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Beta-blockers are a crucial part of post-myocardial infarction (MI) pharmacological therapy. Recent studies have raised questions about their efficacy in patients without reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). This study aims to assess adherence to beta-blockers after discharge for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and the impact of adherence on outcomes based on LVEF at discharge. The retrospective registry FAST-STEMI evaluated real-world adherence to main cardiovascular drugs in STEMI patients between 2012 and 2017 by comparing purchased tablets to expected ones at one year through pharmacy registries. Optimal adherence was defined ≥80%. Primary outcomes included all-cause and cardiovascular death, while secondary outcomes were myocardial infarction, major/minor bleeding events, and ischemic stroke The study included 4688 patients discharged on beta-blockers. Mean age was 64 ± 12.3 years, 76% were male, and mean LVEF was 49.2 ± 8.8%. Mean adherence at one year was 87.1%. Optimal adherence was associated with lower all-cause (adjHR 0.62, 95%CI 0.41-0.92, p 0.02) and cardiovascular mortality (adjHR 0.55, 95%CI 0.26-0.98, p 0.043). In LVEF ≤40% patients, optimal adherence was linked to reduced all-cause and cardiovascular mortality but this was not found either in patients with preserved or mildly reduced LVEF. Predictors of cardiovascular mortality included older age, chronic kidney disease, male gender, and atrial fibrillation. Optimal adherence to beta-blocker therapy in all-comers STEMI patients reduced all-cause and cardiovascular mortality at 1 year; once stratified by LVEF, this effect is confirmed only in patients with reduced LVEF (< 40%) at hospital discharge., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: none, (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The impact of statin therapy on cardiovascular outcomes after ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) in real- world patients is understudied., Aims: To identify predictors of low adherence and discontinuation to statin therapy within 6 months after STEMI and to estimate their impact on cardiovascular outcomes at one year follow-up., Methods: We evaluated real-world adherence to statin therapy by comparing the number of bought tablets to the expected ones at 1 year follow-up through pharmacy registries. A total of 6043 STEMI patients admitted from 2012 to 2017 were enrolled in the FAST STEMI registry and followed up for 4,7 ± 1,6 years; 304 patients with intraprocedural and intrahospital deaths were excluded. The main outcomes evaluated were all-cause death, cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, major and minor bleeding events, and ischemic stroke. The compliance cut-off chosen was 80% as mainly reported in literature., Results: From a total of 5744 patients, 418 (7,2%) patients interrupted statin therapy within 6 months after STEMI, whereas 3337 (58,1%) presented >80% adherence to statin therapy. Statin optimal adherence (>80%) resulted as protective factor towards both cardiovascular (0.1% vs 4.6%; AdjHR 0.025, 95%CI 0.008-0.079, p < 0.001) and all-cause mortality (0.3% vs 13.4%; Adj HR 0.032, 95%CI 0.018-0.059, p < 0.001) at 1 year follow-up. Further, a significant reduction of ischemic stroke incidence (1% vs 2.5%, p = 0.001) was seen in the optimal adherent group. Statin discontinuation within 6 months after STEMI showed an increase of both cardiovascular (5% vs 1.7%; AdjHR 2.23; 95%CI 1.37-3.65; p = 0,001) and all-cause mortality (14.8% vs 5.1%, AdjHR 2.32; 95%CI 1.73-3.11; p 〈0,001) at 1 year follow-up. After multivariate analysis age over 75 years old, known ischemic cardiopathy and female gender resulted as predictors of therapy discontinuation. Age over 75 years old, chronic kidney disease, previous atrial fibrillation, vasculopathy, known ischemic cardiopathy were found to be predictors of low statin adherence., Conclusions: n our real-world registry low statin adherence and discontinuation therapy within 6 months after STEMI were independently associated to an increase of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality at 1 year follow-up. Low statin adherence led to higher rates of ischemic stroke., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Coronary chronic total occlusion lesions (CTOs) confer an increased risk of arrhythmic events among patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) carriers, however the impact of CTO recanalization in this population remains unassessed., Aims: Evaluate the impact of CTOs percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) on arrhythmic events., Methods: Patients with ICM and ICD from the VACTO I-II registries: patients with medically treated CTO (CTO-OMT group) and without CTO (no-CTO group) were compared after inverse-probability-weighting adjustment (IPWT) with a similar population of consecutive patients undergoing CTO-PCI. The primary endpoint was appropriate ICD therapy. The secondary endpoint was all-cause mortality., Results: The total of 622 patients (mean age 67 ± 10 years, mean left ventricular ejection fraction 36 ± 11%) included in the analysis was composed by: CTO-PCI patients n = 113, CTO-OMT patients n = 286, no-CTO patients n = 223. In the CTO-PCI group, compared to the CTO-OMT group, 5-year Kaplan Meier estimates for appropriate ICD therapy (20.4% vs. 56.4%, IPW-adjusted HR: 0.45, 95% CI 0.29-0.71) and mortality (8.8% vs. 23%, IPW-adjusted HR: 0.43, 95% CI 0.22-0.85) were lower, driven by infarct related artery CTO (IRA-CTO) PCI, while similar to those occurring in the no-CTO group., Conclusions: In this large population, those with CTO receiving PCI had lower arrhythmic event rates and lower mortality compared to the CTO-OMT group, while showing an event rate similar to no-CTO patients. Sensitivity analyses suggest that the beneficial effect on the arrhythmic outcome was driven by IRA-CTO revascularization., Classification: Chronic total occlusion., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction and Objectives: Coronary artery calcium (CAC) score improves the accuracy of risk stratification for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events compared with traditional cardiovascular risk factors. We evaluated the interaction of coronary atherosclerotic burden as determined by the CAC score with the prognostic benefit of lipid-lowering therapies in the primary prevention setting., Methods: We reviewed the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases for studies including individuals without a previous ASCVD event who underwent CAC score assessment and for whom lipid-lowering therapy status stratified by CAC values was available. The primary outcome was