Outcomes after transcatheter mitral valve implantation in valve-in-valve, valve-in-ring, and valve-in-mitral annular calcification.

AIMS: We aimed to evaluate transcatheter mitral valve implantation (TMVI) using predominantly balloon-expandable transcatheter heart valves (THV) in patients with a landing zone for a percutaneously delivered prosthesis. BACKGROUND: Patients with a degenerated mitral valve bioprosthesis, annuloplasty ring, and mitral annulus calcification (MAC) considered at high surgical risk currently represent a treatment challenge. TMVI is an alternative treatment option. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of patients with symptomatic degenerated mitral valve bioprosthesis, or annuloplasty ring, and MAC treated with TMVI between November 2011 and April 2021. Endpoints were defined according to Mitral Valve Academic Research Consortium (MVARC) criteria and included device and procedure success at 30 days as well as mortality at 30 days and 1 year after the procedure. RESULTS: A total of 77 patients underwent TMVI (valve in valve [ViV = 56], valve in ring [ViR = 11], and valve in MAC [ViMAC = 10]). There was a trend toward higher technical success (all = 93.5%, ViV = 96.4%, ViR = 90.9%, ViMAC = 80%, p = 0.06) and lower 30-day (all = 11.7%, ViV = 10.7%, ViR = 9.1%, ViMAC = 20%, p = 0.49) and 1-year mortality (all = 26%, ViV = 23.2%, ViR = 27.3%, ViMAC= 40%, p = 0.36) after ViV and ViR compared to ViMAC. CONCLUSION: TMVI represents a reasonable treatment option in selected patients with MAC or who are poor candidates for redo mitral valve surgery. Technical success and survival up to 1 year were not significantly dependent on the subgroup in which TMVI was performed.

Aspirin loading and coronary no-reflow after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: The association of aspirin loading with the risk of coronary no-reflow (CNR) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has not been investigated. We assessed the association of aspirin loading before PCI with CNR in patients with AMI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 3100 patients with AMI undergoing PCI. Of them, 2812 patients received aspirin loading (a single oral [or chewed] or intravenous dose of 150-300 mg) and 288 patients did not receive aspirin loading before PCI. The primary endpoint was CNR, defined as Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction blood flow grade of <3 after the PCI. RESULTS: CNR occurred in 130 patients: 127 patients in the group with aspirin loading and 3 patients in the group without aspirin loading before PCI (4.5% vs. 1.0%; odds ratio [OR] = 4.50, 95% confidence interval, [1.42-14.21], p = 0.005). After adjustment, the association between aspirin loading and CNR was significant (adjusted OR = 4.49 [1.56-12.92]; p < 0.001). There was no aspirin loading-by-P2Y12 inhibitor (ticagrelor or prasugrel) interaction (pint = 0.465) or aspirin loading-by-chronic aspirin therapy on admission (pint = 0.977) interaction with respect to the occurrence of CNR after PCI. Chronic low-dose aspirin therapy on admission was not independently associated with higher risk of CNR after PCI (adjusted OR = 1.06 [0.65-1.72]; p = 0.824). CONCLUSION: In patients with AMI undergoing PCI, aspirin loading before the PCI procedure at the guideline-recommended doses was associated with higher odds of developing CNR. However, due to the limited number of events, the findings should be considered as hypothesis generating.

Machine Learning Identifies New Predictors on Restenosis Risk after Coronary Artery Stenting in 10,004 Patients with Surveillance Angiography.

