Assessment of the Quality of Chronic Anticoagulation Control With Time in Therapeutic Range in Atrial Fibrillation Patients Treated With Vitamin K Antagonists by Hemostasis Specialists: The TERRA Registry: Tiempo en rango en la República Argentina.

BACKGROUND: Oral anticoagulation therapy with vitamin K antagonists (VKA) such as warfarin and acenocoumarol is recommended in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and risk factors for embolism. The quality of anticoagulation control with VKA may be assessed by the time in therapeutic range (TTR). In our country, there are no data available about the quality of anticoagulation in patients with AF. The primary goal of our study was to assess the level of effective anticoagulation in a multicenter network of anticoagulation clinics in Argentina, which included patients with nonvalvular AF (NVAF) treated with VKA oral anticoagulants. METHODS: The TERRA trial is a multicenter, cross-sectional study involving 14 anticoagulation clinics that were invited to participate and recruit 100 consecutive patients with NVAF treated with VKA for more than 1 year. The international normalized ratio (INR) values were retrospectively obtained from patient charts, and TTR was calculated using the Rosendaal method. RESULTS: A total of 1190 patients were included in the analysis. Mean age was 74.9 ± 9.9 years, and 52.5% of the patients were male. Median TTR was 67.5% (interquartile interval 54-80). During 55% of the TTR, INR was >3. Interinstitution variability was substantial, with a range of 57.7% ± 17% to 87.7% ± 17%, P < .001. The 10th percentile of TTR was 41%, the 20th percentile was 50%, the 30th was 58%, and the 35th percentile was 60%. In 40% of patients, TTR was <70%. CONCLUSION: In this multicenter study, mean TTR values in patients with AF under VKA were similar to those in international therapeutic clinical trials (55%-65%). Marked variations among institutions were observed and, although average results obtained were high, one third of the patients exhibited a TTR below 60%. This cutoff value is conservative according to current recommendations, and guidelines suggest that when management with VKA cannot be improved, patients should be switched to direct oral anticoagulants. The addition of TTR calculation to clinical practice may help improve the quality of oral anticoagulation in patients with AF, thus improving anticoagulation outcomes.

Disseminating cardiovascular disease risk assessment with a PAHO mobile app: a public eHealth intervention.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the Region of the Americas, making cardiovascular risk assessment a critical component of the clinical decision-making process. This process is facilitated by the use of appropriate tools. This article presents the technical characteristics of an application (app) developed by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) for mobile devices and computers. Called the Cardiovascular Risk Calculator, it is based on WHO risk tables and applied to the countries of the Region. The article details the epidemiological basis of the diagram for predicting cardiovascular risk and describes the app and its four modules, its main audiences, its production process, and finally, the initial results and some of the challenges. Four months after its launch, the application was being used daily by more than 12 000 users and had been downloaded in virtually all the countries of the Region. The app can be used in by physicians, nurses, and other technical personnel in their daily practice, especially at the primary care level. Since it can also be used by the general public, special attention was paid to its design and tutorial and to ensuring that the clinical estimates and recommendations were easy to understand. This type of app facilitates communication between health care providers and users, and its systematic use in the health services, especially in primary care services, should be promoted.

Survey on Ethical Conduct Thresholds in Cardiologal Medical Practice in Argentina.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the attitude of a group of cardiologists on the ethical conducts they would accept or adopt when encountered with different hypothetical situations of medical practice. Between August and September of 2011, 700 Argentine cardiologists were surveyed in situations which posed ethical dilemmas in the patient-physician relationship, among colleagues or involving financial agreements with employers or the pharmaceutical industry. Ethical conflicts were evidenced in a series of inappropriate conducts such as differential fees, trips and meals sponsored by laboratories, splitting fees, overbilling, self-referral, charging for patient referral, financial compensation for ordering medical procedures, and various situations derived from the relationship with employers. In general, financial compensation from the pharmaceutical industry was more accepted than the conflictive situations which directly involved patients, colleagues or employers. The rejection of these conducts, the physicians' deontological education and the improvement of financial and organizational conditions in medical practice will help to encourage better medical professionalism and avoid unseemly behaviors.

