Circulating levels of interleukin-17 and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

AIM: Interleukin (IL)-17 pathway is being clinically targeted in immune-mediated diseases, most of which are associated with a significant cardiovascular risk. We investigated the relationship between serum levels of IL-17 and the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with acute myocardial infarction. METHODS AND RESULTS: We used data from 981 patients enrolled in the prospective, multicentre French registry of Acute ST elevation, or non-ST-elevation Myocardial Infarction (Fast-MI, NCT00673036). Serum levels of IL-17 were associated with the risk of all-cause death and recurrent MI at 2 years, with levels of IL-17 below the median indicative of a worse outcome. The impact of IL-17 remained significant after adjustment for known cardiovascular risk factors, C-reactive protein, and treatments including statins: hazard ratio (HR) = 1.40 (1.03-1.91); P = 0.03. IL-17 inhibited mononuclear cell adhesion to endothelium and reduced endothelial vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1) expression. Patients with low (below the median) IL-17 levels and high (above the median) soluble VCAM-1 (sVCAM-1) levels were at particularly increased risk of death and MI: adjusted HR = 2.22 (1.32-3.75) compared with the high IL-17/low sVCAM-1 group (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Low serum levels of IL-17 are associated with a higher risk of major cardiovascular events in Caucasian patients with acute MI. Our results raise possible concern about the use of inhibitors of the IL-17 pathway in clinical settings associated with a high cardiovascular risk. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: NCT00673036.

Early invasive strategy in high-risk acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation. The Sisca randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: The optimal therapeutic strategy for patients with high-risk acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation (NSTE-ACS) remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to compare the effectiveness of an early invasive strategy and a delayed invasive strategy in the management of high-risk NSTE-ACS patients. METHODS: This randomized clinical trial in a primarily pre-hospital setting enrolled patients with chest pain, electrocardiographic criteria for an NSTE-ACS, and at least one criterion of severity (ESC criterion or TIMI score >5). Patients were randomized to either an early invasive strategy (tirofiban infusion and coronary angiography within 6h) or delayed invasive strategy (as per guidelines and physician discretion; coronary angiography within 6h was not advised). The primary endpoint was the cumulative incidence of deaths, myocardial infarctions, or urgent revascularizations at 30days of follow-up. Secondary endpoints were failure of delayed management, length of hospital stay and long-term mortality. RESULTS: Between January 2007 and February 2010, 170 patients were enrolled. The cumulative incidence of adverse outcomes was significantly lower for early invasive than delayed management (2% [95% CI 0-9] vs. 24% [95% CI 16-35], p<10(-4)). Delayed management failed in 24% of cases. The length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in patients undergoing angioplasty or treated with tirofiban within 6h (p=0.0003). Long-term mortality was 16% in both arms after a median follow-up of 4.1years. CONCLUSION: An early invasive strategy reduced major adverse cardiac events in patients with high-risk NSTE-ACS. Early angiography or tirofiban (GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor) infusion proved necessary in a quarter of patients assigned to delayed management.

DECOPI (DEsobstruction COronaire en Post-Infarctus): a randomized multi-centre trial of occluded artery angioplasty after acute myocardial infarction.

AIM: To determine whether late recanalization of an occluded infarct artery after acute myocardial infarction is beneficial. METHODS AND RESULTS: Two hundred and twelve patients with a first Q-wave myocardial infarction (MI) and an occluded infarct vessel were enrolled. After coronary and left ventricular contrast angiography, patients were randomized to percutaneous revascularization (PTCA, n=109), carried out 2-15 days after symptom onset or medical therapy (n=103). The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiac death, non-fatal MI, or ventricular tachyarrhythmia. The majority had single-vessel disease and less than one-third had involvement of the left anterior descending artery. The use of pharmacological therapy was high in both groups. At six months, left ventricular ejection fraction was 5% higher in the invasive compared with the medical group (P=0.013) and more patients had a patent artery (82.8% vs 34.2%, P<0.0001). Restenosis was seen in 49.4% of patients in the PTCA group. At a mean of 34 months of follow-up, the occurrence of the primary endpoint was similar in the medical and PTCA groups (8.7% vs 7.3% respectively, P=0.68), but the overall costs were higher for PTCA. The secondary endpoint combining the primary endpoint with admission for heart failure was also similar between groups (12.6% vs 10.1% in the medical and PTCA groups, respectively, P=0.56). CONCLUSIONS: Systematic late PTCA of the infarct vessel was associated with a higher left ventricular ejection fraction at six months, no difference in clinical outcomes, and higher costs than medical therapy. These results must be interpreted with caution given the small size and low risk of the population.