Short- and long-term results with a percutaneous treatment in critical hand ischaemia.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this prospective registry was to determine the feasibility, safety, and outcomes of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and thrombolysis in the treatment of critical hand ischemia (CHI). METHODS: One-hundred one patients (aged 60.6 ± 15.3 years) were treated for CHI between 2012 and 2016 in three cardiovascular centers. Anatomically, the upper arm was divided into three segments (I-subclavian, II-brachial, and III-forearm). We examined the rates of technical and clinical success, major adverse events (MAEs), and vascular complications at 1 year and at long-term follow-up. RESULTS: Nineteen patients (18.8%) were treated for acute CHI, and 82 (81.2%) for chronic CHI. Median follow-up was 36.9 (19.6-68.3) months. Clinical symptoms were isolated rest pain in 91 patients (90.1%) and digital ulcer or gangrene in 10 patients (9.9%). The technical and clinical success rate of intervention was 96.0% (97/101) and 84.2% (85/101) at 1 year. Angioplasty was performed in Segments I, II, and III in 28 (27.7%), in 29 (28.7%), and 44 (43.5%) patients. Stent implantation was necessary in 47 patients (46.8%). Vascular access site complications were found in 2.1% of the sample. After 1 year, MAEs occurred in 27 patients (26.9%), and the target lesion revascularization rate was 11.9%. In two patients (1.9%), thoracic sympatectomy was necessary, and two patients (1.9%) underwent minor finger amputations. CONCLUSIONS: Angioplasty of hand vessels for CHI is a feasible and safe procedure with acceptable rates of technical success and hand healing. MAEs are frequent because the rate of severe comorbidities is high.

[Lipid-lowering therapy of patients suffering from acute coronary syndrome in a Hungarian county hospital in 2015]. / Akut coronariaszindróma miatt 2015-ben kezelt betegeink lipidcsökkento terápiája.

INTRODUCTION: The actual guidelines of cardiovascular prevention lay special emphasis on the lipid-lowering therapy of patients suffering from acute coronary syndrome (ACS). AIM: To evaluate the occurrence of high-intensity statin therapy, recommended by guidelines, at discharge in a Hungarian county hospital with hemodynamic laboratory in patients who underwent percutaneous intervention, furthermore the LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and goal attainment rate in the first year. METHOD: Retrospective data collection from the hospital database regarding the therapy at discharge and the lipid levels in the year following the intervention due to ACS in 2015. RESULTS: Due to ACS event, 454 patients had coronary intervention in 2015, at discharge more than 90% of them received high-intensity statin (more than 80% rosuvastatin, 40 mg) or corresponding combination therapy. In 154 cases we found half-year lipid results; the median of LDL-C was 1.9 mmol/L, the 1.8 mmol/L target value attainment rate was 48.7%. Results after one year were found in 292 cases (73% without the deceased and foreign patients); the LDL-C median proved to be 2.0 mmol/L, the target level attainment rate was 37.3%. There was no significant difference between the results of patients from the three different ACS forms and between those of men and women. CONCLUSIONS: The lipid lowering therapy of the revascularized patients who come back for medical visits is acceptable, but greater emphasis has to be laid on increasing the rate of controlled patients compared to the present two-thirds. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(12): 478-484.

[Hungarian Heart Failure Registry 2015-2016. Preliminary results]. / Magyar Szívelégtelenség Regiszter 2015­2016. Kezdeti eredmények.

