BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to describe resources and outcomes of coronary computed tomography angiography plus Stress CT perfusion (CCTA ​+ ​Stress-CTP) and stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance (Stress-CMR) in symptomatic patients with suspected or known CAD.
METHODS: Six hundred and twenty-four consecutive symptomatic patients with intermediate to high-risk pretest likelihood for CAD or previous history of revascularization referred to our hospital for clinically indicated CCTA ​+ ​Stress-CTP or Stress-CMR were enrolled. Stress-CTP scans were performed in 223 patients while 401 patients performed Stress-CMR. Patient follow-up was performed at 1 year after index test performance. Endpoints were all cardiac events, as a combined endpoint of revascularization, non-fatal MI and death, and hard cardiac events, as combined endpoint of non-fatal MI and death.
RESULTS: Twenty-nine percent of patients who underwent CCTA ​+ ​Stress-CTP received revascularization, 7% of subjects assessed with Stress-CMR were treated invasively, and a low number of non-fatal MI and death was observed with both strategies (hard events in 0.4% of patients that had CCTA ​+ ​Stress-CTP as index test, and in 3% of patients evaluated with Stress-CMR). According to the predefined endpoints, CCTA ​+ ​Stress-CTP group showed high rate of all cardiac events and low rate of hard cardiac events, respectively. The cumulative costs were 1970 ​± ​2506 Euro and 733 ​± ​1418 Euro for the CCTA ​+ ​Stress-CTP group and Stress-CMR group, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The use of CCTA ​+ ​Stress-CTP strategy was associated with high referral to revascularization but with a favourable trend in terms of hard cardiac events and diagnostic yield in identifying individuals at lower risk of adverse events despite the presence of CAD.

UNASSIGNED: Despite the optimal angiographic result of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), residual disease at the site of the culprit lesion can lead to major adverse cardiac events. Post-PCI physiological assessment can identify residual stenosis. This meta-analysis aims to investigate data of studies examining post-PCI physiological assessment in relation to long-term outcomes.
UNASSIGNED: Studies were included in the meta-analysis after performing a systematic literature search on July 1, 2022. The primary end point was the incidence of major adverse cardiac events, vessel-orientated cardiac events, or target vessel failure.
UNASSIGNED: Low post-PCI fractional flow reserve, reported in 7 studies with fractional flow reserve cutoff values between 0.84 and 0.90, including 4017 patients, was associated with an increased rate of the primary end point (hazard ratio [HR], 2.06; 95% CI, 1.37-3.08). One study reported about impaired post-PCI instantaneous wave-free ratio with instantaneous wave-free ratio cutoff value of 0.95 in relation to major adverse cardiac events, showing a significant association (HR, 3.38; 95% CI, 0.99-11.6; P = .04). Low post-PCI quantitative flow ratio, reported in 3 studies with quantitative flow ratio cutoff value between 0.89 and 0.91, including 1181 patients, was associated with an increased rate of vessel-orientated cardiac events (HR, 3.01; 95% CI, 2.10-4.32). Combining data of all modalities, impaired physiological assessment showed an increased rate of the primary end point (HR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.71-3.16) and secondary end points, including death (HR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.04-1.89), myocardial infarction (HR, 2.70; 95% CI, 1.34-5.42) and target vessel revascularization (HR, 2.88; 95% CI, 1.91-4.35).
UNASSIGNED: Impaired post-PCI physiological assessment is associated with increased adverse cardiac events and individual end points, including death, myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization. Therefore, prospective studies are awaited on whether physiology-based optimization of PCI results in better clinical outcomes.

BACKGROUND: In-stent restenosis (ISR) remains a significant challenge in interventional cardiology despite advancements in stent technology. Drug-coated balloons (DCBs), which deliver antiproliferative agents directly to the vessel wall, have emerged as a promising alternative to plain balloon angioplasty for ISR treatment. This meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy of DCBs compared to plain balloon angioplasty in patients with coronary ISR.
METHODS: A comprehensive search of PubMed and Embase was conducted on June 27, 2024. The search identified randomized controlled trials comparing DCBs and plain balloon angioplasty for ISR treatment. Six trials involving 1,322 patients met the inclusion criteria. Quality was assessed with the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Data extraction and statistical analysis were performed using RevMan software, assessing heterogeneity with the I2 statistic and publication bias using funnel plots.
RESULTS: The analysis showed that DCBs significantly reduced late in-stent and in-segment luminal loss (P < 0.001) and target lesion revascularization (P = 0.02) compared to plain balloon angioplasty. Major adverse cardiovascular events and the combined endpoint of target lesion revascularization, myocardial infarction, and death also showed highly significant improvements with DCB treatment (P < 0.00001 and P = 0.0002, respectively). However, no significant effect was observed on myocardial infarction and mortality rates.
CONCLUSIONS: DCBs significantly reduce in-stent late luminal loss, target lesion revascularization, and major adverse cardiovascular events compared to plain balloon angioplasty.

