Suk-Min Seo

Improved anemia is associated with favorable long-term clinical outcomes in patients undergoing PCI.

BackgroundAnemia is associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the bare-metal stent era. However, there have been no data concerning the clinical importance of anemia improvement during the follow-up period after discharge from the hospital during the drug-eluting stent era. Methods and resultsTo assess anemia, the hemoglobin level was measured at the time of index PCI with drug-eluting stents and at the subsequent outpatient visit between 3 and 12 months later. Improvement of anemia was defined by the normalization of the hemoglobin level at the follow-up laboratory examination. We analyzed 4300 patients who were tested for initial and follow-up hemoglobin levels. We compared major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) between the normal group and the anemia group and between the improved anemia group and the sustained anemia group. The median follow-up period was 25.4 months. There was poorer clinical outcome in the anemia group than in the normal group in terms of MACCE (adjusted hazard ratio 1.479, 95% confidence interval 1.025–2.134, P=0.037). Furthermore, the sustained anemia group showed poorer MACCE than did the improved anemia group (hazard ratio 3.558, 95% confidence interval 2.285–5.539, P<0.0001). On the basis of the multivariate Cox hazard regression model and propensity-score matching, the overall findings were consistent between sustained and improved anemia groups. ConclusionThe follow-up of hemoglobin level is important, and improvement of anemia is associated with favorable long-term clinical outcomes.

Comparison of clinical outcomes according to presentation of angina pectoris versus acute myocardial infarction in patients who underwent a percutaneous coronary intervention with a drug-eluting stent.

BackgroundAlthough randomized clinical trials are valuable tools to compare treatment effects, the results of randomized clinical trials cannot usually be extrapolated to the real-world setting because of selected patient subsets. To categorize the risk of future cardiovascular events in drug-eluting stent (DES)-treated patients, we analyzed demographic, clinical, and procedural data in all-comers who underwent a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). MethodsPatients who underwent PCI using DES from January 2004 were prospectively enrolled in the Catholic University of Korea-PCI registry and were followed up for a median of 2 years. We analyzed the risk of clinical outcomes in the all-patient cohort and in subsets of patients with angina and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). ResultsThe patients were categorized into two groups: those with angina (angina group, n=6183, 67.7%) and those with AMI (AMI group, n=2944, 32.3%). The AMI group had greater occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) during long-term follow-up than the angina group (23.8 vs. 20.1%, P<0.001). However, in the landmark analysis of data beyond 1 year, there was no significant difference in the occurrence of MACE between the two groups (P=0.44). In multivariable modeling, age, renal function, left ventricular ejection fraction, and multivessel disease were associated significantly with increasing MACE in the study population, angina or AMI groups. ConclusionWe found that higher MACE in patients with AMI during long-term follow-up after PCI was mainly because of higher mortality in the first year. Some demographic, clinical, and angiographic factors still significantly influence the long-term occurrence of MACE in the era of DES.

Prognostic impact of significant non-infarct-related left main coronary artery disease in patients with acute myocardial infarction who receive a culprit-lesion percutaneous coronary intervention.

BackgroundInfarct-related left main coronary artery disease (LMCAD) is associated with an increased cardiac mortality in the setting of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, the prevalence and prognostic impact of significant (≥50% stenosis) non-infarct-related LMCAD in patients with AMI have not yet been elucidated. MethodsWe prospectively analyzed 7655 AMI patients who had undergone a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry from November 2005 to January 2008. We compared major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) in AMI patients with non-infarct-related LMCAD and those without LMCAD. ResultsOf 99 (1.3%) non-infarct-related LMCAD patients, 40 patients had undergone PCI due to their lesions on the left main coronary artery. The incidences of all-cause death, cardiac death, recurrent myocardial infarction, and composite of MACE except repeat revascularization were higher in patients with non-infarct-related LMCAD at 12 months. In Cox proportional hazard analysis for the prediction of MACE at 12 months, the hazard ratio of LMCAD was 2.189 (95% confidence interval 1.230–3.896, P=0.008). In subgroup analysis, there was no significant cumulative difference between patients who had undergone non-infarct-related left main coronary artery PCI and those who did not undergo PCI at 1 and 12 months. ConclusionThe significant, non-infarct-related LMCAD in patients with AMI remains a major adverse prognostic indicator even after receiving optimal culprit-lesion PCI.

Two cases of percutaneous intervention for coronary artery bypass graft anastomoses with Paclitaxel-eluting balloon catheters.

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) intervention, particularly anastomosis site intervention, is challenging for interventional cardiologists. A paclitaxel-eluting balloon catheter (SeQuent Please) is a recently-introduced device capable of delivering paclitaxel homogeneously into the targeted vessel wall. We herein report our experience with two cases. In the first case, coronary angiography showed significant stenosis at the site of anastomosis between the saphenous vein graft and the left anterior descending artery (LAD). In the second case, coronary angiography showed significant stenosis at the site of anastomosis between the left internal mammary artery and the LAD. We performed percutaneous intervention of these CABG anastomoses using paclitaxel-eluting balloon catheters, and obtained favorable angiographic and clinical outcomes.