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10 stories highlighting advancements in MI care
The Cardiology Today MI Resource Center provides the latest information on the diagnosis, management and treatment of MI, as well as up-to-date information on risk factors contributing to the condition.
Cardiology Today has compiled a list of 10 stories aggregated in its resource center highlighting recent advancements in diagnosis, treatment and management of MI.
Medicare expenditure growth contributes to health outcomes in acute MI
The distribution of cost-effective care such as early PCI has contributed to health improvements in patients treated for acute MI, although the effects vary across hospitals, according to an analysis published in JAMA Cardiology.
VIDEO: Advances in MI treatment highlighted at AHA 2017
ANAHEIM, Calif. — In this Cardiology Today video perspective, Gregg C. Fonarow, MD, FACC, FAHA, FHFSA, discusses two trials presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions that focused on new treatment strategies for patients with MI.
The ACS QUIK study analyzed the effect of a quality improvement toolkit on acute MI among patients hospitalized in India. The STEMI Accelerator-2 program focused on a regional approach to improve the care of U.S. patients with STEMI.
Current guidelines underestimate statin eligibility after MI in young adults
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The majority of adults who present with MI at age 50 years or younger did not meet current guideline-based treatment thresholds for statin therapy before their MI, according to new data from the retrospective YOUNG-MI registry.
“The vast majority of young adults would not have met current guideline-based [statin] treatment thresholds despite a high prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, and a significantly greater proportion of women were not eligible for statin therapy prior to their MI compared with men,” Avinainder Singh, MBBS, postdoctoral research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said during a presentation at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.
Prasugrel, ticagrelor yield similar 1-year outcomes; switch to clopidogrel safe in STEMI
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Patients who underwent PCI for STEMI had similar outcomes at 1 year regardless of assignment to prasugrel or ticagrelor, according to a follow-up study of the PRAGUE-18 trial. Moreover, patients who switched from either antiplatelet therapy to clopidogrel after discharge because of out-of-pocket cost had no increased risk for ischemic events.
Patients who adhered to ACE inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor antagonists in addition to statins had similar mortality rates as patients who adhered to those two therapies and beta-blockers, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Maarit J. Korhonen, LicSci(Pharm), PhD, senior research fellow at Monash University Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Australia, and colleagues analyzed data from 90,869 patients (45% men) who were Medicare beneficiaries, aged at least 65 years, had an index acute MI hospitalization between 2008 and 2010 and survived at least 180 days after the hospitalization.
Chewed ticagrelor facilitates better platelet inhibition in STEMI
Patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI achieved better platelet inhibition by chewing a loading dose of ticagrelor instead of swallowing it, researchers reported.
Researchers randomly assigned 50 patients aged 30 to 87 years to chew or swallow a 180-mg loading dose of the P2Y12 inhibitor ticagrelor (Brilinta, AstraZeneca) before undergoing primary PCI for STEMI at a single center.
Patients with cancer history receive less care for acute MI
Guideline-recommended treatment for acute MI was given less to patients who had a history of cancer, according to a study published in European Heart Journal: Acute Cardiovascular Care.
“It is well-known that cancer patients may have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease as a result of their treatment,” Dragana Radovanovic, MD, head of AMIS Plus Data Center in Zurich, said in a press release. “However ... little is known about the treatment and outcomes of cancer patients who have an acute myocardial infarction.”
Lp(a) levels not associated with CV events in recent ACS
In patients with recent ACS treated with statins, lipoprotein(a) levels were not linked to CV outcomes, according to new data from the dal-OUTCOMES trial.
As Cardiology Today previously reported, in the main findings of dal-OUTCOMES, the cholesterol ester transfer protein inhibitor dalcetrapib (F. Hoffmann-La Roche) increased HDL levels by 30% in patients with recent ACS but did not affect CV outcomes.
MI associated with worse coping strategies
Patients with previous MI were more likely to use emotion-focused coping strategies, such as eating more or drinking alcohol, compared with those without MI, who used problem-focused coping strategies, researchers reported.
“It is well-known that stress impacts quality of life and is a risk factor to our health,” Nastaran Ahmadi, PhD, of the Yazd Cardiovascular Research Center at Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Iran, said in a press release. “We aimed to determine what kinds of coping strategies patients were using to see if there were differences between our patients who have had acute myocardial infarction and those who have not.”
Portable scanning device to rule out MI cleared by FDA
Creavo Medical Technologies announced the FDA cleared its portable scanning device designed to rule out ischemic heart disease in patients presenting with chest pain.
According to a press release from the company, the portable scanning device (Vitalscan) uses magnetocardiography to perform noninvasive bedside scans in 3 to 5 minutes, helping to accurately rule out ischemic heart disease and expedite the process to finding the most appropriate care pathway.
Be sure to check out the Resource Center for up-to-date news regarding MI.