Effects of fasting and/or postprandial glucose on heart rate recovery in patients with coronary heart disease.

AIM: The impact of both fasting and postprandial glycaemia on heart rate recovery (HRR) has not been studied in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). For this reason, we sought to determine the relationships between HRR and both fasting and postprandial glycaemia. METHODS: A total of 4079 patients with baseline fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels and 706 patients with 2-hour postprandial glucose (2hPG) levels were identified from the Coronary Artery Surgery Study registry, a database of 24,958 patients with suspected or proven CHD who had undergone cardiac catheterization between 1974 and 1979. Median long-term follow-up was 14.7 years (interquartile range: 9.8-16.2 years). The relationships between HRR and both FPG and 2hPG were studied. RESULTS: In univariate analyses, increasing levels of both FPG and 2hPG were significantly associated with lower HRR. In multivariate models adjusted for age, exercise tolerance in METs, resting heart rate and maximum systolic blood pressure during exercise testing, FPG remained significantly associated with HRR while 2hPG did not. CONCLUSION: Both raised FPG and decreased HRR are independent predictors of total and cardiovascular (CV) mortality in subjects with CHD. Our data suggest that the mortality risk associated with elevated FPG may in part be due to deleterious effects on autonomic regulation of CV function, as reflected by lower HRR. Further studies are required to determine whether or not non-pharmacological and/or pharmacological treatments of increased fasting glucose have a beneficial influence on HRR.

Effect of prior revascularization on outcome following percutaneous coronary intervention; NHLBI Dynamic Registry.

AIMS: An increasing number of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have experienced previous revascularization procedures. Their outcome after PCI has seldom been compared to that of patients without prior procedures. This study investigates which elements of prior revascularization affect in-hospital and long-term outcome after PCI. METHODS AND RESULTS: Baseline characteristics as well as in-hospital and 1-year outcomes were compared in 4010 consecutive patients undergoing PCI in the NHLBI Dynamic Registry, categorized by type of prior procedure. In-hospital mortality was lowest and procedural success highest among patients with prior PCI only. Patients with prior coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) had higher rates for the combined endpoint of death and myocardial infarction (MI) at 1 year compared to patients with no prior procedures. However, in multivariate regression analysis adjusting for potential confounders, neither prior PCI nor prior CABG were independent predictors of death or death/MI at 1 year. Patients with prior procedure had higher rates for repeat PCI and patients with prior PCI had higher rates for CABG during the year following the index procedures. These associations persisted after adjustment for potential confounders. Finally, patients with prior procedures had a higher prevalence of angina at 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: Due to adverse baseline characteristics, patients with prior CABG have higher rates for death/MI during the first year after PCI and both groups of patients with prior procedures have higher revascularization rates. However, only the associations with repeat revascularization persist after adjustment for baseline and procedural factors.

Effects of ramipril on coronary events in high-risk persons: results of the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation Study.

BACKGROUND: In trials of patients with left ventricular dysfunction or heart failure, ACE inhibitor use was unexpectedly associated with reduced myocardial infarction (MI). Using the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) trial data, we tested prospectively whether ramipril, an ACE inhibitor, could reduce coronary events and revascularization procedures among patients with normal left ventricular function. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the HOPE trial, 9297 high-risk men and women, >/=55 years of age with previous cardiovascular disease or diabetes plus 1 risk factor, were randomly assigned to ramipril (up to 10 mg/d), vitamin E (400 IU/d), their combination, or matching placebos. During the mean follow-up of 4.5 years, there were 482 (10.4%) patients with clinical MI and unexpected cardiovascular death in the ramipril group compared with 604 (12.9%) in the placebo group [relative risk reduction (RRR), 21% (95% CI) (11,30); P<0.0003]. Ramipril was associated with a trend toward less fatal MI and unexpected death [4.0% versus 4.7%; RRR, 16% (-3, 31)] and with a significant reduction in nonfatal MI [5.6% versus 7.2%; RRR, 23% (9,34)]. Risk reductions in MI were documented in participants taking or not taking beta-blockers, lipid lowering, and/or antiplatelet agents. Although ramipril had no impact on hospitalizations for unstable angina [11.9% versus 12.2%; RRR, 3% (-9,14)], it reduced the risk of worsening and new angina [27.2% versus 30.0%; RRR, 12% (5,18); P<0.0014] and coronary revascularizations [12.5% versus 14.8%; RRR, 18%; (8,26) P<0.0005]. CONCLUSIONS: In this high-risk cohort, ramipril reduced the risk of MI, worsening and new angina, and the occurrence of coronary revascularizations.

