Enilton Egito

Prevalence and risk factors for combined coronary artery disease and aortic aneurysm

OBJECTIVE To evaluate CAD prevalence in patients with aortic aneurysm, as well as differences related to aneurysm topographies. To describe the primary risk factors for CAD related to this association and their occasional differences according to AA topographies. METHODS This was an open, prospective, nonrandomized study that evaluated 95 patients (66 men and 33 women, mean age 63 +/- 11.8). All patients, asymptomatic for CAD, had undergone aortic CT and coronary angiography. According to the AA topography, they were classified into three groups: 1) patients with thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA); 2) thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA); and 3) abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). A database was created to store information from clinical data and complementary examinations. Statistical analysis was performed using the Students t test or analysis of variance (ANOVA) for continuous variables and chi-square test for categorical variables. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS CAD prevalence was 63.1%, and AAA was more prevalent than TAA and TAAA (76% vs. 70% vs. 30%, p = 0.001). The comparative analysis of CAD risk factors based on the aortic aneurysm topography revealed that smoking and dyslipidemia were more prevalent among AAA patients (74.5% vs. 42.3% vs. 60%, p = 0.01 and (54.2% vs. 19.9% vs. 60%, p = 0.007, respectively). As for coronary lesion severity in the population of AA patients, 12 (20%) had at least one lesion > or = 70% and 19 (31.6%), > or = 50%. Fifteen patients (25%) had single-vessel disease, 11 (18%) had two-vessel disease, and 34 (57%) had three-vessel disease. CONCLUSION Asymptomatic CAD is highly prevalent in AA patients, particularly among those with AAA. Study results suggest the need for diagnostic stratification for CAD in patients with AA, especially those with AAA.

Tratamento do tromboembolismo pulmonar maciço por fragmentação percutânea do trombo

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of percutaneous thrombus fragmentation (PTF) for massive pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with contraindications to the administration of thrombolytics. METHODS: Between July 1999 and August 2005, 10 patients (7 males, 3 females, age 57±18 years) with massive PE and contraindications to the administration of thrombolytics underwent PTF. A transthoracic doppler echocardiogram was used to evaluate arterial oxygen saturation (Sat O2), the Walsh index (WI), mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAP), mean systemic blood pressure (SBP) and right ventricular function (RVF) before and after the procedure. Statistical analysis was conducted using the paired Wilcoxon test, of which p was significant when < 0.05. RESULTS: After the PTF treatment there was an improvement in Sat. O2 [87.4 ± 1.3% vs 92.3 ± 3.1% (p < 0.001)], WI [6.4 ± 1.07 vs 4.4 ± 1.42 (p = 0.003)], PAP [31.8 ± 4.6 mmHg vs 25.5 ± 3.4 mmHg (p < 0.001)] and SBP [73.9 ± 8.7 vs 85 ± 8.3 (p = 0.001). The ten patients had severe RVF before the percutaneous treatment; however, within 10 days after PTF, 8 presented normal or discrete function and 1 presented mitigated function. There were no technical or vascular access site complications related to PTF. One patient died in the hospital (10%). The procedure was successful for the other nine patients. CONCLUSION: The lack of adverse complications related to the procedure, proves that PTF is safe. The improvement in Sat O2, WI, PAP, SBP and RVF in 90% of the cases demonstrates the efficacy of the procedure, indicating that it is an alternative treatment for massive PE in patients with contraindications for the administration of systemic thrombolytics.

Evolução clínica tardia dos stents farmacológicos: segurança e eficácia até cinco anos do Registro DESIRE

BACKGROUND: Indications for the implantation of sirolimusand paclitaxel-eluting stents are expanding and include complex lesions and subsets of patients with clinical and demographic characteristics very different from those of early pivotal randomized trials. The DESIRE Registry was planned to monitor the safety of both Cypher® and Taxus® stent available in Brazil since 2002. METHODS AND RESULTS: From May 2002 through March 2007, 2043 patients treated with one or more than one stent (either Cypher® or Taxus®) at Hospital do Coracao da Associacao do Sanatorio Sirio were included in this Registry. Mean age was 63.8 (11.3) years; 76.6% were male and 28.4% had diabetes. A total of 2,415 lesions were treated and 2,983 stents were implanted: 2,608 Cypher® and 375 Taxus®. Acute and subacute ( 360 days) occurred in 0.34%, 0.73% and 0.34% of the patients, adding up to a 1.42% overall rate. Likewise, the major adverse cardiac event rate was low and added up to 8.6% (154 patients), including: 45 (2.51%) cardiac deaths; 50 (2.8%) myocardial infarctions and 59 (3.3%) of additional revascularizations. CONCLUSIONS: This long-term analysis of the DESIRE Registry shows the high efficacy and safety profiles of drug-eluting stents, with a low thrombosis rate, which is similar to those of randomized trials.

