Association of myocardial injury with adverse long-term survival among cancer patients.

AIMS: Over time, cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths increasingly exceed those from malignancy among cancer survivors. However, the association of myocardial injury with long-term survival (beyond three years) in cancer patients has not been previously described. METHODS: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) and morbidities databases (1999-2004) were linked with the latest mortality dataset isolating records were respondents reported cancer diagnosis by a healthcare professional. Myocardial injury was then determined by elevated hs-cTn. RESULTS: 16,225,560 weighted records (1,058 unweighted) were included in this observational study, with myocardial injury identified in 14·2%. Those with myocardial injury had progressively worse survival at 5 (51·6% vs. 89·5%), 10 (28·3% vs. 76·0%), and 15 years (12·6% vs. 61·4%) compared to those without myocardial injury. After adjusting for baseline characteristics, those with myocardial injury had an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 2·10 (95% CI 2·09-2·10, p<0·001) for all-cause mortality, 2·23 (2·22-2·24, p<0·001) for cardiovascular mortality, and 1·59 (95% CI 1·59-1·60, p<0·001) for cancer mortality compared to those without myocardial injury. Among patients with no pre-existing CVD, the hs-cTn I Ortho assay was a strong independent predictor of all cause (aHR 6·29, 95% CI 6·25-6·33, p<0·001), CVD (aHR 11·38, 95% CI 11·23-11·54, p<0·001), and cancer (aHR 5·02, 95% CI 4·96-5·07, p<0·001) mortality. CONCLUSIONS: As a marker for myocardial injury, hs-cTn/s were independently associated with worse long-term survival among cancer patients with a stronger relationship with all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality using hs-cTn I ortho assay.

We conducted an observational analysis using the Unites States' National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database to examine the association of myocardial injury, as defined by elevated cardiac biomarkers in the form of four different high sensitivity cardiac troponins, with long-term outcome among cancer survivors. Cancer survivors with myocardial injury had progressively worse survival at 5 (51·6% vs. 89·5%), 10 (28·3% vs. 76·0%), and 15 years (12·6% vs. 61·4%) compared to those without myocardial injury.After adjusting for population characteristics including cancer type, the risk of death from any cause among cancer survivors with myocardial injury were more than double that of those without myocardial injury (adjusted hazard ratio of 2·10 (95% CI 2·09­2·10, p<0·001).

Impact of Social Vulnerability on Diabetes-Related Cardiovascular Mortality in the United States.

Background Social vulnerability impacts the natural history of diabetes as well as cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, there are little data regarding the social vulnerability association with diabetes-related CVD mortality. Methods and Results County-level mortality data (where CVD was the underlying cause of death with diabetes among the multiple causes) extracted from the Centers for Disease Control multiple cause of death (2015-2019) and the 2018 Social Vulnerability Index databases were aggregated into quartiles based on their Social Vulnerability Index ranking from the least (first quartile) to the most vulnerable (fourth quartile). Stratified by demographic groups, the data were analyzed for overall CVD, as well as for ischemic heart disease, hypertensive disease, heart failure, and cerebrovascular disease. In the 5-year study period, 387 139 crude diabetes-related cardiovascular mortality records were identified. The age-adjusted mortality rate for CVD was higher in the fourth quartile compared with the first quartile (relative risk [RR], 1.66 [95% CI, 1.64-1.67]) with an estimated 39 328 excess deaths. Among the youngest age group (<55 years), those with the highest social vulnerability had 2 to 4 times the rate of cardiovascular mortality compared with the first quartile: ischemic heart disease (RR, 2.07 [95% CI, 1.97-2.17]; heart failure (RR, 3.03 [95% CI, 2.62-3.52]); hypertensive disease (RR, 3.79 [95% CI, 3.45-4.17]; and cerebrovascular disease (RR, 4.39 [95% CI, 3.75-5.13]). Conclusions Counties with greater social vulnerability had higher diabetes-related CVD mortality, especially among younger adults. Targeted health policies that are designed to reduce these disparities are warranted.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Diabetes-Related Cardiovascular Mortality in the United States.

