Veli-Pekka Harjola

2017 ESC Guidelines for the management of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation: The Task Force for the management of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

2017 ESC Guidelines for the management of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation The Task Force for the management of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)

Contemporary management of octogenarians hospitalized for heart failure in Europe: Euro Heart Failure Survey II

AIMS International guidelines are frequently not implemented in the elderly population with heart failure (HF). This study determined the management of octogenarians with HF enrolled in Euro Heart Failure Survey II (EHFS II) (2004-05). METHODS AND RESULTS We compared the clinical profile, 12 month outcomes, and management modalities between 741 octogenarians (median age 83.7 years) and 2836 younger patients (median age 68.4 years) hospitalized for acute/decompensated HF. Management modalities were also compared with those observed in EHFS I (2000-01). Female gender, new onset HF (de novo), hypertension, atrial fibrillation, co-morbidities, disabilities, and low quality of life were more common in the elderly (all P < 0.001). Mortality rates during hospital stay and during 12 months after discharge were increased in octogenarians (10.7 vs. 5.6% and 28.4 vs. 18.5%, P < 0.001). Underuse and underdosage of medications recommended for HF were observed in the elderly. However, a significant improvement was observed when compared with EHFS I both in the overall HF octogenarian population and in the subgroup with ejection fraction < or =45% for prescription rates of ACE-I/ARBs, beta-blockers, and aldosterone antagonists at discharge (82 vs. 71%; 56 vs. 29%; 54 vs. 18.5%, respectively, all P < 0.01), as well as for recommended combinations and dosage. Prescription rates remained stable for 12 months after discharge in survivors. CONCLUSION Our study confirms that the contemporary management of very elderly patients with HF remains suboptimal but that the situation is improving.

Recommendations on pre-hospital & early hospital management of acute heart failure: a consensus paper from the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology, the European Society of Emergency Medicine and the Society of Academic Emergenc: Recommendations on pre-hospital & early hospital management of acute heart failure

Acute heart failure is a fatal syndrome. Emergency physicians, cardiologists, intensivists, nurses and other health care providers have to cooperate to provide optimal benefit. However, many treatment decisions are opinion‐based and few are evidenced‐based. This consensus paper provides guidance to practicing physicians and nurses to manage acute heart failure in the pre‐hospital and hospital setting. Criteria of hospitalization and of discharge are described. Gaps in knowledge and perspectives in the management of acute heart failure are also detailed. This consensus paper on acute heart failure might help enable contiguous practice.

Contemporary management of acute right ventricular failure: a statement from the Heart Failure Association and the Working Group on Pulmonary Circulation and Right Ventricular Function of the European Society of Cardiology

Acute right ventricular (RV) failure is a complex clinical syndrome that results from many causes. Research efforts have disproportionately focused on the failing left ventricle, but recently the need has been recognized to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of RV anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology, and of management approaches. Right ventricular mechanics and function are altered in the setting of either pressure overload or volume overload. Failure may also result from a primary reduction of myocardial contractility owing to ischaemia, cardiomyopathy, or arrhythmia. Dysfunction leads to impaired RV filling and increased right atrial pressures. As dysfunction progresses to overt RV failure, the RV chamber becomes more spherical and tricuspid regurgitation is aggravated, a cascade leading to increasing venous congestion. Ventricular interdependence results in impaired left ventricular filling, a decrease in left ventricular stroke volume, and ultimately low cardiac output and cardiogenic shock. Identification and treatment of the underlying cause of RV failure, such as acute pulmonary embolism, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute decompensation of chronic pulmonary hypertension, RV infarction, or arrhythmia, is the primary management strategy. Judicious fluid management, use of inotropes and vasopressors, assist devices, and a strategy focusing on RV protection for mechanical ventilation if required all play a role in the clinical care of these patients. Future research should aim to address the remaining areas of uncertainty which result from the complexity of RV haemodynamics and lack of conclusive evidence regarding RV‐specific treatment approaches.