OBJECTIVE: Machine learning (ML) approaches have the potential to uncover regular patterns in multi-layered data. Here we applied self-organizing maps (SOMs) to detect such patterns with the aim to better predict in-stent restenosis (ISR) at surveillance angiography 6 to 8 months after percutaneous coronary intervention with stenting. METHODS: In prospectively collected data from 10,004 patients receiving percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for 15,004 lesions, we applied SOMs to predict ISR angiographically 6-8 months after index procedure. SOM findings were compared with results of conventional uni- and multivariate analyses. The predictive value of both approaches was assessed after random splitting of patients into training and test sets (50:50). RESULTS: Conventional multivariate analyses revealed 10, mostly known, predictors for restenosis after coronary stenting: balloon-to-vessel ratio, complex lesion morphology, diabetes mellitus, left main stenting, stent type (bare metal vs. first vs. second generation drug eluting stent), stent length, stenosis severity, vessel size reduction, and prior bypass surgery. The SOM approach identified all these and nine further predictors, including chronic vessel occlusion, lesion length, and prior PCI. Moreover, the SOM-based model performed well in predicting ISR (AUC under ROC: 0.728); however, there was no meaningful advantage in predicting ISR at surveillance angiography in comparison with the conventional multivariable model (0.726, p = 0.3). CONCLUSIONS: The agnostic SOM-based approach identified-without clinical knowledge-even more contributors to restenosis risk. In fact, SOMs applied to a large prospectively sampled cohort identified several novel predictors of restenosis after PCI. However, as compared with established covariates, ML technologies did not improve identification of patients at high risk for restenosis after PCI in a clinically relevant fashion.

Ten-year clinical outcomes of drug-eluting stents with different polymer coating strategies by degree of coronary calcification: a pooled analysis of the ISAR-TEST 4 and 5 randomised trials.

BACKGROUND: Long-term data concerning the efficacy of different polymer-coating strategies of new-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients with coronary artery calcification (CAC) are scant. AIMS: We aimed to investigate 10-year outcomes by degree of CAC after new-generation DES implantation with different polymer-coating strategies. METHODS: We analysed individual patient and lesion characteristics of patients randomised to treatment with polymer-free sirolimus-eluting, biodegradable-polymer sirolimus-eluting and permanent-polymer zotarolimus- or everolimus-eluting stents. Endpoints of interest at 10 years were all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), target lesion revascularisation (TLR) and definite or probable stent thrombosis (ST) according to the degree of CAC (no, mild, moderate or severe) and coating strategy (polymer-free vs biodegradable-polymer vs permanent-polymer). RESULTS: A total of 4,953 patients with 6,924 lesions were included. No, mild, moderate or severe CAC was present in 24.5%, 41.8%, 25.8% and 8.0% of patients, respectively. At 10-year follow-up, overall event rates were high, with an incremental increase according to the degree of CAC (all-cause mortality: no 25.3%, mild 32.1%, moderate 41.7%, severe CAC 46.5%; adjusted [adj.] p=0.004; TLR: no 17.4%, mild 16.5%, moderate 19.8%, severe CAC 28.7%; adj. p=0.001; MI: no 4.9%, mild 5.9%, moderate 6.0%, severe CAC 10.5%; adj. p=0.02; and ST: no 1.3%, mild 1.4%, moderate 1.8%, severe CAC 3.6%; adj. p=0.57). In patients with moderate-severe CAC, event rates were comparable, regardless of the DES polymer-coating strategy. CONCLUSIONS: At 10 years after PCI with new-generation DES, there was an incremental increase in adverse events by degree of coronary calcification. These detrimental effects do not seem to be impacted by different polymer-coating strategies.

