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Objectives: Compared with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients, non-STEMI (NSTEMI) patients have more comorbidities and extensive coronary artery disease. Contemporary comparative data on the long-term prognosis of stable post-myocardial infarction subtypes are needed., Design: Long-Term rIsk, clinical manaGement and healthcare Resource utilisation of stable coronary artery dISease (TIGRIS) was a multinational, observational and longitudinal cohort study., Setting: Patients were enrolled from 350 centres, with >95% coming from cardiology practices across 24 countries, from 19 June 2013 to 31 March 2017., Participants: This study enrolled 8277 stable patients 1-3 years after myocardial infarction with ≥1 additional risk factor., Outcome Measures: Over a 2 year follow-up, cardiovascular events and deaths and self-reported health using the EuroQol 5-dimension questionnaire score were recorded. Relative risk of clinical events and health resource utilisation in STEMI and NSTEMI patients were compared using multivariable Poisson regression models, adjusting for prognostically relevant patient factors., Results: Of 7752 patients with known myocardial infarction type, 46% had NSTEMI; NSTEMI patients were older with more comorbidities than STEMI patients. NSTEMI patients had significantly poorer self-reported health and lower prevalence of dual antiplatelet therapy at hospital discharge and at enrolment 1-3 years later. NSTEMI patients had a higher incidence of combined myocardial infarction, stroke and cardiovascular death (5.6% vs 3.9%, p<0.001) and higher all-cause mortality (4.2% vs 2.6%, p<0.001) compared with STEMI patients. Risks were attenuated after adjusting for other patient characteristics. Health resource utilisation was higher in NSTEMI patients, although STEMI patients had more cardiologist visits., Conclusions: Post-NSTEMI chronic coronary syndrome patients had a less favourable risk factor profile, poorer self-reported health and more adverse cardiovascular events during long-term follow-up than individuals post STEMI. Efforts are needed to recognise the risks of stable patients after NSTEMI and optimise secondary prevention and care., Trial Registration Number: NCT01866904., Competing Interests: Competing interests: SP and RO have received research grant support from AstraZeneca. SGG has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Amgen, Anthos Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol‑Myers Squibb, CSL Behring, Daiichi Sankyo/American Regent, Eli Lilly, Esperion, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, HLS Therapeutics, JAMP Pharma, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk A/C, Pendopharm/Pharmascience, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi, Servier, Valeo Pharma and salary support/honoraria from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario/University of Toronto (Polo) Chair, Canadian Heart Research Centre and MD Primer, Canadian VIGOUR Centre, Cleveland Clinic Coordinating Centre for Clinical Research, Duke Clinical Research Institute, New York University Clinical Coordinating Centre, PERFUSE Research Institute, TIMI Study Group (Brigham Health). CBG has received consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Armetheon, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffmann-La Roche, Janssen, Medtronic, Pfizer, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, Takeda and The Medicines Company. JCN has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, CSL Behringer, DalCor, Esperion, Janssen, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Servier and Vifor. TS has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Astellas, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi. DW has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Berlin-Chemie, Biotronik and Novartis. SY has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Takeda, Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim. DB has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Eli Lilly, Merck and Sanofi. MGC has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from AstraZeneca, Medtronic, Abiomed and Merit Medical. KA and PRH are employees of AstraZeneca. GB-W was an employee of AstraZeneca at the time of this study. SNK and PK declare no competing interests., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Insights on the differences in clinical outcomes, quality of life (QoL) and health resource utilisation (HRU) with different levels of care available to post-acute myocardial infarction (AMI) populations in rural and urban settings are limited., Methods: The long-Term rIsk, clinical manaGement, and healthcare Resource utilisation of stable coronary artery dISease (TIGRIS), a prospective, observational registry, enrolled 8452 patients aged ≥50 years 1-3 years post-AMI from June 2013 to November 2014 from 24 countries in Asia Pacific/Australia, Europe, North America and South America. Differences in QoL (measured using the EuroQol Research Foundation instrument) and HRU between patients in rural and urban settings were evaluated in this post hoc analysis. The incidence of clinical endpoints (cardiovascular (CV) death, AMI, unstable angina with urgent revascularisation and stroke; bleeding; and all-cause mortality) was analysed. Data were collected at baseline and every 6 months for 24 months., Results: There were fewer hospitalisations and visits to general practitioners (GPs) and cardiologists in the rural versus urban populations (adjusted event rate ratio (ERR)=0.90 (95% CI, 0.82 to 1.00, p=0.04); ERR=0.84 (95% CI, 0.78 to 0.92, p<0.001); ERR=0.86 (95% CI, 0.81 to 0.92, p<0.001), respectively). No statistically