Trends in primary percutaneous coronary intervention for the treatment of acute coronary ST-elevation myocardial infarction in Latin American countries: insights from the CECI consortium.

Background: ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) requires revascularization treatment, preferably via primary percutaneous coronary interventions (pPCI). There is a lack of data about contemporary management of STEMI in Latin America. Methods: This was a multicenter, multinational, prospective, and dynamic registry of patients undergoing pPCI in Latin America for STEMI (STEMI/LATAMI Registry) that was carried out in nine centers from five countries (Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic) between June 2021 and June 2023. All interventionalists involved in the study were originally trained at the same institution (Centro de Estudios en Cardiología Intervencionista, Buenos Aires, Argentina). The primary objective was to evaluate procedural and in-hospital outcomes of pPCI in STEMI and in-hospital outcome in the Latin America (LATAM) region; as secondary endpoints, we analyzed the following subgroups: differences between pPCI vs. pharmaco-invasive or late presenters, gender, elderly and very elderly patients, cardiogenic shock outcomes, and causes of STEMI. Results: In total, 744 STEMI patients who underwent PCI between June 2021 and June 2023 in five countries (nine centers) in our continent were included; 76.3% had a pPCI, 8.1% pharmaco-invasive PCI, and 15.6% had late STEMI PCI. There were no differences in region or center when we evaluated in-hospital and 30 days of death. The rate of procedural success was 96.2%, and the overall in-hospital mortality rate was 2.2%. In the subgroup of pPCI, mean symptom onset-to-balloon time was 295.3 ± 246 min, and mean door-to-balloon time was 55.8 ± 49.9 min. The femoral approach was chosen in 60.5%. In 3.0% of patients, the left main disease was the culprit artery, with 1.63 ± 1.00 stents per patient (564 drug-eluting stents and 652 bare metal stents), with 34 patients receiving only plain optimal balloon angioplasty. Definitive stent thrombosis was related to the infarct artery as the primary cause of STEMI in 7.5% of patients. The use of assistant mechanical devices was low, at 2.1% in the pPCI group. Women were older, with large numbers in very elderly age (≥90 years), greater mortality, and incidence of spontaneous coronary dissection as a cause of STEMI (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p < 0.003, respectively). Conclusion: In suitable LATAM Centers from low/medium-income countries, this prospective registry in patients with STEMI, PCI performed by well-trained operators has comparable results to those reported in well-developed countries.

Interplay between climate, pollution and COVID-19 on ST-elevation myocardial infarction in a large metropolitan region.

BACKGROUND: Collective risk factors such as climate and pollution impact on the risk of acute cardiovascular events, including ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). There is limited data however on the precise temporal and independent association between these factors and STEMI, and the potentially interacting role of government policies against Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially for Latin America. METHODS: We retrospectively collected aggregate data on daily STEMI admissions at 10 tertiary care centers in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, Argentina, from January 1, 2017 to November 30, 2020. Daily measurements for temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind direction, wind speed, and rainfall, as well as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter <10 µm (PM10), were retrieved. Exploratory analyses focused on key COVID-19-related periods (e.g. first case, first lockdown), and Stringency Index quantifying the intensity of government policy response against COVID-19. RESULTS: A total of 1498 STEMI occurred over 1430 days, for an average of 0.12 STEMI per center (decreasing from 0.130 in 2018 to 0.102 in 2020, P=0.016). Time series analysis showed that lower temperature and higher concentration of CO and PM10 were all significantly associated with an increased rate of STEMI (all P<0.05), whereas COVID-19 outbreak, lockdown, and stringency of government policies were all inversely associated with STEMI (all P<0.05). Notably, environmental features impacted as early as 28 days before the event (all P<0.05), even if same or prior day associations proved stronger (all P<0.05). Multivariable analysis suggested that maximum temperature (P=0.001) and PM10 (P=0.033) were the strongest predictor of STEMI, even after accounting for COVID-19-related countermeasures (P=0.043). CONCLUSIONS: Lower temperature and higher concentrations of CO and PM10 are associated with significant increases in the rate of STEMI in a large Latin American metropolitan area. The reduction in STEMI cases seen during the COVID-19 pandemic is at least in part mediated by improvements in pollution, especially reductions in PM10.

