Application of the Appropriate Use Criteria for Coronary Revascularization in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome in the Russian Federation: Data from the Federal Registry.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to apply the appropriate use criteria (AUC) for coronary revascularization on Russian Acute Coronary Syndrome Registry (RusACSR) data to analyze validity of the decision to perform percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) among patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: In Russia, the frequency of performing PCI increased almost 7.5 times, and more than half of all interventions were performed in patients with ACS, in the period from 2006 to 2015. AUC 2012 were used to assess PCI appropriateness. Data were exported from RusACSR from a period of January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. We analyzed 33 893 cases, but 13 957 patients were excluded owing to absence of data needed. The study group therefore included 19 936 patients with ACS (mean age, 65.3 ± 11.9 years; 40.3% women), and it was divided into 2 subgroups: 13 757 (67.2%) patients who were treated conservatively and 6179 (32.8%) patients who underwent PCI. According to AUC, physicians' choice of strategy was validated. RESULTS: Patients treated conservatively differed significantly (P < .001) from those who underwent PCI. In this group, non-ST segment elevation ACS was significantly more common than in the group of patients who received PCI (84.4% vs. 43.9%, P < .001). They also had more severe clinical status. According to AUC, among patients with ACS treated with PCI, the decision was warranted in 86.3% (valid decision). In 7.6% of cases, there was no need for PCI. Among patients who underwent conservative treatment, 77.7% of patients needed PCI according to AUC. According to our data, only 3.8% of patients who were treated conservatively did not need PCI. Appropriateness of invasive treatment was uncertain in 18.5% and 6.1% in the PCI and non-PCI groups, respectively. All differences were significant (P < .001). CONCLUSION: AUC implementation showed low availability of PCI for patients with non-ST segment elevation ACS accompanied by complicated clinical status. AUC for coronary revascularization could be applied in Russian clinical practice for unbiased PCI candidate selection and for evaluation of decision validity.

Discrepancy between the European clinical guidelines and myocardial revascularization in patients with stable coronary artery disease in Russia.

OBJECTIVE: In European Society of Cardiology/European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (ESC/EACTS) guidelines, six indications have been proposed for making a decision on myocardial revascularization in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). Our aim was to study a discrepancy between the actual clinical situation and ESC/EACTS indications on performing the revascularization in patients with CAD in Russia. DESIGN AND SETTING: We used retrospective clinical data on patients with stable CAD enrolled in the 2012-2015 Russian Registry of Hypertension, Coronary Artery Disease, and Chronic Heart Failure. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1522 patients with CAD (aged 53.0 ± 8.5 years, 76.2% male) were used for analysis. INTERVENTIONS: All patients were divided into two groups: 591 patients with performed myocardial revascularization (named as R-CAD) and 931 patients refused from revascularization (named as NR-CAD). Factors associated with revascularization performance were identified by discriminant function analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ESC/EACTS indications for revascularization were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 1196 patients with CAD had any ESC/EACTS indication for revascularization, but only 40.2% of them had performed invasive coronary intervention. Myocardial revascularization was appropriate in 81.4% of R-CAD patients and 76.8% of NR-CAD patients. The main factor of revascularization performance was any stenosis >50% and grades III-IV of stable angina. With non-performed revascularization, the following factors were associated: limiting angina or angina equivalent, unresponsive to medical therapy, atherosclerotic peripheral arterial disease and increasing the New York Heart Association class of chronic heart failure. Most ESC/EACTS indications had little effect on decision-making on revascularization. CONCLUSION: There is a discrepancy between the actual clinical situation and ESC/EACTS guidelines on myocardial revascularization in patients with stable CAD in Russia.

