Felipe Ferreira

Effectiveness of a myocardial infarction protocol in reducing door-to-ballon time

Background An adequate door-to-balloon time (<120 minutes) is the necessary condition for the efficacy of primary angioplasty in infarction to translate into effectiveness. Objective To describe the effectiveness of a quality of care protocol in reducing the door-to-balloon time. Methods Between May 2010 and August 2012, all individuals undergoing primary angioplasty in our hospital were analyzed. The door time was electronically recorded at the moment the patient took a number to be evaluated in the emergency room, which occurred prior to filling the check-in forms and to the triage. The balloon time was defined as the beginning of artery opening (introduction of the first device). The first 5 months of monitoring corresponded to the period of pre-implementation of the protocol. The protocol comprised the definition of a flowchart of actions from patient arrival at the hospital, the teams awareness raising in relation to the prioritization of time, and provision of a periodic feedback on the results and possible inadequacies. Results A total of 50 individuals were assessed. They were divided into five groups of 10 sequential patients (one group pre-and four groups post-protocol). The door-to-balloon time regarding the 10 cases recorded before protocol implementation was 200 ± 77 minutes. After protocol implementation, there was a progressive reduction of the door-to-balloon time to 142 ± 78 minutes in the first 10 patients, then to 150 ± 50 minutes, 131 ± 37 minutes and, finally, 116 ± 29 minutes in the three sequential groups of 10 patients, respectively. Linear regression between sequential patients and the door-to-balloon time (r = - 0.41) showed a regression coefficient of - 1.74 minutes. Conclusion The protocol implementation proved effective in the reduction of the door-to-balloon time.

Does C-reactive Protein Add Prognostic Value to GRACE Score in Acute Coronary Syndromes?

Background The incremental prognostic value of plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in relation to GRACE score has not been established in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) with non-ST segment elevation. Objective To test the hypothesis that CRP measurements at admission increases the prognostic value of GRACE score in patients with ACS. Methods A total of 290 subjects, consecutively admitted for ACS, with plasma material obtained upon admission CRP measurement using a high-sensitivity method (nephelometry) were studied. Cardiovascular outcomes during hospitalization were defined by the combination of death, nonfatal myocardial infarction or nonfatal refractory angina. Results The incidence of cardiovascular events during hospitalization was 15% (18 deaths, 11 myocardial infarctions, 13 angina episodes) with CRP showing C-statistics of 0.60 (95% CI = 0.51-0.70, p = 0.034) in predicting these outcomes. After adjustment for the GRACE score, elevated CRP (defined as the best cutoff point) tended to be associated with hospital events (OR = 1.89, 95% CI = 0.92 to 3.88, p = 0.08). However, the addition of the variable elevated CRP in the GRACE model did not result in significant increase in C-statistics, which ranged from 0.705 to 0.718 (p = 0.46). Similarly, there was no significant reclassification of risk with the addition of CRP in the predictor model (net reclassification = 5.7 %, p = 0.15). Conclusion Although CRP is associated with hospital outcomes, this inflammatory marker does not increase the prognostic value of the GRACE score.

Inconsistency prevents the valuable synergism of explanatory and pragmatic trails

To assess review articles on pragmatic trials in order to describe how authors define the aim of this type of study, how comprehensive methodological topics are covered, and which topics are most valued by authors.

Accuracy of gestalt perception of acute chest pain in predicting coronary artery disease

AIM To test accuracy and reproducibility of gestalt to predict obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with acute chest pain. METHODS We studied individuals who were consecutively admitted to our Chest Pain Unit. At admission, investigators performed a standardized interview and recorded 14 chest pain features. Based on these features, a cardiologist who was blind to other clinical characteristics made unstructured judgment of CAD probability, both numerically and categorically. As the reference standard for testing the accuracy of gestalt, angiography was required to rule-in CAD, while either angiography or non-invasive test could be used to rule-out. In order to assess reproducibility, a second cardiologist did the same procedure. RESULTS In a sample of 330 patients, the prevalence of obstructive CAD was 48%. Gestalt’s numerical probability was associated with CAD, but the area under the curve of 0.61 (95%CI: 0.55-0.67) indicated low level of accuracy. Accordingly, categorical definition of typical chest pain had a sensitivity of 48% (95%CI: 40%-55%) and specificity of 66% (95%CI: 59%-73%), yielding a negligible positive likelihood ratio of 1.4 (95%CI: 0.65-2.0) and negative likelihood ratio of 0.79 (95%CI: 0.62-1.02). Agreement between the two cardiologists was poor in the numerical classification (95% limits of agreement = -71% to 51%) and categorical definition of typical pain (Kappa = 0.29; 95%CI: 0.21-0.37). CONCLUSION Clinical judgment based on a combination of chest pain features is neither accurate nor reproducible in predicting obstructive CAD in the acute setting.

DETERMINANTS AND APPROPRIATENESS OF DECISION FOR INVASIVE STRATEGY IN NON-ST-SEGMENT ELEVATION ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROMES

Risk stratification properly based on prognostic models should guide decision for invasive or selective strategy in non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (NST-ACS). We aimed to (1) identify clinical determinants of invasive strategy in an environment that medical staff regularly uses the GRACE