Changes in the Treatment Strategy Following Intracoronary Pressure Wire in a Contemporaneous Real-Life Cohort of Patients With Intermediate Coronary Stenosis. Results From a Nationwide Registry.

BACKGROUND: Intracoronary pressure wire is useful to guide revascularization in patients with coronary artery disease. AIMS: To evaluate changes in diagnosis (coronary artery disease extent), treatment strategy and clinical results after intracoronary pressure wire study in real-life patients with intermediate coronary artery stenosis. METHODS: Observational, prospective and multicenter registry of patients in whom pressure wire was performed. The extent of coronary artery disease and the treatment strategy based on clinical and angiographic criteria were recorded before and after intracoronary pressure wire guidance. 12-month incidence of MACE (cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction or new revascularization of the target lesion) was assessed. RESULTS: 1414 patients with 1781 lesions were included. Complications related to the procedure were reported in 42 patients (3.0 %). The extent of coronary artery disease changed in 771 patients (54.5 %). There was a change in treatment strategy in 779 patients (55.1 %) (18.0 % if medical treatment; 68.8 % if PCI; 58.9 % if surgery (p < 0.001 for PCI vs medical treatment; p = 0.041 for PCI vs CABG; p < 0.001 for medical treatment vs CABG)). In patients with PCI as the initial strategy, the change in strategy was associated with a lower rate of MACE (4.6 % vs 8.2 %, p = 0.034). CONCLUSIONS: The use of intracoronary pressure wire was safe and led to the reclassification of the extent of coronary disease and change in the treatment strategy in more than half of the cases, especially in patients with PCI as initial treatment.

El método de articulación progresiva de la eticidad martiana en la formación ético-profesional

Introducción: la formación profesional desde la eticidad martiana en el contexto universitario permite el descubrimiento de los nexos existentes entre las concepciones teóricas, axiológicas y pedagógicas de la formación ético-profesional, y sus relaciones con la eticidad martiana. Desarrollo: el método de articulación progresiva entre la eticidad martiana y la formación ético-profesional permite determinar las relaciones entre los componentes axiológicos del proceso de formación ético-profesional desde la eticidad martiana y los diversos contextos de actuación del estudiante universitario, con un enfoque formativo, personalizado y contextualizado, que responda a las necesidades de la socialización e individualización de las relaciones éticas desde un enfoque profesional. Conclusiones: el método promueve la transformación coherente del proceso de formación ético-profesional al sistematizar sus procedimientos de acuerdo con la diversidad y complejidad de los diversos contextos universitarios.

Introduction: professional training from Marti's ethics in the university context allows the discovery of the existing links between theoretical, axiological and pedagogical conceptions of ethical-professional training, and its relationships with Marti's ethics. Development: the method of progressive articulation of Marti's ethics allows determining the relationships between the axiological components of the ethical-professional training process from Marti's ethics and the various contexts of action of the university student, with a formative, personalized and contextualized approach, which respond to the needs of socialization and individualization of ethical relationships from a professional approach. Conclusions: the method promotes the coherent transformation of the ethical-professional training process by systematizing its procedures according to the diversity and complexity of the various university contexts.

Introdução: a formação profissional a partir da ética de Marti no contexto universitário permite descobrir os vínculos existentes entre as concepções teóricas, axiológicas e pedagógicas da formação ético-profissional e suas relações com a ética de Marti. Desenvolvimento: o método de articulação progressiva entre a ética de Marti e a formação ético-profissional permite determinar as relações entre as componentes axiológicas do processo de formação ético-profissional a partir da ética de Marti e os vários contextos de atuação do estudante universitário, com uma abordagem formativa, personalizada e contextualizado, que responda às necessidades de socialização e individualização das relações éticas a partir de uma abordagem profissional. Conclusões: o método promove a transformação coerente do processo de formação ético-profissional ao sistematizar seus procedimentos de acordo com a diversidade e complexidade dos diversos contextos universitários.

Voice quality after CO2 laser cordectomy--what can we really expect?

