Association of lipoprotein(a) with platelet aggregation and thrombogenicity in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

This study aimed to evaluate the association of lipoprotein(a) levels with platelet aggregation and thrombogenicity in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and to investigate the ischemic outcome on this population. Lipoprotein(a) and modified thrombelastography were measured in 6601 consecutive patients underwent PCI on dual antiplatelet therapy. Cox proportional regression analysis was applied to illustrate the ischemic events in a 2-year follow up. The mean levels of lipoprotein(a) were 29.0 mg/dl. Patients with higher lipoprotein(a) levels had significantly accelerated fibrin generation (lower K time and bigger α angle) and greater clot strength (higher maximum amplitude (MA)) than patients with lower lipoprotein(a) levels (P < .001). Moreover, the higher lipoprotein(a) group also exhibited significantly higher adenosine diphosphate (ADP) induced platelet aggregation (MAADP) by thrombelastography platelet mapping assay than lower lipoprotein(a) group. Cox regression analyzes revealed that patients with higher lipoprotein(a) levels had a 16% higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (HR 1.159, 95%CI: 1.005-1.337, P = .042) compared with patients with lower lipoprotein(a) levels. This association persisted after adjustment for a broad spectrum of risk factors (HR 1.174, 95%CI: 1.017-1.355, P = .028). High plasma lipoprotein(a) levels were associated with increased platelet aggregation and ischemic events in patients underwent PCI. Lipoprotein(a) might indicate the need for prolonged antiplatelet therapy.

Differential Diagnosis, Clinical Characteristics, and Interventions of Braid-Like Coronary Artery: Case Series Analysis Based on Optical Coherence Tomography.

AIM: Based on optical coherence tomography (OCT), we aimed to determine the diagnosis, clinical characteristics, and interventions of braid-like coronary arteries, which are rare and tend to be diagnosed as a woven coronary artery (WCA) anomaly. METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified braid-like lesions on coronary angiography (CAG) in 7 patients (6 men; median age 47 years; age range 26 to 57 years). All patients were heavy smokers. Four patients were diagnosed with an old myocardial infarction and the other 3 with unstable angina. The braid-like lesions were located in the left anterior descending arteries in 2 patients and in the right coronary arteries in the other 5. TIMI grade 2 flow was observed in all involved vessels. OCT findings of all lesions were consistent with recanalization of organized thrombi, which consisted of septa that divided the lumen into multiple small cavities communicating with each other. No separate three-layered structure could be defined. Based on the significance of the stenosis and its related symptoms, drug-eluting stents were implanted in all of the lesions. All patients experienced symptomatic improvement after the intervention and were followed up event-free for 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Braid-like coronary arteries are likely to undergo recanalization of organized thrombi rather than WCA according to our OCT findings. The majority of cases affect men who smoke heavily. Percutaneous stent implantation may be beneficial in selected patients when feasible.

Risk or Beneficial Factors Associated with Unplanned Revascularization Risk Following Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Large Single-Center Data.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze factors associated with unplanned revascularization (UR) risk in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: A total of 10,640 cases with CAD who underwent PCI were analyzed. Multivariate COX regressions and competing risk regressions were applied. RESULTS: The patients who underwent UR following PCI in 30 days, 1, and 2 years accounted for 0.3%, 6.5%, and 8.7%, respectively. After multivariate adjustment, the number of target lesions [hazard ratio ( HR) = 2.320; 95% confidence interval ( CI): 1.643-3.277; P < 0.001], time of procedure ( HR= 1.006; 95% CI: 1.001-1.010; P = 0.014), body mass index ( HR= 1.104; 95% CI: 1.006-1.210; P = 0.036), incomplete revascularization (ICR) ( HR= 2.476; 95% CI: 1.030-5.952; P = 0.043), and age ( HR = 1.037; 95% CI: 1.000-1.075; P = 0.048) were determined as independent risk factors of 30-day UR. Factors, including low-molecular-weight heparin or fondaparinux ( HR= 0.618; 95% CI: 0.531-0.719; P < 0.001), second-generation durable polymer drug-eluting stent ( HR = 0.713; 95% CI: 0.624-0.814; P < 0.001), left anterior descending artery involvement ( HR= 0.654; 95% CI: 0.530-0.807; P < 0.001), and age ( HR= 0.992; 95% CI: 0.985-0.998; P = 0.014), were independently associated with decreased two-year UR risk. While, Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery score ( HR= 1.024; 95% CI: 1.014-1.033; P < 0.001) and ICR ( HR= 1.549; 95% CI: 1.290-1.860; P < 0.001) were negatively associated with two-year UR risk. CONCLUSION: Specific factors were positively or negatively associated with short- and medium-long-term UR following PCI.