Background In the past few decades, diabetes-related cardiovascular mortality has been steadily declining. However, the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on this trend has not been previously defined. Methods and Results Diabetes-related cardiovascular mortality data were extracted for each year between 1999 and 2020 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) database. Regression analysis was used to calculate the trend in the 2 decades before the pandemic (1999-2019) and thereby estimate the excess cardiovascular mortality in 2020. There was a 29.2% fall in the diabetes-related cardiovascular age-adjusted mortality rate between 1999 to 2019, largely driven by a 41% decrease in ischemic heart disease deaths. In comparison to 2019, there was an overall 15.5% increase in the diabetes-related cardiovascular age-adjusted mortality rate in the first year of the pandemic, mainly due to a 14.1% rise in ischemic heart disease deaths. Younger patients (under 55 years) and the Black population experienced the greatest increase in diabetes-related cardiovascular age-adjusted mortality rate (24.0% and 25.3%, respectively). Trend analysis estimated 16 009 excess diabetes-related cardiovascular deaths in 2020, with the majority due to ischemic heart disease (8504). Black and Hispanic or Latino populations had at least one-fifth of their 2020 diabetes-related cardiovascular age-adjusted mortality rate as excess deaths (22.3% and 20.2%, respectively). Conclusions There was a sharp rise in diabetes-related cardiovascular mortality during the first pandemic year. Black, Hispanic or Latino, and young people showed the largest increases in diabetes-related cardiovascular mortality. Targeted health policies could help address the disparities observed in this analysis.

Systematic coronary physiology improves level of agreement in diagnostic coronary angiography.

OBJECTIVE: The training of interventional cardiologists (ICs), non-interventional cardiologists (NICs) and cardiac surgeons (CSs) differs, and this may be reflected in their interpretation of invasive coronary angiography (ICA) and management plan. Availability of systematic coronary physiology might result in more homogeneous interpretation and management strategy compared with ICA alone. METHODS: 150 coronary angiograms from patients with stable chest pain were presented independently to three NICs, three ICs and three CSs. By consensus, each group graded (1) coronary disease severity and (2) management plan, using options: (a) optimal medical therapy alone, (b) percutaneous coronary intervention, (c) coronary artery bypass graft or (d) more investigation required. Each group was then provided with fractional flow reserve (FFR) from all major vessels and asked to repeat the analysis. RESULTS: There was only 'fair' level of agreement of management plan among ICs, NICs and CSs (kappa 0.351, 95% CI 0.295-0.408, p<0.001) based on ICA alone (complete agreement in 35% of cases), which almost doubled to 'good' level (kappa 0.635, 95% CI 0.572-0.697, p<0.001) when comprehensive FFR was available (complete agreement in 66% of cases). Overall, the consensus management plan changed in 36.7%, 52% and 37.3% of cases for ICs, NICs and CSs, respectively, when FFR data were available. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with ICA alone, the availability of systematic FFR of all major coronary arteries produced a significantly more concordant interpretation and more homogeneous management plan among IC, NIC and CS specialists. Comprehensive physiological assessment may be of value in routine care for Heart Team decision-making. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01070771.

Invasive Management and In-Hospital Outcomes of Myocardial Infarction Patients in United States Safety-Net Hospitals.

AIM: Safety-net hospitals (SNHs) look after a higher proportion of uninsured patients and are often located in deprived areas. This study aimed to determine whether there are differences in the clinical characteristics, treatments and outcomes of patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in SNHs versus non-SNHs (N-SNHs). METHODS: All hospitalizations with a principal diagnosis of AMI in the United States' National Inpatient Sample between 2016 and 2019 were stratified by safety-net hospital status. Multivariable logistic regression with adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) was conducted to investigate invasive management and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 2,544,009 weighted discharge records were analyzed, including 601,719 records from SNHs (23.7 %). Compared with N-SNHs, SNH AMI patients were younger (median 66 years vs. 67 years, p < 0.001), and had a higher proportion in the lowest quartile of median household income (37.3 % vs. 28.5 %, p < 0.001). Patients from SNHs were less likely to receive coronary angiography (aOR 0.92, 95 % CI 0.91-0.93, p < 0.001), percutaneous coronary intervention (aOR 0.94, 95 % CI 0.93-0.95, p < 0.001), and coronary artery bypass grafting (aOR 0.93, 95 % CI 0.92-0.94, p < 0.001). In addition, they had increased all-cause mortality (aOR 1.11, 95 % CI 1.09-1.12, p < 0.001), major adverse cardiovascular/cerebrovascular events (composite of mortality, stroke and reinfarction) (aOR 1.11, 95 % CI 1.09-1.12, p < 0.001), and stroke (aOR 1.11, 95 % CI 1.08-1.14, p < 0.001), while there was no difference in major bleeding (aOR 1.02, 95 % CI 1.00-1.04, p = 0.107). CONCLUSION: Among AMI patients, treatment in SNHs was associated with lower utilization of coronary angiography and revascularization and worse clinical outcomes.

