Altayyeb Yousef

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients with bicuspid aortic valve: A patient level multi-center analysis

OBJECTIVE We sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BiAV). BACKGROUND BiAV remains a relative contraindication to TAVI resulting in exclusion from TAVI trials and thus limiting data on the clinical performance of transcatheter valves in these patients. METHODOLOGY We conducted an international patient level multicenter analysis on outcomes in patients with BiAV undergoing TAVI. The primary outcome of the study was the combined early safety endpoint--a composite of 30 day mortality, stroke, life-threatening bleeding, acute kidney injury, coronary artery obstruction, major vascular complication and valve related dysfunction. Secondary endpoints included the individual components of the primary endpoint as well as post-TAVI paravalvular leak (PVL), rehospitalization, new pacemaker insertion and device success rates at 30 days and 1 year. RESULTS A total of 108 patients with BiAV were identified in 21 centers in Canada, Spain, Italy, Poland and Singapore who underwent TAVI between January 2005 and March 2014. The composite primary outcome occurred in one quarter of patients (26.9%)--mainly driven by re-intervention for valve malposition (9.3%). The 30-day and 1 year mortality rates were 8.3% and 16.9% respectively with AR ≥ 3+ occurring in 9.6% of patients. Device success was achieved in 85.2% of cases with pacemaker insertion in 19.4%. While PVL was not associated with an increased risk of 30 day or 1 year mortality--Type I BiAV anatomy with left and right cusp fusion had significantly better outcomes than other valve variants. CONCLUSION In selected patients with BiAV and severe aortic stenosis, TAVI appears both safe and feasible with acceptable clinical outcomes. Clinical studies of TAVI in this patient population are warranted.

Diabetes Mellitus and Cardiovascular Events in Older Patients With Myocardial Infarction Prescribed Intensive-Dose and Moderate-Dose Statins

Background— Practice guidelines recommend intensive-dose statins for patients with acute coronary syndrome, but recent data about the risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus have raised concerns about its use. Our main objective was to evaluate the association between intensive statin therapy and new-onset diabetes mellitus in patients with myocardial infarction and to evaluate the association of intensive statin therapy with long-term adverse clinical outcomes. Methods and Results— A propensity score–matched cohort was created consisting of 17 080 patients with myocardial infarction aged >65 years old, hospitalized in Ontario, Canada, from 2004 to 2010. Clinical outcomes were compared in patients prescribed intensive-dose versus moderate-dose statins at hospital discharge. At 5 years, 13.6% of patients receiving intensive-dose statins and 13.0% of patients receiving moderate-dose statins had new-onset diabetes, which was not significantly different (P=0.19). By contrast, the 5-year rate of death or acute coronary syndrome was significantly lower at 44.8% in the intensive-dose statin group compared with 46.5% in the moderate-dose group (P=0.044). The reduction in combined clinical outcome was driven mainly by a significantly lower rate of acute coronary syndrome (P=0.039) associated with intensive-dose statins. No significant difference in mortality rates (34.8% in both groups) was observed between the treatment groups during the study period (P=0.89). Conclusions— In older patients with myocardial infarction, we found intensive-dose statin therapy to be effective in reducing repeat hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome. The rate of new-onset diabetes mellitus at long term was not significantly different between intensive-dose and moderate-dose statins.

Performance of transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients with bicuspid aortic valve: Systematic review

bicuspid aortic valve: Systematic review Altayyeb Yousef , Trevor Simard , Ali Pourdjabbar , John Webb , Derek So , Aun-Yeong Chong , Christopher Glover , Michel Le May , Benjamin Hibbert , Marino Labinaz a,⁎ a Division of Cardiology, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada b Division of Cardiology, St. Pauls Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Impact of mean arterial pressure on clinical outcomes in comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: Insights from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Regional Cardiac Arrest Registry (CAPITAL-CARe)

