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Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is the first line investigation for chest pain, and it is used to guide revascularisation. However, the widespread adoption of CCTA has revealed a large group of individuals without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), with unclear prognosis and management. Measurement of coronary inflammation from CCTA using the perivascular fat attenuation index (FAI) Score could enable cardiovascular risk prediction and guide the management of individuals without obstructive CAD. The Oxford Risk Factors And Non-invasive imaging (ORFAN) study aimed to evaluate the risk profile and event rates among patients undergoing CCTA as part of routine clinical care in the UK National Health Service (NHS); to test the hypothesis that coronary arterial inflammation drives cardiac mortality or major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in patients with or without CAD; and to externally validate the performance of the previously trained artificial intelligence (AI)-Risk prognostic algorithm and the related AI-Risk classification system in a UK population. This multicentre, longitudinal cohort study included 40 091 consecutive patients undergoing clinically indicated CCTA in eight UK hospitals, who were followed up for MACE (ie, myocardial infarction, new onset heart failure, or cardiac death) for a median of 2·7 years (IQR 1·4–5·3). The prognostic value of FAI Score in the presence and absence of obstructive CAD was evaluated in 3393 consecutive patients from the two hospitals with the longest follow-up (7·7 years [6·4–9·1]). An AI-enhanced cardiac risk prediction algorithm, which integrates FAI Score, coronary plaque metrics, and clinical risk factors, was then evaluated in this population. In the 2·7 year median follow-up period, patients without obstructive CAD (32 533 [81·1%] of 40 091) accounted for 2857 (66·3%) of the 4307 total MACE and 1118 (63·7%) of the 1754 total cardiac deaths in the whole of Cohort A. Increased FAI Score in all the three coronary arteries had an additive impact on the risk for cardiac mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 29·8 [95% CI 13·9–63·9], p<0·001) or MACE (12·6 [8·5–18·6], p<0·001) comparing three vessels with an FAI Score in the top versus bottom quartile for each artery. FAI Score in any coronary artery predicted cardiac mortality and MACE independently from cardiovascular risk factors and the presence or extent of CAD. The AI-Risk classification was positively associated with cardiac mortality (6·75 [5·17–8·82], p<0·001, for very high risk vs low or medium risk) and MACE (4·68 [3·93–5·57], p<0·001 for very high risk vs low or medium risk). Finally, the AI-Risk model was well calibrated against true events. The FAI Score captures inflammatory risk beyond the current clinical risk stratification and CCTA interpretation, particularly among patients without obstructive CAD. The AI-Risk integrates this information in a prognostic algorithm, which could be used as an alternative to traditional risk factor-based risk calculators. British Heart Foundation, NHS-AI award, Innovate UK, National Institute for Health and Care Research, and the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tranexamic acid reduces surgical bleeding and reduces death due to bleeding in patients with trauma. Meta-analyses of small trials show that tranexamic acid might decrease deaths from gastrointestinal bleeding. We aimed to assess the effects of tranexamic acid in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding.Methods: We did an international, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 164 hospitals in 15 countries. Patients were enrolled if the responsible clinician was uncertain whether to use tranexamic acid, were aged above the minimum age considered an adult in their country (either aged 16 years and older or aged 18 years and older), and had significant (defined as at risk of bleeding to death) upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Patients were randomly assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Patients received either a loading dose of 1 g tranexamic acid, which was added to 100 mL infusion bag of 0·9% sodium chloride and infused by slow intravenous injection over 10 min, followed by a maintenance dose of 3 g tranexamic acid added to 1 L of any isotonic intravenous solution and infused at 125 mg/h for 24 h, or placebo (sodium chloride 0·9%). Patients, caregivers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. The primary outcome was death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation; analysis excluded patients who received neither dose of the allocated treatment and those for whom outcome data on death were unavailable. This trial was registered with Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN11225767, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01658124.Findings: Between July 4, 2013, and June 21, 2019, we randomly allocated 12 009 patients to receive tranexamic acid (5994, 49·9%) or matching placebo (6015, 50·1%), of whom 11 952 (99·5%) received the first dose of