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Introduction: Smoking is a well‑established risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, in patients with ST‑segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), smoking has been associated with better clinical outcomes; this phenomenon became known as the "smoker's paradox.", Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between smoking and clinical outcomes in STEMI patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), using 3 large national registries., Patients and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 82 235 hospitalized STEMI patients treated with primary PCI. Among the analyzed population, 30 966 patients (37.96%) were smokers, and 51 269 (62.36%) were nonsmokers. We evaluated the baseline characteristics, pharmacotherapy, clinical outcomes, and readmission causes in a 36‑month follow‑up., Results: The smokers were significantly younger (median [interquartile range] age, 58 [52-64] vs 68 [59-77] years; P <0.001) than the nonsmokers, and there were more men in this group. The patients who smoked were less likely to have traditional risk factors, as compared with the nonsmokers. In the unadjusted analysis, in‑hospital and 36‑month mortality and rehospitalization rates were lower in the smokers group. However, after adjustment for baseline characteristics that differed between the 2 groups, the multivariable analysis showed that tobacco use was one of the independent risk factors for 36‑month mortality (hazard ratio, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.06-1.18; P <0.001)., Conclusions: In the present large‑scale, registry‑based analysis, the observed lower 36‑month crude rates of adverse events among the smokers, as compared with the nonsmokers, might be partially explained by a significantly lower burden of traditional risk factors and younger age of the smokers. After accounting for age and other baseline differences, smoking was found to be one of the independent risk factors for 36‑month mortality.

Introduction: There is a paucity of real‑world registries concerning patients with chronic coronary syndromes (CCS)., Objectives: We aimed to assess the long‑term outcomes of patients with CCS and after coronary angiography performed in accordance with the treatment strategy., Patients and Methods: The analysis involved 11 021 patients treated in a single center between 2006 and 2016 who were enrolled into the ongoing PRESAGE registry. Based on the results of coronary angiography and the treatment strategy adopted, patients were classified into 4 groups: with nonsignificant lesions (n = 3637), undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (n = 4678), undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG; n = 997), and receiving conservative treatment (notwithstanding significant lesions on an angiogram; n = 1709). All‑cause death, assessed in every study group at 1-, 3-, and 5‑year follow‑up, was regarded as the primary outcome measure., Results: The mean (SD) age of the study patients was 64.6 (9.5) years, and women constituted 35% of the cohort. Patients treated conservatively were the oldest (mean [SD] age, 64.9 [9.3] years) in the group and showed the highest prevalence of previous myocardial infarction (50.5%), CABG (31.8%), diabetes (40.3%), chronic total occlusion (65.5%), and left ventricular ejection fraction below 35% (24.4%). Death from any cause in patients with nonsignificant lesions, undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, undergoing CABG, and receiving conservative treatment occurred 5 years following the index hospitalization in 11.2%, 16.2%, 9.7%, and 21% of those patients, respectively., Conclusions: The PRESAGE registry provides valuable information about the clinical characteristics and long‑term outcomes of patients with CCS. The population of CCS patients is heterogeneous, and long‑term prognosis is also varied. The poorest characteristics and outcomes were reported in patients with significant lesions and ineligible for revascularization procedures.

Introduction: Femoral artery pseudoaneurysms (PSA) develop in 0.2-8% patients undergoing procedures that require femoral artery cannulation. Ultrasound guided thrombin injection has been described as successful and safe alternative to ultrasound guided compression and surgical treatment., Aim of the Study: Assessment of efficacy and safety of PSA treatment with USGTI., Methods: 28 patients (pts) (18 female, mean age 64.6 +/- 11.4) with femoral pseudoaneurysms developed due to coronary angiogram or percutaneous coronary angioplasty were treated with ultrasound guided thrombin injection. 24 PSAs arose from right common femoral artery, 3 from right superficial femoral artery, and 1 from left common femoral artery. 24 patients were receiving antiplatelet and 4 anticoagulation therapy at the time of the procedure. With ultrasound guidance, a 21Gx11/2 needle was placed into pseudoaneurysm lumen followed by thrombin injection (1074 +/- 473 U). No complications of the procedure were observed. In 24-hour observation USGTI was successful in 28 (100%) patients. However, in 7-day follow-up resolution of 1 PSA was found, which reduced efficacy rate to 96.3%., Conclusions: Ultrasound guided thrombin injection is a successful, safe and well tolerated method of pseudoaneurysms treatment. Neither antiplatelet nor anticoagulation therapy affects success rate of the method.