AIM OF THE STUDY We sought to assess the relationship between mean arterial pressure (MAP) and clinical outcomes in comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). METHODS We identified consecutive comatose survivors of OHCA with an initial shockable rhythm treated with targeted temperature management. We examined clinical outcomes in relation to mean MAP (measured hourly) during the first 96h of hospitalization. Co-primary outcomes were the rates of death and severe neurological dysfunction at discharge. RESULTS In 122 patients meeting inclusion criteria, death occurred in 29 (24%) and severe neurological dysfunction in 39 (32%). Higher mean MAPs were associated with lower odds of death (OR 0.55 per 5mmHg increase; 95%CI 0.38-0.79; p=0.002) and severe neurological dysfunction (OR 0.66 per 5mmHg increase; 95%CI 0.48-0.90; p=0.01). After adjustment for differences in patient, index event, and treatment characteristics, higher mean MAPs remained associated with lower odds of death (OR 0.60 per 5mmHg increase; 95%CI 0.40-0.89; p=0.01) but not severe neurological dysfunction (OR 0.73 per 5mmHg increase; 95%CI 0.51-1.03; p=0.07). The relationship between mean MAP and the odds of death (p-interaction=0.03) and severe neurological dysfunction (p-interaction=0.03) was attenuated by increased patient age. CONCLUSION In comatose survivors of OHCA treated with target temperature management, a higher mean MAP during the first 96h of admission is associated with increased survival. The association between mean MAP and clinical outcomes appears to be attenuated by increased age.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation: Current and Evolving Indications

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) was initially developed to treat aortic stenosis in patients with high risk for surgical intervention. With great initial adoption of the technology and improvements in device design and procedural success TAVI is increasingly being performed in broader populations for diverse indications. This paper is a concise review of the evolving and expanding use of TAVI in the current era.

Progenitor Cells for Arterial Repair: Incremental Advancements towards Therapeutic Reality

Coronary revascularization remains the standard treatment for obstructive coronary artery disease and can be accomplished by either percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Considerable advances have rendered PCI the most common form of revascularization and improved clinical outcomes. However, numerous challenges to modern PCI remain, namely, in-stent restenosis and stent thrombosis, underscoring the importance of understanding the vessel wall response to injury to identify targets for intervention. Among recent promising discoveries, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have garnered considerable interest given an increasing appreciation of their role in vascular homeostasis and their ability to promote vascular repair after stent placement. Circulating EPC numbers have been inversely correlated with cardiovascular risk, while administration of EPCs in humans has demonstrated improved clinical outcomes. Despite these encouraging results, however, advancing EPCs as a therapeutic modality has been hampered by a fundamental roadblock: what constitutes an EPC? We review current definitions and sources of EPCs as well as the proposed mechanisms of EPC-mediated vascular repair. Additionally, we discuss the current state of EPCs as therapeutic agents, focusing on endogenous augmentation and transplantation.

Photoplethysmography using a smartphone application for assessment of ulnar artery patency: a randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Radial artery access is commonly performed for coronary angiography and invasive hemodynamic monitoring. Despite limitations in diagnostic accuracy, the modified Allen test (manual occlusion of radial and ulnar arteries followed by release of the latter and assessment of palmar blush) is used routinely to evaluate the collateral circulation to the hand and, therefore, to determine patient eligibility for radial artery access. We sought to evaluate whether a smartphone application may provide a superior alternative to the modified Allen test. METHODS: We compared the modified Allen test with a smartphone heart rate–monitoring application (photoplethysmography readings detected using a smartphone camera lens placed on the patient’s index finger) in patients undergoing a planned cardiac catheterization. Test order was randomly assigned in a 1:1 fashion. All patients then underwent conventional plethysmography of the index finger, followed by Doppler ultrasonography of the radial and ulnar arteries (the diagnostic standard). The primary outcome was diagnostic accuracy of the heart rate–monitoring application. RESULTS: Among 438 patients who were included in the study, we found that the heart rate–monitoring application had a superior diagnostic accuracy compared with the modified Allen test (91.8% v. 81.7%, p = 0.002), attributable to its greater specificity (93.0% v. 82.8%, p = 0.001). We also found that this application had greater diagnostic accuracy for assessment of radial or ulnar artery patency in the ipsilateral and contralateral wrist (94.0% v. 84.0%, p < 0.001). INTERPRETATION: A smartphone application used at the bedside was diagnostically superior to traditional physical examination for confirming ulnar patency before radial artery access. This study highlights the potential for smartphone-based diagnostics to aid in clinical decision-making at the patient’s bedside. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov, no. NCT02519491.

