Variations in the eicosapentaenoic acid-arachidonic acid ratio associated with age in acute myocardial infarction patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a life-threatening disease, and its incidence has been increasing even in the young population. Although a low eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)-arachidonic acid (AA) ratio is associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease, the effect of age on EPA/AA ratios in AMI patients remains unclear. This study aimed to clarify the independent polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-related determinants of age in younger and older AMI patients. A total of 153 consecutive patients who underwent primary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) for de novo AMIs were enrolled in this study. Patients' background data, including PUFA and lipid profiles during PCI, were evaluated retrospectively. The EPA/AA ratio correlated positively with age (r = 0.21; P = 0.011) and increased markedly from age 60 years. Patients aged < 60 years (n = 35) had a lower mean EPA/AA ratio (0.25 ± 0.16) than patients aged ≥ 60 years (n = 118) (0.38 ± 0.25) (P < 0.001). The AA level was more dependent on age than on EPA level (r = - 0.34, P < 0.001 vs. r = 0.12, P = 0.16). The multivariate analysis revealed that a 0.1 EPA/AA ratio increase (odds ratio 1.50; 95% confidence interval 1.09-2.06), body mass index, triglyceride level, and aspirin administration were independently associated with the age stratification of AMI patients. The EPA/AA ratio was higher in younger AMI patients who have undergone primary PCIs than in older patients. Younger population at risk for AMI should be managed with multiple interventions including PUFA profiling.

Pilot Cohort Study Assessing the Efficacy of Endovascular Revascularization in the Restoration of Peripheral Sensory Disturbance in Patients With Critical Limb Ischemia.

BACKGROUND: Sensory disturbance (SD) is a common consequence of peripheral nerve damage associated with diabetes and severe ischemia. Progression of SD places patients at high risk for lower extremity ulcers and amputations. SD has been thought to be progressive and irreversible, and possibly caused by microvascular dysfunction. The aim of this study was to determine whether endovascular revascularization (EVR) induces quantifiable changes in SD in chronic critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients with neuropathy.Methods and Results:In all, 36 legs from 28 chronic CLI patients who underwent elective EVR were prospectively enrolled in this study (64% with diabetes and 54% on maintenance hemodialysis). The current perception threshold (CPT), an established diagnostic parameter for SD, was measured before and 3 months after EVR. Of the target lesions, 11%, 47%, and 81% were in the aortoiliac, femoropopliteal, and below-the-knee arteries, respectively, and 58% were totally occluded. Overall CPT in the target foot had improved significantly 3 months after EVR (from 53 to 30 µA; P=0.010); however, EVR did not change CPT in the non-target foot (from 44 to 33 µA; P=0.33). Patients with improved SD after EVR had a significantly higher 180-day survival rate (94% vs. 63%; P=0.040). CONCLUSIONS: EVR improved CPT in target limbs of patients with CLI, and may be a promising option to improve SD associated with peripheral ischemic sensory neuropathy.

Randomized pilot trial comparing tolvaptan with furosemide on renal and neurohumoral effects in acute heart failure.

AIMS: Loop diuretics are first-line medications for congestive heart failure (CHF); however, they are associated with serious adverse effects, including decreased renal function, and sympathetic nervous and renin-angiotensin system activation. We tested whether tolvaptan, a vasopressin V2-receptor antagonist, could reduce unfavourable furosemide-induced effects during CHF treatment. METHODS AND RESULTS: Sixty patients emergently hospitalized owing to CHF-induced dyspnea were randomly assigned to receive either 40 mg intravenous furosemide daily or 7.5 mg oral tolvaptan for 5 days after admission. Both groups also received intravenous carperitide and canrenoate potassium. As results, baseline patient characteristics were similar between the furosemide (n = 30) and the tolvaptan (n = 30) groups, with no significant difference in 5 day urine volume or fluid balance. Brain natriuretic peptide and body weight improvements were similar between groups. However, serum creatinine (Cr) level did not increase, and the incidence of worsening renal function was significantly lower in the tolvaptan group. Consequently, the Cr increase to gain 1000 mL urine was 2.5-fold lower in the tolvaptan group. Furthermore, the blood urea nitrogen (BUN)/Cr ratio significantly decreased in the tolvaptan group, suggesting that renal perfusion was preserved, and urea reuptake and passive water reabsorption were suppressed following tolvaptan treatment. Although catecholamine improvements after treatment were not significantly different, plasma renin activity was enhanced in the furosemide group. CONCLUSIONS: As compared with furosemide, tolvaptan in patients with acute heart failure is associated with comparable decongestion, better preservation of renal function and less activation of renin-angiotensin system. (UMIN 000014134).