Association of interleukin 6 -174 G/C polymorphism with coronary artery disease and circulating IL-6 levels: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Circulating IL-6 levels and at least one polymorphic form of IL6 gene (IL6 -174 G/C, rs1800795) have been shown to be independently associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) by several investigators. Despite more than 12 published meta-analyses on this subject, association of -174 G/C with CAD, especially amongst distinct ancestral population groups remain unclear. We, therefore, conducted a systematic review and an updated meta-analysis to comprehensively ascertain the association of IL6 -174 G/C with CAD and circulating IL-6 levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Relevant case-control/cohort studies investigating association of -174 G/C with CAD and circulating IL-6 levels were identified following a comprehensive online search. Association status for CAD was determined for the pooled sample, as well as separately for major ancestral subgroups. Association status for circulating IL-6 levels was assessed for the pooled sample, as well as separately for CAD cases and CAD free controls. Study-level odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were pooled using random/fixed-effects model. RESULTS: Quantitative synthesis for the CAD endpoint was performed using 55 separate qualifying studies with a collective sample size of 51,213 (19,160 cases/32,053 controls). Pooled association of -174 G/C with CAD was found to be statistically significant through dominant (OR 1.15; 95% CI 1.05-1.25, p = 0.002) as well as allelic genetic model comparisons (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.06-1.21, p = 0.0003). This effect was largely driven by Asian and Asian Indian ancestral subgroups, which also showed significant association with CAD in both genetic model comparisons (OR range 1.29-1.53, p value range ≤ 0.02). Other ancestral subgroups failed to show any meaningful association. Circulating IL-6 levels were found to be significantly higher amongst the 'C' allele carriers in the pooled sample (Standard mean difference, SMD 0.11, 95% CI 0.01-0.22 pg/ml, p = 0.009) as well as in the CAD free control subgroup (SMD 0.10, 95% CI 0.02-0.17 pg/ml, p = 0.009), though not in the CAD case subgroup (SMD 0.17, 95% CI = - 0.02 to 0.37, p = 0.12). CONCLUSIONS: The present systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrate an overall association between IL6 -174 G/C polymorphism and CAD, which seems to be mainly driven by Asian and Asian Indian ancestral subgroups. Upregulation of plasma IL-6 levels in the 'C' allele carriers seems to be at least partly responsible for this observed association. This warrants further investigations with large, structured case-control studies especially amongst Asian and Asian Indian ancestral groups.

Prognostic value of glomerular function estimated by Cockcroft-Gault creatinine clearance, MDRD-4, CKD-EPI and European Kidney Function Consortium equations in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

BACKGROUND: It remains unknown which equation used to assess the glomerular function is better for risk stratification in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS: This study included 3985 patients with ACS. Glomerular function was assessed using 4 equations: the Cockcroft-Gault creatinine clearance (C-GCrCl), Modification of Diet in Renal Disease-4 (MDRD-4), Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) and European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) equations. The primary outcome was one-year all-cause mortality. RESULTS: For each 30 ml/min decrement, the adjusted hazard ratio [HR] with 95% confidence interval [CI] for one-year mortality was 1.67 [1.27-2.25] for C-GCrCl, 1.45 [1.16-1.81] for MDRD-4, 1.76 [1.35-2.30] for CKD-EPI and 1.94 [1.44-2.63] for EKFC equation. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for one-year mortality was 0.748 [0.709-0.788] for C-GCrCl, 0.670 [0.621-0.718] for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) calculated by MDRD-4 equation, 0.725 [0.684-0.765] for eGFR calculated by CKD-EPI equation and 0.741 [0.703-0.779] for eGFR calculated by EKFC equation (P = 0.342 for C-GCrCl, vs. EKFC equation and P ≤ 0.009 for all other AUC comparisons). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ACS, C-GCrCl and EKFC equations showed a similar discriminatory power regarding prediction of one-year mortality. Both equations were better than MDRD-4 and CKD-EPI equations for risk discrimination for mortality. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01944800.

Ticagrelor or Prasugrel in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome in Relation to Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of ticagrelor versus prasugrel for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) according to their estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs). BACKGROUND: The outcomes of ticagrelor versus prasugrel in patients with ACS according to eGFR have not been defined. METHODS: Patients (n = 4,012) were categorized into 3 groups: low eGFR (<60 mL/min/1.73 m2), intermediate eGFR (≥60 and <90 mL/min/1.73 m2), and high eGFR (≥90 mL/min/1.73 m2). The primary endpoint was a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, and stroke; the secondary safety endpoint was Bleeding Academic Research Consortium types 3 to 5 bleeding, both at 1 year. RESULTS: Patients with low eGFRs had a higher risk for the primary endpoint compared with patients with intermediate eGFRs (adjusted HR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.46-2.46]) and those with high eGFRs (adjusted HR: 2.33; 95% CI: 1.57-3.46). A risk excess for low eGFR was also observed for bleeding (adjusted HR: 1.55 [95% CI: 1.12-2.13] vs intermediate eGFR; adjusted HR: 1.59 [95% CI: 1.01-2.50] vs high eGFR). However, eGFR did not affect the relative efficacy and safety of ticagrelor versus prasugrel. In patients with low eGFR, the primary endpoint occurred in 20.5% with ticagrelor and in 14.7% with prasugrel (HR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.04-2.08; P = 0.029); there was no significant difference in bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that among patients with ACS, reduction of eGFR is associated with increased risk for ischemic and bleeding events but has no significant impact on the relative efficacy and safety of ticagrelor versus prasugrel. (Prospective, Randomized Trial of Ticagrelor Versus Prasugrel in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome [ISAR-REACT 5]; NCT01944800).