One-Year Follow-Up Results From the Observational, Multicenter, Prospective, and Controlled Registry: The WALTZ All-Comers Study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate 1-year follow-up results in an all "comers" population treated with a new cobalt chromium bare-metal stent (BMS) design. Since August 2016 to March 2017, 201 (9.7% of screening population) consecutive patients undergoing coronary stent implantation in 11 centers in Argentina were prospectively included in our registry. The inclusion criteria were multiple-vessel disease and/or unprotected left main disease, acute coronary syndromes (ACS) with at least one severe (⩾70%) stenosis in any of major epicardial vessel. In-stent restenosis, protected left main stenosis, or impossibility to receive dual-antiplatelet therapy was an exclusion criterion. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were the primary endpoint and included cardiac death, myocardial infarction (MI), and target lesion revascularization (TLR); also, all components of the primary endpoint were separately analyzed. Completeness of revascularization was analyzed as post hoc data using residual SYNTAX or ERACI risk scores. Demographic characteristics showed that 6.5% of patients were very elderly, 22.5% have diabetes, 47% have multiple-vessel disease, 67% have ACS, and 32% have ST elevation MI. At a mean of 376 ± 18.1 days of follow-up, MACE was observed in 10.4% of patients: death + MI + cardiovascular accident (CVA) in 3% (6 of 201) and cardiac death + MI + CVA in 1.5% (3 of 201). Residual ERACI score ⩽5 was associated with 98% of event-free survival (P < .04). In conclusion, this prospective, multicenter, and observational all-comers registry with this novel BMS design showed a low incidence of adverse events at 1 year mainly due to coronary restenosis.

Lowering risk score profile during PCI in multiple vessel disease is associated with low adverse events: The ERACI risk score.

In recent years angiographic risk scores have been introduced in clinical practice to stratify different levels of risk after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). The SYNTAX score included all intermediate lesions in vessels ≥1.5 mm, consequently, multiple stent implantation was required. Four years ago, we built a new angiographic score in order to guide PCI strategy avoiding stent deployment both in intermediate stenosis as in small vessels, therefore these were not scored (ERACI risk score). The purpose of this mini review is to validate the strategy of PCI guided by this scoring, taking into account long term follow up outcomes of two observational and prospective registries where this policy was used. With this new risk score we have modified risk profile of our patient's candidates for PCI or coronary artery bypass surgery lowering the risk and <20% of them are now included anatomically as high risk for PCI. The simple exclusion of small vessels and intermediate stenosis from the revascularization approach resulted in clinical outcome comparable with the one of fractional flow reserve guided revascularization. Low events rate at late follow up observed in both studies was also in agreement with guided PCI by functional lesion assessment observed by Syntax II registry, where investigators found lower events rate in spite of a few number of stents implanted per patient. In conclusion: use of ERACI risk scores may significantly reclassify patients into a lower risk category and be associated with low adverse events rate.

Second vs. first-generation drug-eluting stents in complex lesions subsets: 3 years' follow-up of ERACI IV study.

BACKGROUND: Although percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with first-generation drug-eluting stents (DES-1) did not show a benefit in terms of death rate and myocardial infarction (MI) compared to bypass surgery (coronary artery bypass graft [CABG]), DES platforms have seen a remarkable improvement in the last few years, and a significant increase in their safety and efficacy was observed in randomized controlled trials and observational studies in comparison with DES-1 in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). One-year results from the ERACI IV registry using a second-generation DES (DES-2) demonstrated significantly greater efficacy and safety in patients with multiple vessel CAD, including diabetics, compared to DES-1. Long-term results are yet unknown. METHODS: The ERACI IV registry was a multicenter, prospective and controlled open-label study conducted in 9 sites in Argentina during 2013 and 2014, which evaluated a DES-2 for the treatment of patients with multiple vessel CAD including unprotected left main disease (ULMD) and diabetes. The primary endpoint was to compare the composite of death of any cause, MI and cerebrovascular accident (CVA) as hard endpoints with ERACI III DES-1 arm. Secondary endpoints included each component of the primary endpoint and target vessel revascularization (TVR) as major adverse cardiovascular events (MACCE) and stent thrombosis. We include a modified Syntax Score (SS) taking in account functional revascularization, treating lesions ≥70% in vessels ≥ 2.00 mm, whereas severe lesions in vessels < 2.0 mm and intermediate lesions were not rated. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were similar between groups, with higher numbers of diabetics and 3-vessel/ULMD (P=0.02 and P=0.003, respectively) in ERACI IV. At 34.7 months' follow-up, the incidence of the composite of death/MI/CVA between ERACI IV and ERACI III (4.9% vs. 13.7%, P<0.001); unplanned new revascularization (5.3% vs. 14.2%, P<0.001) and MACCE (9.3% vs. 22.7%, P<0.001), were significantly lower in ERACI IV DES-2. MACCE rate was similar in diabetics, (5.8%) and nondiabetics (7.0%). After performing a matched propensity score, MACCE remain significantly lower in ERACI IV (P = 0.005). Incidence of stent thrombosis was lower although not significantly between groups, (0.9% vs. 3.1% in ERACI IV and III, respectively; P=0.13). CONCLUSIONS: The use of DES-2 in patients with complex lesions subsets together with a functional PCI strategy were associated with a remarkable low incidence of adverse events at 3 years' follow-up and the benefit was also seen in in diabetic population. Late outcome of this study strongly validated our lesion PCI scoring and assessment.