Fibrilação atrial no pós-operatório de cirurgia de revascularização do miocárdio: características do perfil clínico associadas a óbitos hospitalares

OBJECTIVE To identify factors associated with a higher likelihood of in-hospital death in patients submitted to coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) who developed atrial fibrillation (AF) postoperatively. METHODS The authors analyzed data from 397 consecutive patients submitted to CABG that developed AF postoperatively between 2000 and 2003. The patients were divided into 2 groups: group 1 (G1) comprised patients who survived (n=369); and group 2 (G2) comprised patients who died during hospital stay (n=28). Statistical analysis was performed using Students t test and chi-square test, and p values < 0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS A comparative analysis between G1 and G2 showed that there was no difference between the groups as regards age (67.3 +/- 8.4 versus 69.3 +/- 9.6; p = 0.4), male gender (75.9% versus 64.3%; p = 0.1), systemic arterial hypertension (75.3% versus 85.7%; p = 0.2) and congestive heart failure (17% versus 17%; p = 1). Group 2 presented higher rates for previous acute myocardial infarction (14.6% versus 28.6%; p = 0.05), left ventricular ejection fraction < 40% (12.2% versus 32.1%; p = 0.003), previous cerebrovascular accident (0.8% versus 17.9%; p = 0.03), previous percutaneous coronary intervention (19.5% versus 39.3%; p = 0.01) and previous CABG (19.3% versus 35.7%; p = 0.03). CONCLUSION Clinical history of acute myocardial infarction, CABG, percutaneous coronary intervention, cerebrovascular accident and severe ventricular dysfunction were significantly more frequent in the group that died during hospital stay, which suggests a possible association of these factors with a higher likelihood of death following CABG.

Evolução tardia após intervenção coronária percutânea com stents farmacológicos em pacientes diabéticos do Registro DESIRE (Drug-Eluting Stents In the REal world)

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus is related to the occurrence of unfavorable outcomes after percutaneous coronary interventions. Drug-eluting stents can confer a better late evolution to this subgroup. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of these devices in diabetic patients. METHODS: The DESIRE is a single-center, prospective registry that included 2,365 consecutive patients treated with drug-eluting stents between May 2002 and January 2008. For the present analysis, patients with a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction, those with saphenous vein grafts lesions and those within 6 months of the index procedure, were excluded. RESULTS: Therefore, 1,705 patients were divided into two groups: non-diabetics (n = 1,211 P/71.1%) and diabetics (n = 494 P/28.9%), of which 109 P (6.4%) were insulin-dependent. Among the diabetics there was a higher number of older people (64.8 ± 9.8 years old vs. 63.4 ± 11.7 years old; p = 0.025), females (28.9 vs. 22.5%; p = 0.005), patients with obesity (35.2 vs. 23.5%; p < 0.001), hypertension (86.6 vs. 73.7%; p < 0.001), multi-vessel disease (63.4 vs. 54.4%; p = 0.001), small-vessel disease (2.70 ± 0.51 mm vs. 2.75 ± 0.42 mm; p < 0.001) and calcified lesions (32.3 vs. 27.1%; p = 0.009). In the late clinical follow up (2.2 ± 1.1 years), the combined cardiac events occurred more frequently in the diabetic patients (9.8 vs. 7.0%; p = 0.048). The multivariate analysis showed that diabetes mellitus (OR = 1.45; 95% confidence interval 1.0 to 2.1) and the presence of a calcified lesion (OR = 3.06; 95% CI 1.47 to 6.34) were independent predictors of major adverse cardiac events. CONCLUSION: The use of drug-eluting stents in diabetics showed to be a safe and efficient approach. The major adverse cardiac events, although in very low rates, occurred more frequently in the diabetics.

Avaliação muito tardia do uso de stents farmacológicos para tratamento de pacientes com lesões em enxertos de veia safena: experiência de uma década do Registro DESIRE

