascular imaging of the vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque: spotlight on temperature measurement.

The vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque is associated with an increased number of acute coronary syndromes. Current techniques such as coronary angiography are unable to detect and prospectively evaluate these lesions. Recently, other techniques, both invasive and noninvasive, are being developed trying to detect the plaque that is at increased risk for rupture eventually resulting in increased thrombosis.

In vivo temperature heterogeneity of atherosclerotic plaques is determined by plaque composition.

Background: Temperature heterogeneity of atherosclerotic plaques has been associated with macrophage accumulation in ex vivo studies. We investigated in vivo whether modifying the cell composition of rabbit atherosclerotic plaques by dietary cholesterol lowering can influence temperature heterogeneity.

Methods And Results: Twenty New Zealand rabbits were randomized to either a normal (n=10) or cholesterol-rich (0.

High-dose external beam irradiation inhibits neointima formation in stented pig coronary arteries.

Purpose: To evaluate high-dose external beam irradiation (EBRT) in a pig coronary stent preparation because low and intermediate-dose EBRT failed to show inhibition of neointima formation in stented animal models.

Methods And Materials: Thirty-five stents were implanted in the coronary arteries of 17 pigs. Seven pigs were exposed to a single dose of 21 Gy EBRT immediately after stenting.