ASCVD. The pooled effect of lipid-lowering therapy on outcomes stratified by CAC groups (0, 1-100,> 100) was evaluated using a random effects model., Results: Five studies (1 randomized, 2 prospective cohort, 2 retrospective) were included encompassing 35 640 individuals (female 38.1%) with a median age of 62.2 [range, 49.6-68.9] years, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level of 128 (114-146) mg/dL, and follow-up of 4.3 (2.3-11.1) years. ASCVD occurrence increased steadily across growing CAC strata, both in patients with and without lipid-lowering therapy. Comparing patients with (34.9%) and without (65.1%) treatment exposure, lipid-lowering therapy was associated with reduced occurrence of ASCVD in patients with CAC> 100 (OR, 0.70; 95%CI, 0.53-0.92), but not in patients with CAC 1-100 or CAC 0. Results were consistent when only adjusted data were pooled., Conclusions: Among individuals without a previous ASCVD, a CAC score> 100 identifies individuals most likely to benefit from lipid-lowering therapy, while undetectable CAC suggests no treatment benefit., (Copyright © 2021 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: PCI in CBL is common and technically demanding. Whether such patients have adverse outcome during the follow-up after successful PCI is unclear. We aim to compare the clinical outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation of coronary bifurcation lesions (CBL) and non-CBL., Methods: We performed a systematic literature search to identify studies reporting the clinical outcome of patients undergoing PCI in CBL or not. Patients with left main disease constituted a predefined subgroup. Primary study end-point was major adverse cardiac events (MACE)., Results: Fifteen publications on 23 891 patients with coronary artery disease treated by DES in CBL or not were identified. Median follow-up length was 24 months (range: 12-60). MACE at the longest available follow-up were significantly higher in CBL as compared with non-CBL (19.0 vs. 12.1%, P < 0.001). Similar results were obtained in the subanalysis restricted to second-generation DES studies. The MACE rate was higher early, then decreased during the follow-up being, however, appreciable at all timings up to 36 months. In the left main (LM) subanalysis (four studies, 3210 patients), patients underwent DES implantation in distal LM, as compared with nondistal LM, had increased the MACE rate during the follow-up (27.4 vs. 17.4%, P < 0.001), which was driven by higher target vessel revascularization., Conclusions: In the contemporary DES era, CBL represent a subset of lesions associated with increased rate of MACE after PCI. This data prompt for studies aimed at improving the clinical outcomes of patients with CAD.

Background: The optimal approach to guide percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has yet to be defined. The aim of this study was to compare functional driven (fractional flow reserve) versus intravascular imaging (intravascular ultrasound, IVUS, and/or optical coherence tomography, OCT) versus standard (coronary angiography only, CA)-guided PCI., Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and propensity score weight-matched studies (PSWMs) comparing FFR versus IVUS versus OCT versus CA-guided PCI were included. Major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE; a composite end point of death or myocardial infarction [MI] or revascularization) was the primary endpoint, whereas definite stent thrombosis (ST) and single components of MACE were the secondary ones. Primary analyses were performed including only RCTs, secondary also with PSWMs., Results: Thirty-three studies were included in the analysis, 16 RCTs and 17 PSWMs. After 2 (1-3) years, IVUS performed better for MACE than CA (odds ratio [OR] 0.75 0.52-0.88), whereas there was just a trend for FFR (OR 0.81, 0.64-1.02). These results were mainly driven by reduced risk of all cause death, MI (FFR OR 0.74:0.57-0.99 and IVUS OR 0.82:0.54-0.94) and revascularization. IVUS reduced ST while FFR did not, and at meta-regression analysis, there was a trend for superiority of IVUS versus FFR to reduce subsequent MI in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. The present results were consistent also after adding studies with PSWMs., Conclusions: Functional and intravascular imaging approaches seem to perform similarly in term of clinical outcomes, while both performed better compared with the standard approach. Imaging showed a potential benefit for ACS patients. The present results stress the need for a wider use of functional or imaging driven PCI., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Prognosis in pulmonary hypertension is strictly linked to right ventricle failure, which results from uncoupling between right ventricle function and its afterload. This study sought to describe how to estimate with echocardiography right ventricular wall tension, its correlation with right ventricle haemodynamics and its prognostic role. A total of 190 patients without overt right ventricle failure but with suspected pulmonary hypertension on a previous echocardiogram underwent right heart catheterization and nearly-simultaneous echocardiography. Right ventricular wall tension was estimated according to Laplace's law as right ventricle length × tricuspid regurgitation peak gradient and it was correlated with right ventricle haemodynamic profile; its potential prognostic impact was tested along with canonical right ventricle function parameters. Right ventricular wall tension correlated significantly with invasive estimation of right ventricle end-diastolic pressure (R: 0.343, p  < 0.001) and with several other haemodynamic variables, such as mean pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary artery compliance, transpulmonary gradient, pulmonary vascular resistance, right atrial pressure and right ventricle stroke work index (all p  < 0.001). At a mean follow-up of five years and three months, only right ventricular wall tension was associated to all-cause mortality ( p  = 0.036), while tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion ( p  = 0.536), right ventricle fractional area change ( p  = 0.383), right ventricle fractional area change ( p  = 0.076), tricuspid regurgitation peak gradient ( p  = 0.107) and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion/tricuspid regurgitation peak gradient ( p  = 0.181) could not. We identified a novel bedside echocardiographic predictor of altered right ventricle haemodynamics, which is precociously altered in patients without overt right ventricle failure and is associated to all-cause mortality at a long-term follow-up. Further studies are needed to confirm its role in pulmonary hypertension patients., (© The Author(s) 2019.)