Long-term outcome of patients with atrial myxoma after surgical intervention: analysis of 403 cases.

OBJECTIVE: To assess long-term survival and late cardiovascular events in patients with atrial myxoma after surgical intervention. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 403 patients undergoing resection of atrial myxoma from January 2002 to December 2016 was conducted with a median follow-up period of 4.5 (range: 0.5-15) years. RESULTS: The cross-clamp time and cardiopulmonary bypass times were 41.1 ± 21.4 and 65.2 ± 27.3 min, respectively. A diagnosis of myxoma was histopathologically confirmed in all cases. The early in-hospital mortality rate was 0.7% (n = 3). During the follow-up period, tumor recurrence occurred in six patients and cerebral infarction in nine. There were 48 (11.9%) patients with late onset atrial fibrillation (AF). By multivariate analysis, age (HR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.02-1.09, P < 0.001), left atrial diameter (HR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.08-1.36, P = 0.012), and mitral valve surgery (HR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.05-1.29, P = 0.027) were independent predictors of late onset AF. Twenty-one (5.2%) patients died during the follow-up period. Advanced age (HR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.04-1.10, P = 0.003) and multiple surgical procedures (HR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.06-1.29, P = 0.012) were significantly associated with overall mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Atrial myxoma can be resected with good long-term survival. Late onset AF is common after surgery in patients with atrial myxoma. Advanced age, left atrial diameter, and mitral valve surgery were independent predictors of outcomes.

Impact of Proton-pump Inhibitors on the Pharmacodynamic Effect and Clinical Outcomes in Patients Receiving Dual Antiplatelet Therapy after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Propensity Score Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Prior studies have reported controversial conclusions regarding the risk of adverse cardiovascular events in patients using proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) combined with clopidogrel therapy, causing much uncertainty in clinical practice. We sought to evaluate the safety of PPIs use among high-risk cardiovascular patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a long-term follow-up study. METHODS: A total of 7868 consecutive patients who had undergone PCI and received dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) at a single center from January 2013 to December 2013 were enrolled. Adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet aggregation inhibition was measured by modified thromboelastography (mTEG) in 5042 patients. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to control differing baseline factors. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate the 2-year major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs), as well as individual events, including all-cause death, myocardial infarction, unplanned target vessel revascularization, stent thrombosis, and stroke. RESULTS: Among the whole cohort, 27.2% were prescribed PPIs. The ADP-induced platelet aggregation inhibition by mTEG was significantly lower in PPI users than that in non-PPI users (42.0 ± 30.9% vs. 46.4 ± 31.4%, t = 4.435, P < 0.001). Concomitant PPI use was not associated with increased MACCE through 2-year follow-up (12.7% vs. 12.5%, χ2 = 0.086, P = 0.769). Other endpoints showed no significant differences after multivariate adjustment, regardless of PSM. CONCLUSION: In this large cohort of real-world patients, the combination of PPIs with DAPT was not associated with increased risk of MACCE in patients who underwent PCI at up to 2 years of follow-up.

Sirolimus-eluting stents for treatment of drug-eluting versus bare-metal stents restenosis: 42-month clinical outcomes from a Chinese single center.

