Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the CODE ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Program: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The code ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) program is an operational standard of integrated service for STEMI patients carried out by Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital. The emerging coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak brought about many changes in the management of healthcare services, including the code STEMI program. This study aimed to evaluate the healthcare service quality of the Code STEMI program during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the Donabedian concept.  Methods: This was a mixed-methods study using quantitative and qualitative analyses. It was conducted at the Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, a national referral hospital in Indonesia. We compared the data of each patient, including response time, clinical outcomes, length of stay, and cost, from two years between 2018-2020 and 2020-2022 as the pre-COVID-19 code STEMI and COVID-19 Code STEMI periods, respectively. Interviews were conducted to determine the quality of services from the perspectives of stakeholders. RESULTS: A total of 195 patients participated in the study: 120 patients in pre-COVID-19 code STEMI and 75 patients in COVID-19 code STEMI. Our results showed that there was a significant increase in patient's length of stay during the COVID-19 pandemic (4 days vs. 6 days, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, MACE (13% vs. 11%, p = 0.581), the in-hospital mortality rate (8% vs. 5%, p = 0.706), door-to-wire crossing time (161 min vs. 173 min, p = 0.065), door-to-needle time (151 min vs. 143 min p = 0.953), and hospitalization cost (3,490 USD vs. 3,700 USD, p = 0.945) showed no significant changes. In terms of patient satisfaction, patients found code STEMI during COVID-19 to be responsive and excellent. CONCLUSION: The implementation of the code STEMI program during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that modified pathways were required because of the COVID-19 screening process. According to the Donabedian model, during the pandemic, the code STEMI program's healthcare service quality decreased because of a reduction in efficacy, effectiveness, efficiency, and optimality. Despite these limitations attributed to the pandemic, the code STEMI program was able to provide good services for STEMI patients.

Validity and reliability studies of the Indonesian version of Atrial Fibrillation Severity Scale (AFSS).

BACKGROUND: In the atrial fibrillation (AF) population, worsened quality of life (QOL) has been reported even before complications occur. Symptom-based questionnaires can be used to evaluate AF treatment. The Atrial Fibrillation Severity Scale (AFSS) was first developed in Canada in English, which is not the main language in Indonesia. This study aims to test the reliability and validity of the Indonesian version of the Atrial Fibrillation Severity Scale (AFSS). METHODS: Translation of the AFSS from English to Indonesian was done using forward and backward translation. The final version was then validated with the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire, and a test-retest reliability study was done in a 7-14-day interval. RESULTS: An Indonesian version of AFSS was achieved and deemed acceptable by a panel of researchers. This version is reliable and valid, with Cronbach's α of 0.819, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) ranging from 0.803 to 0.975, and total score correlation ranging from 0.333 to 0.895. Pearson's analysis of AFSS and SF-36 revealed that the total AF burden domain was poorly correlated with role limitations due to emotional problems (r:0.427; p < 0.01) and pain (r:0.495; p < 0.01). The symptom severity domain was poorly correlated with physical functioning (r:-0.335; p < 0.01), role limitations due to emotional problems (r:0.499; p < 0.01), pain (r:0.458; p < 0.01), and total SF-36 score (r:-0.361; p < 0.01). Total AFSS score was moderately correlated with role limitations due to emotional problems (r:0.516; p < 0.01) and pain (r:0.538; p < 0.01). The total AFSS score was poorly correlated with the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) score (r:0.315; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The Indonesian version of AFSS has good internal and external validity with good reliability.