Disseminating cardiovascular disease risk assessment with a PAHO mobile app: a public eHealth intervention

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the Region of the Americas, making cardiovascular risk assessment a critical component of the clinical decision-making process. This process is facilitated by the use of appropriate tools. This article presents the technical characteristics of an application (app) developed by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) for mobile devices and computers. Called the Cardiovascular Risk Calculator, it is based on WHO risk tables and applied to the countries of the Region. The article details the epidemiological basis of the diagram for predicting cardiovascular risk and describes the app and its four modules, its main audiences, its production process, and finally, the initial results and some of the challenges. Four months after its launch, the application was being used daily by more than 12 000 users and had been downloaded in virtually all the countries of the Region. The app can be used in by physicians, nurses, and other technical personnel in their daily practice, especially at the primary care level. Since it can also be used by the general public, special attention was paid to its design and tutorial and to ensuring that the clinical estimates and recommendations were easy to understand. This type of app facilitates communication between health care providers and users, and its systematic use in the health services, especially in primary care services, should be promoted.

Las enfermedades cardiovasculares son la principal causa de muerte en la Región de las Américas. La evaluación del riesgo cardiovascular es un componente crítico del proceso de toma de decisiones clínicas y este proceso se facilita con la utilización de herramientas apropiadas.Se presentan las características técnicas de una aplicación (app) para dispositivos móviles y computadoras producido por la Organización Panamericana de la Salud/Organización Mundial de la Salud, llamada Calculadora de Riesgo Cardiovascular, basada en las tablas de riesgo de la OMS y aplicada a los países de la Región. Se exponent los fundamentos epidemiológicos que subyacen al diagrama de predicción de riesgo cardiovascular, una descripción de la aplicación y de sus cuatro módulos, las audiencias primarias, su proceso de producción y, finalmente, los primeros resultados y algunos de los desafíos. A los cuatro meses de su lanzamiento la aplicación estaba siendo utilizada diariamente por más de 12 000 usuarios y había sido descargada en prácticamente todos los países de la Región. La aplicación se puede utilizar en la práctica diaria de médicos, enfermeras y otro personal técnico, especialmente en el primer nivel de atención. Dado que también puede ser utilizada por el público en general, se prestó especial atención a su diseño y su tutorial, y a que las estimaciones y recomendaciones clínicas fueran fáciles de entender. Este tipo de aplicación facilita la comunicación entre los proveedores de atención sanitaria y los usuarios y es necesario promover su uso sistemático en los servicios de salud, en especial en los servicios de atención primaria.

Políticas de conflictos de intereses y requisitos para su declaración en las revistas cardiovasculares nacionales de la Sociedad Europea de Cardiología / Conflict of interest policies and disclosure requirements among european society of cardiology national cardiovascular journals

Las revistas biomédicas utilizan la declaración de posibles conflictos de intereses para garantizar la credibilidad y la transparencia del proceso científico. Sin embargo, las revistas no abordan la declaración de conflictos de intereses de manera sistemática ni uniforme. Recientes esfuerzos editoriales conjuntos han abierto el camino a la aplicación de herramientas uniformes para la declaración de conflictos de intereses. En este artículo se presenta una visión integral sobre cuestiones clásicas relacionadas con los conflictos de intereses desde un punto de vista editorial. Además, a partir de los datos de un estudio transversal basado en el empleo de un cuestionario estandarizado, se comentan nuevas apreciaciones sobre las políticas y los actuales procedimientos editoriales relativos a los conflictos de intereses en las diversas revistas cardiovasculares nacionales de la Sociedad Europea de Cardiología.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is used by biomedical journals to guarantee credibility and transparency of the scientific process. Conflict of interest disclosure, however, is not systematically nor consistently dealt with by journals. Recent joint editorial efforts paved the way towards the implementation of uniform vehicles for conflicts of interest disclosure. This paper provides a comprehensive editorial perspective on classical conflict of interest-related issues. New insights into current conflicts of interest policies and practices among European Society of Cardiology national cardiovascular journals, as derived from a cross-sectional survey using a standardized questionnaire, are discussed.