Heart failure is associated with a poor prognosis despite significant advances in the pharmacological and device therapy and incurs very high cost because of frequent hospitalizations. Therefore, professional high-quality care is essential for both patients and the healthcare system. The best way to evaluate the quality of care for a particular disease is the use of disease-specific registries. Until now, there has not been a registry evaluating characteristics and management of heart failure patients in Hungary. For that reason, the Hungarian Society of Cardiology initiated the set-up of the Hungarian Heart Failure Registry. The Aim of this paper is to present the goals, methods and first year results of the Hungarian Heart Failure Registry. The goal of the Registry is to create a modern, web-based database that summarizes the data of large number of patients who are currently or were previously admitted to hospital or who are currently or were previously patients in an outpatient department due to severe heart failure (NYHA III-IV). Currently 17 cardiology departments participate in the development of the Registry. The planned number of patients is 2000. Initially follow-up was planned for one year (pilot study). After the evaluation of the relevant experiences of the pilot study, long-term follow-up is planned. The Registry collects information about the type of heart failure (heart failure with reduced - LVEF≤45% - vs. preserved - LVEF>45% - ejection fraction), etiology, co-morbidities, diagnostic methods, treatment as well as morbidity and mortality. After the first year, assessing the baseline parameters of 698 patients enrolled in the Registry we found that the majority of patients (87.8%) has heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and in 39.8% of the patients heart failure has an ischaemic origin. The most frequent co-morbidity was hypertension followed by diabetes, renal insufficiency and COPD. The patients were treated with ACE inhibitors or ARBs in 94.4%, with beta blockers in 95.9%, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists in 73.9%. The mean dose of neurohormonal antagonists was higher than half of the target dose defined by current guidelines. The use of cardiac resynchronisation therapy was 11.7% and implantable cardioverter defibrillator was 25.8%. The pharmacological and device therapy of patients who were enrolled in the Registry until now was fit the current guidelines' recommendations. This, however, does not mean that the management of heart failure is without problems in our country but that high quality patient care is available with adequate heart failure treatment in cardiology departments dedicated to heart failure care. Orv. Hetil., 2017, 158(3), 94-100.

Oral anticoagulant therapy and bleeding events with vitamin K antagonists in patients with atrial fibrillation in a Hungarian county hospital.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin K antagonists, despite their tight therapeutic spectrum and the fear of bleeding complications, were long the most important drugs used in anticoagulant therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of anticoagulant therapy and its relation with bleedings in everyday clinical practice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analyzed the data of 272 patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation treated in our county hospital using retrospective data collection of the last 1008±384 days. The INR (International Normalized Ratio) values and the time in therapeutic range (TTR) were analyzed. We asked patients about bleeding complications and searched the medical records. RESULTS: The TTR proved to be 64% and there was no statistically significant difference between that of 252 (92.7%) patients taking acenocoumarol and 20 (7.3%) on warfarin. Analyzing various factors leading to TTR under 70%, we found that none of them have a significant impact. Significantly more bleeding events occurred in the first 3 months after the initiation of anticoagulant therapy and in patients with TTR under 70%, but the latter was not significant after adjustment for factors influencing bleeding (OR 1.607, CI 0.571-4.522, p=0.392). CONCLUSIONS: Although the present study's TTR values were similar to those found in the warfarin branch of various large-scale international trials and in real-life settings, further improvement of vitamin K antagonist therapy are necessary. As the possibilities for this are limited, we believe that the new type anticoagulant agents have a place in everyday clinical practice.

[Short and long term prognosis of patients with myocardial infarction. Hungarian Myocardial Infarction Registry]. / Szívinfarktus miatt kezelt betegek korai és késoi prognózisa. Magyar Infarctus Regiszter Vizsgálat.

INTRODUCTION: Mortality data of patients with acute myocardial infarction are incomplete in Hungary. AIM: The aim of the authors was to analyse the data of 8582 myocardial infarction patients (4981 with ST-elevation myocardial infarction) registered in the Hungarian Myocardial Infarction Register in order to define the hospital, 30-day, and 1-year mortality. To evaluate the prehospital mortality of myocardial infarction, all myocardial infarction and sudden death were registered in five districts of Budapest. METHOD: Multivariate logistic regression was performed to define risk factors of mortality and the model were assessed using c statistics. RESULTS: The hospital, 30-day and 1-year mortality of patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction were 3.7%, 9.5% and 16.5%, respectively. In patients without ST elevation myocardial infarction these figures were 4%, 9.8% and 21.7%, respectively. The 1-year mortality of patients without ST elevation was higher than those of with ST elevation and the difference was statistically significant. Age, Killip class, diabetes mellitus, history of stroke and myocardial infarction were independent predictors of death. Coronary intervention improved the prognosis of patients with myocardial infarction significantly. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of pre-hospital mortality was considerably high; 72.5% of 30 day mortality occurred before admission to hospital.

