Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Cardiovascular Mortality: The Role of Health Care System Interventions.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The world is proliferating rapidly, with science and technology advancing at an incredible rate. These advances have, however, ushered in an age with a rise in social isolation (SI) and loneliness. SI is an objective term that refers to lacking social contact or support. On the other hand, loneliness is subjective and refers to feeling alone or isolated. These concepts are rapidly gaining prominence mainly due to their negative impact on the physical and psychological health of the population, mainly through behavioural modifications that encompass substance abuse, decreased physical activity and unhealthy food habits, and poor sleep hygiene. This review summarizes the pathophysiology, evaluates the evidence behind impact of SI on cardiovascular mortality, and interventions to overcome SI. RECENT FINDINGS: Through proposed mechanisms, such as activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, both SI and loneliness have strong evidence linking them to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 90 prospective cohort studies including 2,205,199 individuals reported that SI was independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality with a point estimate of 1.34 (95% confidence interval:1.25-1.44). The evidence so far is compelling and necessitates urgent action with the implementation of strict policies to tackle this issue. As healthcare professionals, it becomes even more critical to remain vigilant, recognize this insidious pandemic, and take appropriate action.

Transcatheter Mitral Annuloplasty: Carillon Device.

Functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) is a common valvular heart disease in the geriatric population across the United States. This patient cohort is multimorbid and often has a prohibitive risk for conventional open-heart surgery. The diverse anatomic pathology of FMR is a complex problem and unfortunately does not have a universal solution. Carillon Mitral Contour System (Cardiac Dimensions, Kirkland, WA, USA) is a new device that provides transcatheter annular remodeling. In this review article, the authors summarize the evidence for the Carillon Mitral Contour System for FMR.

Ten-year outcomes post percutaneous coronary intervention in cardiac transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is one of the major late causes of mortality in cardiac transplant recipients beyond the first year. Given the lack of longer term data for PCI in cardiac transplant recipients, we report ten year follow up of such cardiac transplant recipients who underwent PCI at Mayo Clinic. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted that included cardiac transplant recipients who underwent PCI at the Mayo Clinic. Continuous variables were presented as mean (SD) or median (IQR) and discrete variables were presented as frequency (percentage). RESULTS: Thirty-eight consecutive cardiac transplant recipients underwent PCI from January 1, 1995, to June 30, 2023, at the Mayo Clinic. The median age of the cohort was 61.00 years (IQR:51.00-70.00) comprised predominantly of men (65.80%), and 47.40% of the cohort presented with an acute coronary syndrome. The antirejection therapy prior to the PCI included steroids (47.30%), cyclosporine (26.30%), tacrolimus (15.80%), mycophenolate (42.10%), azathioprine (13.10%), & sirolimus (31.57%). Intravascular ultrasound during PCI was utilized in 10.50% of the cases. The median time duration between heart transplant and PCI was 9.00 years (IQR:6.00-13.00 years). Two individuals needed repeat heart transplant for severe CAV. In hospital mortality was 5.20% and the long-term median survival was 7.20 years with a 10-year mortality rate of 65.70%. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first publication reporting ten-year outcomes for PCI in cardiac transplant patients. The salient features for our cohort were a 65.70% mortality rate at 10 years and a median survival of 7.20 years.

Concomitant Redo Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement and Valve-in-Mitral Annular Calcification.

Contemporary challenges in structural heart intervention include redo transcatheter aortic valve replacement and transcatheter mitral valve replacement in severe mitral annular calcification. We report a case of concomitant redo transcatheter aortic valve replacement and transcatheter mitral valve replacement in mitral annular calcification in a patient with radiation heart disease. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).

First Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement With Gadobutrol in a Patient With Severe Contrast Allergy.

Iodinated contrast media (ICM) is an integral part of interventional cardiology procedures however, a proportion of patients have contrast allergy. We report the first TAVR performed with a gadolinium-based contrast agent, gadobutrol (GBCA) in a patient with severe recurrent ICM allergic reactions despite prophylactic treatment.

Outcomes of Patients Who Undergo Elective Covered Stent Treatment for Coronary Artery Aneurysms.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery aneurysms (CAA) are reported in up to 5% of patients undergoing coronary angiography. Treatment of CAAs with covered stents has been reported in several case reports, however there is limited evidence available on the effectiveness and safety of this interventional practice. PURPOSE: To evaluate the current practice and outcomes of elective treatment of coronary artery aneurysms with covered stents. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of published case reports and case series of patients presenting with CAA that have been treated with covered stents in a non-emergency setting. RESULTS: A total of 63 case reports and 3 case series were included in the final analysis comprising data from 81 patients. The treated CAA was situated in a native coronary artery in 92.6%, and in a saphenous vein graft in 7.4%. Procedural success was achieved in 95.1%. The types of stents used were mainly polytetrafluoroethylene (75.3%) and Papyrus (11.1%). In 11.0% of cases additional abluminal drug eluting stents (DES) and in 6.8% additional adluminal DES were implanted. After a mean follow up of 13.4 months overall major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, stent thrombosis and target lesion revascularization were reported in 26.2, 0.0, 7.6, 0.0, 4.6 and 18.5% of cases, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The use of covered stents for elective treatment of CAA appears to be effective and reasonably safe. Nevertheless, it is associated with higher MACE rate, driven mainly by higher target lesion revascularization. Further studies, particularly in form of randomized trials and controlled registries are warranted to identify patients who might profit the most from this procedure.