Efficacy of 24-Hour Blood Pressure Monitoring in Evaluating Response to Percutaneous Transluminal Renal Angioplasty.

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTRA) improves patency in atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS), but improvement in clinic blood pressure (BP) is seen in only 20-40% of patients who undergo PTRA. This study investigated the effects of PTRA on BP lowering, assessed on 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM), and identified preoperative features predictive of satisfactory BP improvement after PTRA. METHODS AND RESULTS: Of 1,753 consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography, 31 patients with angiographically significant ARAS and translesional pressure gradient (TLPG) >20 mmHg underwent PTRA. ABPM was performed before, at 1 month and at 1 year after PTRA; patients with average systolic ABPM-BP decrease >10 mmHg at 1 month from baseline were categorized as responders. There was no obvious relationship between clinic BP and ABPM-BP at baseline. ABPM-BP was significantly higher in responders at baseline (SBP: 148 vs. 126 mmHg, P<0.01) and was improved 1 month after PTRA. This difference persisted until 1 year after PTRA. Night-time BP improved more than daytime BP in responders. Patients with higher baseline ABPM-BP achieved a larger decrease in ABPM-BP, but the severity of stenosis reflected by TLPG; renal duplex findings; and neurohumoral parameters other than baseline renal function, did not differ between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Clinic BP does not represent daily hemodynamic status, whereas high ABPM-BP is a potent predictor of satisfactory BP response to PTRA. (Circ J 2016; 80: 1922-1930).

Intimal disruption affects drug-eluting cobalt-chromium stent expansion: A randomized trial comparing scoring and conventional balloon predilation.

BACKGROUND: Stent expansion remains one of the most important predictors of restenosis and subacute thrombosis, even with the use of drug-eluting stents. This study was designed to clarify the impact of lesion preparation on final stent expansion. METHODS: Sixty-six consecutive patients were included in this trial, and ultimately 52 enrolled non-calcified de novo lesions were randomly assigned to undergo single predilation with either a semi-compliant scoring balloon or a semi-compliant conventional balloon. Lesions were treated with a single 2.5- to 3.0-mm cobalt-chromium everolimus-eluting stent under optical coherence tomography (OCT) guidance without post-stenting dilation. Stent expansion was defined as the ratio of OCT-measured minimum stent area to the predicted stent area. RESULTS: Stent expansion was significantly higher after predilation by a scoring balloon (68.0% vs. 62.1%, p=0.017) with similar stent lumen eccentricity (0.84 vs. 0.80, p=0.18). Intimal disruption was induced significantly more frequently (68.0% vs. 38.4%, p=0.035) and was more extensive in the scoring group (122° vs. 65°, p=0.038). Lesions with intimal disruption after predilation achieved significantly higher stent expansion than that without it (67.7% vs. 61.6%, p=0.023). One case in the conventional group required target lesion revascularization; however, any other adverse clinical events including death, myocardial infarction, and stent thrombosis were not observed up to 9months after PCI in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this randomized study, pretreatment with a scoring balloon enhanced stent expansion partly through induction of intimal disruption. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index.htm. Unique identifier: UMIN000014176.