Vaccine-carditis study: Spanish multicenter registry of inflammatory heart disease after COVID-19 vaccination.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been a major scientific and medical achievement in the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, very infrequent cases of inflammatory heart disease have been described as adverse events, leading to uncertainty in the scientific community and in the general population. METHODS: The Vaccine-Carditis Registry has included all cases of myocarditis and pericarditis diagnosed within 30 days after COVID-19 vaccination since August 1, 2021 in 29 centers throughout the Spanish territory. The definitions of myocarditis (probable or confirmed) and pericarditis followed the consensus of the Centers for Disease Control and the Clinical Practice Guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology. A comprehensive analysis of clinical characteristics and 3-month evolution is presented. RESULTS: From August 1, 2021, to March 10, 2022, 139 cases of myocarditis or pericarditis were recorded (81.3% male, median age 28 years). Most cases were detected in the 1st week after administration of an mRNA vaccine, the majority after the second dose. The most common presentation was mixed inflammatory disease (myocarditis and pericarditis). 11% had left ventricular systolic dysfunction, 4% had right ventricular systolic dysfunction, and 21% had pericardial effusion. In cardiac magnetic resonance studies, left ventricular inferolateral involvement was the most frequent pattern (58%). More than 90% of cases had a benign clinical course. After a 3-month follow-up, the incidence of adverse events was 12.78% (1.44% mortality). CONCLUSIONS: In our setting, inflammatory heart disease after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 predominantly affects young men in the 1st week after the second dose of RNA-m vaccine and presents a favorable clinical course in most cases.

A simple combination of biomarkers for risk stratification in octogenarians with acute myocardial infarction.

The aim of this observational study was to assess long-term prognosis of a contemporary octogenarian population admitted to an Intensive Cardiac Care Unit with acute myocardial infarction (MI), and the prognostic value of two simple biomarkers obtained at admission: glucose blood level (ABG) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). A total of 293 consecutive patients were included (202 with ST elevation MI and 91 with non-ST elevation MI) with median age 83.9 years, 172 (58.7%) male. The optimal cut-off points for all-cause death defined by ROC curves were ABG >186 mg/dL and eGFR <50 mL/min/1.73 m2. The cohort was segregated into 3 groups according to these values: no biomarker present (group 1), either of the two biomarkers present (group 2) or both biomarkers present (group 3). Patients in group 3 were more frequently female, with worse Charlson index, Killip class and ventricular function, and higher GRACE scores. PCI was performed in 248 patients (84.6%). The highest in-hospital and long-term mortality, and composite MACE was observed in groups 2 and 3. All-cause mortality (median follow-up 2.2 years) was 44%. In multivariate analysis, ABG >186 mg/dL and eGFR <50 mL/min/1.73 m2 were associated with a 4.2 odds ratio (OR) (Model 1: medical history variables) and 2.6 OR (Model 2: admission event variables) of mortality. The addition of these variables to ROC curves improved long-term risk prediction for Model 1 (C-statistics 0.718 versus 0.780, p = 0.006) and reclassification and discrimination in both models.

Chronic total occlusion: To treat or not to treat.

Over the last two decades, there has been increasing interest in new techniques for the percutaneous treatment of coronary chronic total occlusions (CTO), which have a success rate that is much higher than that of a few years ago. The rise in percutaneous treatment for these lesions is due to its ability to improve the symptoms and prognosis of patients in the chronic and stable phase of coronary disease. Current data suggest that successful percutaneous coronary intervention for CTO is associated with improvement in patient symptoms, quality of life, left ventricular function, and survival, compared with those with unsuccessful CTO PCI. However, all the scientific evidence supporting this treatment comes from observational studies, and no randomized study comparing percutaneous treatment with medical treatment has yet been published. A major limitation of these studies is their observational design, with limited information with regard to potential baseline differences between the successful vs unsuccessful cohorts. Pending randomized studies, patients should be selected very carefully, especially if they are asymptomatic or very few symptoms, and the benefits obtained in terms of complications during the procedure, the quality of life obtained and further ischemic events avoided should be evaluated systematically. In this review, we will consider the available information supporting percutaneous treatment for chronic occlusions, as well as the areas of uncertainty where more research projects are required.