Predicting Acute Kidney Injury following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

PURPOSE Acute kidney injury occurs in up to a quarter of patients following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and has been associated with increased short and long-term mortality rates. A variety of patient characteristics predictive of post-TAVR acute kidney injury (AKI) have been identified, however discrepancies among studies exist almost uniformly. We investigated the hypothesis that the change in glomerular filtration rate (ΔGFR) in response to contrast administered during pre-TAVR coronary angiography is predictive of ΔGFR post-TAVR. METHODS The study comprised 195 patients who underwent TAVR at a single center between August 2008 and June 2015 and were prospectively included in the CAPITAL TAVR registry. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to estimate the effect of independent variables on the change in renal function post-TAVR. RESULTS There was no relationship identified between the ΔGFR post-angiogram and the ΔGFR post-TAVR (r=0.043, P=0.582). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that a significant amount of the change in renal function post-TAVR can be explained by the patients baseline creatinine (beta coefficient, -0.310, P.

A novel echocardiographic hemodynamic index for predicting outcome of aortic stenosis patients following transcatheter aortic valve replacement

Objective Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) reduces left ventricular (LV) afterload and improves prognosis in aortic stenosis (AS) patients. However, LV afterload consists of both valvular and arterial loads, and the benefits of TAVR may be attenuated if the arterial load dominates. We proposed a new hemodynamic index, the Relative Valve Load (RVL), a ratio of mean gradient (MG) and valvuloarterial impedance (Zva), to describe the relative contribution of the valvular load to the global LV load, and examined whether RVL predicted patient outcome following TAVR. Methods A total of 258 patients with symptomatic severe AS (indexed aortic valve area (AVA)<0.6cm2/m2, AR≤2+) underwent successful TAVR at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and had clinical follow-up to 1-year post-TAVR. Pre-TAVR MG, AVA, percent stroke work loss (%SWL), Zva and RVL were measured by echocardiography. The primary endpoint was all cause mortality at 1-year post TAVR. Results There were 53 deaths (20.5%) at 1-year. RVL≤7.95ml/m2 had a sensitivity of 60.4% and specificity of 75.1% for identifying all cause mortality at 1-year post-TAVR and provided better specificity than MG<40 mmHg, AVA>0.75cm2, %SWL≤25% and Zva>5mmHg/ml/m2 despite equivalent or better sensitivity. In multivariable Cox analysis, RVL≤7.95ml/m2 was an independent predictor of all cause mortality (HR 3.2, CI 1.8–5.9; p<0.0001). RVL≤7.95ml/m2 was predictive of all cause mortality in both low flow and normal flow severe AS. Conclusions RVL is a strong predictor of all-cause mortality in severe AS patients undergoing TAVR. A pre-procedural RVL≤7.95ml/m2 identifies AS patients at increased risk of death despite TAVR and may assist with decision making on the benefits of TAVR.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) for Native Aortic Valve Regurgitation ― A Systematic Review ―

BACKGROUND Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become the standard of care for management of high-risk patients with aortic stenosis. Limited data is available regarding the performance of TAVI in patients with native aortic valve regurgitation (NAVR).Methods and Results:We performed a systematic review from 2002 to 2016. The primary outcome was device success as per VARC-2 criteria. Secondary endpoints included procedural complications, and 30-day and 1-year mortality rates. A total of 175 patients were included from 31 studies. Device success was reported in 86.3% of patients - with device failure driven by moderate aortic regurgitation (AR ≥3+) and/or need for a second device. Procedural complications were rare, with no procedural deaths, myocardial infarctions or annular ruptures reported. Procedural safety was acceptable with a low 30-day incidence of stroke (1.5%). The 30-day and 1-year overall mortality rates were 9.6% and 20.0% (cardiovascular death, 3.8% and 10.1%, respectively). Patients receiving 2nd-generation valves demonstrated similar safety profiles with greater device success compared with 1st-generation valves (96.2% vs. 78.4%). This was driven by the higher incidence of second-valve implantation (23.4% vs. 1.7%) and significant paravalvular leak (8.3% vs. 0.0%). CONCLUSIONS TAVI demonstrates acceptable safety and efficacy in high-risk patients with severe NAVR. Second-generation valves may afford a similar safety profile with improved device success. Dedicated studies are needed to definitively establish the efficacy of TAVI in this population.