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Aims: We explored the impact of being hospitalized due to worsening heart failure (WHF) or a myocardial infarction (MI) on subsequent mortality in a large contemporary data set of patients with stable chronic systolic heart failure (HF)., Methods and Results: A total of 6558 patients with stable systolic HF, 6505 with analysable data, with an EF of ≤35%, who were included in the Systolic Heart failure treatment with the If inhibitor ivabradine Trial (SHIFT), were followed for a median of 22.9 months with respect to hospitalizations and vital status. Among the 1288 patients who had at least one hospitalization due to WHF or MI, 455 (35.3%) died during follow-up compared with 600 (11.5%) among patients not hospitalized for these reasons. The risk for death was highest in the early phase after hospitalization. The risk declined rapidly during the first month but remained 3.5-fold (95% confidence interval 2.3-5.1) increased at 18 months after a first WHF hospitalization and 8.8-fold (95% confidence interval 3.6-21.6) increased at 18 months after a first MI hospitalization., Conclusion: The present study confirms previous findings that in patients with stable chronic systolic HF, a hospitalization for WHF or MI is associated with substantially increased risk for subsequent death even with contemporary extensive background pharmacological therapy. The risk is most pronounced in the early phase of hospitalization but remains elevated even after 18 months. Preventing HF hospitalization appears as an important therapeutic objective in such patients, and a hospitalization for WHF or MI should lead to a careful therapeutic reassessment.

Objectives: The presence of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) has been associated with recurrent cryptogenic cerebrovascular event (CVE). The BioSTAR is a partly biodegradeable atrial septal repair implant. We investigated the feasibility and efficacy of the BioSTAR PFO-occluder., Design: From October 2007 to December 2008, 59 consecutive patients underwent PFO closure at our institution with a history of at least one cryptogenic CVE defined by a neurologist. During the study period, all patients, who fulfilled our institutional criteria for PFO closure, were included. No patients were lost to follow-up., Results: Of the 59 patients treated, a BioSTAR device could be implanted in 30 and in 29 patients another device, almost exclusively an Amplatzer, had to be used. No serious complications were observed during implantation of either. Four of 30 patients suffered a recurrent CVE after BioSTAR implantation as compared to 2/29 in the comparison group. At long-term follow-up 29/30 patients in the BioSTAR group had complete closure of their PFO as compared to 23 of 29 in the comparison group., Conclusions: The BioSTAR device could be selected for use in small shunts less than 10 mm while the Amplatzer may be chosen for larger defects or more complicated anatomy.

Aims: We explored the impact of having a hospital admission for an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) on the subsequent prognosis among patients with chronic heart failure (CHF)., Methods and Results: A total of 7599 patients with CHF, New York Heart Association Classes II-IV, were randomly assigned to candesartan or placebo. We assessed the risk of death after a first ACS using time-updated Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for baseline predictors. During a mean follow-up of 3.3 years, 1174 patients experienced at least one ACS. Myocardial infarction (MI) was the first ACS in 442 subjects and unstable angina (UA) in 732. After these events, 219 (49.5%) and 167 (22.8%) patients died during follow-up. The early risk of death was more pronounced after MI: 30.2% died within 30 days compared with 3.6% after UA. After an ACS event, the risk of death declined steadily over time, although 18 months after an MI the risk was still twice that of patients without an ACS., Conclusion: Patients with CHF, who develop an ACS, have markedly increased subsequent mortality, particularly in the early phase after an MI.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of diabetes on treatment and outcome in acute myocardial infarction (AMI), during two time periods, in two countries, and to assess whether this influence has changed over the past decades., Methods: Patients, aged 30 to 74, with a diagnosis of AMI in two urban areas--Göteborg, Sweden and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, USA--hospitalized during 1990-1991 and 1995-1996 were included. The primary endpoint was 7-year all-cause mortality., Results: The study included 3824 patients, 734 (19%) had diabetes. Age-adjusted in-hospital mortality of diabetic patients was nearly twofold higher compared with non-diabetic patients (9.8% vs. 5.0%, p<0.05). Between 1990-1991 and 1995-1996 in-hospital mortality declined for both diabetic (11.9% vs. 7.6%, p=0.07) and non-diabetic (6.3% vs. 3.6%, p=0.002) patients. A history of diabetes was associated with nearly twofold higher long-term mortality rate (48.5% vs. 26%, p<0.05). Seven-year mortality was reduced between 1990-1991 and 1995-1996 in both diabetic (51.6% vs. 45.2%, p=0.13) and non-diabetic patients (29.3% vs. 22.1%, p<0.0001) (The results did not reach statistical significance for diabetic patients, due to smaller sample size.) During their hospital stay, diabetic patients received significantly less aspirin, beta-blockers and thrombolysis. After adjustment, a history of diabetes remained significantly associated with 7-year mortality following AMI, doubling the hazard of death (hazard ratio (HR)=2.11; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.80-2.46)., Conclusion: A history of diabetes is associated with nearly twofold higher long-term mortality rate and is independently associated with 7-year mortality following AMI. Short- and long-term mortality decreased from 1990 to 1995 in both non-diabetic and diabetic patients. Underutilization of evidence-based treatments contributes to the remaining increased mortality in diabetic patients with acute coronary disease.

Aims: The study evaluated the associations between glycometabolic parameters at admission and during hospitalization and 2 year all-cause mortality risk in an unselected cohort of consecutive patients with diabetes admitted for unstable angina or non-Q-wave myocardial infarction to a university hospital during 1988-98., Methods and Results: A total of 713 consecutive patients with diabetes were included. During 2 years of follow-up, 242 (34%) patients died. All analyses were retrospective using prospectively collected clinical data. The primary study endpoint was 2 year all-cause mortality collected from the Swedish cause-specific mortality register. In unadjusted analyses, high admission blood glucose (highest vs. lowest quartile: hazard ratio (HR) 2.66; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.83, 3.86) and hypoglycaemia recorded during hospitalization (hypoglycaemia vs. normal: HR 1.77; 95% CI 1.09, 2.86) were both significantly associated with increased 2 year all-cause mortality risk. These associations remained significant after multivariable adjustment., Conclusion: In the setting of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) among patients with diabetes, hyperglycaemia on arrival and hypoglycaemia during hospitalization are both independently associated with worse adjusted all-cause 2 year mortality risk. These observations suggest that the avoidance of both hyper- and hypoglycaemia during ACS events may be of similar importance, and glucose modulation remains an important objective to address in future randomized trials.

Objective: The aims of this study were to investigate the prognostic influence of diabetes after an episode of unstable angina pectoris or non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (MI) and to investigate whether diabetes is independently associated with increased short- and long-term mortality risk following these episodes., Design: Consecutive patients with a diagnosis of unstable angina pectoris or non-Q-wave MI, admitted to the Coronary Care Unit at Ostra Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden during 1988-1998 were included. The primary endpoint was 2-year mortality collected from the Swedish cause-specific mortality register., Results: The study included 4341 patients, 722 (17%) had diabetes. Diabetes was associated with increased mortality during initial hospitalization (10.2% vs 5.7%, p < 0.0001), after 30 days (13% vs 7.5%, p < 0.0001), and at 2 years (33.7% vs 20.2%, p < 0.0001). After adjustment for potentially confounding factors, diabetes remained an independent predictor of 2-year mortality following unstable coronary syndromes, the hazard ratio (HR) of death (HR = 1.6; 95% CI 1.4-1.9)., Conclusions: Among patients with unstable coronary syndromes, diabetes is an independent risk factor associated with increased mortality during hospitalization, short- and long-term follow-up.