Understanding the Outcome of Randomized Trials with Drug-Eluting Stents and Coronary Artery Bypass Graft in Patients with Multivessel Disease: A Review of a 25-Year Journey.

Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) with first- and second-generation drug-eluting stents (DESs) confirmed the superiority of coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) in patients with multiple vessel disease. In spite of different DES designs, investigators in these trials used similar percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) strategies hoping to achieve complete revascularization, meaning that all intermediate lesions would be stented. One of these studies also included small vessels in the revascularization policy. On this revision, authors searched for a potential explanation of these intriguing findings and also for solutions to this problem, not seen years ago when other RCTs compared CABG with PCI in the previous DES era. After they revised old and new scientific data, they concluded that improved DES design is not itself enough to narrow the gap between PCI and CABG and that in the future RCTs we should institute more conservative strategies avoiding unnecessary multiple DES implantation.

[Adverse drug reactions in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis]. / Reacciones adversas a fármacos en tuberculosis multirresistente.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) poses difficulties in diagnosis and treatment, including increased frequency of adverse reactions to antituberculosis drugs (ADRAs), which compromise the effectiveness of treatment. This is specially complicated in the treatment of patients co-infected with HIV which includes the antiretroviral therapy plus the treatment of eventual comorbidities. A total of 121 MDRTB patients, 87 HIV-negative and 34 HIV positive, assisted in the Hospital F. J. Muñiz, Buenos Aires, during the period 2003-2007 were retrospectively studied. The incidence of ADRAs among the two groups of patients was compared. All the patients with adherence to treatment (no more than one abandon, recovered) were included in the study. Antituberculosis drugs used were: ethambutol, pyrazinamide, ofloxacin, moxifloxacin, cycloserine, ethionamide, PAS, streptomycin, kanamycin, amikacin and linezolid. The emergence of ADRAs and the proportion of severe reactions attributed to antituberculosis drugs were similar in both groups: 44.8% in HIV negative and 44.1% in HIV positive, but it was observed an additional 23.5% of adverse reactions to antiretroviral therapy in the second group. There were differences in the type of reactions and time of occurrence between the two groups. One HIV positive patient died of epidermolysis. The proportion of adverse reactions in HIV/AIDS patients increased 50% when those attributed to antiretroviral treatment were included. We conclude that the studied population showed a frequency of ADRAs higher than it would be expected in the treatment of susceptible TB, but there was no difference in its frequency among HIV-negative and positive patients.

Reacciones adversas a fármacos en tuberculosis multirresistente / Adverse drug reactions in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