significant differences were observed between rural and urban populations in all-cause death, AMI, unstable angina with urgent revascularisation, CV death, stroke, major bleeding events and health-related QoL. The adjusted incidence rate ratio was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.74 to 1.15) for the composite of CV death, AMI and stroke., Conclusions: Living in rural areas was associated with fewer GP/cardiologist visits and hospitalisations; no significant differences in clinical outcomes and QoL were observed., Trial Registration Number: NCT01866904., Competing Interests: Competing interests: JCN has received research grants from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Esperion, CLS Behring, Dalcor, Daiichi-Sankyo, Janssen, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Vifor; honoraria/consultation from Daiichi-Sankyo, Novartis, Sanofi; and a scholarship from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq #303448/2021/0). RO has received research grant support from AstraZeneca. RHMF reports research grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Biomm and Servier, and research grants from Pfizer, EMS, Aché, CytoDin, Brazilian Ministry of Health, University Health Network (received from his institution) and Lemann Foundation Research Fellowship. SG has received research grant support (eg, steering committee or data and safety monitoring committee) and/or speaker/consulting honoraria (eg, advisory boards) from Amgen, Anthos Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, CSL Behring, Daiichi Sankyo/American Regent, Eli Lilly, Esperion, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, HLS Therapeutics, JAMP Pharma, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk A/C, Pendopharm/Pharmascience, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi, Servier and Valeo Pharma, and salary support/honoraria from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario/University of Toronto (Polo) Chair, Canadian Heart Research Centre and MD Primer, Canadian VIGOUR Centre, Cleveland Clinic Coordinating Center for Clinical Research, Duke Clinical Research Institute, New York University Clinical Coordinating Centre, PERFUSE Research Institute, and TIMI Study Group (Brigham Health). CBG has received consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Armetheon, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Daiichi-Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffmann-La Roche, Janssen, Medtronic, Pfizer, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, Takeda and The Medicines Company. MGC has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from AstraZeneca, Medtronic, Abiomed and Merit Medical. DW has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Berlin-Chemie, Biotronik and Novartis. SY has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Takeda, Daiichi-Sankyo, AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim. TS has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Astellas, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi. KH and PRH are employees of AstraZeneca. DBB has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Eli Lilly, Merck and Sanofi. SP has received research grant support from AstraZeneca., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objective: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and myocardial infarction (MI) are commonly comorbid and associated with adverse outcomes. Little is known about the impact of AF on quality of life and outcomes post-MI. We compared characteristics, quality of life and clinical outcomes in stable patients post-MI with/without AF., Methods/results: The prospective, international, observational TIGRIS (long Term rIsk, clinical manaGement and healthcare Resource utilization of stable coronary artery dISease) registry included 8406 patients aged ≥50 years with ≥1 atherothrombotic risk factor who were 1-3 years post-MI. Patient characteristics were summarised by history of AF. Quality of life was assessed at baseline using EQ-5D. Clinical outcomes over 2 years of follow-up were compared. History of AF was present in 702/8277 (8.5%) registry patients and incident AF was diagnosed in 244/7575 (3.2%) over 2 years. Those with AF were older and had more comorbidities than those without AF. After multivariable adjustment, patients with AF had lower self-reported quality-of-life scores (EQ-5D UK-weighted index, visual analogue scale, usual activities and pain/discomfort) than those without AF. CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score ≥2 was present in 686/702 (97.7%) patients with AF, although only 348/702 (49.6%) were on oral anticoagulants at enrolment. Patients with AF had higher rates of all-cause hospitalisation (adjusted rate ratio 1.25 [1.06-1.46], p=0.008) over 2 years than those without AF, but similar rates of mortality., Conclusions: In stable patients post-MI, those with AF were commonly undertreated with oral anticoagulants, had poorer quality of life and had increased risk of clinical outcomes than those without AF., Trial Registration Number: ClinicalTrials: NCT01866904., Competing Interests: Competing interests: APC reports grant funding from the National Institutes of Health. RO has received research grant support from AstraZeneca. SJP has received research grant support from AstraZeneca. DBB has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Eli Lilly, Merck and Sanofi. SY has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Takeda, Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim and BMS. JCN has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi. SGG has received research grant support (eg, steering committee or data and safety monitoring committee) and/or speaker/consulting