American heart journal
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American heart journal · Sep 2009
Comparative StudyWeekend hospital admission and discharge for heart failure: association with quality of care and clinical outcomes.
Although hospital admissions during weekends have been associated with worse quality of care and worse outcomes in some but not all medical conditions, the impact of weekend versus weekday admission and discharge for heart failure (HF) has not been well studied. This study investigates the association of (1) weekend compared to weekday HF admissions and discharges with quality of care and (2) weekend versus weekday HF admissions with length of stay (LOS) and mortality in the hospital. ⋯ Among GWTG-HF hospitals, weekend admission and discharge for HF were associated with similar quality of care in many but not all measures. Risk-adjusted LOS was slightly longer and mortality moderately higher for weekend HF admissions.
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American heart journal · Sep 2009
Meta AnalysisBiomarker-guided therapy in chronic heart failure: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Measurement of circulating natriuretic peptides has been shown to play an important role in diagnosis and prognosis in patients with chronic heart failure. Whether serial natriuretic peptide measurements to aid in the titration of therapy can improve heart failure outcomes remains uncertain. We performed a quantitative meta-analysis of available randomized controlled trials to determine whether titration of therapy based on natriuretic peptide measurements improves mortality in chronic heart failure. ⋯ Titration of therapy incorporating serial BNP or N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels is associated with a significant reduction in all-cause mortality compared to usual care in patients with chronic heart failure.
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American heart journal · Sep 2009
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyThe Thrombin Receptor Antagonist for Clinical Event Reduction in Acute Coronary Syndrome (TRA*CER) trial: study design and rationale.
The protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR-1), the main platelet receptor for thrombin, represents a novel target for treatment of arterial thrombosis, and SCH 530348 is an orally active, selective, competitive PAR-1 antagonist. We designed TRA*CER to evaluate the efficacy and safety of SCH 530348 compared with placebo in addition to standard of care in patients with non-ST-segment elevation (NSTE) acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and high-risk features.
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American heart journal · Sep 2009
ReviewSystematic review of studies of the effect of hyperoxia on coronary blood flow.
International guidelines recommend the routine use of oxygen in the initial treatment of myocardial infarction, yet it is uncertain what effect this might have on physiologic and clinical outcomes. ⋯ Hyperoxia from high-concentration oxygen therapy causes a marked reduction in coronary blood flow and myocardial oxygen consumption. These physiologic effects may have the potential to cause harm and are relevant to the use of high-concentration oxygen therapy in the treatment of cardiac and other disorders.
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American heart journal · Sep 2009
Association between advanced Killip class at presentation and impaired myocardial perfusion among patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary angioplasty and adjunctive glycoprotein IIb-IIIa inhibitors.
Although primary angioplasty has been shown to improve survival as compared with thrombolysis, the outcome is still unsatisfactory in subsets of patients such as those with signs of heart failure at presentation. In fact, although primary angioplasty is able to restore TIMI 3 flow in most patients, suboptimal myocardial reperfusion is observed in a relatively large proportion of patients. The aim of this study was to investigate among patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary angioplasty the association between heart failure at presentation and myocardial perfusion and its implications in terms of survival. ⋯ Our study shows that patients with heart failure complicating ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction have impaired myocardial perfusion, which accounts for the poor outcome observed in these patients. Further efforts should be aimed at improving myocardial perfusion, beyond epicardial recanalization, to further improve the outcome of these high-risk patients.