BACKGROUND: Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1RAs) have demonstrated efficacy in improving mortality and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes. However, the impact of GLP-1RAs therapy on cardiorenal outcomes of diabetic patients at the commencement of dialysis remains unexplored.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the long-term benefits of GLP-1RAs in type 2 diabetic patients at dialysis commencement.
METHODS: A cohort of type 2 diabetic patients initializing dialysis was identified from the TriNetX global database. Patients treated with GLP-1RAs and those treated with long-acting insulin (LAI) were matched by propensity score. We focused on all-cause mortality, four-point major adverse cardiovascular events (4p-MACE), and major adverse kidney events (MAKE).
RESULTS: Among 82,041 type 2 diabetic patients initializing dialysis, 2.1% (n = 1685) patients were GLP-1RAs users (mean ages 59.3 years; 55.4% male). 1682 patients were included in the propensity-matched group, treated either with GLP-1RAs or LAI. The main causes of acute dialysis in this study were ischemic heart disease (17.2%), followed by heart failure (13.6%) and sepsis (6.5%). Following a median follow-up of 1.4 years, GLP-1RAs uses at dialysis commencement was associated with a reduced risk of mortality (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.63, p < 0.001), 4p-MACE (HR = 0.65, p < 0.001), and MAKE (HR = 0.75, p < 0.001). This association was particularly notable in long-acting GLP-1RAs users, with higher BMI, lower HbA1c, and those with eGFR > 15 ml/min/1.73m2. GLP-1RAs\' new use at dialysis commencement was significantly associated with a lower risk of MACE (p = 0.047) and MAKE (p = 0.004). Additionally, GLP-1RAs use among those who could discontinue from acute dialysis or long-term RAs users was associated with a lower risk of mortality, 4p-MACE, and MAKE.
CONCLUSIONS: Given to the limitations of this observational study, use of GLP-1RAs at the onset of dialysis was associated with a decreased risk of MACE, MAKE, and all-cause mortality. These findings show the lack of harm associated with the use of GLP-1RAs in diabetic patients at the initiation of acute dialysis.

Patients with peripheral arterial disease have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular complications in the postoperative period of arterial surgeries known as Major Adverse Cardiac Events (MACE), which includes acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, malignant arrhythmias, and stroke. The preoperative evaluation aims to reduce mortality and the risk of MACE. However, there is no standardized approach to performing them. The aim of this study was to compare the preoperative evaluation conducted by general practitioners with those performed by cardiologists.
This is a retrospective analysis of medical records of patients who underwent elective arterial surgeries from January 2016 to December 2020 at a tertiary hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. The authors compared the preoperative evaluation of these patients according to the initial evaluator (general practitioners vs. cardiologists), assessing patients\' clinical factors, mortality, postoperative MACE incidence, rate of requested non-invasive stratification tests, length of hospital stay, among others.
281 patients were evaluated: 169 assessed by cardiologists and 112 by general practitioners. Cardiologists requested more non-invasive stratification tests (40.8%) compared to general practitioners (9%) (p < 0.001), with no impact on mortality (8.8% versus 10.7%; p = 0.609) and postoperative MACE incidence (10.6% versus 6.2%; p = 0.209). The total length of hospital stay was longer in the cardiologist group (17.27 versus 11.79 days; p < 0.001).
The increased request for exams didn\'t have a significant impact on mortality and postoperative MACE incidence, but prolonged the total length of hospital stay. Health managers should consider these findings and ensure appropriate utilization of human and financial resources.

