A comparison of percutaneous coronary intervention and surgical revascularization after fibrinolysis for acute myocardial infarction. Insights from the InTIME-2 trial.

BACKGROUND: A substantial proportion of patients treated with fibrinolytics for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is subsequently submitted to surgical or percutaneous revascularization procedures during the same hospitalization. However, data comparing these procedures are scarce in the literature. The purpose of this study was to analyze the outcomes of a population with AMI who, during the in-hospital phase, received fibrinolytic therapy followed by coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: The study population included 3532 patients submitted to CABG (N=574) or PCI (N=2958), out of 15,114 patients studied in the InTIME-2 trial. Among patients treated with PCI there were no differences between those who received stents or isolated balloon angioplasty, so that their data were pooled for analysis. RESULTS: CABG and PCI groups were compared regarding all-cause mortality (at 30 days and one year post-AMI) and non-fatal events (reinfarction, need of additional post-discharge revascularization and re-hospitalization for an ischemic event) within 30 days after MI. There was no significant difference in mortality rates between the groups--both unadjusted and adjusted--at 30 days and one year post-MI. The unadjusted 30-day rates of combined fatal and non-fatal events were 10.3% for the CABG group, and 15.3% for the PCI group (odds-ratio 0.64, P=0.0017), but the adjusted odds-ratio for the combined endpoint only achieved borderline significance (P=0.048). CONCLUSION: Mortality rates for CABG and PCI were similar up to one year after AMI, but CABG tends to carry a better event-free survival in the first 30 days.

Independent predictors of in-hospital outcomes following coronary stent implantation.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the clinical and angiographic predictors of early outcome following coronary stent implantation. METHODS: Nine hundred and forty-six patients (pt) [61.04 +/- 10.98 years old, range 31 to 91] underwent stent implantation; 580 male (61.3%). Procedural success was defined when a pt had at least one vessel successfully dilated with a residual stenosis < 20%. Clinical success occurred when a pt had at least one vessel successfully dilated without a major complication (MC) [death, myocardial infarction (MI), coronary artery bypass graft] during the hospital stay. Clinical and angiographic determinants of outcome were studied. All variables related to early outcome evaluated by univariate analysis were included in a multiple logistic regression analysis (MLR). RESULTS: Procedural success was achieved in 98.9%; clinical success in 95.7%; an unsuccessful uncomplicated outcome in 0.1% and major complications in 4.2%. By MLR, procedural success was related to restenotic lesion, calcification, and irregular contour. Clinical success was related to diabetes mellitus, cardiogenic shock, acute coronary syndromes, age, left ventricular dysfunction, calcification, and total occlusion. Major complications was predicted by diabetes mellitus, cardiogenic shock, acute coronary syndromes, age, multivessel disease, left ventricular dysfunction, calcification, long lesions, and total occlusions. Mortality was predicted by cardiogenic shock, acute coronary syndromes, age, arterial hypertension, and left ventricular dysfunction. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that early outcome was significantly affected by cardiogenic shock, left ventricular dysfunction, age, calcification, and total occlusion.

CardioKnowledge: a knowledge management environment.

Knowledge management supports decision-making by capturing and analyzing key performance indicators, providing visibility into the effectiveness of the business model, and by concentrating collaborative work and employee knowledge reviews on critical business problems. CardioKnowledge is a knowledge management environment based on the business and process requirements of a health care organization in Cardiology. CardioKnowledge supports organizational processes in order to facilitate the communication and exchange of knowledge among the cardiologists, medical students and other employees.