Efficacy and Safety of Clopidogrel in the Prevention of Primary Failure of Arteriovenous Fistula in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Arteriovenous fistula (FAV) is the most widely used vascular access for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing routine hemodialysis in Indonesia. However, FAV can become dysfunctional before it is used for the initiation of hemodialysis, a condition known as primary failure. Clopidogrel is an anti-platelet aggregation that has been reported to reduce the incidence of primary failure in FAV compared to other anti-platelet aggregation agents. Through this systematic review, we aimed to assess the role of clopidogrel to the incidence of primary FAV failure and the risk of bleeding in ESRD patients. METHODS: A literature search was carried out to obtain randomized Control Trial studies conducted since 1987 from Medline / Pubmed, EbscoHost, Embase, Proquest, Scopus, and Cochrane Central without language restrictions. Risk of bias assessment was performed with the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 application. RESULTS: All of the three studies involved indicated the benefit of clopidogrel for the prevention of AVF primary failure. However, all of the studies have substantial differences. Abacilar's study included only participants with diabetes mellitus. This study also administered a combination of clopidogrel 75 mg and prostacyclin 200 mg/day, while Dember's study gave an initial dose of clopidogrel 300 mg followed by daily dose 75 mg and Ghorbani's study only gave clopidogrel 75 mg/day. Ghorbani and Abacilar started the intervention 7-10 days before AVF creation, while Dember started 1 day after VAF creation. Dember gave treatment for 6 weeks with an assessment of primary failure at the end of week 6, Ghorbani's treatment lasted for 6 weeks with an assessment at week 8, while Abacilar gave treatment for one year with an assessment at weeks 4 after AVF creation. In addition, the prevalence of bleeding did not differ between the treatment and control groups. CONCLUSION: Clopidogrel can reduce the incidence of primary FAV failure without significant increase of bleeding events.

Harmonising Individual Patient Level Cardiac Registry Data Across the Asia Pacific Region-A Feasibility Study of In-Hospital Outcomes of STEMI Patients From the Asia Pacific Evaluation of Cardiovascular Therapies (ASPECT) Network.

OBJECTIVE: The Asia-Pacific Evaluation of Cardiovascular Therapies (ASPECT) collaboration was established to inform on percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the Asia-Pacific Region. Our aims were to (i) determine the operational requirements to assemble an international individual patient dataset and validate the processes of governance, data quality and data security, and subsequently (ii) describe the characteristics and outcomes for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients undergoing PCI in the ASPECT registry. METHODS: Seven (7) ASPECT members were approached to provide a harmonised anonymised dataset from their local registry. Patient characteristics were summarised and associations between the characteristics and in-hospital outcomes for STEMI patients were analysed. RESULTS: Six (6) participating sites (86%) provided governance approvals for the collation of individual anonymised patient data from 2015 to 2017. Five (5) sites (83%) provided >90% of agreed data elements and 68% of the collated elements had <10% missingness. From the registry (n=12,620), 84% were male. The mean age was 59.2±12.3 years. The Malaysian cohort had a high prevalence of previous myocardial infarction (34%), almost twice that of any other sites (p<0.001). Adverse in-hospital outcomes were the lowest in Hong Kong whilst in-hospital mortality varied from 2.7% in Vietnam to 7.9% in Singapore. CONCLUSIONS: Governance approvals for the collation of individual patient anonymised data was achieved with a high level of data alignment. Secure data transfer process and repository were established. Patient characteristics and presentation varied significantly across the Asia-Pacific region with this likely to be a major predictor of variations in the clinical outcomes observed across the region.

Advancing The Cardiovascular Care in Cancer Patients on Chemotherapy.

Cardiotoxicity associated with chemotherapy, also known as Cancer Therapy-Related Cardiac Dysfunction (CTRCD), affects 10% of patients undergoing chemotherapy and is the most undesirable side effect of chemotherapy. Over time, it is anticipated that there would be an increase in the number of cancer patients receiving treatments that could harm their cardiovascular systems. Physicians should choose whether to continue, halt, delay, or reduce the dose of chemotherapeutic drugs to reduce the impact of cardiotoxicity. Cardiotoxicity screening and diagnosis need a variety of methods, primarily echocardiography to evaluate Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF) and Global Longitudinal Strain (GLS). Depending on the clinical state, these procedures may be carried out prior to, during, or following chemotherapy. It's critical to reduce cardiovascular risk factors and offer advice on leading a healthy lifestyle before giving cancer patients medicines. There are a lot of cancer treatment facilities all around the world that don't have evidence-based perspective cardiotoxicity scores to stratify the risk of cardiovascular problems caused by cancer therapy. Additionally, comorbid conditions like diabetes and hypertension are frequently present in cancer patients, which can have a significant impact on clinical outcomes and cancer treatment. Therefore, this article aims to discuss assessment methods, clinical practice guidance, and prevention of CTRCD.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management of ST-Segment elevation myocardial infarction in Indonesia: a cohort study.

