Prognosis of anemic patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND: There are limited data regarding whether anemia is associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: Patients with AF undergoing PCI at 15 institutions between January 2015 and March 2021 were included in this analysis. Based on the baseline hemoglobin levels, moderate to severe anemia was defined as hemoglobin levels <11 g/dL, and mild anemia was defined as hemoglobin levels 11-12.9 g/dL for men and 11-11.9 g/dL for women. Clinical outcomes within 1 year, including major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE: all-cause death, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, and stroke) and major bleeding events (BARC 3 or 5), were compared among patients with moderate/severe anemia, mild anemia, and no anemia. RESULTS: In a total of 746 enrolled patients, 119 (16.0%) and 168 (22.5%) patients presented with moderate/severe and mild anemia. The incidence of MACE (22.5%, 11.0%, and 9.1%, log-rank p < 0.001), all-cause death (20.0%, 7.2%, and 4.8%, log-rank p < 0.001), and major bleeding events (10.7%, 6.5%, and 2.7%, log-rank p < 0.001) were the highest in the moderate/severe anemia group compared with the mild and no anemia groups. Multivariable Cox regression analyses determined moderate/severe anemia as an independent predictor for MACE (p = 0.008), all-cause death (p = 0.005), and major bleeding events (p = 0.031) at 1 year after PCI. CONCLUSION: Moderate/severe anemia was significantly associated with the higher incidence of MACE and all-cause death as well as major bleeding events compared with mild and no anemia in AF patients undergoing PCI.

Dual antithrombotic therapy with oral anticoagulant and P2Y12 inhibitors in patients with atrial fibrillation after percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and safety of dual antithrombotic therapy (DAT) with oral anticoagulant and P2Y12 inhibitors (P2Y12i) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have not been well investigated. The purpose of this study was first to evaluate clinical outcomes of DAT with P2Y12i compared with triple antithrombotic therapy (TAT), and then to compare DAT with low-dose prasugrel and DAT with clopidogrel, in patients with AF undergoing PCI. METHODS: This study was a multicenter, non-interventional, prospective and retrospective registry. A total of 710 patients with AF undergoing PCI between January 2015 and March 2021 at 15 institutions were analyzed. Clinical outcomes within 1 year, including major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and major bleeding events (BARC 3 or 5) were compared between patients receiving DAT (n = 239) and TAT (n = 471), and then, compared among prasugrel-DAT (n = 82), clopidogrel-DAT (n = 157), and TAT. RESULTS: The DAT group showed significantly lower incidence of MACE and major bleeding events compared with the TAT group (log-rank p = 0.013 and 0.047). In the multivariable Cox regression analyses, DAT (p = 0.028), acute coronary syndrome (p = 0.025), and anemia (p = 0.015) were independently associated with MACE. In addition, anemia (p = 0.022) was independently associated with, and DAT (p = 0.056) and thrombocytopenia (p = 0.051) tended to be associated with, major bleeding events. When analyzed among the prasugrel-DAT, clopidogrel-DAT, and TAT groups, there were no significant differences in clinical outcomes between the prasugrel-DAT and clopidogrel-DAT groups, and similar trends were observed for both 2 groups in comparison with the TAT group. CONCLUSIONS: In AF patients undergoing PCI, DAT was associated with lower incidence of MACE and major bleeding events compared with TAT. In comparison of P2Y12i, there might be no significant difference in the incidence of MACE and bleeding events between prasugrel-based DAT and clopidogrel-based DAT.

