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Introduction: Direct stenting (DS) is associated with improved markers of reperfusion during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, data evaluating its impact in small vessel coronary artery disease (CAD) are lacking. Aim: To compare DS and conventional stenting (CS) for small vessel CAD on clinical outcomes of patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. Material and methods: A cohort of 616 STEMI patients treated with DS (202 patients) or CS (414 patients) in small vessel (= 2.75 mm) lesions was retrospectively analyzed. The primary endpoint was to compare the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) between groups during 2-year follow-up. The secondary end points included in-hospital target lesion revascularization (TLR) and in-hospital death. Results: The primary end-point, MACEs, occurred in 9.2% in the DS group and 12.3% in the CS group (p > 0.05). The rates of TLR, myocardial infarction (MI) and target vessel revascularization (TVR) were not significantly different between groups (p > 0.05). The stent thrombosis (ST) rate was significantly lower in the DS group (1.0% vs. 4.2%, p = 0.04) at 2 years. However, DS was not found to be an independent predictor of ST in multivariate analysis. There were no significant differences in in-hospital rates of death and TLR. The DS compared to CS resulted in greater rates of postprocedural TIMI grade 3 flow, and lower risk of edge dissection. The procedure time, radiation exposure and contrast administration were found to be significantly lower in the DS group. Conclusions: In selected patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI for small vessel CAD, DS is not only safe and feasible but also reduces ST rates, contrast load, and procedural and radiation exposure time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In patients undergoing haemodialysis, cardiovascular mortality and morbidity, characterised by accelerated atherosclerosis and increased inflammation, are elevated. Salusins are newly defined molecules in the atherosclerotic processes, and while salusin-alpha (Sal-α) acts as an antiatherogenic factor, salusin-beta (Sal-β) has a proatherogenic role. Their roles are as yet undefined in patients undergoing haemodialysis.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, salusin levels, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) from the common carotid artery and pulse wave velocity (PWV) were measured for 180 patients undergoing haemodialysis and 90 healthy controls.Results: Mean Sal-α and Sal-β levels in patients undergoing haemodialysis (Sal-α: 726.4 ± 578.7 pg/mL; Sal-β: 1,080.4 ± 757.1 pg/mL) and healthy controls (Sal-α: 325.8 ± 303.7 pg/mL; Sal-β: 268.1 ± 409.0 pg/mL) were determined. Negative correlation was observed between Sal-α levels and CIMT (patients undergoing haemodialysis: r = -0.330, p < 0.0001; healthy controls: r = -0.223, p = 0.035) and PWV (patients undergoing haemodialysis: r = -0.210, p = 0.005; healthy controls: r = -0.378, p < 0.0001) in both groups. In patients undergoing haemodialysis, positive correlation was observed between Sal-β/Sal-α ratio and CIMT (r = 0.190, p = 0.012) and PWV (r = 0.155, p = 0.041). On subgroup analysis, Sal-α levels were found to be low in patients with diabetes mellitus.Conclusion: Patients undergoing haemodialysis have higher Sal-β and Sal-α levels, and their higher Sal-β/Sal-α ratio, in comparison with healthy controls, might have cardiovascular risk implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine and compare the presence and extent of coronary artery disease and its association with ICA Doppler flow parameters in patients undergoing carotid artery stenting and patients who were treated conservatively. Methods: 1st June to 31st December 2016. This cross-sectional study consisted of patients referred from our internal and neurological department, from local general practitioners, and other hospitals for carotid angiogarphy. These patients underwent baseline carotid USG before carotid angiography and coronary angiography in the same session were evaluated retrospectively. Patients with sonographically significant lesion (diameter stenosis of =50%), underwent elective carotid angiography and coronary angiography in a single session were enrolled in the study at Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital from For all analyses, a two-tailed p 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Total of 112 patients were included. Thirty of the stented patients and 21 of the conservatively treated patients had coronary artery disease. Gensini scoring was 22±8 in the stented group and 20±6 in the conservative group, p=0.764). The preprocedural PSV, EDV, ICA/CCA ratio were 196±25, 104±33, 3.9±1.3 in the stented group and 136±65, 42±6, 1.9±0.8 in the conservative