Coronary restenosis elimination with a sirolimus eluting stent: first European human experience with 6-month angiographic and intravascular ultrasonic follow-up. (25/344)

AIMS: Coronary stenting is limited by a 10%-60% restenosis rate due to neointimal hyperplasia. Sirolimus is a macrocyclic lactone agent that interacts with cell-cycle regulating proteins and inhibits cell division between phases G1 and S1. The hypothesis tested in this study is that local delivery of sirolimus with an eluting stent can prevent restenosis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifteen patients were treated with 18 mm sirolimus eluting BX VELOCITY stents. Quantitative angiography and three-dimensional quantitative intravascular ultrasound were performed at implantation and at the 6 months follow-up. All stent implantations were successful. One patient died on day 2, of cerebral haemorrhage and one patient suffered a subacute stent occlusion due to edge dissection (re-PTCA, CKMB 42). At 9 months no further adverse events had occurred and all patients were angina free. Quantitative coronary angiography revealed no change in minimal lumen diameter and percent diameter stenosis and hence no in-lesion or in-stent restenosis. Quantitative intravascular ultrasound showed that intimal hyperplasia volume and percent obstruction volume at follow-up were negligible at 5.3 mm(3)and 1.8%, respectively. No edge effect was observed in the segments proximal and distal to the stents. CONCLUSION: Implantation of a sirolimus-eluting stent seems to effectively prevent intimal hyperplasia.  (+info)

Changes in serum cardiac troponin I levels after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. (26/344)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the possible effect of percutaneous transluminal coronary (PTCA) on myocardium. METHODS: Serum cTnl and CK-MB were measured in 60 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent PTCA before and at the 6th, 12th, 24th, 48th and 72nd hour after the interventional procedure respectively. RESULTS: The serum cTnl levels began to increase at 6 hours (9.65 +/- 6.27 micrograms/L) in 18 patients, reached the peak levels during 12-24 hours (20.43 +/- 11.28 micrograms/L, 18.52 +/- 9.52 micrograms/L), and returned to normal range till 48-72 hours (7.35 +/- 7.62 micrograms/L, 5.51 +/- 3.13 micrograms/L) after PTCA. The serum cTnl and CK-MB levels were kept normal range pre- and post-PTCA in 30 cases. The levels of cTnl in 12 cases were over baseline either before or after the procedure, while for CK-MB, only in 3 cases were over normal range after PTCA. Compared with normal cTnl group, elevated cTnl levels were related to total inflation times and dilated times (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PTCA may cause some minor damage in myocardium, serum cTnl level was more sensitive and specific for monitoring myocardial injury.  (+info)

Incidence, predictors, and significance of abnormal cardiac enzyme rise in patients treated with bypass surgery in the arterial revascularization therapies study (ARTS). (27/344)

BACKGROUND: Although it has been suggested that elevation of CK-MB after percutaneous coronary intervention is associated with adverse clinical outcomes, limited data are available in the setting of coronary bypass grafting. The aim of the present study was to determine the incidence, predictors, and prognostic significance of CK-MB elevation following multivessel coronary bypass grafting (CABG). METHODS AND RESULTS: The population comprises 496 patients with multivessel coronary disease assigned to CABG in the Arterial Revascularization Therapies Study (ARTS). CK-MB was prospectively measured at 6, 12, and 18 hours after the procedure. Thirty-day and 1-year clinical follow-up were performed. Abnormal CK-MB elevation occurred in 61.9% of the patients. Patients with increased cardiac-enzyme levels after CABG were at increased risk of both death and repeat myocardial infarction within the first 30 days (P=0.001). CK-MB elevation was also independently related to late adverse outcome (P=0.009, OR=0.64). CONCLUSIONS: Increased concentrations of CK-MB, which are often dismissed as inconsequential in the setting of multivessel CABG, appear to occur very frequently and are associated with a significant increase in both repeat myocardial infarction and death beyond the immediate perioperative period.  (+info)