Proximal Occlusion in the Right Coronary Artery Involving the Atrial Branch as a Strong Predictor of New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation in Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Although atrial ischemic damage is an atrial fibrillation (AF) risk factor, the impact of atrial branches' occlusion on AF development after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is unclear. Therefore, this study's purpose was to identify predictors of new-onset AF with regard to atrial branches' occlusion. We retrospectively analyzed the AMI database at our single center. Consecutive patients with AMI from June 2011 to May 2017 were enrolled. Exclusion criteria were prior AF before AMI, hemodialysis, and follow-up of < 30 days. The study enrolled 204 consecutive patients (follow-up, 543 ± 469 days; age, 66 ± 12 years; male sex, 77%). All patients underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Thirty-six patients (18%) had new-onset AF in the hospital after AMI. The Killip classification ≥ 3 (41% versus 7%, P < 0.001), ejection fraction ≤ 35% (19% versus 5%, P = 0.014), ischemic occlusion of atrial branches (58% versus 28%, P < 0.001), and ischemic occlusion of atrial branches originating from the right coronary artery (52% versus 18%, P < 0.001) were more frequent in patients with new-onset AF. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that Killip classification ≥ 3 (odds ratio, 6.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.77-17.52; P < 0.001), and ischemic occlusion of the atrial branch of the right coronary artery (odds ratio, 4.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.91-9.93; P < 0.001) were independent predictors of new-onset AF. Altogether, proximal occlusion in the right coronary artery involving the atrial branch is a strong predictor of new-onset AF after AMI.

Ubiquitous atherosclerosis in coronary arteries without angiographically significant stenosis.

Previous intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) studies have shown coronary artery atherosclerosis even in angiographically normal reference segment. However, IVUS has not been performed in all of the three major coronary arteries. A total of 50 patients with single-vessel disease underwent IVUS evaluation in the proximal two-thirds of the three major coronary arteries. Lumen and external elastic membrane cross-sectional areas were measured at 1-mm intervals. To compensate the difference in pullback length among coronary arteries, normalized total plaque and media volume (TPV) was calculated as TPV/number of slices in pullback x median number of slices in study population. Percent plaque and media volume (PPV) was calculated as TPV/Sigma external elastic membrane cross-sectional area x 100. A cross section was defined as atherosclerotic if maximum intimal thickness exceeded 0.5 mm at any point in the vessel circumference. There was no significant difference in normalized TPV, PPV, and the incidence of abnormal intimal thickness between coronary arteries with and without significant stenosis. Frequency distribution of plaque burden was similar. Atherosclerosis is ubiquitous even in coronary arteries without angiographically significant stenosis. The extent of atherosclerosis is similar between coronary arteries with and without significant stenosis.

Effect of balloon inflation time on expansion of sirolimus-eluting stent.

There is little information about the relationship between balloon inflation time and sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) expansion. In this randomized intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) study, 92 de novo lesions in native coronary arteries that underwent SES implantation were enrolled. Sirolimus-eluting stent was implanted using an inflation pressure of 14 atm. Stent balloon was gradually inflated until 14 atm in 10 s. In the short inflation group, it was deflated immediately after an image of the balloon inflated at 14 atm was taken. Stent balloon inflation lasted 60 s in the long inflation group. Intravascular ultrasound was then performed. The long balloon inflation resulted in a larger stent cross-sectional area (4.9 +/- 1.6 mm(2) vs 4.3 +/- 1.4 mm(2), P < 0.05) and expansion (71% +/- 13% vs 60% +/- 13%, P < 0.001) compared to the short balloon inflation, although stent expansion was relatively low in both groups. The relatively longer balloon inflation time using an inflation pressure of 14 atm results in better SES expansion. However, in the majority of lesions, adequate stent expansion is not achieved even using long balloon inflation, if it is inflated at 14 atm.

Safety and efficacy of low-dose clopidogrel in Japanese patients undergoing coronary stenting: preliminary 30-day clinical outcome.

BACKGROUND: A lower maintenance dose of clopidogrel may be appropriate in Japanese patients because the maintenance dose of ticlopidine is lower in Japan than that used in the United States. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 126 patients with 153 lesions who consented to take 50-mg clopidogrel to prevent stent thrombosis were enrolled. There was 1 case of early stent thrombosis (0.65%). Side-effects of clopidogrel occurred in 5 patients (4.0%). CONCLUSION: This preliminary study shows that 50 mg clopidogrel may be acceptable in Japanese patients.