Current and Future Application of Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement.

Mitral valve anatomy is complex, and one size does not fit all. More recently, percutaneous mitral valve interventions have revolutionized the management of primary and secondary mitral regurgitation (MR). However, edge-to-edge leaflet repair is not suitable for a large proportion of individuals including those with a failing bioprosthetic mitral valve/annuloplasty ring, and patients with significant mitral annular calcification resulting in mixed mitral valve disease/mitral stenosis. For this high risk cohort, transcatheter mitral valve replacement seems to be an attractive alternative.

Prognostic implications of the rapid recruitment of coronary collaterals during ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI): a meta-analysis of over 14,000 patients.

Acute coronary collateralisation of an infarct-related arterial (IRA) territory may be identified during angiography for ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Whether the presence or absence of these collaterals affects outcomes remains uncertain. A search of EMBASE, MEDLINE and Cochrane Library, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines was conducted to identify studies which reported on the association between coronary collaterals and in-hospital and longer term mortality, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), risk of repeat acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and repeat revascularisation. Patients with Rentrop grade 0 or 1 were defined as poor collaterals whilst those with Rentrop grade two or three were defined as those with robust collaterals. Studies were eligible if they included patients ≥ 18 years of age who had immediate coronary angiography for STEMI. Included studies were observational which recorded the degree of collateral blood flow to the IRA. Two investigators reviewed all citations using a predefined protocol with final consensus for all studies, the data from which was then independently entered to ensure fidelity of results. Inverse variance random effects model for the meta-analysis along with risk of bias assessment was performed. 20 studies with a total of 14,608 patients were identified and included in the analysis. Patients with robust collaterals had lower mortality (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.48-0.64), both in-hospital (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.35-0.63) and longer term (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.46-0.75). Patients with robust collaterals also had a higher mean LVEF (SMD 0.23, 95% CI 0.10-0.37). There was no difference in the rates of AMI or repeat revascularisation between patients with robust or poor collaterals. The presence of robust collaterals during STEMI is associated with reduced in-hospital and longer term mortality and improved left ventricular function. These findings have implications for prognostication and identifying patients who require close monitoring following STEMI.

Outcomes Following Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Renal Transplant Recipients: A Binational Collaborative Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical and procedural characteristics in patients with a history of renal transplant (RT) and compare the outcomes with patients without RT in 2 national cohorts of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) and British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (BCIS) were used to compare the clinical and procedural characteristics and outcomes of patients undergoing PCI who had RT with those who did not have RT. The primary outcome of interest was in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Of the PCI procedures performed in 2004-2014 (NIS) and 2007-2014 (BCIS), 12,529 of 6,601,526 (0.2%) and 1521 of 512,356 (0.3%), respectively, were undertaken in patients with a history of RT. Patients with RT were younger and had a higher prevalence of congestive cardiac failure, hypertension, and diabetes but similar use of drug-eluting stents, intracoronary imaging, and pressure wire studies compared with patients who did not have RT. In the adjusted analysis, patients with RT had increased odds of in-hospital mortality (NIS: odds ratio [OR], 1.90; 95% CI, 1.41-2.57; BCIS: OR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.05-2.46) compared with patients who did not have RT but no difference in vascular or bleeding events. Meta-analysis of the 2 data sets suggested an increase in in-hospital mortality (OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.40-2.29) but no difference in vascular (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 0.77-2.00) or bleeding (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.86-1.68) events. CONCLUSION: This large collaborative analysis of 2 national databases revealed that patients with RT undergoing PCI are younger, have more comorbidities, and have increased mortality risk compared with the general population undergoing PCI.

When to use intravascular ultrasound or optical coherence tomography during percutaneous coronary intervention?

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) are intravascular imaging technologies widely used in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. The impact of these modalities for optimizing the acute and longer-term clinical impact following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is supported by a wealth of clinical evidence. Intravascular imaging provides unique information for enhanced lesion preparation, optimal stent sizing, recognizing post PCI complications, and the etiology of stent failure. This review compares and contrasts the key aspects of these imaging modalities during PCI.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the clinical outcomes of TAVI versus SAVR in the octogenarian population.