[Results of complex lipid-lowering therapy in patients with a history of acute coronary syndrome]. / Akut coronariaeseményen átesett betegek komplex lipidcsökkento kezelésének eredményei.

UNLABELLED: Authors aimed to assess how target values in serum lipid concentrations (LDL- and HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride) can be achieved in patients with a history of acute coronary syndrome during follow up in an outpatient cardiology clinic. METHODS: 201 patients with a history of acute coronary syndrome were included and were followed up between January 1 and May 31, 2007.Authors analyzed serum lipid parameters of the patients and the lipid-lowering medications at the time of the first meeting and during follow up lasting two years. RESULTS: During the enrollment visit only 26.4% of the patients had serum LDL cholesterol at target level, whereas high triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol levels were observed in 40.3% and 33.3% of the patients, respectively. Only 22 patients (10.9%) achieved the target levels in all three lipid parameters. Of the 201 patients, 179 patients participated in the follow up, and data obtained from these patients were analyzed. There was a positive trend toward better lipid parameters; 42.5% of the patients reached the desired LDL-cholesterol target value and 17.3% of the patients had HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides target values. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with those published in the literature. Beside the currently used therapeutic options for achieving optimal LDL-cholesterol, efforts should be made to reduce the so-called "residual cardiovascular risk" with the use of a widespread application of combination therapy.

[From lipid target values to the JUPITER study. Significance of achieving lipid levels specified by the guidelines and deficiencies in practice]. / A lipidcélértékektol a JUPITER vizsgálatig. Az irányelvekben elôírt lipidszintek elérésének jelentosége és a gyakorlat hiányosságai.

In Hungary the life expectancy have increased by 4.14 years between 1993 and 2006 and the improvement of cardiovascular mortality contributed to this with 1.85 years. Lipid lowering therapy and achievement of target lipid levels have become recently a crucial point of cardiovascular prevention. Despite the improving tendency the rate of achieving LDL-cholesterol goal is not higher than 1/3 and its main cause seems to be the fact that greater part of the physicians (56% of them in year 2007) - seeing the results with not convenient lipid levels - yield to it, do not modify the current treatment. However, there is growing evidence that the lower LDL-cholesterol level improves not only the clinical outcome but it is cost-effective as well. The most important trial performed recently using statin was the JUPITER study, in which patients with normal lipid levels and high hs-CRP level without known atherosclerotic disease were treated with 20 mg rosuvastatin or placebo. The primary endpoint (cardiovascular mortality, stroke, non fatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina and revascularization) decreased significantly by 44% and total mortality decreased by 20%. For the prevention of one primary event 23 patients for 5 years were necessary to be treated. The results raise the need for reconsidering principles and target levels of the primary prevention and warn that in the lipid lowering therapy a greater emphasis should be placed on the hs-CRP level.

[A change of attitude in lipidology, achievement of target levels. What comes next?]. / Szemléletváltozás a lipidológiában, a célértékek elérése. Hogyan tovább?

One of the greatest challenges of cardiovascular prevention is to minimize the risk of cardiovascular events through the achievement of target lipid levels. Its importance is suggested by the comprehensive meta-analyses of large scale clinical trials and the therapeutic guidelines determining everyday clinical practice. The attainment of target levels is often emphasized, nevertheless, there is a gap between theory and practice. The authors compare the goal attainment rate based on Hungarian medical literature and their own data, and analyze the possibilities of further improvement. The CEL Program evaluated the achievement rate of target total cholesterol levels in more than 10 000 patients of general practitioners in 2004, 2005 and 2006, and the ratio increased from 12% to 30% within 3 years. According to the results of the Hungarian REALITY study the rate of patients achieving the target total cholesterol levels was 21% in 2004, and it increased to 27% during a 3-year period. To this very low improving rate also belongs the fact that in 2007, when only one fourth of patients were on target levels, 87% of general practitioners and 56% of specialists reconciled themselves to it and did not propose any modification in the therapy of patients not achieving the target levels. The surveys conducted at the department of internal medicine with cardiological profile of the county hospital in Gyula proved a considerable increase in the last 7 years in the administration of drugs improving the life expectancy of cardiovascular patients (aspirin, beta-blockers, ACE-inhibitors and statins) due to the widespread application of clinical guidelines and the special attention; nowadays the administration rate is above 90% in all four groups. Nevertheless, the rate of patients achieving the LDL-cholesterol goals was 37% in the high risk and 18% in the very high risk groups in December 2007 and January 2008. The fact that in the latter group only 21% of patients received combination therapy indicates that improving this ratio may be the next step. A greater emphasis should be placed on the achievement of target levels and regular revision of applied medical therapy, particularly in the high and very high risk patients as these groups can benefit the most from it.

