Novel biomarkers in the prognosis of patients with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.

Biomarkers have a variety of clinical applications in multiple stages of diagnosis and therapy. Troponin T and brain natriuretic peptide are the best-known in the cardiovascular field, but experimental studies have identified new biomarkers with potential clinical value. In this article, novel biomarkers of kidney injury are investigated in the context of their relationship with atherosclerotic coronary disease. This review was carried out through a search in the PubMed database using as keywords each biomarker to be studied with the descriptor (DECS/MeSH) "Myocardial Infarction", and the keywords "coronary" and "cardiovascular", using the Boolean operator "AND". After the selection, 24 articles published between 2003 and 2017 were identified for the review. Eight biomarkers were investigated: neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2), syndecan-1, interleukin-6 (IL-6), galectin-3, and the vascular cell adhesion molecules ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. Most identified articles were experimental studies, studies on human subjects having few participants. There are several promising biomarkers in the setting of coronary disease. The main evidence available in the literature suggests that elevated NGAL levels are associated with better prognosis after cardiac arrest and with comorbid kidney injury; elevated FGF23 is associated with coronary artery disease severity; TIMP-2 protects against coronary artery disease; increased expression of syndecan-1 is observed in myocardial infarction (MI) and protects against an exacerbated inflammatory response; IL-6 is associated with atherosclerotic disease and major cardiovascular outcomes; galectin-3 correlates with adverse clinical events post-MI; and elevated ICAM-1/VCAM-1 levels are associated with risk of coronary disease. Further studies are required to better investigate the role of each of these biomarkers in both stable coronary disease and acute coronary syndrome.

Hospital admissions for aortic stenosis in pregnancy in the United States - a thirteen year analysis.

Cardiac disease is still the leading cause of non-pregnancy related maternal morbidity and mortality. Valvular disease is one of the most concerning cardiac conditions in pregnancy. Aortic stenosis (AS) is rare in young populations but deadly complications have been reported in pregnant women. This study is a retrospective review of data from the HCUP-NIS Database from 2002-2014. There were 1108 weighted discharges for both pregnancy and AS. The data contained ten or fewer unweighted discharges with AS in pregnancy that underwent a cardiac intervention: open heart surgery or percutaneous cardiac intervention. Patients who had at least one diagnosis for AS had a greater mean cost per discharge than the comparison groups. No deaths were identified in this group. We found a statistically significant increase in the billing codes for pulmonary hypertension and heart failure. Conditions commonly associated with AS such as atrial arrhythmias, ventricular arrhythmias, diastolic dysfunction, ischemic heart disease and stroke were poorly reported. Our study identified a low incidence of AS and its complications in pregnancy in the USA over our 13-year study period. Even though, the morbidity and mortality are low, it is important that clinicians be aware of this diagnosis due higher costs and risk of complications.

Hospital admissions for tuberculous pericarditis in the United States 2002-2014.

Background: Extra pulmonary manifestations of tuberculosis (TB) are rare in developed countries. TB is the main etiology of chronic pericarditis in developing countries, but it's epidemiology is not unknown in the United States. Methods: This retrospective study used the Healthcare Utilization Projects/Nationwide Inpatient Sample (HCUPS/NIS) database from 2002-2014 to evaluate the characteristics, risk factors, trends over time and region of tuberculous pericarditis in the United States. Results: The data during the study period consists of 100,790,900 discharges accounting for 482,872,274 weighted discharges. The data showed 744 weighted discharges with indication of both tuberculosis and pericarditis. A co-ocurrence of TB pericarditis and malignancy or chronic kidney disease was more common than in patients without TB pericarditis. The frequency of co-ocurrence of TB pericarditis and HIV infection, obesity, alcohol abuse and organ transplant was not elevated. Conclusion: TB pericarditis is rare disease in the USA and the classical risk factors for lung tuberculosis may not be associated with TB pericarditis. CKD and malignancy appear to be associated with TB pericarditis, further studies are required to determine causality.

Lead Removal Without Extraction Tools: A Single-Center Experience.

INTRODUCTION: Indications for cardiac devices have been increasing as well as the need for lead extractions as a result of infections, failed leads and device recalls. Powered laser sheaths, with a global trend towards the in-creasingly technological tools, meant to improve the procedure's outcome but have economic implications. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the experience of a Bra-zilian center that uses simple manual traction in most lead removals per-formed annually, questioning the real need for expensive and technically challenging new devices. METHODS: This retrospective observational study included 35 patients who had a transvenous lead extraction in the period of a year between January 1998 and October 2014 at Hospital de Messejana Dr. Carlos Alberto Studart Gomes, in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil. Data were collected through a records review. They were evaluated based on age, type of device, dwelling time, indication for removal, technique used and immediate outcomes. RESULTS: The median dwelling time of the devices was 46.22 months. Infec-tion, lead fracture and device malfunction were the most common indica-tions. Simple traction was the method of choice, used in 88.9% of the pro-cedures. Manual traction presented high success rates, resulting in com-plete removal without complications in 90% of the cases. CONCLUSION: This article suggests that lead extraction by simple manual traction can still be performed effectively in countries with economic diffi-culties as a first attempt, leaving auxiliary tools for a second attempt in case of failure or contraindications to the simple manual traction technique.

Lead removal without extraction tools: a single-center experience

Abstract Introduction: Indications for cardiac devices have been increasing as well as the need for lead extractions as a result of infections, failed leads and device recalls. Powered laser sheaths, with a global trend towards the in-creasingly technological tools, meant to improve the procedure's outcome but have economic implications. Objective: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the experience of a Bra-zilian center that uses simple manual traction in most lead removals per-formed annually, questioning the real need for expensive and technically challenging new devices. Methods: This retrospective observational study included 35 patients who had a transvenous lead extraction in the period of a year between January 1998 and October 2014 at Hospital de Messejana Dr. Carlos Alberto Studart Gomes, in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil. Data were collected through a records review. They were evaluated based on age, type of device, dwelling time, indication for removal, technique used and immediate outcomes. Results: The median dwelling time of the devices was 46.22 months. Infec-tion, lead fracture and device malfunction were the most common indica-tions. Simple traction was the method of choice, used in 88.9% of the pro-cedures. Manual traction presented high success rates, resulting in com-plete removal without complications in 90% of the cases. Conclusion: This article suggests that lead extraction by simple manual traction can still be performed effectively in countries with economic diffi-culties as a first attempt, leaving auxiliary tools for a second attempt in case of failure or contraindications to the simple manual traction technique.