honoraria (eg, advisory boards) from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, CSL Behring, Daiichi Sankyo/American Regent, Eli Lilly, Esperion, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, HLS Therapeutics, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk A/C, Pendopharm, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi, Servier and Valeo Pharma, and salary support/honoraria from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario/University of Toronto (Polo) Chair, Canadian Heart Research Centre and MD Primer, Canadian VIGOUR Centre, Cleveland Clinic Coordinating Center for Clinical Research, Duke Clinical Research Institute, New York University Clinical Coordinating Center and PERFUSE Research Institute. MGC has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from AstraZeneca, Medtronic, Abiomed and Merit Medical. TS has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Astellas, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi. DW has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Berlin-Chemie, Biotronik and Novartis. KH and KAS are employees of AstraZeneca. CBG has received consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Armetheon, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffmann-La Roche, Janssen, Medtronic, Pfizer, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, Takeda and The Medicines Company., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objective: To assess associations of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) with patient profile, resource use, cardiovascular (CV) events and mortality in stable patients post-myocardial infarction (MI)., Methods: The global, prospective, observational TIGRIS Study enrolled 9126 patients 1-3 years post-MI. HRQoL was assessed at enrolment and 6-month intervals using the patient-reported EuroQol-5 dimension (EQ-5D) questionnaire, with scores anchored at 0 (worst possible) and 1 (perfect health). Resource use, CV events and mortality were recorded during 2-years' follow-up. Regression models estimated the associations of index score at enrolment with patient characteristics, resource use, CV events and mortality over 2-years' follow-up., Results: Among 8978 patients who completed the EQ-5D questionnaire, 52% reported 'some' or 'severe' problems on one or more health dimensions. Factors associated with a lower index score were: female sex, older age, obesity, smoking, higher heart rate, less formal education, presence of comorbidity (eg, angina, stroke), emergency room visit in the previous 6 months and non-ST-elevation MI as the index event. Compared with an index score of 1 at enrolment, a lower index score was associated with higher risk of all-cause death, with an adjusted rate ratio of 3.09 (95% CI 2.20 to 4.31), and of a CV event, with a rate ratio of 2.31 (95% CI 1.76 to 3.03). Patients with lower index score at enrolment had almost two times as many hospitalisations over 2-years' follow-up., Conclusions: Clinicians managing patients post-acute coronary syndrome should recognise that a poorer HRQoL is clearly linked to risk of hospitalisations, major CV events and death., Trial Registration Number: ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT01866904) (https://clinicaltrials.gov)., Competing Interests: Competing interests: SP has received research grant support from AstraZeneca. DBB has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Eli Lilly, Merck and Sanofi. RO has received research grant support from AstraZeneca. JC has received research grant support from AstraZeneca and consulting honoraria from MicroPort, APT Medical and JW Medical. MGC has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from AstraZeneca, Medtronic, Abiomed and Merit Medical. SG has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, CSL Behring, Daiichi Sankyo/American Regent, Eli Lilly, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, HLS Therapeutics, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi, Servier and Tenax Pharmaceuticals. CBG has received consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Armetheon, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffmann-La Roche, Janssen, Metronic, Pfizer, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, Takeda and The Medicines Company. JCN has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi. TS has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Astellas, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi. DW has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Berlin-Chemie, Biotronik and Novartis. SY has received speaker/consulting honoraria and/or research grant support from Takeda, Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim and BMS. KH, CM and KAS are employees of AstraZeneca., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Timely restoration of bloodflow acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) reduces myocardial damage and improves prognosis. The objective of this study was describe the association of demographic factors with hospitalisation rates for STEMI and time to angiography, Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) and Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) in New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Australia., Methods: This was an observational cohort study using linked population health data. We used linked records of NSW and the ACT hospitalisations and the Australian Government Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) for persons aged 35 and over hospitalised with STEMI in the period 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2014. Survival analysis was used to determine the time between STEMI admission and angiography, PCI and CABG, with a