The evaluation of short and long-term administration of drugs improving life expectancy in patients with myocardial infarction in a Hungarian county hospital.

OBJECTIVE: The patients after myocardial infarction could hope for a significant improvement in their life expectancy when complying with the principles of the secondary prevention. Today there is no doubt that the administration of ACE-inhibitors, beta-blockers, aspirin and statins decrease mortality in these patients. Although the clinicians are aware of the guidelines of Evidence Based Medicine, international and Hungarian surveys show that in their everyday application there is still much to improve. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The authors studied the therapy of 200 consecutive patients (115 men and 85 women) who suffered from acute myocardial infarction (either STAMI or NSTAMI) in 1999-2000 at the discharge from their internal medicine department with cardiological profile and 6 months later during outpatient check-up. Having these therapeutic data a special emphasise was given to the same group of drugs and their administration was investigated in patients suffering from acute coronary syndrome with elevated troponin-T levels in the year 2002. RESULTS: In the study of years 1999-2000 at the discharge 175 of 200 patients received ACE-inhibitor (87%), 121 (60%) beta-blocker, 180 (90%) antiplatelet and 102 (51%) statin therapy. At the time of the control performed 6 months later 85% of the patients were on ACE-inhibitor, 88% on beta-blocker, 77% on aspirin and 47% on statin therapy. In this high risk population during the 6 months control the LDL-cholesterol goal of 2.5 mmol/l was attained in the 17% of patients. In the survey performed in 2002 the use of beta-receptor blocker increased to 85%, antiplatelet drug and statin administration to 95% and 57%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although the administration of drugs improving life expectancy in the authors' department is comparable with the published Hungarian and international data, effort to the widespread application of the ever growing principles of the Evidence Based Medicine and continuous self-control are essential.

Cytochrome P450 2C9 polymorphism and acenocoumarol therapy.

BACKGROUND: Oral anticoagulants, in Hungary acenocoumarol being the one exclusively used, have a low therapeutic index and a high bleeding complication rate. The cytochrome P450 2C9 enzyme plays an important role in their metabolism. AIM: To investigate the influence of CYP2C9 polymorphism on the occurrence of bleeding complications related to acenocoumarol therapy. METHODS: Genotyping of 421 patients (183 men and 238 women, mean age 66.2+/-11.8 years), who had been taking acenocoumarol for at least 6 months, was performed. Based on patient history and laboratory data, the correlations between genotype and acenocoumarol dose and bleeding complications were retrospectively analysed. RESULTS: In 145 patients bearing alleles with reduced activity (CYP2C9*2 and/or *3), the optimal dose of acenocoumarol was significantly (p<0.001) lower than in patients with the wild type allele (2.12+/-0.96 mg/day and 2.90+/-1.46 mg/day, respectively). In comparison with wild type allele patients, the mean daily acenocoumarol dose was lower in the CYP2C9*2 group, and the lowest in *3 bearers. Although the occurrence of minor bleeding complications in patients with the variant allele was significantly (p <0.005) higher (OR=1.99 [CI: 1.20-3.33]) than in other patients, there was no difference in major bleeding complications. CONCLUSIONS: Patients bearing CYP2C9 alleles with reduced enzymatic activity have a lower acenocoumarol requirement. In patients with CYP2C9*2 and *3 alleles the frequency of minor bleeding complications and the occurrence of high INR values were significantly higher, but there was no difference in the rate of major bleedings.