group, respectively. When two groups were compared, these parameters were significantly lower in patients treated conservatively (p < 0.001). In addition, the percentage of patients with CAD were similar in both treatment groups (46 % and 44 %, p>0.05). Atherosclerotic risk factors such as age, gender, BMI, hypertension, DM and familial history of CAD, current smoking, LDL and triglyceride levels were not significantly different between the stented and the conservative group. Significant correlation was found between two Doppler parameters (ICA PSV and ICA/CCA PSV ratio) and extension of CAD Gensini scoring). Conclusion: Patients with carotid artery disease have a high incidence of concomitant coronary artery disease, which is not different between the patients treated conservatively and stenting. In addition, the extension of coronary artery disease (not the presence) were associated with these two Doppler parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of thrombus on the tricuspid valve is very rare in adulthood and it needs special attention in clinical practice as it can be confused with vegetation or a tumour. Embolisation due to thrombus may have an acute and unexpected course with a detrimental prognosis and a high death rate during the first 24 h after diagnosis. In this report, we presented a case of mobile tricuspid valve thrombus detected by transthoracic echocardiography that led to recurrent pulmonary embolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central venous catheterisation allows delivery of medications, intravenous fluids, parenteral nutrition, haemodialysis and monitoring of haemodynamic variables. Various complications may occur during and after the procedure. However, the complete guidewire retention has rarely been reported. In this report, we have presented a complete guidewire retention as a result of inadvertent catheter insertion. After 17 months of the first operation performed upon the diagnosis of Fournier's gangrene, the patient was admitted to the cardiology polyclinic with a recurrent chest pain. Echocardiography showed a wire-shaped foreign body within the right part of the heart, and a fluoroscopic examination showed a guidewire reaching from the superior vena cava to the right external iliac vein. In retrospect, the wire was already visible on the postoperative chest x-rays and CT taken while the patient was still in intensive care unit, but its presence was overlooked at that time. The guidewire was retrieved completely during a surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rivaroxaban is an oral anticoagulant agent that directly inhibits Factor Xa and interrupts both the intrinsic and extrinsic pathway of the coagulation cascade and is currently indicated for use in patients for atrial fibrillation and prophylaxis of deep venous thrombosis. The present case reports of spontaneous rectus sheath hematoma during rivaroxaban therapy for atrial fibrillation in a 75-year-old woman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Direct stenting (DS) is associated with improved markers of reperfusion during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, data evaluating its impact in small vessel coronary artery disease (CAD) are lacking., Aim: To compare DS and conventional stenting (CS) for small vessel CAD on clinical outcomes of patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI., Material and Methods: A cohort of 616 STEMI patients treated with DS (202 patients) or CS (414 patients) in small vessel (≤ 2.75 mm) lesions was retrospectively analyzed. The primary endpoint was to compare the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) between groups during 2-year follow-up. The secondary end points included in-hospital target lesion revascularization (TLR) and in-hospital death., Results: The primary end-point, MACEs, occurred in 9.2% in the DS group and 12.3% in the CS group ( p > 0.05). The rates of TLR, myocardial infarction (MI) and target vessel revascularization (TVR) were not significantly different between groups ( p > 0.05). The stent thrombosis (ST) rate was significantly lower in the DS group (1.0% vs. 4.2%, p = 0.04) at 2 years. However, DS was not found to be an independent predictor of ST in multivariate analysis. There were no significant differences in in-hospital rates of death and TLR. The DS compared to CS resulted in greater rates of postprocedural TIMI grade 3 flow, and lower risk of edge dissection. The procedure time, radiation exposure and contrast administration were found to be significantly lower in the DS group., Conclusions: In selected patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI for small vessel CAD, DS is not only safe and feasible but also reduces ST rates, contrast load, and procedural and radiation exposure time., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2019 Termedia Sp. z o. o.)