Which Measures of Health Status Assessment are the Most Significant in Organized Cohorts with Low Current Cardiovascular Risk? The Screening Study of Penitentiary Staff in Saratov Region, Russia.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to compare different methods of health status assessment in organized cohort of penitentiary employees in Saratov Region, Russian Federation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 1,014 penitentiary employees (81.8% male) aged 33.4±6.8 years were included in the cohort study. All participants underwent an annual preventive health examination in the Center of Medical and Social Rehabilitation of Russian Federal Penitentiary Service in Saratov Region. The prevalence of common cardiovascular risk factors was assessed. Risk Score and the number of fulfilled health metrics proposed by American Heart Association (AHA) were calculated for each participant. RESULTS: It is shown that penitentiary staff in Saratov Region is characterized by low current risk score (1.2±0.8%), but high prevalence of such risk factors as increased body weight and obesity (51%), tobacco use or passive smoking (81%), and unhealthy diet (55%). 98.4% of participants had the Score level of ≤5%, but only 4.5% of penitentiary staff met the ideal cardiovascular health (they met all seven AHA health metrics). One fifth of the participants met three or less AHA health metrics. A statistically significant correlation between the risk Score and the number of fulfilled AHA health metrics is revealed (Chi-square = 5.1, p=0.024). The probability of fulfilment of less than 5 AHA health metrics in subjects with medium risk score is shown to be almost twofold greater than in subjects with low risk Score. However, there are a lot of differences in the assessment of cardiovascular health by risk Score and AHA health metrics. CONCLUSION: AHA health metrics are more preferable than the risk Score or assessment of separate cardiovascular risk factors for preventive management in organized cohorts with low current cardiovascular risk such as penitentiary staff in Saratov Region.

Objectives and Design of the Russian Acute Coronary Syndrome Registry (RusACSR).

The Russian Acute Coronary Syndrome Registry (RusACSR) is a retrospective, continuous, nationwide, Web-based registry of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). The RusACSR is a database that uses a secure Web-based interface for data entry by individual users. Participation in the RusACSR is voluntary. Any clinical center that provides health care to ACS patients can take part in the RusACSR. The RusACSR enrolls ACS patients who have undergone care in Russian hospitals from February 2008 to the present. Key data elements and methods of data analysis in the RusACSR are presented in this article. Up to 2015, 213 clinical centers from 36 regions of Russia had participated in the RusACSR. Currently, the database contains data on more than 250 000 ACS patients who underwent care from 2008 to 2015. Some current problems are highlighted in this article. The RusACSR is a perspective project for different epidemiologic studies in Russian ACS patients.

Effects of antihypertensive treatment on cardiovascular autonomic control: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of study was to propose an approach to the control of dynamics of autonomic dysfunction in cardiovascular system (CVS) under antihypertensive treatment (AT) in patients with arterial hypertension (AH), based on individual features of synchronization of 0.1-Hz rhythms in heart rate (HR) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) and spectral indices of heart rate variability (HRV). METHODS: We designed prospective cohort diagnostic accuracy and studied 105 AH patients (66 females) aged 47±8 years during 8 weeks. The HRV spectral indices and the index S of synchronization between the 0.1-Hz rhythms in HR and PPG during a tilt test are compared in their ability to control the AT with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-Is) (fosinopril or enalapril) and ß-blockers (atenolol or metoprolol). We apply Shapiro-Wilk, Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests. RESULTS: It is shown that the power of low-frequency (LF) band in HRV spectrum and index S can be used as criteria for initial assessment of the status of autonomic regulation in AH patients. The patients with S<25% in vertical body's position and LF>250 ms2 in horizontal body's position require ACE-Is treatment. The AH patients with LF<350 ms2 and S<30% in vertical body's position require ß-blocker treatment. The AH patients with S>25% and LF>250 ms2 in horizontal body's position do not require any ACE-Is or ß-blocker treatment. Both drug groups can be used in patients with low values of index S and low power of LF band in HRV spectrum. CONCLUSION: The control of AT can be carried out in AH patients taking into account the individual features of autonomic dysfunction in CVS. Sensitivity and specificity of our approach were 65% and 73%, respectively.

Active ambulatory care management supported by short message services and mobile phone technology in patients with arterial hypertension.

