Beneficial effects of high-dose atorvastatin pretreatment on renal function in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing emergency percutaneous coronary intervention.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether preprocedural high-dose atorvastatin decreases the incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) and protects the renal function after emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: Statin-naive patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing emergency PCI (n = 161) randomly received atorvastatin (80 mg, n = 78, ATOR group) or placebo [n = 83, control (CON) group] followed by long-term atorvastatin (40 mg/day). The primary end point was incidence of CIN. RESULTS: In the ATOR group, 2.6% of the patients developed CIN versus 15.7% in the CON group (p = 0.01). In the ATOR group, postprocedural serum creatinine was significantly lower (93.4 ± 17.1 vs. 112.6 ± 23.3 µmol/l at 48 h and 84.2 ± 14.2 vs. 95.3 ± 17.7 µmol/l at 72 h, both p < 0.0001) and in the CON group, peak serum cystatin C was lower (0.51 ± 0.14 vs. 0.61 ± 0.13 mg/l, p < 0.0001). Atorvastatin pretreatment was independently associated with a decreased risk of CIN (OR 0.084, 95% CI 0.015-0.462, p = 0.004). The proportion of alanine aminotransferase > 3 × upper limit of the normal value within 1 month was 3.85 versus 1.20% (ATOR vs. CON group, p = 0.57). CONCLUSION: Preprocedural high-dose atorvastatin prevents CIN and protects the renal function in patients with acute STEMI undergoing emergency PCI.

Efficacy and safety of standard-dose versus half-dose tirofiban in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes undergoing early percutaneous coronary intervention.

INTRODUCTION: To explore the optimal dosage of tirofiban associated with double benefits of efficacy and safety in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS) undergoing early percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). AIMS: A total of 163 patients were included in this study (78 in SD group versus 85 in HD group). In SD (HD) group, tirofiban was administered intravenously with a bolus dose of 10 (5) µg/kg within 3 min and followed by continuous intravenous infusion of 0.15 (0.075) µg/kg/min for 48 h. Within 24 h on admission, patients underwent CAG or CAG+PCI. The angiographic results (initial TIMI, final TIMI/CTFC/TMPG) were evaluated. Platelet aggregation rate (PAR) was measured before and 2, 24, 48 h after bolus tirofiban. MACEs were evaluated at 7-day, 30-day, and 6-month follow-up. Bleeding was observed at 7 days. RESULTS: The proportions of TIMI grade 3 seemed higher in SD group before and after PCI followed by a better myocardial perfusion, but not statistically different (P = 0.26/0.08). PAR was lower in SD group than that in HD group at 2 h after bolus tirofiban (P = 0.03). MACEs were not statistically different at 7, 30 day, and 6 month in two groups. The incidence of minor bleeding was significantly lower in HD group than that in SD group (8.2% vs. 20.5%, P = 0.04). The risk of bleeding would increase under the conditions of decreased PAR, increased dose of tirofiban and decreased CCr. CONCLUSION: Half-dose tirofiban was not inferior to standard-dose in efficacy, what is more, half-dose tirofiban showed a better safety characteristic of lower bleeding risk. Therefore, half-dose tirofiban is recommended to patients with NSTE-ACS undergoing early PCI.