UNASSIGNED: To investigate the effect and safety of the combined use of ivabradine and metoprolol in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
UNASSIGNED: Eighty patients with AMI were randomly divided into the ivabradine group and the control group. The ivabradine group was treated with ivabradine combined with metoprolol after PCI, while the control group was treated with metoprolol only. Both groups were treated continuously for 1 year. Echocardiography-derived parameters, heart rate, cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) data, major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and myocardial markers were analyzed. The primary endpoint was the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). The safety outcomes were blood pressure, liver and kidney function.
UNASSIGNED: The LVEF was significantly higher in the ivabradine group than in the control group at 1 week, 3 months and 1 year after PCI. The heart rate of the ivabradine group was significantly lower than that of the control group at 1 week and 1month after PCI. The VO2max, metabolic equivalents, anaerobic threshold heart rate, peak heart rate, and heart rate recovery at 8 min of the ivabradine group were significantly higher than those of the control group at 1 year after PCI. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated the one-year total incidence of MACE in the ivabradine group was significantly lower than that in the control group. The B-type natriuretic peptide of the ivabradine group was significantly lower than that of the control group on Day 2 and Day 3 after PCI. The high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I level of the ivabradine group was significantly lower than that of the control group on Day 5 after PCI.
UNASSIGNED: Early use of ivabradine in patients with AMI after PCI can achieve effective heart rate control, reduce myocardial injury, improve cardiac function and exercise tolerance, and may reduce the incidence of major adverse cardiac events. (Clinical research registration number: ChiCTR2000032731).

BACKGROUND: The evolution of coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CAD) is intricately linked to alterations in the pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT). In recent epochs, characteristics of the PCAT have progressively ascended as focal points of research in CAD risk stratification and individualized clinical decision-making. Harnessing radiomic methodologies allows for the meticulous extraction of imaging features from these adipose deposits. Coupled with machine learning paradigms, we endeavor to establish predictive models for the onset of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE).
OBJECTIVE: To appraise the predictive utility of radiomic features of PCAT derived from coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in forecasting MACE.
METHODS: We retrospectively incorporated data from 314 suspected or confirmed CAD patients admitted to our institution from June 2019 to December 2022. An additional cohort of 242 patients from two external institutions was encompassed for external validation. The endpoint under consideration was the occurrence of MACE after a 1-year follow-up. MACE was delineated as cardiovascular mortality, newly diagnosed myocardial infarction, hospitalization (or re-hospitalization) for heart failure, and coronary target vessel revascularization occurring more than 30 days post-CCTA examination. All enrolled patients underwent CCTA scanning. Radiomic features were meticulously extracted from the optimal diastolic phase axial slices of CCTA images. Feature reduction was achieved through a composite feature selection algorithm, laying the groundwork for the radiomic signature model. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were employed to assess clinical variables. A multifaceted logistic regression analysis facilitated the crafting of a clinical-radiological-radiomic combined model (or nomogram). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration, and decision curve analyses (DCA) were delineated, with the area under the ROC curve (AUCs) computed to gauge the predictive prowess of the clinical model, radiomic model, and the synthesized ensemble.
RESULTS: A total of 12 radiomic features closely associated with MACE were identified to establish the radiomic model. Multivariate logistic regression results demonstrated that smoking, age, hypertension, and dyslipidemia were significantly correlated with MACE. In the integrated nomogram, which amalgamated clinical, imaging, and radiomic parameters, the diagnostic performance was as follows: 0.970 AUC, 0.949 accuracy (ACC), 0.833 sensitivity (SEN), 0.981 specificity (SPE), 0.926 positive predictive value (PPV), and 0.955 negative predictive value (NPV). The calibration curve indicated a commendable concordance of the nomogram, and the decision curve analysis underscored its superior clinical utility.
CONCLUSIONS: The integration of radiomic signatures from PCAT based on CCTA, clinical indices, and imaging parameters into a nomogram stands as a promising instrument for prognosticating MACE events.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the 3-year clinical outcomes of high Killip grade (III/IV) acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients treated with either β-blockers (BB) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or BB and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB).
METHODS: A total of 13,105 patients were registered at the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry at the National Institute of Health (KAMIR-NIH). Among them, 871 patients with high Killip classification AMI were divided into the BB + ACEI group (n = 489) and the BB + ARB group (n = 381). Following propensity score matching, 343 patients were selected in each group. All patients completed a 3-year follow-up period.
RESULTS: The results indicate no significant differences between the BB + ACEI group and BB + ARB group in terms of cardiac death, recurrent myocardial infarction, and the rate of repeat percutaneous coronary intervention. However, the BB + ACEI group exhibited significantly lower risks in major adverse cardiac events (HR = 0.574, 95% CI: 0.421-0.783, p < .001), all-cause mortality (HR = 0.561, 95% CI: 0.404-0.778, p = .001), and non-cardiac death (HR = 0.365, 95% CI: 0.208-0.639, p < .001) compared to the BB + ARB group.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that BB + ACEI treatment is more beneficial than BB + ARB for high Killip grade AMI patients. Additionally, the BB + ACEI group has a superior preventative effect on mortality compared to the BB + ARB group.