Incidence and risk factors predictive of unstable angina resulting from restenosis after percutaneous angioplasty of saphenous vein grafts.

BACKGROUND: The current study was designed to determine the incidence and risk factors for unstable angina resulting from restenosis in patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) of saphenous vein graft (SVG), about which little data are available. METHODS AND RESULTS: A retrospective analysis of a consecutive series of 212 patients undergoing PTCA of SVG was performed. Procedural success was achieved in 200 patients (94.3%) who formed the study group. During a follow-up of 16.8 +/- 10.2 months, 24.5% of patients presented with unstable angina resulting from restenosis. There was a higher prevalence of dyslipidemia (81. 6% vs 51.2%, P <.0002) and greater postprocedural residual stenosis (14.2% +/- 12.6% vs 7.1% +/- 11.0%, P =.007) in patients with unstable angina caused by restenosis compared with the remaining patient population. By multivariate analysis, dyslipidemia (odds ratio [OR] 3.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.64-8.39, P <.002) and to a lesser extent postprocedural residual stenosis (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.07, P <.05) were predictive of unstable angina resulting from restenosis. Among dyslipidemic patients, those not on lipid-lowering drugs during the index procedure had a significantly higher incidence of unstable angina caused by restenosis than did those on lipid-lowering drugs (P <.05). CONCLUSION: Unstable angina caused by restenosis presents in as many as one fourth of patients undergoing PTCA of SVG. Dyslipidemia strongly, and to a lesser extent postprocedural residual stenosis, predicts its occurrence. Scrupulous attention to these modifiable risk factors may help reduce the incidence of unstable angina after SVG angioplasty.

Percutaneous coronary intervention in the current era compared with 1985-1986: the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Registries.

BACKGROUND: Although refinements have occurred in coronary angioplasty over the past decade, little is known about whether these changes have affected outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS: Baseline features and in-hospital and 1-year outcomes of 1559 consecutive patients in the 1997-1998 Dynamic Registry who were having first coronary intervention were compared with 2431 patients in the 1985-1986 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Registry. Compared with patients in the 1985-1986 Registry, Dynamic Registry patients were older (mean age, 62 versus 58 years; P:<0.001) and more often female (32.1% versus 25.5%; P:<0.001). In the Dynamic Registry, procedures were more often performed for acute myocardial infarction (22.9% versus 9.9%; P:<0.001) and treated lesions were more severe (84.5% versus 82.5% diameter reduction; P:<0.001), thrombotic (22.1% versus 11.3%; P:<0.001) or calcified (29.5% versus 10.8%; P:<0.001). Stents were used in 70.5% of Dynamic Registry patients, whereas 1985-1986 patients received balloon angioplasty alone. Procedural success was higher in the Dynamic Registry (92.0% versus 81.8%; P:<0.001) and the rate of in-hospital death, myocardial infarction, and emergency coronary bypass surgery combined was lower (4.9% versus 7.9%; P:=0.001) than in the 1985-1986 Registry. The 1-year rate for CABG was lower in the Dynamic Registry (6.9% versus 12.6%; P:<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Although Dynamic Registry patients had more unstable and complex coronary disease than those in the 1985-1986 Registry, their rate of procedural success was higher whereas rates of complications and subsequent CABG were lower. Results of percutaneous coronary intervention have improved substantially over the past decade.