Invasive Management and In-Hospital Outcomes of Myocardial Infarction Patients in Rural Versus Urban Hospitals in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: The variation in the management and outcome of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) between rural and urban settings has been previously recognized, but there has previously been no nationwide data reported that is inclusive of the whole adult population. METHODS: All discharge records between 2004 and 2018 with AMI diagnosis were extracted from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database and stratified by hospital location. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality, and secondary outcomes included (a) major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), (b) major bleeding, (c) acute ischemic stroke, the utilization of invasive management in the form of (d) coronary angiography (CA), and (e) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) were determined using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: 9,728,878 records with AMI were identified, of which 1,011,637 (10.4 %) discharges were from rural hospitals. Rural patients were older (median of 71 years vs. 67 years, p < 0.001) and had lower prevalence of the highest risk presentations of AMI than their urban counterparts. After multivariable adjustment, patients from rural hospitals had increased aOR of all-cause mortality (aOR 1.15 95 % CI 1.13-1.16) and MACCE (aOR 1.04 95 % CI 1.04-1.05), as well as the decreased aOR of coronary angiography (aOR 0.29, 95 % CI 0.29-0.29, p < 0.001) and PCI (aOR 0.40, 95 % CI 0.39-0.40, p < 0.001), compared to their urban counterparts. CONCLUSION: Between 2004 and 2018, the risk of in-hospital mortality and MACCE in AMI patients was significantly higher in rural hospitals, with considerably lower utilization of invasive angiography and revascularization.

Impact of extracardiac vascular disease on outcomes of 1.4 million patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

OBJECTIVES: Extracardiac vascular disease (ECVD) is increasingly recognized as a cardiovascular risk factor, but its association with outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been well characterized. METHODS: Using the National Inpatient Sample database, all patients undergoing PCI between October 2015 and December 2018 were stratified by the presence and organ-specific extent of extracardiac vascular comorbidity (cerebrovascular disease (CeVD), renovascular, aortic and peripheral arterial disease (PAD)). Primary outcome was all-cause mortality and secondary outcomes were (a) major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), (b) acute ischemic stroke and (c) major bleeding. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). RESULTS: Of a total of 1,403,505 patients undergoing PCI during the study period, 199,470 (14.2%) had ECVD. Patients with ECVD were older (median of 72 years vs. 70 years, p < 0.001) and had higher comorbidity burden that their counterparts. All cause-mortality was 22% higher in patients with any ECVD compared to those without ECVD. PAD patients had the highest odds of all-cause mortality (aOR 1.48, 95% CI 1.40-1.56), followed by those with CeVD (aOR 1.15, 95% CI 1.10-1.19). Patients with extracardiac disease had increased odds of MACCE, ischemic stroke and bleeding, irrespective of the nature or extent (p < 0.05), compared to patients without ECVD. CONCLUSION: ECVD is associated with worse outcomes in patients undergoing PCI including significantly higher rates of death and stroke. These data should inform our shared decision-making process with our patients.

Atheroma or ischemia: which is more important for managing patients with stable chest pain?

In the evaluation and management of patients with stable chest pain/chronic coronary syndrome, cardiologists need to be able to weigh up the relative merits of managing these patients using either optimal therapy alone or optimal therapy plus revascularization. These decisions rely on an understanding of both the presence and the degree of coronary atheroma and myocardial ischemia, and the impact that these have on patients' symptoms and their prognosis. In this review the authors examine the relative impact of the anatomical and physiological assessment of patients with chronic coronary syndrome and how it can be used to achieve optimal and tailored therapy.

There are a large number of patients with stable chest pain in the community who are not having a heart attack. This review looks at the relative merits of different investigation strategies that assess whether a patient has either coronary artery disease or a blood supply problem related to coronary disease.