Accuracy of low-dose prospectively gated axial coronary CT angiography for the assessment of coronary artery stenosis in patients with stable heart rate.

BACKGROUND: Desirable methods for cardiac CT angiography would both reduce radiation exposure from cardiac CT angiography and preserve accuracy. OBJECTIVES: We assessed image quality, radiation dose, and diagnostic accuracy of a low-dose, prospectively gated axial cardiac CT angiography protocol for the evaluation of patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: Fifty consecutive patients referred for diagnostic invasive coronary angiography (ICA) and with a stable heart rate < 60 beats/min after beta-blocker administration were prospectively enrolled in a single center study. Subjects underwent CT angiography with a 64-row multidetector CT scanner with a prospectively gated axial imaging protocol. If the examination was determined to be nondiagnostic, then a retrospectively gated helical scan was performed. Two reviewers independently assessed image quality and the presence of significant coronary artery stenosis (>50%). RESULTS: Prospectively gated CT angiography was successfully performed in 46 of 50 patients. Of 794 coronary segments, 777 were determined to be of diagnostic image quality. The overall patient-based sensitivity (95% CI), specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy for the diagnosis of significant coronary stenosis were 100% (87%-100%), 75% (53%-90%), 81% (64%-93%), 100% (81%-100%), and 88% (81%-95%), respectively. The mean effective radiation dose for CT angiography and ICA were 3.4 +/- 0.4 mSv and 6.9 +/- 0.8 mSv, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac CT angiography performed in a prospectively gated axial mode with 64-row multidetector CT provides an accurate, low-dose alternative for the detection of CAD.

Exploración de las arterias coronarias de pacientes con síndrome de Tako-Tsubo con tomografía multislice: lesiones e inferencias fisiopatológicas / Assessment of Coronary Arteries of Patients with Takotsubo Syndrome using Multislice Computed Tomography: Lesions and Pathophysiological Inferences

Existen numerosos casos comunicados sobre la disfunción ventricular izquierda reversible precipitada por estrés emocional, pero su mecanismo no se conoce. En esta presentación se describe la evaluación de dos pacientes que consultaron con un cuadro clínico típico de síndrome de Tako-Tsubo, dolor precordial luego de un estrés emocional, disfunción ventricular izquierda transitoria y arterias coronarias angiográficamente normales. Con el objetivo de profundizar el conocimiento de las arterias coronarias y la fisiopatología de esta enfermedad, a ambas se les realizó una tomografía multislice, en la que se evidenciaron lesiones coronarias similares a las halladas en accidentes de placa responsables de síndromes coronarios agudos. Si bien estos hallazgos deben completarse con estudios posteriores con un número mayor de pacientes, sugieren que al menos un subgrupo de pacientes con síndrome de Tako-Tsubo tiene un sustrato fisiopatológico similar a los síndromes coronarios agudos.

The presence of reversible left ventricular dysfunction induced by emotional stress has been extensively reported; however, its mechanism still remains unknown. We describe two patients with the typical clinical picture of Takotsubo syndrome: chest pain following mental stress, transient left ventricular dysfunction and coronary arteriography with normal coronary arteries. Both patients underwent multislice computed tomography scans in order to explore the coronary arteries and to examine the physiopathology of the disease. The studies revealed the presence of coronary lesions similar to ruptured plaques found in acute coronary syndromes. Although these findings should be completed with subsequent studies in a greater number of patients, they suggest that the physiopathological substrate of at least one subgroup of patients with Takotsubo syndrome is similar to acute coronary syndrome.