Quality of life after coronary revascularization in the United States and Canada.

Cardiac procedures are performed less frequently in Canada than in the United States (US), yet rates of cardiac death and myocardial infarction are similar. We therefore sought to compare long-term symptoms and quality of life in Canadian and American patients undergoing initial coronary revascularization. The 161 patients enrolled in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation at the Montreal Heart Institute were compared with 934 patients enrolled at 7 US sites. Patients' outcomes were documented for 5 years after random assignment to percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Functional status was assessed using the Duke Activity Status Index. Canadian patients were significantly younger and had more angina at study entry. Death and nonfatal myocardial infarction were not significantly different between Canadian and US patients after adjustment for baseline risk. Canadian patients had significantly greater improvements in functional status at 1-year follow-up (Duke Activity Status Index score + 13.5 vs. + 6.0, p = 0.002), but this difference progressively narrowed over 5 years. Angina was equally prevalent in Canadian and US patients at 1 year (16% vs. 19%), but significantly more prevalent in Canadian patients at 5 years (36% vs. 16%, p = 0.001). Repeat revascularization procedures were performed less often over 5 years among Canadian patients (26% vs. 34%, p = 0.08), especially coronary artery bypass graft surgery after initial percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (18% vs. 32%, p = 0.03). These results suggest more anginal symptoms are required in Canada before coronary revascularization, but as a result Canadians receive greater improvements in quality of life after the procedure.

Psychosocial factors as predictors of functional status at 1 year in patients with left ventricular dysfunction.

Chronic heart failure patients often experience significant functional impairments. A better understanding of the biopsychosocial correlates of functional status may lead to interventions that improve quality of life in this population. Social isolation, mood disturbance, low socioeconomic status, and non-White ethnicity were evaluated as possible correlates of impaired functional status in 2,992 U.S. patients with left ventricular ejection fractions (LVEFs)

Management of coronary artery disease: therapeutic options in patients with diabetes.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this review is to discuss the particularities of coronary artery disease (CAD), the effect of intensive medical management and the outcome of percutaneous and surgical revascularization in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). BACKGROUND: CAD represents the leading cause of death in patients with DM. Numerous clinical, biological and angiographic risk factors have been shown to be associated with CAD in diabetic patients. METHODS: Metabolic abnormalities in patients with DM including insulin resistance, hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia are briefly discussed. Then the potential roles of medical management and of percutaneous and surgical coronary revascularization are more extensively reviewed. RESULTS: More vigorous control of hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and other risk factors may be of crucial importance for risk reduction. Despite remarkable progress in recent years, the choice of a coronary revascularization strategy remains a challenge in these patients. Diabetic patients with CAD are predisposed to higher cardiovascular events after balloon angioplasty. Whether stenting and new antiplatelet drugs improve the results of percutaneous revascularization in this population needs further evaluation. The superiority of the surgical approach is also not definitely established. Therefore, many aspects of coronary revascularization are still unclear in these patients. CONCLUSIONS: The results of ongoing randomized trials comparing multiple coronary stents to bypass surgery will likely provide some answers to our questions and additional randomized trials evaluating intensive diabetic control with or without coronary revascularization are needed to determine the best therapeutic approach in these patients.