BACKGROUND: Surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) has shown safe, robust results in elderly populations, and up until recently, was the gold standard for management of severe aortic stenosis. The approach to severe aortic stenosis in high-risk populations, such as octogenarians, has been challenged with the development of transcatheter-based strategies. We sought to systematically analyse outcomes between surgical and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVI) in octogenarians. METHOD: Electronic databases were searched from their inception until November 2018 for studies comparing SAVR to TAVI in octogenarians, according to a predefined search criterion. The primary end point was mortality, and secondary end points included post-procedural complications. RESULTS: The review yielded four observational studies. The total number of patients included was 1221 including 395 who underwent TAVI and 826 SAVR. On average, patients from both subgroups carried a high number of cardiac risk factors, and STS-PROM scoring yielded mean values equating to high-risk population groups, with significantly higher values for TAVI patients across the board. The presence of post-procedural moderate aortic regurgitation was noted only in the TAVI population (OR = 8.88; 95% CI (1.47-53.64), χ2 = 1.22; p = 0.02; I 2 = 0%). Otherwise, there were no significant differences when accounting for mortality (OR = 0.68; 95% CI (0.44-1.05), χ2 = 1.88; p = 0.60; I 2 = 0%), permanent pacemaker implantation groups (OR = 0.45; 95% CI (0.44-1.49), χ2 = 0.11; p = 0.19; I 2 = 0%), and neurological events (OR = 0.72; 95% CI (0.42-1.23), χ2 = 2.57; p = 0.23; I 2 = 22%). DISCUSSION: The analysed data on TAVI versus SAVR in the octogenarian population show that TAVI shows similar outcomes with relation to mortality and inpatient admission times, in a population with significantly higher risk profiles than their SAVR counterparts. TAVI has higher occurrences of post-procedural AR. TAVI still does not have robust long-term data to ensure its efficacy and rate of complications, but is showing promising results nonetheless.

Outcomes of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Cardiac Transplant Patients: A Binational Analysis Derived From the United Kingdom and United States.

AIMS: To compare and contrast the indications, clinical and procedural characteristics, and periprocedural outcomes of patients with cardiac transplant undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the United States and United Kingdom. METHODS AND RESULTS: The British Cardiovascular Intervention Society Registry (BCIS) (2007-2014) and the United States National Inpatient Sample (NIS) (2004-2014) data were utilized for this analysis. There were 466 PCIs (0.09%) and 1122 PCIs (0.02%) performed in cardiac transplant patients in the BCIS and NIS registries, respectively. The cardiac transplant PCI cohort was younger and mostly men, with an increased prevalence of chronic kidney disease, left main PCI, and multivessel disease, and with lower use of newer antiplatelets agents, antithrombotics, and radial artery access vs the non-cardiac transplant PCI cohort. In the BCIS registry, the cardiac transplant PCI cohort had similar in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 1.05; P=.91), 30-day mortality (OR, 1.38; P=.31), vascular complications (OR, 0.69; P=.46), and major adverse cardiovascular event (OR, 1.41; P=.26) vs the non-cardiac transplant PCI cohort. However, the cardiac transplant group had higher 1-year mortality (OR, 2.30; P<.001). The NIS data analysis revealed similar rates of in-hospital mortality (OR, 2.40; P=.14), cardiac complications (OR, 0.26; P=.17), major bleeding (OR, 0.36; P=.16), vascular complications (OR, 0.46; P=.45), and stroke (OR, 0.50; P=.40) in the cardiac transplant PCI cohort vs the non-cardiac transplant PCI cohort. CONCLUSIONS: PCI in cardiac transplant recipients was associated with similar short-term mortality and vascular complications compared with PCI in the general populace. However, a higher 1-year morality was observed in the BCIS cohort.

A systematic review of the studies that evaluate the performance of the DAPT score.

BACKGROUND: The Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (DAPT) score was derived to determine which patients may benefit from prolonged DAPT therapy after 12 months based on the balance between ischaemic and bleeding events. Several studies have attempted to validate the score with inconsistent findings. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of the studies that evaluated the DAPT score in PCI populations. A search was performed on MEDLINE and EMBASE and two independent reviewers reviewed the search results for study inclusion and extracted data from studies which met the inclusion criteria. Data are presented in tables and narrative synthesis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 13 studies were included in this review. The study designs included post hoc analysis of randomised trials, prospective cohorts, retrospective cohorts and a case-control study. In the derivation/validation study, the c-statistic for ischaemic and bleeding outcomes were 0.64/0.70 and 0.68/0.64, respectively. Among the validation studies, the C-statistics for composite outcomes ranged from 0.53 to 0.71 for ischaemic outcomes and 0.49 to 0.71 for bleeding outcomes. Only one study randomised patients with high DAPT score to different combinations of antiplatelet after 1 year of DAPT and found that continuation of DAPT was associated with fewer deaths because of myocardial infarction, but more bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: While not designed for this purpose many studies have shown that the DAPT score has modest predictive value for ischaemic and bleeding outcomes. A prospective randomised controlled trial is needed to evaluate the clinical benefits of utilising the DAPT score in guiding continued DAPT therapy beyond 1 year.