Heart : official journal of the British Cardiac Society
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Elevated levels of circulating liver enzymes have been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Their possible association with atrial fibrillation (AF) has received little attention. ⋯ In this community-based prospective study, higher levels of liver enzymes, mainly GGT, were associated with an increased risk of AF. The mechanisms underlying this association deserve further scrutiny.
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Comparative Study
High-sensitivity versus conventional troponin for management and prognosis assessment of patients with acute chest pain.
High-sensitivity troponin (hs-cTn) is substituting conventional cTn for evaluation of chest pain. Our aim was to assess the impact on patient management and outcome. ⋯ hs-cTn simplified chest pain triage on avoiding a more complex evaluation with non-invasive tests in the chest pain unit, but prompted longer hospitalisations and more invasive procedures without impacting on the 6-month outcomes.
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To determine the accuracy of CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc tools for predicting ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and death in patients without a history of atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF). ⋯ In patients with ACS but no AF, the CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc scores predict ischaemic stroke/TIA events with similar accuracy to that observed in historical populations with non-valvular AF, but with lower absolute event rates. Further study of the utility of the CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc scores for the assessment of thromboembolic risk and selection of antithrombotic therapy in patients without AF is warranted.