La tuberculosis multidrogorresistente (TBMDR) plantea dificultades diagnósticas y terapéuticas; entre ellas, la mayor frecuencia de reacciones adversas a fármacos antituberculosos (RAFAs), que comprometen la eficacia del tratamiento. Más complicado es el panorama del tratamiento en pacientes con la coinfección HIV a los que a la terapia antirretroviral se suma el de las eventuales comorbilidades. Se estudiaron retrospectivamente 121 pacientes: 87 HIV negativos y 34 HIV positivos con TBMDR asistidos en el Hospital F. J. Muñiz en el período 2003-2007, comparándose la incidencia de reacciones adversas entre ambas poblaciones. Fueron incluidos todos los pacientes con adherencia al tratamiento (no más de un abandono recuperado). Los fármacos antituberculosos empleados fueron: etambutol, pirazinamida, ofloxacina, moxifloxacina, cicloserina, etionamida, PAS, estreptomicina, kanamicina, amikacina y linezolid. La aparición de RAFAs así como la proporción de reacciones graves atribuidas a drogas antituberculosas fue similar en los dos grupos (44.8% en HIV negativos y 44.1% en HIV positivos, a quienes se agregó un 23.5% adicional de RAFAs por el tratamiento antirretroviral). Se observaron algunas diferencias en el tipo de reacciones y en el momento de aparición. Un paciente HIV positivo falleció debido a epidermolisis. La proporción de reacciones adversas en HIV/sida aumentó un 50% al considerar también las atribuidas al tratamiento antirretroviral. Se concluye que la población estudiada presentó RAFAs por encima de lo esperable en tuberculosis sensible, pero no se observaron diferencias en la frecuencia de aparición entre pacientes HIV negativos y positivos.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) poses difficulties in diagnosis and treatment, including increased frequency of adverse reactions to antituberculosis drugs (ADRAs), which compromise the effectiveness of treatment. This is specially complicated in the treatment of patients co-infected with HIV which includes the antiretroviral therapy plus the treatment of eventual comorbidities. A total of 121 MDRTB patients, 87 HIV-negative and 34 HIV positive, assisted in the Hospital F. J. Muñiz, Buenos Aires, during the period 2003-2007 were retrospectively studied. The incidence of ADRAs among the two groups of patients was compared. All the patients with adherence to treatment (no more than one abandon, recovered) were included in the study. Antituberculosis drugs used were: ethambutol, pyrazinamide, ofloxacin, moxifloxacin, cycloserine, ethionamide, PAS, streptomycin, kanamycin, amikacin and linezolid. The emergence of ADRAs and the proportion of severe reactions attributed to antituberculosis drugs were similar in both groups: 44.8% in HIV negative and 44.1% in HIV positive, but it was observed an additional 23.5% of adverse reactions to antiretroviral therapy in the second group. There were differences in the type of reactions and time of occurrence between the two groups. One HIV positive patient died of epidermolysis. The proportion of adverse reactions in HIV/AIDS patients increased 50% when those attributed to antiretroviral treatment were included. We conclude that the studied population showed a frequency of ADRAs higher than it would be expected in the treatment of susceptible TB, but there was no difference in its frequency among HIV-negative and positive patients.

Tumores retroperitoneales primitivos: nuestra experiencia / Retroperitoneal primary tumors

Se presentan 32 tumores retroperitoneales primitivos tratados entre enero 1962 y junio 1984, controlados a diciembre del mismo año. Se efectúan consideraciones sobre su clasificación, sintomatología y métodos de diagnóstico. Se propone el tratamiento multidisciplinario, destacándose el tratamiento quirúrgico como prioritario. El porcentaje de resecabilidad fue del 90,5%, con resecciones ampliadas en el 31,2% de los casos. El porcentaje de sobrevida global a diciembre 1984 es de 37,5%. Los tumores benignos muestran una sobrevida del 100%. Los tumores malignos tienen los siguientes índices de sobrevida: entre 1 y 4 años 18,7% a 5 años 15,6% y entre 6 y 18 años 9,3%

Tumores retroperitoneales primitivos: nuestra experiencia / Retroperitoneal primary tumors

Se presentan 32 tumores retroperitoneales primitivos tratados entre enero 1962 y junio 1984, controlados a diciembre del mismo año. Se efectúan consideraciones sobre su clasificación, sintomatología y métodos de diagnóstico. Se propone el tratamiento multidisciplinario, destacándose el tratamiento quirúrgico como prioritario. El porcentaje de resecabilidad fue del 90,5%, con resecciones ampliadas en el 31,2% de los casos. El porcentaje de sobrevida global a diciembre 1984 es de 37,5%. Los tumores benignos muestran una sobrevida del 100%. Los tumores malignos tienen los siguientes índices de sobrevida: entre 1 y 4 años 18,7% a 5 años 15,6% y entre 6 y 18 años 9,3% (AU)