Exercise training response according to baseline ferrokinetics in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: A substudy of the TRAINING-HF trial.

BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency (ID) is associated with impaired functional capacity in patients with heart failure (HF), even in those with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of baseline ferrokinetics on peak oxygen consumption (peakVO2) improvement after a 12-week physical therapy programme in patients with stable HFpEF. METHODS: This study is a post-hoc sub-analysis of a randomized clinical trial in which 59 stable patients with HFpEF were randomized to receive a 12-week programme of inspiratory muscle training (IMT), functional electrical stimulation (FES), IMT + FES or usual care (UC) to evaluate change in peakVO2 (NCT02638961). Serum ferritin and transferrin saturation (TSAT) determinations were assessed at baseline. ID was defined as ferritin <100 ng/mL and/or TSAT <20% if ferritin was within 100-299 ng/mL. We used a linear mixed regression model to analyse between-treatment changes in peakVO2 across ferrokinetics status at 12 and 24 weeks. RESULTS: The mean age was 74 ± 9 years, and 36 (61%) had ID. The mean of peakVO2 was 9.9 ± 2.5 mL/kg/min. The median of ferritin and transferrin saturation (TSAT) was 91 (50-181) ng/mL and 23% (16-30), respectively. A total of 52 patients completed the trial (13 patients per arm). Compared with those patients on UC, patients allocated to any of the active arms showed less improvement in peak VO2 when they showed ID (P-value for interaction <0.001), lower values of ferritin (P-value for interaction <0.001), or TSAT (P-value for interaction <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Ferrokinetics status plays an essential role in modifying the aerobic capacity response to physical therapies in patients with HFpEF. Further studies are required to confirm these findings.

Lipoprotein(a) and Long-Term Recurrent Infarction After an Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Lipoprotein(a) (Lp[a]) is an emerging risk factor for incident ischemic heart disease. However, its role in risk stratification in in-hospital survivors to an index acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is scarcer, especially for predicting the risk of long-term recurrent AMI. We aimed to assess the relation between Lp(a) and very long-term recurrent AMI after an index episode of AMI. It is a retrospective analysis that included 1,223 consecutive patients with an AMI discharged from October 2000 to June 2003 in a single-teaching center. Lp(a) was assessed during index admission in all cases. The relation between Lp(a) at discharge and total recurrent AMI was evaluated through negative binomial regression. The mean age of the patients was 67.0 ± 12.3 years, 379 (31.0%) were women, and 394 (32.2%) were diabetic. The index event was more frequently non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (66.0%). The median Lp(a) was 28.8 (11.8 to 63.4) mg/100 ml. During a median follow-up of 9.9 (4.6 to 15.5) years, 813 (66.6%) deaths and 1,205 AMI in 532 patients (43.5%) occurred. Lp(a) values were not associated with an increased risk of long-term all-cause mortality (p = 0.934). However, they were positively and nonlinearly associated with an increased risk of total long-term reinfarction (p = 0.016). In the subgroup analysis, there was no evidence of a differential effect for the most prevalent subgroups. In conclusion, after an AMI, elevated Lp(a) values assessed during hospitalization were associated with an increased risk of recurrent reinfarction in the very long term. Further prospective studies are warranted to evaluate their clinical implications.

Deep Learning-Based Predictive Model for Revascularization of Chronic Total Occlusions on Angiographic Imaging.

Revascularization of chronic total occlusions (CTO) is currently one of the most complex procedures in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), requiring the use of specific devices and a high level of experience to obtain good results. Once the clinical indication for extensive ischemia or angina uncontrolled with medical treatment has been established, the decision to perform coronary intervention is not simple, since this procedure has a higher rate of complications than non-PCI percutaneous intervention, higher ionizing radiation doses and a lower success rate. However, CTO revascularization has been shown to be helpful in symptomatic improvement of angina, reduction of ischemic burden, or improvement of ejection fraction. The aim of this work is to determine whether a model developed using deep learning techniques, and trained with angiography images, can better predict the likelihood of a successful revascularization procedure for a patient with a chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesion in their coronary artery (measured as procedure success and the duration of time during which X-ray imaging technology is used to perform a medical procedure) than the scales traditionally used. As a preliminary approach, patients with right coronary artery CTO will be included since they present standard angiographic projections that are performed in all patients and present less technical variability (duration, projection angle, image similarity) among them.The ultimate objective is to develop a predictive model to help the clinician in the decision to intervene and to analyze the performance in terms of predicting the success of the technique for the revascularization of chronic occlusions.Clinical Relevance- The development of a deep learning model based on the angiography images could potentially overcome the gold standard and help interventional cardiologists in the treatment decision for percutaneous coronary intervention, maximizing the success rate of coronary intervention.

Intracoronary Imaging of a Synergy Megatron Stent Fracture in Ostial Right Coronary Artery.

The Synergy Megatron stent confers enhanced axial and radial forces, which makes it an ideal choice for ostial and calcified lesions. However, in this case, the stent fractured. The mechanical stress due to severe calcification at the ostium, followed by a swinging segment, probably caused hinge effect and led to a stent fracture. The fluoroscopy and stent-enhancing techniques suggest and could confirm the diagnosis, but intracoronary imaging is mandatory for anatomy characterization in order to decide treatment and optimize the result.

Temporal trends in frequency, management and outcomes of coronary perforations.

BACKGROUND: Coronary perforations (CP) have been described as a rare but potentially fatal complication in percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). Our aim is to compare temporal trends in frequency, management and outcomes of coronary perforations (CP). METHODS: All cases of CP recorded in our prospective institutional percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) registry from 2003 to 2015 were included. Patients were divided in 2 groups according to the time frame in which the CP occurred: the early period (before 2009, when the chronic total occlusions and primary PCI programs started) and the current period. The primary endpoint was the composite of in-hospital serious adverse events, including final TIMI flow 0-1, cardiac tamponade, emergent cardiac surgery or death. RESULTS: Overall, 88 CP occurred in 17,566 procedures (0.50%). Of these, 17 (0.26%) occurred during the early period and 71 (0.64%) during the current period (P<0.001). CP management differed between groups, with less CP sealed by intracoronary devices in the early period than in the current one (23.5% vs. 47.9%, P=0.068). Moreover, patients with CP during the early period experienced more in-hospital serious adverse events (69% vs. 31% respectively, OR 3.18, 95% CI: 1.07-9.45, P=0.037). CONCLUSIONS: Expansion of indications and complexity of PCI in the current era may be associated with an increased frequency of CP. However, progress in technical and device management of CP have led to an improvement in the prognosis of this feared complication.

Long-term prognostic role of CA-125 in noncongestive patients undergoing a cardiac transplantation.

AIM: To evaluate the possible relationship between high levels of CA-125 and long-term prognosis in chronic heart failure patients after they undergo a cardiac transplantation (CT). MATERIALS & METHODS: We retrospectively studied all patients who underwent a CT and had a previous determination of CA-125. Congestive patients and those whose survival was <1 year after CT were excluded. RESULTS: Of 55 patients, 23 had elevated CA-125 levels (>35 U/ml). After CT, survival was significantly inferior in this group (96.3 vs 81%, 84.9 vs 64%, 70.7 vs 32.9% at 2, 5 and 8 years, p = 0.014). CA-125 >35 U/ml was the only factor independently associated to long-term mortality (OR: 3.94; 95% CI: 1.2-12.82; p = 0.023). CONCLUSION: Noncongestive patients with high levels of CA-125 had inferior long-term survival after CT.