Clinical picture and risk prediction of short-term mortality in cardiogenic shock

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical picture and outcome of cardiogenic shock and to develop a risk prediction score for short‐term mortality.

High-Sensitivity Troponin I for Risk Assessment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Insights From the Apixaban for Reduction in Stroke and Other Thromboembolic Events in Atrial Fibrillation (ARISTOTLE) Trial

Background —High sensitivity troponin-I (hs-TnI) measurements improves risk assessment for cardiovascular events in many clinical settings, the added value in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients has not been described. Methods and Results —At randomization hs-TnI was analyzed in 14,821 AF patients in the ARISTOTLE trial comparing apixaban with warfarin. The associations between hs-TnI concentrations and clinical outcomes were evaluated using adjusted Cox analysis. The hs-TnI assay detected troponin (≥1.3 ng/L) in 98.5% patients, 50% had levels >5.4, 25% levels >10.1, and 9.2% levels ≥23 ng/L (the 99th percentile in healthy). During median 1.9 years follow-up annual rates of stroke or systemic embolism ranged from 0.76% in the lowest hs-TnI quartile to 2.26% in the highest quartile (>10.1ng/L). In multivariable analysis hs-TnI was significantly associated with stroke or systemic embolism, adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.98 (1.42-2.78), p=0.0007. hs-TnI was also significantly associated with cardiac death; annual rates ranged from 0.40% to 4.24%, HR 4.52 (3.05-6.70), p 2 DS 2 VASc-score improved C-statistics from 0.629 to 0.653 for stroke or systemic embolism, and from 0.591 to 0.731 for cardiac death. There were no significant interactions with study treatment. Conclusions —Troponin-I is detected in 98.5% and elevated in 9.2% of AF patients. The hs-TnI level is independently associated with a raised risk of stroke, cardiac death, and major bleeding and improves risk stratification beyond the CHA 2 DS 2 VASc-score. The benefits of apixaban as compared with warfarin are consistent regardless of hs-TnI levels. Clinical Trial Registration Information —ClinicalTrials.gov. Identifier: NCT00412984.Background— High-sensitivity troponin-I (hs-TnI) measurement improves risk assessment for cardiovascular events in many clinical settings, but the added value in atrial fibrillation patients has not been described. Methods and Results— At randomization, hs-TnI was analyzed in 14 821 atrial fibrillation patients in the Apixaban for Reduction in Stroke and Other Thromboembolic Events in Atrial Fibrillation (ARISTOTLE) trial comparing apixaban with warfarin. The associations between hs-TnI concentrations and clinical outcomes were evaluated by using adjusted Cox analysis. The hs-TnI assay detected troponin (≥1.3 ng/L) in 98.5% patients, 50% had levels >5.4, 25% had levels >10.1, and 9.2% had levels ≥23 ng/L (the 99th percentile in healthy individuals). During a median of 1.9 years follow-up, annual rates of stroke or systemic embolism ranged from 0.76% in the lowest hs-TnI quartile to 2.26% in the highest quartile (>10.1 ng/L). In multivariable analysis, hs-TnI was significantly associated with stroke or systemic embolism, adjusted hazard ratio 1.98 (1.42–2.78), P=0.0007. hs-TnI was also significantly associated with cardiac death; annual rates ranged from 0.40% to 4.24%, hazard ratio 4.52 (3.05–6.70), P<0.0001, in the corresponding groups, and for major bleeding hazard ratio 1.44 (1.11–1.86), P=0.0250. Adding hs-TnI levels to the CHA2DS2VASc score improved c-statistics from 0.629 to 0.653 for stroke or systemic embolism, and from 0.591 to 0.731 for cardiac death. There were no significant interactions with study treatment. Conclusions— Troponin-I is detected in 98.5% and elevated in 9.2% of atrial fibrillation patients. The hs-TnI level is independently associated with a raised risk of stroke, cardiac death, and major bleeding and improves risk stratification beyond the CHA2DS2VASc score. The benefits of apixaban in comparison with warfarin are consistent regardless of hs-TnI levels. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00412984.