BACKGROUND: Restenosis of bare-metal stents (BMS) and drug-eluting stents (DES) has been increasingly treated with sirolimus-eluting stents (SES), but the long-term outcomes are unknown. METHODS: In our study, 388 consecutive patients (144 DES restenosis and 244 BMS restenosis) with 400 lesions (147 DES restenosis and 253 BMS restenosis) treated with SES were included. The rates of target lesion revascularization (TLR) and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 42 months were analyzed. RESULTS: At the mean follow-up of 42 months, the rates of death (3.5% vs. 3.3%, P = 1.000) and myocardial infarction (2.8% vs. 1.2%, P = 0.431) in the DES group and BMS group were comparable. Compared with the BMS group, ischemia-driven TLR occurred with a higher frequency in the DES group (18.8% vs. 10.7%, P = 0.024). This translated into an increased rate of MACE in the DES group (22.2% vs. 14.0%, P = 0.034). Stent thrombosis occurred with a similar frequency in both groups (2.8% vs. 1.6%, P = 0.475). Multivariate analysis showed that DES restenosis (OR = 1.907, 95%CI 1.108 - 3.285, P = 0.020) and smoking (OR = 2.069; 95%CI 1.188 - 3.605; P = 0.010) were independent predictors of MACE. CONCLUSIONS: Although SES implantation appears to be safe and effective, it was associated with higher TLR recurrence for DES than BMS restenosis.

Impact of direct sirolimus-eluting stent implantation on the early systemic inflammatory response compared with complementary stent implantation.

BACKGROUND: Systemic inflammation after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) identifies patients at increased risk of subsequent major adverse cardiac event. During PCI, the technique of stent implantation including direct stenting (DS) and complementary stenting (CS) is guided using both clinical and angiographic features. DS was practiced with increased frequency during PCI in an attempt to reduce both restenosis and major adverse cardiac event in the drug-eluting stent (DES) era. Impact of DS on the early inflammatory response has, however, not been investigated. We hypothesized that a direct DES implantation may attenuate the early inflammatory response compared with CS. PURPOSE: In this study, therefore, we prospectively select the sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) as a model of DESs, and sought to determine the early systemic inflammatory response in patients with single-vessel disease after PCI using either DS or CS techniques. METHODS: Thirty-nine patients who had single-vessel disease implanted with SES were randomly enrolled into the two groups: DS group (n=20) or CS group (n=19). The blood samples were taken before PCI, 24 and 72 h after stenting. The plasma concentrations of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: No significant difference in baseline clinical, angiographic, and inflammatory parameters between the two groups is observed. The plasma IL-6 levels at 24 h after stent implantation were significantly higher than that at baseline in both groups (P<0.05, respectively). Plasma IL-6 level was, however, higher in CS group than in DS group (P<0.01) and was returned to baseline levels in both groups at 72 h after stenting. Meanwhile, the plasma levels of C-reactive protein were also significant higher in CS group compared with DS group at both 24 and 72 h after stenting (P<0.05, respectively). CONCLUSION: Taken together, our findings demonstrated that a direct SES implantation significantly attenuated the early systemic inflammatory response in patients with single-vessel disease compared with CS technique.

[VEGF165-induced angiogenesis by regulating intracellular free Mg2+ in HUVECs].

AIM: The mechanism of vascular endothelial growth factor165 (VEGF165) on intracellular free magnesium ([Mg2+]i) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was investigated. METHODS: [Mg2+]i in HUVECs loaded with fluorescent magnesium indicator mag-fura-2 were quantitatively detected the use of intracellular cation measurement system. RESULTS: VEGF165 significantly increased [Mg2+]i in the extracellular Mg2+ and this effect could be blocked by pretreatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (tyrphostin A23 and genistein), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors (wortmannin and LY294002) and phospholipase Cgamma (PLCgamma) inhibitor (U73122). In contrast, phospholipase Cgamma (PLCgamma) inhibitor analog (U73343), mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors (SB202190 and PD98059) had no effect on the VEGF165-induced [Mg2+]i increase. CONCLUSION: The increase of [Mg2+]i by VEGF165 originates from intracellular Mg2+ pool through tyrosine kinase/ PI3K/PLCgamma-dependent signaling pathways.