Depression and health-care costs during the first year following myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: Depression in the hospital after myocardial infarction (MI) has been associated with a substantial increase in the long-term risk of cardiac mortality, but little is known about other outcomes. This study uses Quebec Medicare data to examine the relationship between post-MI depression and physician costs, including both out-patient care and hospital readmissions. METHODS: The sample consists of 848 1-year survivors of an acute MI who had completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in hospital. Two hundred sixty subjects had BDI scores of >/=10 (30.7%), indicative of mild to moderate symptoms of depression. Quebec Medicare data during the index admission for an acute MI and during the year following discharge were compared for the patients with elevated BDI scores and those with normal scores. RESULTS: Total costs, in Canadian dollars (out-patient physician charges plus physician costs during admissions plus estimates of associated direct costs), were about 41% higher (p = 0.004) for patients with elevated BDI scores. The difference was primarily related to out-patient and emergency room visits and readmission costs associated with longer stays in hospital wards, and was not accounted for by use of psychiatric services or readmissions for revascularization. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that, in addition to the survival risks associated with post-MI depression, there are increased health care costs linked to both readmissions and out-patient contacts among depressed patients who survive the first post-MI year. The extent to which the increased use of health care may have reduced depression and enhanced survival remains unclear.

Social support, depression, and mortality during the first year after myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: We previously reported that depression after myocardial infarction (MI) increases the long-term risk of cardiac mortality. Other research suggests that social support may also influence prognosis. This article examines the interrelationships between baseline depression and social support in terms of cardiac prognosis and changes in depression symptoms over the first post-MI year. METHODS AND RESULTS: For this study, 887 patients completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) at about 7 days after MI. Some 32% had BDIs > or =10, indicating mild to moderate depression. One-year survival status was determined for all patients. Follow-up interviews, including the BDI, were conducted with 89% of survivors. There were 39 deaths (35 cardiac). Elevated BDI scores were related to cardiac mortality (P=0.0006), but PSSS scores and other measures of social support were not. There was a significant interaction between depression and the PSSS (P=0. 016). The relationship between depression and cardiac mortality decreased with increasing support. Furthermore, residual change score analysis revealed that among 1-year survivors who had been depressed at baseline, higher baseline social support was related to more improvement in depression symptoms than expected. CONCLUSIONS: Post-MI depression is a predictor of 1-year cardiac mortality, but social support is not directly related to survival. However, very high levels of support appear to buffer the impact of depression on mortality. Furthermore, high levels of support predict improvements in depression symptoms over the first post-MI year in depressed patients. High levels of support may protect patients from the negative prognostic consequences of depression because of improvements in depression symptoms.

Double vessel occlusions after balloon angioplasty treated by stenting and subsequently by abciximab infusion.

Stent thrombosis is a serious complication after percutaneous coronary intervention. A patient is presented with a double vessel occlusion after balloon angioplasty and subsequent stenting. He was then managed by abciximab therapy alone. Control angiography showed complete resolution of the thrombotic occlusions. His subsequent clinical course was uneventful.

Clinical trials of coronary revascularization: coronary angioplasty vs. coronary bypass grafting.

In the absence of diabetes mellitus, rates of survival and of survival free of myocardial infarction (MI) are almost identical among patients with multivessel disease assigned to percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) versus those assigned to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) after 6.5 to 8 year follow-up period. Additional revascularization occurs 2.5 to 4.5 times more frequently in PTCA-treated than in CABG-treated patients and prevalence of angina is no longer statistically different between the two treatment groups. The excess health care costs of bypass surgery, which are important early after revascularization, almost disappear 5 to 8 years later. In patients with single vessel disease, survival free of MI is also comparable in both treatment groups at 5 years. Additional revasculariztion occurs two to four times more often in PTCA-treated than in CABG-treated patients and prevalence of angina does not differ between the two treatment groups. Thus, in nondiabetic patients with multivessel disease, the choice of a revascularization strategy rests on the patient's and treating physician's preference between the invasive nature of bypass surgery and the risk of recurrent procedures. In patients with single vessel disease, these long-term data suggest that bypass surgery is at least as safe and effective as coronary angioplasty and therefore may be a treatment option in selected cases.

Cost estimates for treatment of cardiac ischemia (from the Asymptomatic Cardiac Ischemia Pilot [ACIP] study).

