The Clinical Evolution of Diffuse Myocardial Fibrosis in Patients With Arterial Hypertension and Heart Failure With Mildly Reduced Ejection Fraction Treated by Olmesartan or Sacubitril / Valsartan.

Aim      A 12-month evaluation of the potentialities of the angiotensin II receptor inhibitor olmesartan (Olme) and the angiotensin receptor and neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) sacubitril/valsartan in patients with arterial hypertension (AH) and dyslipidemia in the dynamics of the following indicators of chronic heart failure (CHF): N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), LV global longitudinal strain (LV GLS) in diffuse myocardial fibrosis (MF) previously diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Material and methods  Olmesartan medoxomil (n=56) and sacubitril/valsartan (n=63) were used for 12 months in patients with hypertension, dyslipidemia and NYHA functional class II-III CHF with mid-range LVEF (CHFmrEF). MF was diagnosed by the following MRI criteria: late gadolinium enhancement and an increased proportion of extracellular matrix (33% or more). The frequency of persisting late gadolinium enhancement and the increased proportion of extracellular matrix (33% or more) was evaluated at 12 months; changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), NT-proBNP, and LV GLS were evaluated after 3, 6, and 12 months of follow-up.Results Baseline parameters did not differ between groups. The late gadolinium enhancement and increased proportion of extracellular matrix were present at baseline in all patients of both groups (100%; p=1.0). Already at 3 months, statistically significant decreases in SBP and DBP were observed in both groups. In addition, the LV GLS monitoring showed LV GLS significantly increased in both groups after 3 months and continued changing after 6 and 12 months. The NT-proBNP concentration significantly decreased in both groups already after 3 months and continued to decrease after 6 and 12 months. At 6 and 12 months, sacubitril/valsartan was superior to olmesartan in reducing SBP and NT-proBNP and in restoring LV GLS. At 12 months, the incidence of persisting, abnormal late gadolinium enhancement and increased proportion of extracellular matrix was significantly less in the ARNI group.Conclusion      Olmesartan was demonstrated effective in the multi-modality therapy of CHFmrEF and MF in patients with AH and dyslipidemia. ARNI was superior to olmesartan in this regard, but further research of this issue is required.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in patients with coronary heart disease worsens long-term prognosis after percutaneous coronary interventions.

Aim    To evaluate the incidence rate of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACVE) in the long-term following percutaneous coronary interventions (PCCI) in patients with acute and chronic ischemic heart disease (IHD) and the contribution of concurrent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to the long-term prediction.Material and methods    This prospective cohort study included 254 patients with IHD and concurrent COPD and 392 patients with IHD without COPD. PCCI was performed in all patients: for acute coronary syndrome in 295 patients and for chronic IHD in 351 patients. The follow-up period lasted for up to 36 months. The outcome was a composite endpoint, MACVE, that included cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, repeated unscheduled myocardial revascularization (MR), and the time to the event.Results    The age-standardized incidence of MACVE in patients with IHD and COPD was 31.5 vs. 23.2 % in patients with IHD without concurrent COPD (p=0.025), primarily due to an increased frequency of repeated unscheduled MR (20.5 vs. 14.0 %, p=0.041), which was associated with earlier occurrence of adverse events (p<0.001). Repeated unscheduled MR was more frequently performed in patients with moderate COPD; the frequency of MR decreased with increasing severity of COPD, whereas the total incidence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke was the highest in patients with severe and very severe COPD.Conclusion    The presence of concurrent COPD increases the relative risk of MACVE 1.36 times (95 % confidence interval: 1.05-1.75) and facilitates their earlier development. Repeated unscheduled MR makes the major contribution to the increase in the total risk (relative risk, 1.46; 95 % confidence interval: 1.03-2.06). The increase in severity of COPD is associated with the increase in total frequency of MACVE (p=0.005).