[Do we use digitalis properly in the management of elderly patients suffering from the signs of chronic heart failure?]. / Helyesen alkalmazzuk-e a digitáliszt idos, krónikus szivelégtelenség tüneteit mutató betegeinkben?

INTRODUCTION: The indications of digoxin therapy has been significantly narrowed and also the effective target therapeutic blood level has been decreased (0.9 micromol/L) compared to the previously desired one. OBJECTIVE: In this retrospective trial the data of 60 consecutive patients over 65 years (25 male, 35 female, mean age 77.3 +/- 5.0 y), hospitalized between 01. 01. 2002 and 31. 12. 2003 with a diagnosis of chronic heart failure and elevated (> 1.2 microg/I) serum level of digoxin, were analyzed. METHODS: Beside the analysis of the age, sex, serum level of digoxin and potassium, creatinine clearance value, symptoms and ECG-signs of digitalis intoxication, presence of atrial fibrillation, concomitant diseases and left ventricular ejection fraction value, the reasonability of digitalis treatment and therapy applied at the time of discharge (considering actual treatment guidelines) were also reviewed. RESULTS: At the admission mean serum level of digoxin was 2.1 +/- 0.9 microg/l. 20 patient's value (33.3%) was found above 2.2 microg/l. Symptoms characteristic for digitalis intoxication were observed in 28 patients. On the ECG performed at admission signs of digitalis effect/overdose were observed in 54 cases ("bigemin" ventricular extrasystoles, bradycardia, characteristic down-sloping ST-depressions). The mean left ventricular ejection fraction of the patients (51.5 +/- 12.7%) did not suggest to a significant left ventricular systolic dysfunction. For the elevated serum level of digoxin the impaired renal function (mean creatinine clearance 42.9 +/- 21.3 mL/min) was responsible in most cases. In patients with the highest serum level of digoxin (n = 20, 3.2 +/- 0.7 microg/L) the creatinine clearance was even lower, 30.4 +/- 13.7 mL/min. During hospital treatment the administration of digitalis was found to be unnecessary and thus terminated in 44 patients. At the discharge only 16 patients were receiving digitalis, 14 of them digoxin and 2 patients digitoxin. CONCLUSIONS: The authors emphasize, that in case of elderly patients the indication and control of digitalis therapy requires greater precaution and tight doctor-patient cooperation.

[Significance of cytochrome P450 2C9 genotype for the bleeding complications in patients treated with acenocoumarol]. / A citokróm P450 2C9 genotípus jelentosége acenocoumarollal kezelt betegek vérzéses szövodményeire.

INTRODUCTION: For the primary and secondary prevention of thromboembolic events are used the oral anticoagulants, the drugs having a low therapeutic index and frequent bleeding complication rate. Establishing the proper therapeutic dose of these drugs for different patients is complicated by a variety of conditions, such as the comorbidity, age, other drugs used, diet, and pharmacogenetic factors. One of the latters is the polymorphism of the cytochrome P450 CYP2C9 enzyme. AIM: The influence of CYP2C9 polymorphism on the effectiveness of the--in Hungary for oral anticoagulation exclusively used--acenocoumarol therapy and on the occurrence of bleeding complications was investigated. METHODS: Genotyping of 421 patients including 183 men and 238 women, (mean age 66.2 +/- 11.8 years) who took acenocoumarol (Syncumar) for at least 6 months was performed. Based on anamnestic and laboratory data, the correlation between the genotype and the acenocoumarol dose and bleeding complications were retrospectively analysed. RESULTS: The frequency-distribution for the CYP2C9*1, *2, and *3 alleles were found to be: 0.814, 0.110, and 0.076, respectively. In the 145 patients bearing the alleles with reduced activity (CYP2C9*2 and/or *3), the optimised dose of the acenocoumarol was significantly (p < 0.001) lower than in patients with the wild type allele (2.12 +/- 0.96 mg/day and 2.90 +/- 1.45 mg/day, respectively). Although the occurrence of minor bleeding complications in the former group was significantly (p < 0.005) higher [OR = 1.99 (CI: 1.20-3.33)], there was no difference in major bleeding complications. In patients taking an acenocoumarol dose lower than 2 mg/day, the occurrence of an INR value higher than 6 in the anamnesis was significantly (p < 0.05) more frequent. Evaluating separately the variant alleles we have concluded, that in the presence of allele *2 a lower acenocoumarol dose was required than in wild-type subjects, and even lower in the presence of allele *3. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency-distribution of the CYP2C9 alleles was as reported by others. In patients bearing alleles with reduced enzymatic activity, the occurrence of minor bleeding complications and the INR values higher than 6 were significantly more frequent. In patients with a lower acenocoumarol demand at the introduction of this therapy, a caution is required. In order to test the hypothesis that before the initiation of acenocoumarol therapy the determination of CYP2C9 polymorphism is cost-effective and could improve the optimization of anticoagulation and reduce the risk of bleeding complications a large prospective randomised trial is required.

