Myocardial Infarction incidence during national lockdown in two French provinces unevenly affected by COVID-19 outbreak: An observational study.

BACKGROUND: A reduction of admission for MI has been reported in most countries affected by COVID-19. No clear explanation has been provided. METHODS: To report the incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) admission during COVID-19 pandemic and in particular during national lockdown in two unequally affected French provinces (10-million inhabitants) with a different media strategy, and to describe the magnitude of MI incidence changes relative to the incidence of COVID-19-related deaths. A longitudinal study to collect all MIs from January 1 until May 17, 2020 (study period) and from the identical time period in 2019 (control period) was conducted in all centers with PCI-facilities in northern "Hauts-de-France" province and western "Pays-de-la-Loire" Province. The incidence of COVID-19 fatalities was also collected. FINDINGS: In "Hauts-de-France", during lockdown (March 18-May 10), 1500 COVID-19-related deaths were observed. A 23% decrease in MI-IR (IRR=0.77;95%CI:0.71-0.84, p<0.001) was observed for a loss of 272 MIs (95%CI:-363,-181), representing 18% of COVID-19-related deaths. In "Pays-de-la-Loire", 382 COVID-19-related deaths were observed. A 19% decrease in MI-IR (IRR=0.81; 95%CI=0.73-0.90, p<0.001) was observed for a loss of 138 MIs (95%CI:-210,-66), representing 36% of COVID-19-related deaths. While in "Hauts-de-France" the MI decline started before lockdown and recovered 3 weeks before its end, in "Pays-de-la-Loire", it started after lockdown and recovered only by its end. In-hospital mortality of MI patients was increased during lockdown in both provinces (5.0% vs 3.4%, p=0.02). INTERPRETATION: It highlights one of the potential collateral damages of COVID-19 outbreak on cardiovascular health with a dramatic reduction of MI incidence. It advocates for a careful and weighted communication strategy in pandemic crises. FUNDING: The study was conducted without external funding.

Secondary medical prevention and clinical outcome in coronary artery disease patients with a history of non-coronary vascular intervention: A report from the CORONOR investigators.

AIM: To assess the level of secondary prevention and the outcome of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients who have a history of non-coronary vascular intervention. BACKGROUND: Patients with polyvascular disease have been reported to receive less evidence-based medications, with worse risk factor control and to be at higher risk than patients with single-bed disease. It is unknown whether these findings remain valid in the modern era of secondary prevention. METHODS: We included 4184 patients with stable CAD. Two groups were formed according to the absence (n = 3704) or presence (n = 480) of a history of non-coronary vascular intervention. Treatments and risk factor control were recorded at inclusion. Follow-up was performed after 2 years. RESULTS: Antiplatelets, angiotensin system antagonists, beta-blockers and statins were widely prescribed in both groups. The number of antihypertensive drugs was higher in patients with non-coronary vascular intervention. Except for slight increases in the rate of current smokers and in systolic blood pressure, risk factor control was similar between groups. All-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates were higher in patients with non-coronary intervention with adjusted HR of 1.55 (1.13-2.13) (p = 0.007), and 1.98 (1.24-3.15) (p = 0.004), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In modern practice and real life conditions, the higher risk of CAD patients with a history of non-coronary vascular intervention is taken into account, with more intense secondary prevention and similar risk factor control than patients without such history. In spite of the level of secondary prevention, patients with a history of non-coronary vascular intervention remain at high risk of cardiovascular events. This should be an incentive to discuss more stringent objectives for secondary prevention in patients with polyvascular disease.

Serum hepatocyte growth factor levels predict long-term clinical outcome after percutaneous coronary revascularization.

AIMS: To evaluate, in patients referred for elective percutaneous coronary revascularization (PCR) without heparin pre-treatment, the relationship between baseline serum levels of the angiogenic growth factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and clinical outcome. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 488 consecutive patients undergoing elective coronary angioplasty, hsC-reactive protein, HGF, and VEGF levels were measured before heparin administration. The primary endpoint, a composite of death and myocardial infarction, occurred in 44 patients at a median follow-up of 14.9 months. At baseline, VEGF levels were related to C-reactive protein levels and inversely related to age; HGF levels were related to C-reactive protein levels, diabetes, and recent clinical instability. In the univariate analysis, HGF had a significant positive relationship (P=0.003) with the primary endpoint. A similar trend was observed for VEGF (P=0.11). The only three variables significantly associated with the primary endpoint in the multivariable Cox model were HGF (P=0.004), C-reactive protein (P=0.007), and diabetes (P=0.04). CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that in patients, without heparin pre-treatment, referred for PCR, a high serum level of HGF is an independent predictor of clinical events during follow-up and is correlated with other surrogate measures of the activity of atherosclerosis.

Angioplasty in the diabetic patient.

Patients with diabetes have an increased risk of coronary artery disease, and are at an increased risk of mortality and morbidity with coronary revascularization procedures. This article provides a review of the currently available information on percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the diabetic patient. The effectiveness of PCI in diabetes is discussed, and the factors that may influence outcomes are explored. Recent developments in PCI procedures, such as stents and drug-eluting stents, glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors and brachytherapy, are evaluated in terms of their ability to improve the prognosis in this patient group.

Effects of coronary stenting on vessel patency and long-term clinical outcome after percutaneous coronary revascularization in diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to compare coronary stent implantation with balloon angioplasty (BA), in a diabetic population, in terms of the six-month angiographic outcome and four-year clinical events. BACKGROUND: Diabetic patients have a poor angiographic and clinical outcome after standard coronary BA. To date, it is still unclear whether stent implantation may improve this outcome. METHODS: We investigated this issue by individual matching of 314 diabetic patients treated with either coronary stenting or standard BA. These two groups were derived from a population of consecutive diabetic patients (1993 to 1996). Matching criteria were gender, anti-diabetic regimen, stenosis location, reference diameter, and minimal luminal diameter (+/-0.4 mm). One lesion per patient was considered for matching. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were similar between the two groups of 157 patients. At six months, the rates of restenosis (27% vs. 62%; p < 0.0001) and occlusion (4% vs. 13%; p < 0.005) were lower in the stent group than in the BA group. This was associated with a significant decrease in ejection fraction at six months in the BA group (p = 0.02) while, during the same period, no change was observed in the stent group (p = NS). Subgroup analysis demonstrated that angiographic benefit was consistent among the subgroups. At four years, the combined clinical end point of cardiac death and non-fatal myocardial infarction was lower in the stent group (14.8% vs. 26.0%; p = 0.02), as was the need for repeat revascularization (35.4% vs. 52.1%; p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In a population of diabetic patients, coronary stent implantation was associated with a highly beneficial effect on the six-month angiographic outcome and four-year clinical events compared with standard BA.