Angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibition compared with enalapril on the risk of clinical progression in surviving patients with heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Clinical trials in heart failure have focused on the improvement in symptoms or decreases in the risk of death and other cardiovascular events. Little is known about the effect of drugs on the risk of clinical deterioration in surviving patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: We compared the angiotensin-neprilysin inhibitor LCZ696 (400 mg daily) with the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor enalapril (20 mg daily) in 8399 patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction in a double-blind trial. The analyses focused on prespecified measures of nonfatal clinical deterioration. In comparison with the enalapril group, fewer LCZ696-treated patients required intensification of medical treatment for heart failure (520 versus 604; hazard ratio, 0.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.74-0.94; P=0.003) or an emergency department visit for worsening heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% confidence interval, 0.52-0.85; P=0.001). The patients in the LCZ696 group had 23% fewer hospitalizations for worsening heart failure (851 versus 1079; P<0.001) and were less likely to require intensive care (768 versus 879; 18% rate reduction, P=0.005), to receive intravenous positive inotropic agents (31% risk reduction, P<0.001), and to have implantation of a heart failure device or cardiac transplantation (22% risk reduction, P=0.07). The reduction in heart failure hospitalization with LCZ696 was evident within the first 30 days after randomization. Worsening of symptom scores in surviving patients was consistently more common in the enalapril group. LCZ696 led to an early and sustained reduction in biomarkers of myocardial wall stress and injury (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and troponin) versus enalapril. CONCLUSIONS: Angiotensin-neprilysin inhibition prevents the clinical progression of surviving patients with heart failure more effectively than angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01035255.

Peripheral Blood MCEMP1 Gene Expression as a Biomarker for Stroke Prognosis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A limitation when making early decisions on stroke management is the lack of rapid diagnostic and prognostic testing. Our study sought to identify peripheral blood RNA biomarkers associated with stroke. The secondary aims were to assess the discriminative capacity of RNA biomarkers for primary stroke type and stroke prognosis at 1-month. METHODS: Whole-blood gene expression profiling was conducted on the discovery cohort: 129 first-time stroke cases that had blood sampling within 5 days of symptom onset and 170 control participants with no history of stroke. RESULTS: Through multiple regression analysis, we determined that expression of the gene MCEMP1 had the strongest association with stroke of 11 181 genes tested. MCEMP1 increased by 2.4-fold in stroke when compared with controls (95% confidence interval, 2.0-2.8; P=8.2×10(-22)). In addition, expression was elevated in intracerebral hemorrhage when compared with ischemic stroke cases (P=3.9×10(-4)). MCEMP1 was also highest soon after symptom onset and had no association with stroke risk factors. Furthermore, MCEMP1 expression independently improved discrimination of 1-month outcome. Indeed, discrimination models for disability and mortality that included MCEMP1 expression, baseline modified Rankin Scale score, and primary stroke type improved discrimination when compared with a model without MCEMP1 (disability Net Reclassification Index, 0.76; P=3.0×10(-6) and mortality Net Reclassification Index, 1.3; P=1.1×10(-9)). Significant associations with MCEMP1 were confirmed in an independent validation cohort of 28 stroke cases and 34 controls. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that peripheral blood expression of MCEMP1 may have utility for stroke diagnosis and as a prognostic biomarker of stroke outcome at 1-month.

[Hyperglycaemia is associated with worse outcomes in Latin-American individuals with acute myocardial infarction]. / Hiperglucemia se asocia a mayor número de desenlaces adversos en individuos latinoamericanos con infarto agudo de miocardio.

BACKGROUND: Alterations in glucose metabolism have been reported as risk and poor prognostic factors for acute myocardial infarction (AMI); however in Latin-American population this information is limited. Thus, an evaluation was performed on the association between glycaemic status and short- and long-term outcomes in patients with a first AMI. METHODS: A multicentre, prospective, observational, cohort study was conducted in 8 hospitals from Colombia and Ecuador. RESULTS: A total of 439 patients with confirmed AMI were included, of which 305 (69.5%) had prediabetes or type2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). Compared with normal glycaemia group, patients with known DM2 had greater risk of prolonged hospital stay (HR: 2.60, 95%CI: 1.38-4.92, P=.003), Killip class iii/iv (HR: 9.46, 95%CI: 2.20-40.62, P=.002), and in-hospital heart failure (HR: 10.76, 95%CI: 3.37-34.31, P<.001). Patients with prediabetes, new DM2, and known DM2 showed higher rates of major adverse cardiovascular events after 3years follow-up. CONCLUSION: Glucose metabolism abnormalities have an important significance in the short- and long-term prognosis in Latin-American patients that survive a first AMI.

Hipertensión arterial: respuesta inadecuada al tratamiento médico vs. paciente / Hypertension: inadequate response to the treatment physician vs. patient

Objetivo: Determinar las causas más comunes de una respuesta inadecuada al tratamiento antihipertensivo en nuestro medio, y qué porcentaje de la población hipertensa controla su presión con el tratamiento aplicado.Diseño del estudio: El presente es un estudio retroprospectivo, analítico, llevado a cabo en el Servicio de cardiología de la Consulta Externa del hospital Luis Vernaza de Guayaquil. La muestra fue de 100 pacientes hipertensos tratados en quienes se trató de determinar la eficacia del tratamiento antihipertensivo. De estos pacientes, a 30 no controlados se les realizó una encuesta para establecer la causa de su respuesta inadecuada al tratamiento.Resultados: Aproximadamente 60% de pacientes presentó un control eficaz de su presión arterial. Dentro de los no controlados se observó que la causa principal de la respuesta inadecuada al tratamiento fue la falta de sometimiento al mismo, (53,33%), y a su vez esta se debió en su mayor porcentaje al olvido y a los costos de la medicación (44% c/u), siendo pocos los casos de abandono por intolerancia al fármaco empleado.Conclusión: Con lo observado se estableció la necesidad de reducir esta falta de colaboración al tratamiento mediante un seguimiento más persistente e integral de los pacientes hipertensos, el que incluye educación del paciente sobre la importancia y consecuencias a corto, mediano y largo plazo de su enfermedad y los beneficios de la terapia.

Objective: To determine common causes of an inadequate response to the antihypertensive treatment in our environment and how many patients can control their blood pressure with their treatment.Study Design: This is a retro prospective study made in cardiology service of Luis Vernaza Hospital – Guayaquil, where we chose 100 hypertensive patients under treatment and tried to determine its efficacy. We chose those who were not controlling their pressure and tried to establish more common causes of their inadequate response to the treatment. Results: Approximately 60% of patients had an effective control of their blood pressure. In those who were not under control we found that the outstanding cause of an inadequate response to the treatment was the lack of adherence (53.33%) and at the same time this lack of adherence to the treatment was due to forgetting as much as medication expenses (44%) and there with few cases of withdrawal for intolerance to the drugConclusion: As we observed, it is necessary to reduce this lack of adherence to the treatment by means of a more aggressive and integral following of hypertensive patients, which should include education of the patient about the importance and short-term and long-term consequences and also the benefits of the treatment.