Costs for management of myocardial ischemia are enormous, yet comparison cost and outcome data for various ischemia treatment strategies from randomized trials are lacking and will require cost and resource utilization data from a large prospective trial. The Asymptomatic Cardiac Ischemia Pilot provided feasibility data for planning such a trial and an opportunity to estimate the long-term costs of different treatment strategies. Economic implications for ischemia management were compared in 558 patients with stable coronary artery disease and myocardial ischemia during both stress testing and daily life. Participants were randomized to 3 different initial treatment strategies and followed for 2 years. Based on cost trends over follow-up, costs for subsequent care were estimated. As expected, due to initial procedural costs, at 3 months, estimated costs for revascularization were approximately 10 times greater than costs for a medical care strategy. Extrapolated costs for anticipated resource consumption for care beyond 2 years, however, were approximately 2 times greater for an initial medical care strategy than for initial revascularization. This was due to increased need for drugs and hospitalizations for both late revascularizations and other ischemia-related events. Estimated costs for anticipated care in the medical strategies reached the anticipated cost of the revascularization strategy within 10 years. Because this cost-equal time period is well within the median life expectancy for such a patient population, these findings could have important public health implications and require testing in a full-scale prognosis trial. We anticipate that over the patients' life expectancy, early revascularization is likely to become either cost-neutral or cost-effective.

Relationship of extent of revascularization with angina at one year in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI).

OBJECTIVES: To determine the relative degree of revascularization obtained with bypass surgery versus angioplasty in a randomized trial of patients with multivessel disease requiring revascularization (Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation [BARI]), one-year catheterization was performed in 15% of patients. BACKGROUND: Complete revascularization has been correlated with improved outcome after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) but not with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Relative degrees of revascularization after PTCA and surgery have not been previously compared and correlated with symptoms. METHODS: Consecutive patients at four BARI centers consented to recatheterization one year after revascularization. Myocardial jeopardy index (MJI), the percentage of myocardium jeopardized by > or =50% stenoses, was compared and correlated with angina status. RESULTS: Angiography was completed in 270 of 362 consecutive patients (75%) after initial CABG (n = 135) or PTCA (n = 135). Coronary artery bypass grafting patients had 3+/-0.9 distal anastomoses and PTCA patients had 2.4+/-1.1 lesions attempted at initial revascularization. At one year, 20.5% of CABG patients had > or =1 totally occluded graft and 86.9% of vein graft, and 91.6% of internal mammary artery distal anastomotic sites had <50% stenosis. One year jeopardy index in surgery patients was 14.1+/-11%, 46.6+/-20.3% improved from baseline. Initial PTCA was successful in 86.9% of lesions and repeat revascularization was performed in 48.4% of PTCA patients by one year. Myocardial jeopardy index one year after PTCA was 25.5+/-22.8%, an improvement of 33.8+/-26.1% (p<0.01 for greater improvement with CABG than PTCA). At one year, 29.6% of PTCA patients had angina versus 11.9% of surgery patients, p = 0.004. One-year myocardial jeopardy was predictive of angina (odds ratio 1.28 for the presence of angina per every 10% increment in myocardial jeopardy, p = 0.002). Randomization to PTCA rather than CABG also predicted angina (odds ratio 2.19, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In this one-year angiographic substudy of BARI, CABG provided more complete revascularization than PTCA, and CABG likewise improved angina to a greater extent than PTCA.

Influence of pre-PTCA strategy and initial PTCA result in patients with multivessel disease: the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI).