Improvement in prehospital time in acute coronary syndrome between 1985 and 2013 in the south-eastern area of Hungary.

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a life-threatening condition and the time-period from the onset of symptoms to the patients' arrival into the hospital has crucial importance. The authors investigated retrospectively the patients' decision time (time from the onset of the symptoms to seeking medical help) and the transport time to hospital arrival. In Hungary, it is unique of its kind that the present data can be compared to those obtained in the same area almost three decades ago.One-hundred forty-two patients (106 males and 36 females) were involved in the study, the mean age ± SD was 62.4 ± 11.3 years. The median decision time was 40 min; the median hospital arrival time was 2 h and 13 min. These were significantly shorter than in 1985-1986. These time parameters were influenced neither by gender, age, the number of inhabitants in the patients' city, the patients' education level, the occurrence of any former coronary event in the family and nor by the fact that the type of ACS was myocardial infarction with or without ST segment elevation.During the last two and half decades both the decision and the hospital arrival time decreased significantly (by 39 and 28 %, respectively) probably due to greater knowledge of general practitioners and the better organized ambulance service. Further improvement is needed; this can be expected by consistent education of the patients.

Left circumflex coronary artery occlusion due to a left atrial appendage closure device.

Nowadays, percutaneous left atrial appendage (LAA) closure is spreading, and a large number of patients with this procedure have concomitant coronary artery disease. With the presented case it could be concluded that coronary angiography is recommended before LAA closure.

[A retrospective survey on practice of oral anticoagulant therapy in patients with cardiovascular diseases]. / Az orális antikoaguláns kezelés gyakorlatának retrospektív elemzése kardiovaszkuláris betegségben szenvedo betegekben.

INTRODUCTION: Recently there are several evidence based facts about the beneficial effect of oral anticoagulant therapy in patients with cardiovascular diseases. In the other hand the often serious bleeding complications as well as the ineffective antithrombotic therapy should be avoided. AIM AND METHODS: Authors had examined with a questionnaire some characteristic parameters of oral anticoagulant therapy in Hungarian hospitals. Based on the results they carried out a retrospective survey (488 consecutive patients) on the accuracy and other peculiarity of long-term acenocoumarol therapy in the district of County Hospital Gyula. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Mean value of all coagulation test's results (INR: 2.72 +/- 1.07, prothrombin %: 36.11 +/- 10.52) suggest a relatively favourable therapeutic activity in the patients required acenocoumarol therapy. According to their data the proportion of newly introduced anticoagulant therapy secondary to atrial fibrillation was highly increased (42%). They stated that the accuracy of documentation in conducting of oral anticoagulant therapy should be improved and it would be the time to use obligatory the INR value in the clinical practice. They found the best therapeutic punctuality among the patients controlled in the Special Cardiological Outpatient Department. There were relatively few event of serious bleedings. The authors called attention to the patients (about 5%) who were treated without any special cause for a longer period of time than it was necessary. They emphasize the pivotal role of permanent education of patients and the importance of their therapeutic compliance in the appropriate oral anticoagulant control.

[Treatment of atrial fibrillation in a Hungarian hospital department of cardiologic internal medicine at the turn of the millennium]. / Törekvés a pitvarfibrilláció ritmuskontroll-kezelésére kardiológiai profilú belgyógyászati osztályon az ezredfordulón.