BACKGROUND: Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) has been reported as a critical predictor on the risks and clinical outcomes of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and we aimed to explore the potential predictive value of cumulative AIP on major adverse cardiac events (MACE), stroke, myocardial infarction (MI) and cardiovascular mortality.
METHODS: A large-scale community-based prospective cohort was established from December 2011 to April 2012 and followed up in May to July 2014. The endpoint outcomes were obtained before December 31, 2021. AIP was calculated as the logarithmically transformed ratio of triglyceride (TG) to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and cumulative AIP was the average value of AIP in 2012 and 2014.
RESULTS: An overall of 3820 participants (36.1% male) with mean (SD) age of 59.1 (8.7) years, were enrolled. Within a median follow-up of 7.5 years, a total of 371 (9.7%) participants were documented with MACE, 293 (7.7%) participants developed stroke, 68 (1.8%) suffered from MI and 65 (1.7%) experienced cardiovascular mortality. Multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed significant associations between cumulative AIP and the risk of MACE, stroke and MI. Regarding MACE, individuals with one higher unit of cumulative AIP were associated with 75% increment on the incidence of going through MACE in fully adjusted model, while categorizing participants into four groups, individuals in the highest cumulative AIP quartile were significantly associated with increased incidence of MACE (HR = 1.76, 95%CI: 1.27-2.44, p < 0.001 in fully adjusted model), stroke (HR = 1.69, 95%CI: 1.17-2.45, p = 0.005) and MI (HR = 2.82, 95%CI: 1.18-6.72, p = 0.019). But not a significant association was observed between cumulative AIP and cardiovascular mortality. In subgroup analysis, the association of cumulative AIP and the incidence of stroke was more pronounced in the elderly (HR: 0.89 vs. 2.41 for the age groups < 65 years and ≥ 65 years, p for interaction = 0.018).
CONCLUSIONS: A higher cumulative AIP was significantly associated with an increased risk of MACE, stroke and MI independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors in a community-based population, and the association of cumulative AIP and stroke was particularly pronounced in the elderly population.

BACKGROUND: Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a causal risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases; however, its role in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains unclear.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hypothesis that the Lp(a) levels are altered by various conditions during the acute phase of ACS, resulting in subsequent cardiovascular events.
METHODS: From September 2009 to May 2016, 377 patients with ACS who underwent emergent coronary angiography, and 249 who completed ≥ 1000 d of follow-up were enrolled. Lp(a) levels were measured using an isoform-independent assay at each time point from before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to 48 h after PCI. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE; cardiac death, other vascular death, ACS, and non-cardiac vascular events).
RESULTS: The mean circulating Lp(a) level decreased significantly from pre-PCI (0 h) to 12 h after (19.0 mg/dL to 17.8 mg/dL, P < 0.001), and then increased significantly up to 48 h after (19.3 mg/dL, P < 0.001). The changes from 0 to 12 h [Lp(a)Δ0-12] significantly correlated with the basal levels of creatinine [Spearman\'s rank correlation coefficient (SRCC): -0.181, P < 0.01] and Lp(a) (SRCC: -0.306, P < 0.05). Among the tertiles classified according to Lp(a)Δ0-12, MACE was significantly more frequent in the lowest Lp(a)Δ0-12 group than in the remaining two tertile groups (66.2% vs 53.6%, P = 0.034). A multivariate analysis revealed that Lp(a)Δ0-12 [hazard ratio (HR): 0.96, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.92-0.99] and basal creatinine (HR: 1.13, 95%CI: 1.05-1.22) were independent determinants of subsequent MACE.
CONCLUSIONS: Circulating Lp(a) levels in patients with ACS decreased significantly after emergent PCI, and a greater decrease was independently associated with a worse prognosis.