Aims: The prevalence of plaque rupture at the culprit lesion identified by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in different clinical subset of patients undergoing coronary angiography and its clinical predictors remain to be defined., Methods: All studies including patients with OCT evaluation of the culprit coronary plaque were included. The prevalence of culprit plaque rupture (CPR) and thin-cap fibro-atheroma (TCFA) were the primary endpoints. The factors associated with these findings were studied in a subset of patients with different clinical presentations [ST-elevation myocardial (STEMI) vs. nonST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) vs. unstable angina (UA) vs. stable angina pectoris (SAP)]., Results: One hundred and fifty citations were initially appraised at the abstract level and 23 full-text studies were assessed. The mean prevalence of CPR and TCFA was 48.1% (40.5-55.8) and 48.7% (37.4-60.1), respectively. The prevalence of CPR and TCFA were higher in STEMI (70.4 and 76.6%) than in NSTEMI (55.6 and 56.3%) and UA (39.1 and 52.9%) or SAP (6.2 and 22.8%). In the overall population at meta-regression analysis, TCFA and current smoking were the only predictors of CPR (B 3.6:2.0-5.1, P < 0.001 and 0.06:0.02-0.1, P = 0.002, respectively). The factors associated with CPR were different depending on clinical presentation. Hypertension was the only clinical predictor for STEMI (B 3.3: 1.2.-5.3 P = 0.001), while advanced age (B 0.12: 0.02-0.22, P = 0.021), diabetes mellitus (B 0.04: 0.01-0.08, P = 0.012), and hyperlipidaemia (B 0.07:0.02-0.11, P = 0.005) were the predictors in NSTEMI and UA. No clinical predictor was found in SA., Conclusions: Our analysis showed high rates of CPR and TCFA detected by OCT in CAD patients, especially in those with ACS, although their prevalence is not negligible in stable patients. TCFA seems to be a strong predictor of CPR in all the ACS scenarios., (Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2015. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

A non-invasive approach to define grafts patency and stenosis in the follow-up of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients may be an interesting alternative to coronary angiography. 64-slice-coronary computed tomography is nowadays a diffused non-invasive method that permits an accurate evaluation of coronary stenosis, due to a high temporal and spatial resolution. However, its sensitivity and specificity in CABG evaluation has to be clearly defined, since published studies used different protocols and scanners. We collected all studies investigating patients with stable symptoms and previous CABG and reporting the comparison between diagnostic performances of invasive coronary angiography and 64-slice-coronary computed tomography. As a result, sensitivity and specificity of 64-slice-coronary computed tomography for CABG occlusion were 0.99 (95% CI 0.97-1.00) and 0.99 (95% CI: 0.99-1.00) with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.99. 64-slice-coronary computed tomography sensitivity and specificity for the presence of any CABG stenosis >50% were 0.98 (95% CI: 0.97-0.99) and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.96-0.98), while AUC was 0.99. At meta-regression, neither the age nor the time from graft implantation had effect on sensitivity and specificity of 64-slice-coronary computed tomography detection of significant CABG stenosis or occlusion. In conclusion 64-slice-coronary computed tomography confirmed its high sensitivity and specificity in CABG stenosis or occlusion evaluation., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Coronary artery disease represents the leading cause of death for HIV patients treated with highly active antiretroviral treatment. Besides this, an extensive amount of data related to the risk of overt heart failure and consequently of atrial fibrillation and sudden cardiac death (SCD) in this population has been reported. It seems that persistent deregulation of immunity in HIV-infected patients is a common pathway related to both of these adverse clinical outcomes. Despite the fact that atrial fibrillation and heart failure are relatively common in HIV, few data are reported about screening, diagnosis, and potential treatment of these conditions.