Higher platelet activity is present in patients with restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention compared with patients with an occlusion of coronary artery bypass graft.

The aim of the study was to compare platelet activity between patients with an occlusion of bypass graft after coronary artery bypass graft surgery and restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI); that is, between patients with reappearance of ischemia after two different kinds of coronary revascularization. Thirty patients were studied in a cross-sectional designed study. Fifteen of them were patients with the worst bypass graft patency from Prague-4 study (control protocol-driven coronary angiography performed at 1 year after surgery; originally 47 bypass grafts implanted, 94% of venous grafts occluded). The remaining 15 were patients with restenosis 3-12 months after PCI. Blood samples were drawn at least 12 weeks after coronary angiography. Platelet activity was determined by membrane expression of P-selectin (CD62P, % of positive cells) by flow cytometry, aggregability by ADP aggregometry. Data are expressed as mean +/- SEM. Both groups were similar with respect to age, BMI and presence of diabetes mellitus. No patient suffered from acute coronary syndrome. P-selectin expression was significantly higher in the patients with restenosis compared with patients with bypass graft occlusion (1.96 +/- 0.07 vs. 0.77 +/- 0.03, P < 0.001, Wilcoxon test). ADP aggregometry was not different between groups (55.5 +/- 1.1 vs. 56.1 +/- 0.8, P = NS). Higher platelet activity is present in the patients with restenosis after PCI compared with the patients with the occlusion of bypass graft. Platelet activity play more important role in the development of restenosis after PCI compared with the occlusion of bypass graft after coronary artery bypass graft surgery, at least in the period up to 1 year after revascularization.

In-hospital arrhythmias in patients with acute myocardial infarction - the relation to the reperfusion strategy and their prognostic impact.

Arrhythmias are frequent complication in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI). The importance of accelerated idioventricular rhythm (AIVR), ventricular fibrillation or tachycardia (VF, VT), atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF) and bradycardias is considered and discussed in this review article. The value of the presence of AIVR as a marker of reperfusion is small, but in combination with other non-invasive markers (ST-segment resolution), its presence is connected with a high probability of successful reperfusion. Early ventricular arrhythmias are a serious complication of MI. However, if they are revealed and treated in time, they apparently do not represent a negative prognostic factor. Later occurred VF or VT are more a symptom of larger MI. AF, which is not directly life-threatening for the patients, frequently occurs in patients with larger MI and it is an independent predictor of a poor long-term prognosis of these patients. The early and successful reperfusion therapy is the best anti-arrhythmic therapeutic method in patients with MI.

Glycemia, triglycerides and disease severity are best associated with higher platelet activity in patients with stable coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: Inconsistent findings are reported about the relation of platelet activity to disease severity in stable patients with chronic coronary artery disease (CAD). Nevertheless, most reports studied only very small groups of patients. The purpose aim of our study was to assess the relation of platelet activity to disease severity in sufficient number of patients with chronic CAD. METHODS: One hundred and sixty stable patients with chronic CAD were studied (25 with single-, 63 with double- and 72 with triple-vessel disease). 91% of them were on aspirin, 1.6% on clopidogrel medication. Platelet activity was determined as membrane expression of antigens CD62P (P-selectin, as % of positive cells) and CD41 (part of GpIIb/IIIa integrin, as mean fluorescence intensity) by flow cytometry. Platelet aggregability was measured by ADP-optical aggregometry. Data sets were compared by Kruskal-Wallis test, correlation by Spearman test. Data are shown as median with 25-75 percentiles. RESULTS: Membrane CD62P expression correlated with vessel severity (P < 0.001, Kruskal-Wallis test). Patients with triple-vessel disease had the highest CD62P expression (1.6; 1.1-2.0) followed by patients with double-vessel (1.2; 0.63-1.95) and single-vessel (0.7; 0.30-0.84) disease. Positive correlation was found between CD62P expression with triglycerides (r = 0.49, P < 0.05) and CD41 with fasting glucose (r = 0.48, P < 0.05). No differences in CD41 expression or ADP aggregability were found between groups. CONCLUSION: Higher platelet activity is present in patients with more severe CAD. More aggressive anti-platelet treatment in these patients should be considered, especially when metabolic syndrome is simultaneously present.