Efficacy and safety of ticagrelor versus prasugrel in smokers and nonsmokers with acute coronary syndromes.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and safety of ticagrelor versus prasugrel according to smoking status in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are not known. We assessed the efficacy and safety of ticagrelor versus prasugrel according to smoking status in patients with ACS undergoing invasive management. METHODS: This pre-specified analysis of the ISAR-REACT 5 trial included 1349 smokers and 2652 nonsmokers randomized to receive ticagrelor or prasugrel. The primary endpoint was the incidence of death, myocardial infarction, or stroke; the secondary endpoint was the incidence of Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) type 3 to 5 bleeding (both endpoints assessed at 12 months). RESULTS: There was no significant treatment arm-by-smoking status interaction regarding the efficacy outcome. The primary endpoint occurred in 47 patients (7.0%) in the ticagrelor group and 41 patients (6.2%) in the prasugrel group in smokers (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.15; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.76-1.75; P = 0.510) and in 133 patients (10.2%) in the ticagrelor group and 94 patients (7.2%) in the prasugrel group in nonsmokers (HR = 1.44 [1.10-1.87]; P = 0.007; P for interaction = 0.378). The secondary endpoint occurred in 27 patients (4.6%) in the ticagrelor group and 33 patients (5.6%) in the prasugrel group in smokers (HR = 0.81 [0.49-1.35]; P = 0.412) and in 66 patients (6.0%) in the ticagrelor group and 46 patients (4.4%) in the prasugrel group in nonsmokers (HR = 1.38 [0.94-2.01]; P = 0.097). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ACS undergoing an invasive management strategy, the smoking status did not significantly interact with the relative treatment effect of ticagrelor vs. prasugrel. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01944800.

Safety and feasibility of same-day discharge after elective percutaneous balloon mitral valvotomy: a prospective, single-center registry in India.

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy (PBMV) is an alternative to surgery for patients with severe mitral valve (MV) stenosis. However, the safety and feasibility of same-day discharge (SDD) in patients undergoing elective PBMV for severe MV stenosis is yet to be investigated. This study aimed to assess safety and feasibility of SDD in patients undergoing elective PBMV because of severe MV stenosis in a tertiary-care hospital in India. METHODS: From January 2018 to November 2018, patients with a diagnosis of severe MV stenosis were treated with PBMV at our institution. Among these patients, those suitable for SDD were prospectively included in this registry. Vascular access was achieved in forearm arteries and femoral veins. Clinical, echocardiographic and hemodynamic features were collected before and after PBMV. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. The secondary outcome was incidence of in-hospital complications. Other outcomes of interest were arterial spasm and forearm haematoma. RESULTS: A total of 98 patients scheduled for SDD after elective PBMV were included in the registry. Mean MV area increased from 0.8 ± 0.1 to 1.6 ± 0.2 cm2 (p < .001). Severe MV regurgitation after PBMV occurred in 3 patients, and 1 patient developed pericardial tamponade. Severe arterial spasm occurred in 2 patients. None of the included patients developed a clinically relevant haematoma of forearm. A total of 94 (96%) were discharged on the same day. No patient died up to 30-day follow-up. CONCLUSION: PBMV from the venous access site can reduce the hospital stay of patients to less than a day with less local site complications.

Ticagrelor or Prasugrel in Patients With Non-ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes.

