Cardiology

Alam, A., Burkhoff, D., Enter, D.H. and Jermyn, R. (2021). “Underutilized Fuel: Angiotensin II for Vasoplegia in the Heart Failure Patient Population.” J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth.

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In this trial, patients who received ANG-II were more likely to achieve a mean arterial pressure of 75 mmHg or an increase in mean arterial pressure by 10 mmHg above that seen in patients who received placebo in as little as three hours. Furthermore, the median pressor dose decreased from baseline by 76.5% in the ANG-II group compared with an increase of 7.8% in the placebo group (p ≤ 0.05). [No abstract; excerpt from Letter].

Wang, R., Tomaniak, M., Takahashi, K., Gao, C., Kawashima, H., Hara, H., Ono, M., van Klaveren, D., van Geuns, R.J., Morice, M.C., Davierwala, P.M., Mack, M.J., Witkowski, A., Curzen, N., Berti, S., Burzotta, F., James, S., Kappetein, A.P., Head, S.J., Thuijs, D., Mohr, F.W., Holmes, D.R., Tao, L., Onuma, Y. and Serruys, P.W. (2021). “Impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on 10-year mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention and bypass surgery for complex coronary artery disease: insights from the SYNTAX Extended Survival study.” Clin Res Cardiol Mar 12. {Epub ahead of print].

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AIMS: To evaluate the impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on 10-year all-cause death and the treatment effect of CABG versus PCI on 10-year all-cause death in patients with three-vessel disease (3VD) and/or left main coronary artery disease (LMCAD) and COPD. METHODS: Patients were stratified according to COPD status and compared with regard to clinical outcomes. Ten-year all-cause death was examined according to the presence of COPD and the revascularization strategy. RESULTS: COPD status was available for all randomized 1800 patients, of whom, 154 had COPD (8.6%) at the time of randomization. Regardless of the revascularization strategy, patients with COPD had a higher risk of 10-year all-cause death, compared with those without COPD (43.1% vs. 24.9%; hazard ratio [HR]: 2.03; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.56-2.64; p < 0.001). Among patients with COPD, CABG appeared to have a slightly lower risk of 10-year all-cause death compared with PCI (42.3% vs. 43.9%; HR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.59-1.56, p = 0.858), whereas among those without COPD, CABG had a significantly lower risk of 10-year all-cause death (22.7% vs. 27.1%; HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.67-0.99, p = 0.041). There was no significant differential treatment effect of CABG versus PCI on 10-year all-cause death between patients with and without COPD (p (interaction) = 0.544). CONCLUSIONS: COPD was associated with a higher risk of 10-year all-cause death after revascularization for complex coronary artery disease. The presence of COPD did not significantly modify the beneficial effect of CABG versus PCI on 10-year all-cause death. TRIAL REGISTRATION: SYNTAX: ClinicalTrials.gov reference: NCT00114972. SYNTAX Extended Survival: ClinicalTrials.gov reference: NCT03417050.

Shahim, B., Malaisrie, S.C., George, I., Thourani, V.H., Biviano, A.B., Russo, M.J., Brown, D.L., Babaliaros, V., Guyton, R.A., Kodali, S.K., Nazif, T.M., McCabe, J.M., Williams, M.R., Généreux, P., Lu, M., Yu, X., Alu, M.C., Webb, J.G., Mack, M.J., Leon, M.B. and Kosmidou, I. (2021). “Atrial Fibrillation and Outcomes After Transcatheter or Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement (from the PARTNER 3 Trial).” Am J Cardiol Mar 7;S0002-9149(21)00215-0. [Epub ahead of print].

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The prognostic impact of preexisting atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF) in low-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis treated with transcatheter (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) remains unknown. In this sub-analysis of the PARTNER 3 trial of patients with severe aortic stenosis at low surgical risk randomized 1:1 to TAVR versus SAVR, clinical outcomes were analyzed at 2 years according to AF status. Among 948 patients included in the analysis (452 [47.7%] in the SAVR vs 496 [52.3%] in the TAVR arm), 168 (17.6%) patients had AF [88/452 (19.5%) and 80/496 (16.1%) treated with SAVR and TAVR, respectively]. At 2 years, patients with AF had higher unadjusted rates of the composite outcome of death, stroke or rehospitalization (21.2% vs 12.9%, p = 0.007) and rehospitalization alone (15.3% vs 9.4%, p = 0.03) but not all cause death (3.8% vs 2.6%, p = 0.45) or stroke (4.8% vs 2.6%, p = 0.12). In adjusted analyses, patients with AF had a higher risk for the composite outcome of death, stroke or rehospitalization (hazard ratio [HR] 1.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20-2.71, p = 0.0046) and rehospitalization alone (HR 1.8, 95% CI 0.12-2.9, p = 0.015), but not death or stroke. There was no interaction between treatment modality and AF on the composite outcome (Pinter = 0.83). In conclusion, preexisting AF in patients with severe AS at low surgical risk was associated with increased risk of the composite outcome of death, stroke or rehospitalization at 2 years, irrespective of treatment modality.

Packer, M. and McMurray, J.J.V. (2021). “Rapid Evidence-Based Sequencing of Foundational Drugs for Heart Failure and a Reduced Ejection Fraction.” Eur J Heart Fail Mar 11. [Epub ahead of print].

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Foundational therapy for heart failure and a reduced ejection fraction consists of a combination of an angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor, a beta-blocker, a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist and an SGLT2 inhibitor. However, the conventional approach to the implementation is based on a historically-driven sequence that is not strongly evidence-based, typically requires ≥6 months, and frequently lead to major gaps in treatment. We propose a rapid sequencing strategy that is based on four principles. First, since drugs act rapidly to reduce morbidity and mortality, patients should be started on all four foundational treatments within 2-4 weeks. Second, since the efficacy of each foundational therapy is independent of treatment with the other drugs, priority can be determined by considerations of relative efficacy, safety and ease-of-use. Third, low starting doses of foundational drugs have substantial therapeutic benefits, and achievement of low doses of all four classes of drugs should take precedence over uptitration to target doses. Fourth, since drugs can influence the tolerability of other foundational agents, sequencing can be based on whether agents started earlier can enhance the safety of agents started simultaneously or later in the sequence. We propose an accelerated 3-step approach, which consists of the simultaneous initiation of a beta-blocker and an SGLT2 inhibitor, followed 1-2 weeks later by the initiation of sacubitril/valsartan, and 1-2 weeks later by a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist. The latter two steps can be reordered or compressed depending on patient circumstances. Rapid sequencing is a novel evidence-based strategy that has the potential to dramatically improve the implementation of treatments that reduce the morbidity and mortality of patients with heart failure and a reduced ejection fraction.

Roberts, W.C., Kietzman, A.T. and Rao, P.K. (2021). “Malignant Ventricular Tachycardia, Ventricular Wall Ablation, and Orthotopic Heart Transplantation.” Am J Cardiol Mar 19;S0002-9149(21)00262-9. [Epub ahead of print].

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Described herein are 3 patients with refractory ventricular tachycardia and one or more unsuccessful ablation procedures finally leading to orthotropic heart transplantation (OHT). The latter procedure allowed examination of the ventricular ablation sites, an unusual opportunity reported previously in few patients (all case reports). The acute ablation lesions are unique, with necrosis of the myocardial fibers adjacent to the endocardium and encircled by layers of extravasated erythrocytes in the deeper myocardial wall. All 3 patients returned to normal activities following the OHT.