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in saphenous vein grafts remains a challenge for interventional cardiology, due to acute complications and the lack of data on the late efficacy of drug-eluting stents (DESs). METHODS: Between May 2002 and January 2013, patients undergoing PCI with DES at Hospital do Coracao were included in the DESIRE Registry. We evaluated the results of patients undergoing PCI in saphenous vein grafts (group 1), who were compared to those undergoing PCI in native vessels (group 2.) RESULTS: Of a total of 4,655 patients, 311 were included in group 1 and 4,344 in group 2. Group 1 included older patients (68.4 ± 9.7 years vs. 64 ± 11.2 years; P < 0.01), more frequently male (87.1% vs. 76.7%; P < 0.01) with a higher incidence of comorbidities. Unstable angina was the most frequent clinical presentation in this group. Group 1 patients received large caliber stents (3.18 ± 1.11 mm vs. 2.86 ± 0.43 mm; P < 0.01) and were less frequently submitted to pre-dilation (36.3% vs. 50.7%; P < 0.01) and post-dilation (38.3% vs. 58.4%; P < 0.01). They had a higher incidence of non-fatal acute myocardial infarction during hospitalization (11.3% vs. 4.1%; P < 0.01) and late major adverse cardiovascular events (32.8% vs. 13.9%; P < 0.01), at the expense of cardiac death (7.7% vs. 3.2%; P = 0.02) and target-lesion revascularization (9% vs. 4.3%; P < 0.01). Definitive stent thrombosis was more frequent in group 1 (3.5% vs. 1%; P< 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the unquestionable benefit of DESs in the late outcomes of PCI in complex patients, the treatment of patients with saphenous vein graft lesions remains a challenge, with less favorable acute and late results than in patients with native vessel lesions.

Prognostic Score for Acute Coronary Syndrome in a Private Terciary Hospital

Background Available predictive models for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) have limitations as they have been elaborated some years ago or limitations with applicability. Objectives To develop scores for predicting adverse events in 30 days and 6 months in ST-segment elevation and non-ST-segment elevation ACS patients admitted to private tertiary hospital. Methods Prospective cohort of ACS patients admitted between August, 2009 and June, 2012. Our primary composite outcome for both the 30-day and 6-month models was death from any cause, myocardial infarction or re-infarction, cerebrovascular accident (CVA), cardiac arrest and major bleeding. Predicting variables were selected for clinical, laboratory, electrocardiographic and therapeutic data. The final model was obtained with multiple logistic regression and submitted to internal validation with bootstrap analysis. Results We considered 760 patients for the development sample, of which 132 had ST-segment elevation ACS and 628 non-ST-segment elevation ACS. The mean age was 63.2 ± 11.7 years, and 583 were men (76.7%). The final model to predict 30-day events is comprised by five independent variables: age ≥ 70 years, history of cancer, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 40%, troponin I > 12.4 ng /ml and chemical thrombolysis. In the internal validation, the model showed good discrimination with C-statistic of 0.71. The predictors in the 6-month event final model are: history of cancer, LVEF < 40%, chemical thrombolysis, troponin I >14.3 ng/ml, serum creatinine>1.2 mg/dl, history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hemoglobin < 13.5 g/dl. In the internal validation, the model had good performance with C-statistic of 0.69. Conclusion We have developed easy to apply scores for predicting 30-day and 6-month adverse events in patients with ST-elevation and non-ST-elevation ACS.

Angioplastia coronária em paciente com infarto do miocárdio e púrpura trombocitopênica idiopática

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by the presence of thrombocytopenia and mucocutaneous bleeding. It is a rare condition and the occurrence of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients with ITP is even less common. In the present manuscript the authors report a patient with ITP who underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in the follow-up phase of an AMI.

Risk factors for acute myocardial infarction during the postoperative period of myocardial revascularization

OBJECTIVE To identify risk factors for acute myocardial infarction during the postoperative period after myocardial revascularization. METHODS This was a case-control study paired for sex, age, number, type of graft used, coronary endarterectomy, type of myocardial protection, and use of extracorporeal circulation. We assessed 178 patients (89 patients in each group) undergoing myocardial revascularization, and the following variables were considered: dyslipidemia, systemic hypertension, smoking, diabetes mellitus, previous myocardial revascularization surgery, previous coronary angioplasty, and acute myocardial infarction. RESULTS Baseline clinical characteristics did not differ in the groups, except for previous myocardial revascularization surgery, prevalent in the case group (34 patients vs. 12 patients; p = 0.0002). This was the only independent predictor of risk for acute myocardial infarction in the postoperative period, based on a multivariate logistic regression analysis (p = 0.0001). Mortality and the time of hospital stay of the case group were significantly higher (19.1% vs. 1.1%; p < 0.001 and 15.7 days vs. 10.6 days; p < 0.05 respectively) than those of the control. CONCLUSION Only previous myocardial revascularization was an independent predictor of acute myocardial infarction in the postoperative period, based on multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Reoperação em pacientes revascularizados

A second surgery for myocardial revascularization may be needed in some patients. One still discussed the reasons and the risk of such procedure. A group of 162 patients who underwent a second coronary by-pass graft surgery was analized. There was a significant number of patients with high blood pressure and with previous myocardial infarction. The reason for reoperation was either lesion within the by-pass lumen or a lesion within the lumen of a native artery non-previously treated. Most patients underwent the second coronary by-pass graft surgery after an interval of, at least, 6 years after the previous surgery. In-hospital mortality was 9% (23 patients). Authors discuss the possivle causal relationship between these findings and reoperation, as well as the causes of the high mortality.