the allocated treatment. Death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation occurred in 222 (4%) of 5956 patients in the tranexamic acid group and in 226 (4%) of 5981 patients in the placebo group (risk ratio [RR] 0·99, 95% CI 0·82-1·18). Arterial thromboembolic events (myocardial infarction or stroke) were similar in the tranexamic acid group and placebo group (42 [0·7%] of 5952 vs 46 [0·8%] of 5977; 0·92; 0·60 to 1·39). Venous thromboembolic events (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) were higher in tranexamic acid group than in the placebo group (48 [0·8%] of 5952 vs 26 [0·4%] of 5977; RR 1·85; 95% CI 1·15 to 2·98).Interpretation: We found that tranexamic acid did not reduce death from gastrointestinal bleeding. On the basis of our results, tranexamic acid should not be used for the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding outside the context of a randomised trial.Funding: UK National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: International research for acute myocardial infarction lacks comparisons of whole health systems. We assessed time trends for care and outcomes in Sweden and the UK. Methods: We used data from national registries on consecutive patients registered between 2004 and 2010 in all hospitals providing care for acute coronary syndrome in Sweden and the UK. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality 30 days after admission. We compared effectiveness of treatment by indirect casemix standardisation. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01359033. Findings: We assessed data for 119 786 patients in Sweden and 391 077 in the UK. 30-day mortality was 7·6% (95% CI 7·4—7·7) in Sweden and 10·5% (10·4—10·6) in the UK. Mortality was higher in the UK in clinically relevant subgroups defined by troponin concentration, ST-segment elevation, age, sex, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diabetes mellitus status, and smoking status. In Sweden, compared with the UK, there was earlier and more extensive uptake of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (59% vs 22%) and more frequent use of β blockers at discharge (89% vs 78%). After casemix standardisation the 30-day mortality ratio for UK versus Sweden was 1·37 (95% CI 1·30—1·45), which corresponds to 11 263 (95% CI 9620—12 827) excess deaths, but did decline over time (from 1·47, 95% CI 1·38—1·58 in 2004 to 1·20, 1·12—1·29 in 2010; p=0·01). Interpretation: We found clinically important differences between countries in acute myocardial infarction care and outcomes. International comparisons research might help to improve health systems and prevent deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attendance at Accident and Emergency departments in the UK is widely reported to have decreased precipitously since national lockdown was introduced on March 23, 2020. Daily ambulance callouts for these two conditions are routinely recorded by ambulance crews for the West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust, the second largest such service in the UK. [Extracted from the article]

Background In March, 2003, military forces, mainly from the USA and the UK, invaded Iraq. We did a survey to compare mortality during the period of 14.6 months before the invasion with the 17.8 months after it. Methods A cluster sample survey was undertaken throughout Iraq during September, 2004. 33 clusters of 30 households each were interviewed about household composition, births, and deaths since January, 2002. In those households reporting deaths, the date, cause, and circumstances of violent deaths were recorded. We assessed the relative risk of death associated with the 2003 invasion and occupation by comparing mortality in the 17.8 months after the invasion with the 14.6-month period preceding it. Findings The risk of death was estimated to be 2.5-fold (95%CI 1.6--4.2) higher after the invasion when compared with the preinvasion period. Two-thirds of all violent deaths were reported in one cluster in the city of Falluja. If we exclude the Falluja data, the risk of death is 1.5-fold (1.1 --2 .3) higher after the invasion. We estimate that 98,000 more deaths than expected (8000--194 000) happened after the invasion outside of Falluja and far more if the outlier Falluja cluster is included. The major causes of death before the invasion were myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accidents, and other chronic disorders whereas after the invasion violence was the primary cause of death. Violent deaths were widespread, reported in 15 of 33 clusters, and were mainly attributed to coalition forces. Most individuals reportedly killed by coalition forces were women and children. The risk of death from violence in the period after the invasion was 58 times higher (95%CI 8.1--419) than in the period before the war. Interpretation Making conservative assumptions, we think that about 100,000 excess deaths, or more have happened since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Violence accounted for most of the excess deaths and air strikes from coalition forces accounted for most... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Individuals with diabetes are at increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, although typically their plasma concentrations of LDL cholesterol are similar to those in the general population. Previous evidence about the effects of lowering cholesterol in people with diabetes has been limited, and most diabetic patients do not currently receive cholesterol-lowering therapy despite their increased risk. Methods: 5963 UK adults (aged 40-80 years) known to have diabetes, and an additional 14573 with occlusive arterial disease (but no diagnosed diabetes), were randomly allocated to receive 40 mg simvastatin daily or matching placebo. Prespecified analyses in these prior disease subcategories, and other relevant subcategories, were of first major coronary event (ie, non-fatal myocardial infarction or coronary death) and of first major vascular event (ie, major coronary event, stroke or revascularisation). Analyses were also conducted of subsequent vascular events during the scheduled treatment period. Comparisons are of all simvastatin-allocated versus all placebo-allocated participants (ie, intention to treat), which yielded an average difference in LDL cholesterol of 1.0 mmol/L (39 mg/dL) during the 5-year treatment period. Findings: Both among the participants who presented with diabetes and among those who did not, there were highly significant reductions of about a quarter in the first event rate for major coronary events, for strokes, and for revascularisations. For the first occurrence of any of these major vascular events among participants with diabetes, there was a definite 22% (95% CI 13-30) reduction in the event rate (601 [20.2%] simvastatin-allocated vs 748 [25.1%] placebo-allocated, p<0.0001), which was similar to that among the other high-risk individuals studied. There were also highly significant reductions of 33% (95% CI 17-46, p=0.0003) among the 2912 diabetic participants who did not have any diagnosed occlusive... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary BACKGROUND Results of observational studies suggest that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but those of randomised trials do not indicate a lower risk in women who use oestrogen plus progestagen. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether or not unopposed oestrogen reduces the risk of further cardiac events in postmenopausal women who survive a first myocardial infarction. METHODS The study was a randomised, blinded, placebo controlled, secondary prevention trial of postmenopausal women, age 50-69 years (n=1017) who had survived a first myocardial infarction. Individuals were recruited from 35 hospitals in England and Wales. Women received either one tablet of oestradiol valerate (2 mg; n=513) or placebo (n=504), daily for 2 years. Primary outcomes were reinfarction or cardiac death, and all-cause mortality. Analyses were by intention-to-treat. Secondary outcomes were uterine bleeding, endometrial cancer, stroke or other embolic events, and fractures. FINDINGS Frequency of reinfarction or cardiac death did not differ between treatment groups at 24 months (rate ratio 0.99, 95% Cl 0.70-1.41, p=0.97). Similarly, the reduction in all-cause mortality between those who took oestrogen and those on placebo was not significant (0.79, 0.50-1.27, p=0.34). The relative risk of any death (0.56, 0.23-1-33) and cardiac death (0.33, 0-11-1-01) was lowest at 3 months post-recruitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a research paper on the short-term outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction in Sweden and Great Britain. It references the study "Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Comparison of Short-term Survival in National Outcome Registries in Swden and the UK," by Sheng-Chia Chung et al., published in the January 23, 2014 issue of "Lancet." It discusses the mortality ratio in Sweden and Great Britain and factors contributing to the international differences in mortality.

Presents a commentary on prolonged hospital stay after acute myocardial infarction. Study which is presented in this issue on the value of keeping patients in longer following a heart attack; Details on how the study was conducted; How each countries reimbursement policy affects the decision to keep a patient in or not; Limitations of the UK policies on the management of acute myocardial infarction; Belief the system is not well equipped to meet the standard of care; Need for adequate resources to protect the patients.

Offers medical news briefs as of October 20, 2001. Recommendation of aggressive treatment of hypertension in adults over 60 with high risk of cardiovascular disease by United States researchers; Reference to a study in 'Circulation,' 2001, volume 104; Rate of angina, myocardial infarction, and coronary artery disease in men from Great Britain, compared from 1996 to 1978; Reference to a study in 'Heart,' 2001, volume 86.

Presents science-related news briefs as of November 11, 2000. Operation of conjoined twins in Great Britain which was preliminarily successful; How physical activity after a heart attack reduces the risk of a second heart attack.