Severe aortic stenosis and transcatheter aortic valve replacement in elderly patients: utility vs. futility.

Recently, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has emerged as established standard treatment for symptomatic severe aortic stenosis, providing an effective, less-invasive alternative to open cardiac surgery for inoperable or high-risk older patients. In order to assess the anticipated benefit of aortic replacement, considerable interest now lies in better identifying factors likely to predict outcome. In the elderly population frailty and medical comorbidities have been shown to significantly predict mortality, functional recovery and quality of life after transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Scientific literature focused on the three items will be discussed. High likelihood of futility is described in patients with severe chronic lung, kidney, liver disease and/or frailty. The addition of frailty components to conventional risk prediction has been shown to result in improved discrimination for death and disability following the procedure and identifies those individuals least likely to derive benefit. Several dedicated risk score have been proposed to provide new insights into predicted "futile" outcome. However, assessment of frailty according to a limited number of variables is not sufficient, while a multi-dimensional geriatric assessment significantly improves risk prediction. A multidisciplinary heart team that includes geriatricians can allow the customization of therapeutic interventions in elderly patients to optimise care and avoid futility.

Diuretic therapy in heart failure: current controversies and new approaches for fluid removal.

Hospitalization for heart failure is a major health problem with high in-hospital and postdischarge mortality and morbidity. Non-potassium-sparing diuretics (NPSDs) still remain the cornerstone of therapy for fluid management in heart failure despite the lack of large randomized trials evaluating their safety and optimal dosing regimens in both the acute and chronic setting. Recent retrospective data suggest increased mortality and re-hospitalization rates in a wide spectrum of heart failure patients receiving NPSDs, particularly at high doses. Electrolyte abnormalities, hypotension, activation of neurohormones, and worsening renal function may all be responsible for the observed poor outcomes. Although NPSD will continue to be important agents to promptly resolve signs and symptoms of heart failure, alternative therapies such as vasopressine antagonists and adenosine blocking agents or techniques like veno-venous ultrafiltration have been developed in an effort to reduce NPSD exposure and minimize their side effects. Until other new agents become available, it is probably prudent to combine NPSD with aldosterone blocking agents that are known to improve outcomes.

Coffee consumption and risk of cardiovascular events after acute myocardial infarction: results from the GISSI (Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell'Infarto miocardico)-Prevenzione trial.

BACKGROUND: The relation between coffee consumption and cardiovascular disease has been studied extensively, but results are still debated. In addition, little evidence is available on patients with established coronary heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: Prospectively ascertained information among 11,231 Italian patients (9584 males and 1647 females) with recent (< or = 3 months) myocardial infarction enrolled in the GISSI (Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell'Infarto miocardico)-Prevenzione trial was used. Usual dietary habits were assessed at baseline and updated at 0.5 and 1.5 years. Coffee consumption was categorized as never/almost never, < 2 cups per day, 2 to 4 cups per day, and > 4 cups per day. Medication use and fasting glucose were assessed at 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 years. Risk was evaluated with Cox proportional hazards with time-varying covariates. The main outcome measure was the cumulative incidence of cardiovascular events (cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and nonfatal stroke). A total of 1167 cardiovascular events occurred during 36,961 person-years of follow-up. After multivariable adjustment for potential confounders in the time-dependent analysis, the relative risk of cardiovascular events across categories of coffee consumption was 1.02 (95% CI 0.87 to 1.20) for < 2 cups per day, 0.91 (95% CI 0.75 to 1.09) for 2 to 4 cups per day, and 0.88 (95% CI 0.64 to 1.20) for > 4 cups per day compared with abstainers (P for trend=0.18). Ultimately, coffee consumption did not change the risk of coronary heart disease events, stroke, and sudden death. CONCLUSIONS: No association between moderate coffee intake and cardiovascular events was observed in post-myocardial infarction patients.