BACKGROUND: In PTCA patients with multivessel coronary artery disease, incomplete revascularization (IR) is the result of both pre-PTCA strategy and initial lesion outcome. The unique contribution of these components on long-term patient outcome is uncertain. METHODS AND RESULTS: From the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI), 2047 patients who underwent first-time PTCA were evaluated. Before enrollment, all significant lesions were assessed by the PTCA operator for clinical importance and intention to dilate. Complete revascularization (CR) was defined as successful dilatation of all clinically relevant lesions. Planned CR was indicated in 65% of all patients. More lesions were intended for PTCA in these patients compared with those with planned IR (2.8 versus 2.1). Successful dilatation of all intended lesions occurred in 45% of patients with planned CR versus 56% with planned IR (P<0. 001). In multivariable analysis, planned IR (versus planned CR), initial lesions attempted (not all versus all intended lesions attempted), and initial lesion outcome (not all versus all attempted lesions successful) were unrelated to 5-year risk of cardiac death or death/myocardial infarction but were all independently related to risk of CABG. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, a pre-PTCA strategy of IR in BARI-like patients appears comparable to a strategy of CR except for a higher need for CABG. Whether the use of new devices may attenuate the elevated risk of CABG in patients with multivessel disease and planned IR remains to be determined.

Is a strategy of intended incomplete percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty revascularization acceptable in nondiabetic patients who are candidates for coronary artery bypass graft surgery? The Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI).

OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to determine whether a strategy of intended incomplete percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty revascularization (IR) compromises long-term patient outcome. BACKGROUND: Complete angioplasty revascularization (CR) is often not planned nor attempted in patients with multivessel coronary disease, and the extent to which this influences outcome is unclear. METHODS: Before randomization, in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation, all angiograms were assessed for intended CR or IR via angioplasty. Outcomes were compared among patients with IR intended if assigned to angioplasty, randomized to coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) versus angioplasty; and within angioplasty patients only, among patients with IR versus CR intended. RESULTS: At 5 years, there was a trend for higher overall (88.6% vs. 84.0%) and cardiac survival (94.5% vs. 92.1%) in CABG versus angioplasty patients with IR intended. The excess mortality in angioplasty patients occurred solely in diabetic subjects; overall and cardiac survival were similar among nondiabetic CABG and angioplasty patients. Freedom from myocardial infarction (MI) at 5 years was higher in nondiabetic CABG versus angioplasty patients (92.4% vs. 85.2%, p = 0.02), vet was similar to the rate observed (85%) in nondiabetic CABG and angioplasty patients with CR intended. Five-year rates of death, cardiac death, repeat revascularization and angina were similar in all angioplasty patients with IR versus CR intended. However, a trend for greater freedom from subsequent CABG was seen in CR patients (70.3% vs. 64.0%, p = 0.08). CONCLUSIONS: Intended incomplete angioplasty revascularization in nondiabetic patients with multivessel disease who are candidates for both angioplasty and CABG does not compromise long-term survival; however, subsequent need for CABG may be increased with this strategy. Whether the risk of long-term MI is also increased remains uncertain.

Gender, depression, and one-year prognosis after myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess gender differences in the impact of depression on 1-year cardiac mortality in patients hospitalized for an acute myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS: Secondary analysis was performed on data from two studies that used the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to assess depression symptoms during hospitalization: a prospective study of post-MI risk and a randomized trial of psychosocial intervention (control group only). The sample included 896 patients (283 women) who survived to discharge and received usual posthospital care. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the risk of 1-year cardiac mortality associated with baseline BDI scores. RESULTS: There were 290 patients (133 women) with BDI scores > or =10 (at least mild to moderate symptoms of depression); 8.3% of the depressed women died of cardiac causes in contrast to 2.7% of the nondepressed. For depressed men, the rate of cardiac death was 7.0% in contrast to 2.4% of the nondepressed. Increased BDI scores were significantly related to cardiac mortality for both genders [the odds ratio for women was 3.29 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02-10.59); for men, the odds ratio was 3.05 (95% CI = 1.29-7.17)]. Control for other multivariate predictors of mortality in the data set (age, Killip class, the interactions of gender by non-Q wave MI, gender by left ventricular ejection fraction, and gender by smoking) did not change the impact of the BDI for either gender. CONCLUSIONS: Depression in hospital after MI is a significant predictor of 1-year cardiac mortality for women as well as for men, and its impact is largely independent of other post-MI risks.