INTRODUCTION: The atrial fibrillation is a severe and frequent disease, which influences greatly the patients' quality of life. Only a few Hungarian studies exist which discuss the physicians' own experiences in its treatment. AIM: The description of the experiences acquired in an internal medicine department with cardiological profile during the treatment based on the actual guidelines and the review of the results of one year follow-up. METHOD: Retrospective analysis of the data of patients treated with atrial fibrillation between 1 january 1999 and 31 december 2001 and a one year follow-up was performed. The age, gender, success in cardioversion, the antiarrhythmic therapy at the discharge and the modification in it during the first year were evaluated. RESULTS: During the 3 years long period 1115 patients with atrial fibrillation were admitted (53.9% female, 46.1% male, the mean age was 72.0 +/- 10.4 years), 391 of whom were discharged with sinus rhythm. In 193 cases (49%) a spontaneous cardioversion was observed. 120 electrical (31%) and 78 pharmacological (20%) cardioversions were performed. The electrical form was carried out in 42 cases with acute atrial fibrillation (in 36 of them successfully) and in 100 cases as an elective procedure, in 84 successfully. Pharmacological cardioversion was made in 39 acute cases with the administration of propafenone (in 29 ones successfully) and in 57 elective cases with quinidine + beta-blocker + magnesium (in 49 ones successfully). For the maintenance of sinus rhythm in the 38.8% of cases amiodarone, 24.0% propafenone, 19.9% sotalol, 10.7% beta-blocker, 0.8% quinidine, 0.5% prajmaline was administered, and 5.1% of the patients didn't receive any special treatment. During the one year follow-up from the 391 patients 261 remained on sinus rhythm, in 81 cases (21%) the return of the atrial fibrillation was diagnosed (in 57 of them a successful cardioversion was performed again), 11 patients (3%) died and 38 (9%) were lost for observation. At the time of the one year control 57.8% of patients treated with amiodarone, 61.7% of those treated with propafenone, 67.9% with sotalol and 35.7% with beta-blocker remained on sinus rhythm. The amiodarone was omitted in 17 cases because of its side effects. CONCLUSIONS: The treatment of the atrial fibrillation has to be performed individually taking into account the guidelines, the comorbidity, the time of the beginning of rhythm disorder, the patients' present other drugs and the former antiarrhythmic therapy. A continuous and consistent follow-up of these patients is crucial.

[Pleiotropic effect of the micronized fenofibrate: the reduction of plasma chlamydia pneumoniae antibody levels in patients with coronary artery disease]. / A mikronizált fenofibrát pleiotrop hatása: chlamydia pneumoniae ellenanyagszintek csökkenése ischaemiás szívbetegségben szenvedókben.

INTRODUCTION: A growing amount of data suggest that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease and in it's development Chlamydia pneumoniae infection may contribute. Recent studies have shown that administration of micronized fenofibrate reduces the plasma levels of several markers of the inflammatory response. AIM: The aim of the authors was to evaluate the effect of micronized fenofibrate on the lipids and Chlamydia pneumoniae antibody levels of 20 patients with coronary artery disease. METHODS: The plasma total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, lipoprotein (a), ApoA1, ApoB, fibrinogen and Chlamydia Ig A, IgG and IgM antibody concentrations were examined. The patients were on strict lipid lowering diet and were treated by daily 200 mg micronized fenofibrate for 3 weeks. RESULTS: A significant reduction of the total cholesterol (18.3%), LDL cholesterol (17.7%), triglyceride (37.8%), ApoB (18.4%), fibrinogen (16.1%) levels was observed. The concentration of HDL cholesterol (17.0%) and ApoA1 (12.2%) showed a significant elevation. The Chlamydia pneumoniae IgM antibody (characterizing the acute infections) was not detectable. The IgA antibody level decreased from 13.0 EIU to 12.3 EIU (p < 0.05) and IgG from 85.1 EIU to 78.7 EIU (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Beside the expected lipid lowering effect of the micronized fenofibrate a significant reduction in the plasma Chlamydia pneumoniae IgA and IgG antibody levels was observed supporting the anti-inflammatory, pleiotropic effect of this drug.