The use of short message services and mobile phone technology for ambulatory care management is the most accessible and most inexpensive way to transition from traditional ambulatory care management to active ambulatory care management in patients with arterial hypertension (AH). The aim of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of active ambulatory care management supported by short message services and mobile phone technology with traditional ambulatory care management in AH patients. The study included 97 hypertensive patients under active ambulatory care management and 102 patients under traditional ambulatory care management. Blood pressure levels, body mass, and smoking history of patients were analyzed in the study. The duration of study was 1 year. In the active ambulatory care management group, 36% of patients were withdrawn from the study within a year. At the end of the year, 77% of patients from the active care management group had achieved the goal blood pressure level. That was more than 5 times higher than that in the traditional ambulatory care management group (P < .001). The risk ratio of achieving and maintaining the goal blood pressure in patients of active care management group was 5.44, CI (3.2-9.9; P = .005). Implementation of active ambulatory care management supported by short message services and mobile phone improves the quality of ambulatory care of hypertensive patients.

Evaluation of 5-year risk of cardiovascular events in patients after acute myocardial infarction using synchronization of 0.1-Hz rhythms in cardiovascular system.

BACKGROUND: Synchronization between 0.1-Hz rhythms in cardiovascular system is deteriorated at acute myocardial infarction (AMI) leading to a disruption of natural functional couplings within the system of autonomic regulation. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the prognostic value of autonomic regulation indices for the 5-year risk of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events in patients after AMI. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 125 patients (53 [42%] female) after AMI aged between 30 and 83 years. The period of observation was 5 years with checkpoints at the first week after AMI and after each year after AMI. We compared the prognostic value of established clinical characteristics and degree S of synchronization between 0.1-Hz rhythms in heart rate and microcirculation for evaluation of the 5-year risk of mortality and recurrent myocardial infarction (MI) in patients after AMI. Acute heart failure Killip 2-4 at AMI and S < 20% at the first week after AMI were identified as the most important factors for evaluation of the risk of 5-year mortality in patients after AMI (χ(2) = 14.2, P = 0.003). Sensitivity and specificity of low S (<20%) at the first week after AMI were 76% and 43%, respectively. For evaluation of the 5-year risk of recurrent MI index S had no advantage over established clinical characteristics. CONCLUSION: The value of S below 20% in patients with AMI is a sensitive marker of high risk of mortality during the subsequent five years. It is characterized by better prognostic value than most of established clinical characteristics.

Selection of optimal dose of beta-blocker treatment in myocardial infarction patients based on changes in synchronization between 0.1 Hz oscillations in heart rate and peripheral microcirculation.

BACKGROUND: Selection of the optimal dose of beta-blocker treatment in myocardial infarction (MI) patients is problematic because of a lack of well-established guidelines. METHODS: We evaluated changes in synchronization between 0.1 Hz oscillations in heart rate (HR) and plethysmographic peripheral microcirculation in response to a tilt-table test and to 3-month treatment with the highest tolerated beta-blocker (metoprolol) dose in 43 patients aged between 41 and 77 years with acute MI 6 months prior to the start of the study. Before the study the patients were treated with small doses of beta-blocker. Phase differences between HR and peripheral microcirculation oscillations were used to measure the degree of synchronization (S), and relative change in S from horizontal position was used to characterize the response to vertical tilt. RESULTS: Two groups of MI patients matched for clinical characteristics were identified on the basis of the results. The first group was composed of patients with decreased S as a response to vertical tilt at the beginning of the study. The patients with increased S during vertical tilt before treatment with the highest tolerated beta-blocker dose were attributed to the second group. The response to vertical tilt in the first group of patients was postulated to indicate the need to increase beta-blocker dose, and in turn, the response in the second group to indicate an already adequate beta-blocker dose. CONCLUSION: Assessment of synchronization of 0.1  Hz HR and peripheral microcirculation oscillations as a response to a tilt test can possibly be used as a guideline for selecting beta-blocker dose in post-MI patients.