Epidemiology and one-year outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure and preserved, mid-range and reduced ejection fraction: an analysis of the ESC Heart Failure Long-Term Registry

The objectives of the present study were to describe epidemiology and outcomes in ambulatory heart failure (HF) patients stratified by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and to identify predictors for mortality at 1 year in each group.

Prognostic role of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and their polymorphisms in acute decompensated heart failure

Cytokines play an important role in chronic heart failure (HF), but little is known about their involvement in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).

Dexmedetomidine in addition to benzodiazepine-based sedation in patients with alcohol withdrawal delirium.

Alcohol withdrawal delirium (AWD) is often refractory to conventional medication. We report a prospective series of patients treated with &agr;2-agonist dexmedetomidine added to conventional sedation. Eighteen patients with AWD were diagnosed by Confusion assessment method for ICU score. Treatment, complications, length of stay (LOS) in ICU and hospital were recorded. In addition, hospital and 1-year mortality were assessed. Dexmedetomidine was given for 23.9 (18.4) h [mean (SD)]. All the patients also received benzodiazepines but three patients were given haloperidole. No patient was intubated. The maximum infusion rate of dexmedetomidine was 1.5 (1.2) µg/kg/h. Time to resolution of AWD was 3.8 (1.3) days. The ICU LOS was 7.1 (2.7) days and in-hospital LOS 12.1 (4.5) days. No adverse events were observed although one patient died from acute pancreatitis. The use of dexmedetomidine in AWD seems safe but warrants further studies.

Effect of Inhaled Xenon on Cerebral White Matter Damage in Comatose Survivors of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE Evidence from preclinical models indicates that xenon gas can prevent the development of cerebral damage after acute global hypoxic-ischemic brain injury but, thus far, these putative neuroprotective properties have not been reported in human studies. OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of inhaled xenon on ischemic white matter damage assessed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A randomized single-blind phase 2 clinical drug trial conducted between August 2009 and March 2015 at 2 multipurpose intensive care units in Finland. One hundred ten comatose patients (aged 24-76 years) who had experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were randomized. INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomly assigned to receive either inhaled xenon combined with hypothermia (33°C) for 24 hours (n = 55 in the xenon group) or hypothermia treatment alone (n = 55 in the control group). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary end point was cerebral white matter damage as evaluated by fractional anisotropy from diffusion tensor MRI scheduled to be performed between 36 and 52 hours after cardiac arrest. Secondary end points included neurological outcome assessed using the modified Rankin Scale (score 0 [no symptoms] through 6 [death]) and mortality at 6 months. RESULTS Among the 110 randomized patients (mean age, 61.5 years; 80 men [72.7%]), all completed the study. There were MRI data from 97 patients (88.2%) a median of 53 hours (interquartile range [IQR], 47-64 hours) after cardiac arrest. The mean global fractional anisotropy values were 0.433 (SD, 0.028) in the xenon group and 0.419 (SD, 0.033) in the control group. The age-, sex-, and site-adjusted mean global fractional anisotropy value was 3.8% higher (95% CI, 1.1%-6.4%) in the xenon group (adjusted mean difference, 0.016 [95% CI, 0.005-0.027], P = .006). At 6 months, 75 patients (68.2%) were alive. Secondary end points at 6 months did not reveal statistically significant differences between the groups. In ordinal analysis of the modified Rankin Scale, the median (IQR) value was 1 (1-6) in the xenon group and 1 (0-6) in the control group (median difference, 0 [95% CI, 0-0]; P = .68). The 6-month mortality rate was 27.3% (15/55) in the xenon group and 34.5% (19/55) in the control group (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.49 [95% CI, 0.23-1.01]; P = .053). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, inhaled xenon combined with hypothermia compared with hypothermia alone resulted in less white matter damage as measured by fractional anisotropy of diffusion tensor MRI. However, there was no statistically significant difference in neurological outcomes or mortality at 6 months. These preliminary findings require further evaluation in an adequately powered clinical trial designed to assess clinical outcomes associated with inhaled xenon among survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00879892.