Judgement of the multidisciplinary team is an important predictor of mortality after cardiac resynchronization therapy.

AIMS: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in appropriately selected patients with heart failure improves symptoms and survival. It is necessary to correctly identify patients who will benefit most from this therapy. We aimed to assess the predictive power of the multidisciplinary team's clinical judgement in the short-term death after CRT implantation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients with heart failure and referred for the first CRT implant were prospectively included. Prior to implantation, all patients underwent a systematic assessment with a team composed of social work, nurse, psychologist, nutritionist, and clinical cardiologist. Based on this assessment, patients could be contraindicated to CRT or referred to the procedure as favourable or unfavourable. All patients should complete 12 months of follow-up; 172 patients were referred for CRT, 21 (12.2%) were contraindicated after the multidisciplinary team evaluation, 71 (47%) referred to CRT as non-favourable implants, and 80 (53%) as favourable implants. All-cause mortality occurred in only 2 (2.5%) patients in the favourable group and in 30 (42.3%) in the non-favourable group, P < 0.001 (log rank). Among the 20 variables used as possible predictors of worse prognosis by the multidisciplinary team, four were independently associated with mortality in the follow-up after the multivariate analysis: 1 year MAGGIC score between 40% and 49%, relative risk (RR) 5.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3-18.6, P = 0.016; poor pharmacological adherence, RR 4.9, 95% CI 1.6-15.6, P = 0.007; glomerular filtration rate <35 mL/min/1.73 m2 , RR 3.0, 95% CI 1.1-8.5, P = 0.041; and right ventricular dysfunction, RR 2.6, 95% CI 1.2-5.7, P = 0.018. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical judgement before the CRT implantation performed by a multidisciplinary team through the analysis of clinical and psychosocial variables is a strong predictor of short-term mortality.

Biomarker release after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients without established myocardial infarction as assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance with late gadolinium enhancement.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the amount and pattern of cardiac biomarker release after elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients without evidence of a new myocardial infarction (MI) after the procedure as assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). BACKGROUND: The release of myocardial necrosis biomarkers after PCI frequently occurs. However, the correlation between biomarker release and the diagnosis of procedure-related MI type 4a has been controversial. METHODS: Patients with normal baseline cardiac biomarkers who were referred for elective PCI were prospectively included. CMR with LGE was performed in all of the patients before and after the intervention. Measurements of troponin I (TnI) and creatine kinase MB fraction (CK-MB) were systematically performed before and after the procedure. Patients with a new LGE on the post-procedure CMR were excluded. RESULTS: Of the 56 patients with no evidence of a procedure-related MI as assessed by CMR after the PCI, 48 (85.1%) exhibited an elevation of TnI above the 99th percentile. In 32 patients (57.1%), the peak was greater than five times this limit. Additionally, 17 patients (30.4%) had a CK-MB peak above the 99th percentile limit, but this peak was greater than five times the 99th percentile in only two patients (3.6%). The median peak release of TnI was 0.290 (0.061-1.09) ng/mL, which was 7.25-fold higher than the 99th percentile. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to CK-MB, an abnormal release of TnI often occurs after an elective PCI procedure, despite the absence of a new LGE on CMR.

Significant elevation of biomarkers of myocardial necrosis after coronary artery bypass grafting without myocardial infarction established assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance.

The release of myocardial necrosis biomarkers after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) frequently occurs. However, the correlation between biomarker release and the diagnosis of procedure-related myocardial infarction (MI) (type 5) has been controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the amount and pattern of cardiac biomarker release after elective OPCAB in patients without evidence of a new MI on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE).Patients with normal baseline cardiac biomarkers referred for elective OPCAB were prospectively included. CMR with LGE was performed in all patients before and after interventions. Measurements of troponin I (cTnI) and creatine kinase MB fraction (CK-MB) were systematically performed before and after the procedure. Patients with new LGE on the postprocedure CMR were excluded.All of the 53 patients without CMR evidence of a procedure-related MI after OPCAB exhibited a cTnI elevation peak above the 99th percentile. In 48 (91%), the peak value was >10 times this threshold. However, 41 (77%) had a CK-MB peak above the limit of the 99th percentile, and this peak was >10 times the 99th percentile in only 7 patients (13%). The median peak release of cTnI was 0.290 (0.8-3.7) ng/mL, which is 50-fold higher than the 99th percentile.In contrast with CK-MB, considerable cTnI release often occurs after an elective OPCAB procedure, despite the absence of new LGE on CMR.

Comparison between off-pump and on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with severe lesions at the circumflex artery territory: 5-year follow-up of the MASS III trial.

OBJECTIVES: The technical difficulty in the revascularization of the circumflex artery territory with off-pump surgery may compromise the outcome of this method in clinical follow-up. We aimed to evaluate cardiac events in patients with stable coronary artery disease and severe obstruction of the circumflex system, undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with or without cardiopulmonary bypass. METHODS: MASS III was a single-centre study that evaluated 308 patients with multivessel coronary artery disease randomized to on-pump (153) or off-pump (155) CABG. Of this total, 260 (84.4%) patients had, on coronary angiography, at least one 70% obstruction in the circumflex territory (141 on-pump and 119 off-pump). The combined outcome was death, myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization (angioplasty or surgery) or hospitalization for cardiac causes. Variables with possible associations (P < 0.1) were included in the multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The two groups were well matched for demographics and clinical and angiographic characteristics. After 5 years of follow-up, off-pump CABG had higher combined events than on-pump had: 25 (21%) vs 17 (12%), hazard ratio 1.88, 95% confidence interval 1.02-3.48, P = 0.041. In the multivariate model with the inclusion of the following variables: age (P = 0.09) and complete revascularization (P = 0.68), off-pump surgery remained as a predictor of combined events in 5 years, P = 0.03. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with multivessel coronary artery disease and severe lesions in the circumflex territory, off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery resulted in a higher incidence of cardiac events at 5-year follow-up. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN59539154 (http://www.controlled-trials.com).