Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases and Outcomes Following Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases (AIRDs) are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. However, the post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) outcomes in this population present a research gap, given the limited and discordant findings in existing studies. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the relationship between AIRDs and clinical outcomes after PCI; 9 studies with 7,027,270 patients (126,914 with AIRD, 6,900,356 without AIRD) were included. The AIRD cohort was characterized by an older age, a predominantly female demographic, and a greater prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Over a mean follow-up period of 4.6 ± 3.5 years, AIRD patients demonstrated significantly higher odds of all-cause mortality (odds ratio (OR) 1.45, 95% CI: 1.25-1.78, P < .001) and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) (OR 1.63, 95% CI: 1.01-2.62, P = .04) compared with non-AIRD patients. Sensitivity analysis using adjusted estimates, confirmed the higher all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 1.32, 95% CI: 1.05-1.64, P = .01). Patients with rheumatoid arthritis had a significantly elevated odds of all-cause mortality (OR 1.50, 95% CI: 1.27-1.77) and MACE (OR 1.18, 95% CI: 1.14-1.21). Our study demonstrated an association between AIRDs and suboptimal long-term outcomes post-PCI. Prospective studies are warranted to explore the risk factors of unfavorable prognoses in patients with AIRDs.

Sex Differences and Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Myocardial Infarction With Nonobstructive Coronary Arteries: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA) is more common in women, it is unknown whether sex is a risk factor for adverse outcomes in patients with MINOCA. We aimed to investigate the relationship between sex differences and outcomes of patients with MINOCA. METHODS AND RESULTS: A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases from their inception until August 2023 for relevant studies. End points were pooled using the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman random-effects model as odds ratio (OR) with 95% CIs. Nine studies, involving 30 281 patients with MINOCA (comprising 18 079 women and 12 202 men), were included in the study. Women were older and had a higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and stroke compared with men. The median duration of follow-up was 3.5 years, with an interquartile range of 2.2 to 4.2 years. Pooled analysis revealed no statistically significant difference in the risk of all-cause mortality (OR, 1.03 [95% CI, 0.87-1.22]), major adverse cardiovascular events (OR, 1.18 [95% CI, 0.89-1.58]), heart failure (OR, 1.32 [95% CI, 0.57-3.03]), stroke (OR, 1.13 [95% CI, 0.56-2.26]), and myocardial infarction (OR, 1.04 [95% CI, 0.29-3.76]) between the 2 groups. Regarding short-term outcomes, women had a significantly higher risk of in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular events compared with men (OR, 1.33 [95% CI, 1.16-1.53]) whereas there was no significant difference in the risk of in-hospital mortality (OR, 0.90 [95% CI, 0.64-1.28]) between the 2 patient groups. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the differences in demographics and comorbidity profiles, there was no significant difference in the long-term outcomes for patients with MINOCA between sexes. However, it is noteworthy that women experienced a higher risk of in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular events compared with men.

Prevalence of positive QuantiFERON gold in-tube testing in hidradenitis suppurativa.

AIM: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, recurrent, inflammatory disease of the apocrine sweat glands. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) inhibitors are commonly used to treat HS. However, prior to initiating therapy patients must be screened for mycobacterium tuberculosis (mTB) exposure. Several mTB screening tests based on interferon gamma release assays are commercially available, but the performance of these assays in the HS population is unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of the QuantiFERON gold in-tube assay (QFT-GIT) in a cohort of patients with HS. METHODS: This prospective study was conducted through the Wound Etiology and Healing (WE-HEAL) study. QFTGIT testing was performed using a commercial laboratory. Patients with positive test results underwent follow-up testing to evaluate for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). Data were collected on demographics and disease activity scores including Hurley stage, HS Sartorius score (HSS) and active nodule (AN) count. RESULTS: Of the 69 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of HS, seven (10.1%) tested QFT-GIT positive and 5.8% were diagnosed with LTBI. CONCLUSIONS: QFT-GIT results did not correlate with demographic characteristics or HS disease activity.