Creatine kinase-MB elevation after stroke is not cardiac in origin: comparison with troponin T levels. (28/344)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) increases in some patients with stroke, with no clear evidence of an acute coronary syndrome. Its elevations have been suggested to represent a biological marker for stroke-related myocardial injury. Troponin T has superior sensitivity and specificity to CK-MB in revealing minor myocardial injury. Therefore, we studied troponin T levels after stroke to determine whether troponin T increases in parallel to CK-MB. METHODS: We made daily measurements of CK-MB, myoglobin, total creatine kinase (total CK), and troponin T levels up to day 5 in 32 patients with large hemispheric infarction and with no history of coronary heart disease. The daily enzyme levels were compared with those of a control group of 22 patients with neurological diseases other than stroke. RESULTS: Serum CK-MB, myoglobin, and total CK levels were elevated above the cutoff value in 11, 26, and 20 patients with stroke, respectively. These enzyme levels gradually increased within the first 3 days and declined afterward. Troponin T did not exceed the reference range in any patients. One patient had elevated myoglobin and 3 had elevated total CK in the control group. The difference between groups was significant for CK-MB, myoglobin, and total CK at various time points. CONCLUSIONS: Troponin T, a more specific biochemical marker of myocardial injury, does not increase after stroke. Normal troponin T along with elevated CK-MB signifies that CK-MB is not the biological marker for myocytolysis. CK-MB elevations in stroke patients are likely to be noncardiac in origin.  (+info)

TIMI myocardial perfusion grade and ST segment resolution: association with infarct size as assessed by single photon emission computed tomography imaging. (29/344)

BACKGROUND: The TIMI myocardial perfusion grade (TMPG) and ST-segment resolution both reflect perfusion and are associated with mortality after thrombolysis for acute myocardial infarction. We hypothesized that these measures would also be associated with infarct size by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Methods and Results- In the LIMIT AMI trial (Limitation of Myocardial Injury following Thrombolysis in Acute Myocardial Infarction) of lytic monotherapy versus lytic plus rhuMAb CD18, early 90-minute TMPG (n=221) and ST segment resolution (n=242) were compared with subsequent SPECT Technetium-99 m Sestamibi, measuring the percentage of the left ventricle with no Sestamibi uptake. Infarct sizes were larger with TMPG 0 or 1 (a closed or stained myocardium) than with TMPG 2 or 3 (open myocardium, median 13% versus 7%, P=0.004). Infarcts were also larger in patients with no ST segment resolution (median 15%) or incomplete resolution (11%) than in those with complete resolution (6%, overall P=0.0001). The difference in infarct size by TMPG persisted when stratified by category of ST resolution. CONCLUSIONS: There may be a pathophysiological link between early restoration of tissue-level perfusion and reduced subsequent infarct size that may partially explain why these early angiographic and electrocardiographic measures are associated with long-term survival.  (+info)

A randomized comparison of the value of additional stenting after optimal balloon angioplasty for long coronary lesions: final results of the additional value of NIR stents for treatment of long coronary lesions (ADVANCE) study. (30/344)

OBJECTIVES: We sought to investigate the clinical benefit of additional stent implantation after achieving an optimal result of balloon angioplasty (BA) in long coronary lesions (>20 mm). BACKGROUND: Long coronary lesions are associated with increased early complications and late restenosis after BA. Stenting improves the early outcome, but stent restenosis is also related to both lesion length and stent length. METHODS: A total of 437 patients with a single native lesion 20 to 50 mm in length were included and underwent BA, using long balloons matched to lesion length and vessel diameter (balloon/artery ratio 1.1) to achieve a diameter stenosis (DS) <30% by on-line quantitative coronary angiography (QCA). "Bail-out stenting" was performed for flow-limiting dissections or >50% DS. Patients in whom an optimal BA result was achieved were randomized to additional stenting (using NIR stents) or no stenting. The primary end point was freedom from major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at nine months, and core laboratory QCA was performed on serial angiograms. RESULTS: Bailout stenting was necessary in 149 patients (34%) and was associated with a significantly increased risk of peri-procedural infarction (p < 0.02). Among the 288 randomized patients, the mean lesion length was 27+/-9 mm, and the vessel diameter was 2.78+/-0.52 mm. The procedural success rate was 90% for the 143 patients assigned to BA alone (control group), as compared with 93% in the 145 patients assigned to additional stenting (stent group), which resulted in a superior early minimal lumen diameter (0.54 mm, p < 0.001) and led to reduced angiographic restenosis (27% vs. 42%, p = 0.022). Freedom from MACE at nine months was 77% in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: A strategy of provisional stenting for long coronary lesions led to bailout stenting in one-third of patients, with a threefold increase in peri-procedural infarction. Additional stenting yielded a lower angiographic restenosis rate, but no reduction in MACE at nine months.  (+info)