competing risk of death without cardiac procedure., Results: Of 13,117 STEMI hospitalisations, 71% were among males; 55% were 65-plus years; 64% lived in major cities, and 2.6% were Aboriginal people. STEMI hospitalisation occurred at a younger age in males than females. Angiography and PCI rates decreased with age: angiography 69% vs 42% and PCI 60% vs 34% on day 0 for ages 35-44 and 75-plus respectively. Lower angiography and PCI rates and higher CABG rates were observed outside major cities. Aboriginal people with STEMI were younger and more likely to live outside a major city. Angiography, PCI and CABG rates were similar for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people of the same age and remoteness area., Conclusions: There is a need to improve access to definitive revascularisation for STEMI among appropriately selected older patients and in regional areas. Aboriginal people with STEMI, as a population, are disproportionately affected by access to definitive revascularisation outside major cities. Improving access to timely definitive revascularisation in regional areas may assist in closing the gap in cardiovascular outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

Objectives: To describe changes in mortality among patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in New South Wales (NSW) Australia from 2000 to 2013., Methods: Patients undergoing CABG were identified from the NSW Admission Patient Data Collection (APDC) registry, linked to the NSW state-wide death registry database. Changes in all-cause mortality over time were observed following stratification of the study cohort into two year groups., Results: We identified 54 767 patients undergoing CABG during the study period. The risk profile of patients increased over time with significant increases in age, comorbidities and concomitant valve surgery (all p < 0.0001). During a median follow-up period of 6 years, a total 12 161 (22.2%) of patients had died. Survival curves and adjusted analyses showed a steady fall in mortality rate: those operated on during 2012-2013 had 40 % lower mortality than those operated on during 2000-2001 (HR 0.61; 95% CI 0.53 to 0.69). This was contributed to both by a fall in mortality both in hospital (HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.62) and postdischarge (HR 0.73; 95% CI 0.61 to 0.86)., Conclusions: We report a consistent reduction in medium-term mortality among a large unselected cohort of NSW patients undergoing CABG between 2000 and 2013. This fall is attributable both to an improvement in outcomes in hospital and in the postdischarge period., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Objectives: We investigated the relative benefit of reperfusion strategies in renal dysfunction and ST-segment elevation/left bundle branch block (STE/LBBB)., Background: Few data are available informing the treatment of STE myocardial infarction in the presence of renal dysfunction., Methods: Patients (N = 12,532) from the GRACE (Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events) presenting with STE/LBBB were stratified by renal function and receipt of fibrinolysis, primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), or neither., Results: As renal function declined, hospital mortality increased and reperfusion decreased (both p < 0.001). Compared with no reperfusion, primary PCI was associated with lower hospital mortality in patients with normal renal function (1.9% vs. 3.7%, p = 0.001, adjusted) but no reduction in those with renal dysfunction (14% vs. 15% for glomerular filtration rate [GFR] 30 to 59 ml/min/1.73 m(2); 29% vs. 32% for GFR <30 ml/min/1.73 m(2)). Fibrinolysis was not associated with lower hospital mortality for normal (3.1% vs. 3.7%, p = NS) or low renal function (32% vs. 32%, p = NS) and with higher mortality with moderate renal dysfunction (adjusted odds ratio: 1.35, 95% confidence interval: 1.01 to 1.80). Primary PCI was associated with increased hospital bleeding and fibrinolysis with increased stroke in all patients. Among hospital survivors, primary PCI, but not fibrinolysis, was associated with lower mortality for moderate dysfunction. Both reperfusion strategies were associated with higher mortality for severe dysfunction., Conclusions: In STE/LBBB and renal dysfunction, mortality rates are high and reperfusion rates are lower. In moderate renal dysfunction, primary PCI is associated with mortality reduction at 6 months. Outcomes remain poor with severe renal dysfunction, despite receipt of reperfusion therapy.

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a potentially serious complication of heparin therapy and is being encountered more frequently in patients with cardiovascular disease as use of anticoagulant therapy becomes more widespread. Our understanding of the pathophysiology of this immune-mediated condition has improved in recent years, with heparin-platelet factor 4 complex as the culprit antigen in most patients. New sensitive laboratory assays for the pathogenic antibody are now available and should permit an earlier, more reliable diagnosis, but their optimal application remains to be defined. For patients in whom HIT is diagnosed, immediate discontinuation of heparin infusions and elimination of heparin from all flushes and ports are mandatory. Further management of patients with HIT is problematic at present, as there are no readily available alternative anticoagulant agents in the United States with proven efficacy in acute coronary disease. The direct thrombin inhibitors appear to be the most promising alternatives to heparin, when continued use of heparin is contraindicated, and the results of several multicenter trials evaluating their application in patients with HIT are awaited.