Journal of the American College of Cardiology
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Sep 2012
Early anticoagulation of bioprosthetic aortic valves in older patients: results from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery National Database.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the risks and benefits of short-term anticoagulation in patients receiving aortic valve bioprostheses. ⋯ Death and embolic events were relatively rare in the first 3 months after bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement. Compared with aspirin-only, aspirin plus warfarin was associated with a reduced risk of death and embolic events, but at the cost of an increased bleeding risk.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Sep 2012
18 years of the Fontan operation at a single institution: results from 771 consecutive patients.
The aim of this study was to evaluate Fontan peri-operative outcomes for 771 consecutive patients. ⋯ Mortality in the modern era is rare, whereas postoperative pleural drainage remains the dominant morbidity. Elevated pulmonary artery pressure seems to be a marker of unfavorable outcome. Continued investigation is warranted to determine whether medical interventions or alterations to operative strategy can alter peri-operative results and improve long-term outcomes.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Sep 2012
Adrenergic-pathway gene variants influence beta-blocker-related outcomes after acute coronary syndrome in a race-specific manner.
Overcoming racial differences in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) outcomes is a strategic goal for U.S. health care. Genetic polymorphisms in the adrenergic pathway seem to explain some outcome differences by race in other cardiovascular diseases treated with β-adrenergic receptor blockade (BB). Whether these genetic variants are associated with survival among ACS patients treated with BB, and if this differs by race, is unknown. ⋯ Adrenergic pathway polymorphisms are associated with mortality in ACS patients receiving BB in a race-specific manner. Understanding the mechanism by which different genes impact post-ACS mortality differently in Caucasians and African Americans might illuminate opportunities to improve BB therapy in these groups.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Aug 2012
Comparative StudyPerformance of the HEMORR(2)HAGES, ATRIA, and HAS-BLED bleeding risk-prediction scores in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing anticoagulation: the AMADEUS (evaluating the use of SR34006 compared to warfarin or acenocoumarol in patients with atrial fibrillation) study.
The objective of this study was to compare the predictive performance of bleeding risk-estimation tools in a cohort of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing anticoagulation. ⋯ All 3 tested bleeding risk-prediction scores demonstrated only modest performance in predicting any clinically relevant bleeding, although the HAS-BLED score performed better than the HEMORR(2)HAGES and ATRIA scores, as reflected by ROC analysis, reclassification analysis, and decision-curve analysis. Only HAS-BLED demonstrated a significant predictive performance for intracranial hemorrhage. Given its simplicity, the HAS-BLED score may be an attractive method for the estimation of oral anticoagulant-related bleeding risk for use in clinical practice, supporting recommendations in international guidelines.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Aug 2012
ReviewSilent brain injury after cardiac surgery: a review: cognitive dysfunction and magnetic resonance imaging diffusion-weighted imaging findings.
The appearance of cognitive dysfunction after cardiac surgery in the absence of focal neurologic signs, a poorly understood but potentially devastating complication, almost certainly results from procedure-related brain injury. Confirmation of the occurrence of perioperative silent brain injury has been developed through advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. These techniques detect new brain lesions in 25% to 50% of patients after both coronary artery bypass graft and valve surgery. ⋯ It can be hypothesized that post-operative appearance of MRI lesions may serve as a more objective marker of brain injury in research efforts. If MRI examination can be used in this way, then 2 vitally important questions can be addressed. 1) What is the frequency of important, but silent, brain injury during cardiac surgery? 2) Does long-term cognitive impairment ensue? This review briefly discusses clinical features of post-operative cognitive dysfunction and reviews the evidence supporting a possible association with MRI evidence of perioperative brain injury and its potential for long-term dementia. We conclude that this association is plausible, but not yet firmly established.