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic management of laryngeal carcinoma has gained popularity among laryngologists based on the good oncologic and functional results. We evaluated the voice quality after laser cordectomy for early glottic cancer in a variety of vocal situations and its relation with the extension of resection and the age. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of voice quality in 42 consecutive male patients treated for T1 glottic carcinoma with laser cordectomy. Patients were compared with 21 controls. Voice quality was self-assessed by the patients. Perceptual analysis was done by a speech pathologist on a running speech sample [GRBAS (grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenicity, strain)]. Acoustic analysis included fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, shimmer, noise to harmonic ratio (N/H), and maximum phonation time (MPT) on the sustained vowels /a/ and /i/, and on various running speech voice samples. RESULTS: Distribution of the patients included in the study by T classification was as follows: Tis, n = 2 (4.8%); T1a, n = 35 (83.3%); and T1b, n = 5 (11.9%). Cordectomy types were: (I), 14%; (II), 26%; (III), 21%; and (V), 38%. Voice improved in almost 60% of patients, returning to normal in 45%. GRBAS showed significant differences between patients and controls and correlated with type of cordectomy. Acoustic analysis showed significant differences in F0, and jitter, with smaller differences in shimmer, N/H, and MPT. CONCLUSION: Voice quality after laser cordectomy differs from controls, but improves in a majority of patients after the surgery, with almost 50% of patients with subjective normal or near normal voice. Voice quality depends on type of cordectomy.

Cardiac rupture and tamponade during ventriculography.

Left ventricular free wall rupture after a myocardial infarction is a complication which is unusually seen during ventriculography. We present the case of a patient who developed a cardiac rupture and tamponade captured on ventriculography.

Late gadolinium-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance identifies patients with standardized definition of ischemic cardiomyopathy: a single centre experience.

BACKGROUND: Definition of ischemic cardiomyopathy (IC) is not always obvious, which is why new criteria based on prognosis and the extent of the coronary artery disease (CAD) have been proposed. In the present study, we assess the capability of late gadolinium-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) for predicting IC as determined by standardized criteria previously reported. METHODS AND RESULTS: 123 patients with heart failure (HF) and left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction, underwent both late gadolinium-enhanced CMR and coronary angiography 37/123 (30%) of patients were assigned to the IC group and 86/123 (70%) to the non-IC group. Subendocardial late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) was found in 35/37 (94%) of patients in the IC group, whereas only 12/86 (14%) had this distribution in the non-IC group (p<0.001). There was a significant positive correlation between the extent of subendocardial LGE and that of the CAD as determined by the CAD Prognostic Index (r=0.78, p<0.01), the number of coronary stenoses > or = 50% (r=0.76, p<0.01) and the number of coronary stenoses of any percentage (r=0.70, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: In patients with HF and LV systolic dysfunction presence of subendocardial LGE makes an excellent indicator of underlying significant CAD, and the extent of the LGE correlates with the severity of the disease. It is therefore appealing as a method for diagnosing IC.

Unfractionated heparin is associated with a lower rise of serum vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in acute ischemic stroke patients.

We sought to assess the anti-inflammatory properties of unfractionated heparin (UFH) in patients with ischemic stroke treated within 24 h from the onset of symptoms. We studied prospectively 167 patients that received 1000 IU/h intravenous UFH (n=70) or 300 mg oral aspirin (n=97) at a mean treatment delay of 6.7 h. Repeated plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, IL-4, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) were compared in both groups using multivariate analyses. Whereas TNF-alpha and sICAM-1 decreased at 48 h, IL-6, IL-4, and sVCAM-1 increased compared with baseline values (P<0.01). The rise of sVCAM-1 levels at 48 h was significantly lower in patients treated with UFH (P=0.017) and a two-fold increase of baseline sVCAM-1 was an independent predictor of poor outcome (odds ratio, 2.19, 1.1-4.39). These results suggest that adjusted high-dose UFH has anti-inflammatory effects which might improve recovery if administered early after stroke onset.