BACKGROUND: Current guidelines recommend intensified platelet inhibition by prasugrel or ticagrelor in patients with unstable angina (UA) or non-ST-segment elevation (NSTE) myocardial infarction (MI). OBJECTIVES: This study sought to investigate the benefits and risks of ticagrelor as compared with prasugrel in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS) and planned invasive management. METHODS: This post hoc analysis combines the pre-specified subgroups of UA and NSTEMI of the randomized ISAR-REACT 5 trial. It included 1,179 patients assigned to ticagrelor and 1,186 assigned to prasugrel. Ticagrelor was started immediately after randomization and prasugrel after coronary angiography. The primary endpoint was a composite of death, MI, or stroke during 1-year follow-up, and the safety endpoint was Bleeding Academic Research Consortium class 3-5. RESULTS: The primary endpoint was reached in 101 (8.7%) patients in the ticagrelor and in 73 (6.3%) patients in the prasugrel group (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04 to 1.90). The HR for all-cause death was 1.43 (95% CI: 0.93 to 2.21) and that for MI 1.43 (95% CI: 0.94 to 2.19). The safety endpoint occurred in 49 (5.2%) patients in the ticagrelor and in 41 (4.7%) patients in the prasugrel group (HR: 1.09; 95% CI: 0.72 to 1.65). Landmark analysis revealed persistence of the efficacy advantage with prasugrel after the first month. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with NSTE-ACS, we found that prasugrel was superior to ticagrelor in reducing the combined 1-year risk of death, MI, and stroke without increasing the risk of bleeding. Due to the post hoc nature of the analysis, these findings need confirmation by further studies. (Prospective, Randomized Trial of Ticagrelor Versus Prasugrel in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome; NCT01944800).

Ticagrelor or Prasugrel in Patients With ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Undergoing Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

BACKGROUND: Data on the comparative efficacy and safety of ticagrelor versus prasugrel in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention are limited. We assessed the efficacy and safety of ticagrelor versus prasugrel in a head-to-head comparison in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention. METHODS: In this prespecified subgroup analysis, we included 1653 patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction randomized to receive ticagrelor or prasugrel in the setting of the ISAR REACT-5 trial (Intracoronary Stenting and Antithrombotic Regimen: Rapid Early Action for Coronary Treatment 5). The primary end point was the incidence of death, myocardial infarction, or stroke at 1 year after randomization. The secondary end point was the incidence of bleeding defined as BARC (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium) type 3 to 5 bleeding at 1 year after randomization. RESULTS: The primary end point occurred in 83 patients (10.1%) in the ticagrelor group and in 64 patients (7.9%) in the prasugrel group (hazard ratio, 1.31 [95% CI, 0.95-1.82]; P=0.10). One-year incidence of all-cause death (4.9% versus 4.7%; P=0.83), stroke (1.3% versus 1.0%; P=0.46), and definite stent thrombosis (1.8% versus 1.0%; P=0.15) did not differ significantly in patients assigned to ticagrelor or prasugrel. One-year incidence of myocardial infarction (5.3% versus 2.8%; hazard ratio, 1.95 [95% CI, 1.18-3.23]; P=0.010) was higher with ticagrelor than with prasugrel. BARC type 3 to 5 bleeding occurred in 46 patients (6.1%) in the ticagrelor group and in 39 patients (5.1%) in the prasugrel group (hazard ratio, 1.22 [95% CI, 0.80-1.87]; P=0.36). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention, there was no significant difference in the primary end point between prasugrel and ticagrelor. Ticagrelor was associated with a significant increase in the risk for recurrent myocardial infarction. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT01944800.

Long-Term Prognostic Impact of Restenosis of the Unprotected Left Main Coronary Artery Requiring Repeat Revascularization.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic impact of target lesion revascularization (TLR) of the unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) after stent failure. BACKGROUND: Although drug-eluting stents are safe and effective for treatment of the ULMCA, increased rates of repeat revascularization have been observed. METHODS: This is a patient-level pooled analysis of the randomized ISAR-LEFT-MAIN (Drug-Eluting-Stents for Unprotected Left Main Stem Disease) and ISAR-LEFT-MAIN-2 (Drug-Eluting Stents to Treat Unprotected Coronary Left Main Disease) trials, in which patients underwent stenting of the ULMCA. The present analysis includes patients who underwent angiography during follow-up. Patients with TLR were compared with those without. Additional long-term clinical follow-up after TLR was conducted, and its influence on mortality was evaluated. Mortality was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Predictors of mortality were assessed in a multivariate analysis. RESULTS: A total of 1,001 patients were eligible, of whom 166 experienced TLR. The 5-year mortality rate was 30.2% in patients with TLR compared with 17.3% in those without TLR (p < 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, glomerular filtration rate (-30 ml/min; hazard ratio [HR]: 2.25; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.54 to 3.27; p < 0.001), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR: 4.95; 95% CI: 1.33 to 18.42; p = 0.02), and body mass index (+5 kg/m2; HR: 1.61; 95% CI: 1.12 to 2.32; p = 0.01) were independent predictors of mortality after TLR due to left main stent failure. The type of repeat revascularization and the underlying stent did not influence the mortality after TLR of the ULMCA. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality after TLR for left main stent failure is high. Patient-related factors seem to have a greater impact on mortality after TLR than other variables.