Incidence of premature discontinuation of antiplatelet therapy after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation.

BACKGROUND: Antiplatelet therapy in patients with sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) may be stopped because of bleeding or an invasive procedure. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 254 patients with SES, the incidence of discontinuation of antiplatelet therapy and subsequent adverse cardiac events was evaluated. Follow-up was complete for 97.2% of the population and mean follow-up was 15.6+/-8.9 months. Discontinuation of antiplatelet therapy occurred for 46 patients (18.1%): 1 case of late stent thrombosis (2.2%) occurred 10 days after cessation of therapy because of pulmonary hemorrhage 7 months after SES deployment. CONCLUSION: Discontinuation of antiplatelet therapy in patients with SES is not infrequent.

Active myocarditis in a patient with chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection.

Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (CAEBV) infection is characterized by chronic or recurrent infectious mononucleosis-like symptoms and the prognosis of CAEBV infection is quite poor. The incidence of myocarditis as a complication of EBV infection is not so high and it is unusual that heart failure appears as the initial symptom. However, it is very important to detect and treat chronic active myocarditis in the early phase of CAEBV infection because chronic active myocarditis disorganizes and decreases cardiomyocytes, resulting in the progression to heart failure. We report a case of a 45-year-old man with CAEBV infection for 5 years. Echocardiography revealed moderate left ventricular systolic dysfunction with mild pericardial effusion. Endomyocardial biopsies demonstrated massive lymphocytic infiltration with adjacent myocytolysis and necrosis of cardiomyocytes suggesting active myocarditis. Immunohistological analysis of biopsies revealed that the infiltrating cells were mainly T lymphocytes. And some of the infiltrating cells showed a positive signal for the EBV-encoded small nuclear RNA by in situ hybridization. Positron emission tomography using (18)F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) performed revealed increased uptake of (18)F-FDG of whole left ventricular wall with mild heterogeneity.

Impact of drug-eluting stents on clinical and angiographic outcomes in dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: It remains unclear whether sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) have an advantage over bare metal stents (BMS) in patients on dialysis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using SES was performed in 54 dialysis patients with 69 lesions. A control group for comparison comprised 54 consecutive dialysis patients with 58 lesions who underwent PCI using BMS. Angiographic and clinical follow-ups were scheduled at 9 months. After the procedure, minimum lumen diameter (MLD) was similar between the 2 groups. At follow-up, the SES group had a higher MLD than the BMS group (1.98+/-0.83 mm vs 1.50+/-0.78 mm, p<0.01). In-stent restenosis rate was lower in lesions treated with SES than in those with BMS (22% vs 40%, p=0.048). However, there was no significant difference between the 2 groups for in-segment restenosis (31% vs 43%, p=0.3). During follow-up, there was no significant difference in the incidence of death, myocardial infarction or target lesion revascularization (TLR) (14% vs 21%, p=0.4) between the SES and BMS groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this retrospective study, SES, in comparison with BMS, reduced in-stent restenosis in patients on dialysis. However, in-segment restenosis and TLR were not statistically different between lesions treated with SES and those with BMS.

Effect of plaque volume on subsequent vessel remodeling at edges of sirolimus-eluting stents.

Serial (baseline and 9-month follow-up) intravascular ultrasound analysis was performed at 5-mm reference segments immediately proximal and distal to the sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) in 33 lesions. Proximal and distal reference segments were divided into 1-mm subsegments. Between postintervention and follow-up intravascular ultrasound studies, there were significant decreases in the lumen and increases in plaque & media areas in the subsegment closest to the distal edge, with no change in external elastic membrane area. There was no significant change in external elastic membrane, lumen, and plaque & media areas within the other subsegments. At the nearest 1-mm subsegment from the proximal and distal edges, baseline plaque & media area was associated with subsequent vessel remodeling. In conclusion, a large amount of plaque at the SES edge may be a risk of negative remodeling at follow-up (stent edge restenosis). It supports the importance of "normal-to-normal" SES deployment.