Background: ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a form of acute coronary syndrome with high mortality rate. Management of STEMI should be performed as soon as possible to prevent further damage. With the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), it may face obstacles. To overcome those problems, some changes in policy focusing on fibrinolytic therapy in STEMI patients have been applied. This study aimed to identify the effects of COVID-19 in management of STEMI patients in Indonesia. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (CMH), the national referral center in Indonesia. We compared data between 2018 to 2019 and 2020 to 2021 as before and during COVID-19 pandemic period, respectively. We analyzed the effects of COVID-19 on STEMI patients' visits to hospital i.e., monthly hospital admission and symptoms-to-hospital, management of STEMI i.e., the strategies and time of reperfusion, and clinical outcomes of STEMI patients i.e., major adverse coronary event and mortality. Results: There was a significant statistically reduced mean of monthly hospital admissions from 11 to 7 (p = 0.002) and prolonged duration of symptoms-to-hospital during COVID-19 from 8 to 12 hours (p = 0.005). There was also a decrease in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) procedures during COVID-19 (65.2% vs. 27.8%, p<0.001), which was accompanied by an increased number of fibrinolytic (1.5% vs. 9.5%, p<0.001) and conservative therapy (28.5% vs. 55.6%, p <0.01). Moreover, there was also a prolonged duration of diagnosis-to-wire-crossing time (160 vs. 186 minutes, p = 0.005), meanwhile, percentage of urgent PCI, door-to-needle time, and clinical outcomes were not statistically significant. Conclusions: During COVID-19 pandemic, the number STEMI patients declined in monthly hospital admission, delays in symptoms-to-hospital time, changes in type of reperfusion strategy, and delays in PPCI procedures in CMH. Meanwhile, fibrinolytic time and clinical outcomes were not affected.

Effect of atorvastatin on subclinical atherosclerosis in virally-suppressed HIV-infected patients with CMV seropositivity: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Persistent immune activation and inflammation in HIV-infection are linked to excess cardiovascular risk and other non-communicable diseases. Periodic asymptomatic CMV-reactivity in HIV infected patients over a lifetime may contribute to non-AIDS defining morbidity. Despite undetectable levels of HIV and CMV, these patients continue to have increased levels of biomarkers and immune activations. Statin administration is thought to reduce subclinical atherosclerosis by decreasing LDL-C levels. It may also add beneficial effects against CMV infection. Methods: We are conducting a double-blind placebo-controlled trial in which patients are randomized to receive either atorvastatin or placebo with a ratio of 1:1. This trial aims to study the effect of atorvastatin in statin-naive virally-suppressed HIV-infected patients with stable ART and CMV seropositivity on carotid intima media thickness (CIMT), tool that evaluates subclinical atherosclerosis. The study recruits 80 patients at HIV integrated care unit of Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital. All eligible subjects have CIMT evaluation as primary outcome, along with flow mediated vasodilatation (FMD), liver fibrosis and steatosis evaluation, fasting lipid, neurocognitive test, community periodontal index (CPI), and residual immune activation as secondary outcomes in 48 weeks. Ethics and dissemination: This study has received an ethical approval from Health Research Ethics Commitee-Universitas Indonesia and Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital. Before joining the study, all participants fill in an informed consent form. At the end of study analysis, the trial results will be published and disseminated in peer-reviewed journals. Discussion: The main purpose of our study is to evaluate the effect of atorvastatin administration on CIMT changes in statin naïve virally suppressed HIV-infected patients with stable ART and CMV seropositivity Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT04101136; registered on 24 September 2019.

Ebstein Anomaly in Pregnancy.

A 27-year-old primiparous woman with 28 weeks gestational age was admitted to our hospital with worsening shortness of breath. She was diagnosed with Ebstein's anomaly three years ago, but preferred to be left untreated. The patient was not cyanotic and her vital signs were stable. Her ECG showed incomplete RBBB and prolonged PR-interval. Blood tests revealed mild anemia. Observation of two-dimensional echo with color flow Doppler study showed Ebstein's anomaly with PFO as additional defects, EF of 57%, LV and LA dilatation, RV atrialization, severe TR, and moderate PH with RVSP of 44.3 mmHg. The patient then underwent elective sectio caesaria at 30 weeks of gestational age; both the mother and her baby were alive and were in good conditions. PROBLEM: there was an increasing breathlessness in this patient so that there was an increasing need to take a decision for her pregnancy.Ebstein's anomaly is a complicated congenital anomaly. Medical treatment may be followed for many years in patients with mild forms of Ebstein's anomaly. Surgery should be considered if there is objective evidence of debasement such as significant enlargement of heart size, reduction of systolic function in echocardiography.