Minor myocardial damage and prognosis: are spontaneous and percutaneous coronary intervention-related events different? (31/344)

BACKGROUND: The relevance of the adverse prognostic implications of CK-MB elevation after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains controversial. Therefore, we compared the relationship between the level of postprocedural CK-MB elevation and 6-month mortality in patients undergoing PCI with the relationship between the level of spontaneous, non-PCI-related CK-MB elevation and 6-month mortality in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) treated medically. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the PURSUIT trial, 5583 of 9461 patients who presented with a non-ST-elevation ACS did not undergo PCI or CABG and had at least 1 CK-MB sample collected during index-hospitalization. There was a gradual increase in 6-month mortality with higher CK-MB levels: 4.1%, 8.6%, 9.0%, 14.3%, 15.5% for CK-MB ratios 0 to 1, >1 to 3, >3 to 5, >5 to 10, and >10 times the upper limit of normal. A combined analysis in 8838 patients undergoing PCI in 5 large, clinical trials revealed a proportional relationship between postprocedural CK-MB levels (1 to 3, >3 to 5, >5 to 10, and >10, the risk of death was 1.3%, 2.0%, 2.3%, 4.3%, and 7.4%, respectively. The absolute mortality rates were lower after procedure-related infarcts compared with spontaneous infarcts. Yet, the relative increase in 6-month mortality with each increase in peak CK-MB level was similar for PCI-related myocardial necrosis and spontaneous myocardial necrosis, as all tests for heterogeneity of the odds ratios were nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: The present analysis indicates that the adverse prognostic implications of periprocedural myocardial necrosis should be considered similar to the adverse consequences of spontaneous myocardial necrosis.  (+info)

Randomized trial of a distal embolic protection device during percutaneous intervention of saphenous vein aorto-coronary bypass grafts. (32/344)

BACKGROUND: Stents provide effective treatment for stenotic saphenous venous aorto-coronary bypass grafts, but their placement carries a 20% incidence of procedure-related complications, which potentially are related to the distal embolization of atherosclerotic debris. We report the first multicenter randomized trial to evaluate use of a distal embolic protection device during stenting of such lesions. METHODS AND RESULTS: Of 801 eligible patients, 406 were randomly assigned to stent placement over the shaft of the distal protection device, and 395 were assigned to stent placement over a conventional 0.014-inch angioplasty guidewire (control group). The primary end point-a composite of death, myocardial infarction, emergency bypass, or target lesion revascularization by 30 days-was observed in 65 patients (16.5%) assigned to the control group and 39 patients (9.6%) assigned to the embolic protection device (P=0.004). This 42% relative reduction in major adverse cardiac events was driven by myocardial infarction (8.6% versus 14.7%, P=0.008) and "no-reflow" phenomenon (3% versus 9%, P=0.02). Clinical benefit was seen even when platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor blockers were administered (61% of patients), with composite end points occurring in 10.7% of protection device patients versus 19.4% of control patients (P=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Use of this distal protection device during stenting of stenotic venous grafts was associated with a highly significant reduction in major adverse events compared with stenting over a conventional angioplasty guidewire. This demonstrates the importance of distal embolization in causing major adverse cardiac events and the value of embolic protection devices in preventing such complications.  (+info)