Introduction: Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is a promising alternative to surgery in high-risk patients. However, the impact of stent cell design on outcomes in CAS is a matter of continued debate., Aim: To compare the periprocedural and clinical outcomes of different stent designs for CAS with distal protection devices., Material and Methods: All CAS procedures with both closed- and hybrid-cell stents performed at our institution between February 2010 and December 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. Adverse events were defined as death, major stroke, minor stroke, transient ischemic attack and myocardial infarction. Periprocedural and 30-day adverse events and internal carotid artery (ICA) vasospasm rates were compared between the closed-cell and hybrid-cell stent groups., Results: The study included 234 patients comprising 146 patients with a closed-cell stent (Xact stent, Abbott Vascular) (mean age: 68.5 ±8.6; 67.1% male) and 88 patients with a hybrid-cell stent (Cristallo Ideale, Medtronic) (mean age: 67.2 ±12.8; 68.2% male). There was no significant difference between the groups with respect to periprocedural or 30-day adverse event rates. While there was no difference in terms of tortuosity index between the groups, there was a higher procedural ICA vasospasm rate in the closed-cell stent group (35 patients, 23%) compared with the hybrid-cell stent group (10 patients, 11%) ( p = 0.017)., Conclusions: The results of this study showed no significant difference in the clinical adverse event rates after CAS between the closed-cell stent group and the hybrid-cell stent group. However, procedural ICA vasospasm was more common in the closed-cell stent group.

Polymorphisms in Lys939Gln XPC gene may diminish DNA repair capacity, eventually increasing the risk of carcinogenesis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the significance of polymorphism Lys939Gln in XPC gene in patients with mitral chordae tendinea rupture (MCTR). Twenty-one patients with MCTR and thirty-seven age and sex matched controls were enrolled in the study. Genotyping of XPC gene Lys939Gln polymorphism was carried out using polymerase chain reaction- (PCR-) restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The frequencies of the heterozygote genotype (Lys/Gln-AC) and homozygote genotype (Gln/Gln-CC) were significantly different in MCTR as compared to control group, respectively (52.4% versus 43.2%, p = 0.049; 38.15% versus 16.2%, p = 0.018). Homozygote variant (Gln/Gln) genotype was significantly associated with increased risk of MCTR (OR = 2.059; 95% CI: 1.097-3.863; p = 0.018). Heterozygote variant (Lys/Gln) genotype was also highly significantly associated with increased risk of MCTR (OR = 1.489; 95% CI: 1.041-2.129; p = 0.049). The variant allele C was found to be significantly associated with MCTR (OR = 1.481; 95% CI: 1.101-1.992; p = 0.011). This study has demonstrated the association of XPC gene Lys939Gln polymorphism with MCTR, which is significantly associated with increased risk of MCTR.

Acute ST elevation myocardial infarction has high mortality and morbidity rates. The majority of patients with this condition face erectile dysfunction in addition to other health problems. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of two different reperfusion strategies, primary angioplasty and thrombolytic therapy, on the prevalence of erectile dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction. Of the 71 patients matching the selection criteria, 45 were treated with primary coronary angioplasty with stenting, and 26 were treated with thrombolytic agents. Erectile function was evaluated using the International Index of Erectile Function in the hospital to characterize each patient's sexual function before the acute myocardial infarction and 6 months after the event. The time required to restore blood flow to the artery affected by the infarct was found to be associated with the occurrence of erectile dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction. The increase in the prevalence of erectile dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction was 44.4% in the angioplasty group and 76.9% in the thrombolytic therapy group (P=0.008). In conclusion, this study has shown that reducing the time of reperfusion decreases the erectile dysfunction prevalence, and primary angioplasty is superior to thrombolytic therapy for decreasing the prevalence of erectile dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction.

Background: We have known that patients with renal insufficiency (creatinine level) have increased mortality for coronary artery disease. In this study, the relationship between admission creatinine level and one year mortality are evaluated in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI)., Method: 160 AMI patients (127 men and 33 women with a mean age of 59 ± 13) were enrolled in the study. Serum creatinine levels were measured within 12 hours of AMI. The patients were divided into two groups according to admission serum creatinine level. (1) elevated group (serum creatinine > 1.3 mg/dL) and (2) normal group (≤1.3 mg/dL). One year mortality rates were evaluated., Results: Elevated serum creatinine is observed in the 27 patients (16.9%). The mean creatinine level is 1.78 ± 7 mg/dL in the elevated group and 0.9 ± 0.18 mg/dL in the normal group (P < 0.0001). The mortality rate of the elevated group (n = 7, 25.9%) is higher than that of the normal group (n = 9, 6.8%). A significant increase in one year mortality is also observed (P=002) 60., Conclusion: The mildly elevated admission serum creatinine levels are markedly increased to one year mortality in patients with AMI.