Predicting factors for long-term survival in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest - A propensity score-matched analysis.

BACKGROUND: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with acute coronary syndromes accounting for most of the cases. While the benefit of early revascularization has been clearly demonstrated in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), diagnostic pathways remain unclear in the absence of STEMI. We aimed to characterize OHCA patients presenting to 2 tertiary cardiology centers and identify predicting factors associated with survival. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 519 patients after OHCA from February 2003 to December 2017 at 2 centers in Munich, Germany. Patients undergoing immediate coronary angiography (CAG) were compared to those without. Multivariate regression analysis and inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) were performed to identify predictors for improved outcome in a matched population. RESULTS: Immediate CAG was performed in 385 (74.1%) patients after OHCA with presumed cardiac cause of arrest. As a result of multivariate analysis after propensity score matching, we found that immediate CAG, return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) at admission, witnessed arrest and former smoking were associated with improved 30-days-survival [(OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.26-0.84), (OR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.10-0.45), (OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.26-0.97), (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.23-0.81)], and 1-year-survival [(OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.19-0.82), (OR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.12-0.7), (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.2-1.00), (OR, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.14-0.63)]. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, immediate CAG, ROSC at admission, witnessed arrest and former smoking were independent predictors of survival in cardiac arrest survivors. Improvement in prehospital management including bystander CPR and best practice post-resuscitation care with optimized triage of patients to an early invasive strategy may help ameliorate overall outcome of this critically-ill patient population.

Ticagrelor-based antiplatelet regimens in patients treated with coronary artery bypass grafting: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVES: The optimal antiplatelet strategy in patients undergoing CABG remains unclear. This is the first meta-analysis investigating the clinical outcomes associated with ticagrelor-based antiplatelet regimens in patients receiving CABG. METHODS: Relevant scientific databases were searched for studies investigating antiplatelet regimens after CABG from inception until April 1, 2019. Studies which randomly assigned CABG patients to either ticagrelor-based or control antiplatelet regimens were eligible. The primary outcome of this analysis was all-cause death. The main secondary outcome was MI. Other outcomes of interest were cardiac death, major adverse cardiac events, stroke and bleeding. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42019122192. RESULTS: Five trials comprising 3996 patients (2002 assigned to ticagrelor-based and 1994 to control antiplatelet regimens) were eligible for quantitative synthesis. The median follow-up was 12 months. Control antiplatelet regimens consisted of either aspirin or clopidogrel or both. As compared to control, ticagrelor-based regimens reduced the risk of all-cause death [0.61 (0.43-0.87); P = 0.007], cardiac death [0.58 (0.39-0.86); P = 0.007] and major adverse cardiac events [0.79 (0.63-0.98); P = 0.03], without difference in the risk of MI [0.76 (0.50-1.18); P = 0.22], stroke [0.99 (0.56-1.78); P = 0.98] or bleeding [1.04 (0.95-1.14); P = 0.41]. There was a treatment effect modification for the primary outcome associated with trials enrolling predominantly patients with acute coronary syndrome (P for interaction = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: In patients receiving CABG, ticagrelor-based regimens reduce mortality and major adverse cardiac events without excess bleeding risk as compared with aspirin monotherapy or the combination of aspirin and clopidogrel. The benefit of ticagrelor-based regimens is more relevant in those studies enrolling predominantly patients with acute coronary syndrome. These findings require further confirmation in randomized trials focused on this subset of patients and powered for clinical outcomes.