OBJECTIVETo assess the impact of pre-procedure anemia on the long-term mortality in elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) after percutaneous coronary interventions.

METHODSA total of 1014 ACS patients (≥ 60 years of age) with hemoglobin data and without previous treatment with thrombolytic agents and without end-stage renal failure before the interventional procedure were included. Patients were classified as anemia using the definition of World Health Organization: hemoglobin < 130 g/L in men, and < 120 g/L in women. A total of 253 patients were anemia. The clinical features of patients with and without anemia and association of pre-procedure anemia with long-term mortality were analyzed.

RESULTSIncidence of diabetes and serum creatinine level were significantly higher in anemia patients than in non-anemia patients while systolic blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly lower in anemia patients than in non-anemia patients (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The patients were followed up for 528 (178 - 675) days. After adjustment for potential co-variants in Cox regression analysis, pre-procedure anemia was associated with a significantly higher long-term mortality (RR: 3.293, 95%CI: 1.431 - 7.578, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONPre-procedure anemia is an independent predictor of long-term mortality in elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome after percutaneous coronary interventions.

Acute Coronary Syndrome ; complications ; mortality ; therapy ; Aged ; Anemia ; complications ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome

We investigated the effects of weekend admission on adverse cardiac events in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). Patients with NSTEACS treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were divided into a "weekend group" and a "weekday group" according to the emergency room arrival time. The primary outcome was 30-day major adverse cardiac events (MACE) including cardiac death, recurrent myocardial infarction, repeat revascularization, and urgent PCI. Of 577 patients, 168 patients were allocated to the weekend and 409 patients to the weekday group. The incidence of 30-day MACE was significantly higher in the weekend group (Crude: 15.5% vs. 7.3%, P = 0.005; propensity score matched: 12.8% vs. 4.8%, P = 0.041). After adjustment for all the possible confounding factors, in Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, weekend admission was associated with a 2.1-fold increased hazard for MACE (HR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.26-3.60, P = 0.005). These findings indicate that weekend admission of patients with NSTE-ACS is associated with an increase in 30-day adverse cardiac event.
Acute Coronary Syndrome/*complications/mortality/therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; *Death ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction/*epidemiology ; Patient Admission ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention/*statistics & numerical data ; Propensity Score ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo improve the awareness of acute coronary artery thrombosis in Kawasaki disease (KD).

METHODSix KD patients with acute coronary artery thrombosis (Jan. 2004 to Jan. 2013) were studied retrospectively. The basic information, clinical manifestations, laboratory data, echocardiography and electrocardiography (ECG), method and consequence of thrombolytic therapy were analyzed.

RESULTThe mean age of patients with coronary artery thrombosis (5 males and 1 female) was (17.2 ± 11.3) months.Five cases had thrombosis in left coronary artery (LCA), and four cases had thrombosis in aneurysm of left anterior descending artery (LAD). One case had thrombosis in both left and right coronary artery (RCA).One case died. Maximum thrombus was about 1.60 cm × 0.80 cm, locating in LAD. The diameter of LCA and RCA was (0.44 ± 0.07) cm and (0.45 ± 0.07) cm. Two patients showed abnormal ECG. Case 3 showed ST segment depression in lead V5. Case 6 showed myocardial infarction.In acute phase of KD, three patients received treatment with intravenous immunoglobin (IVIG), five patients were treated with aspirin.In sub-acute and convalescent phase of KD, all patients were treated with low-dose aspirin.Warfarin and dipyridamole were applied in 5 patients. All cases were treated with thrombolytic therapy using urokinase and/or heparin. After thrombolytic therapy, echocardiography showed thrombolysis in four cases and no change in one.One patient died of myocardial infarction.

CONCLUSIONMost of acute coronary thrombosis in KD occurred in LAD. KD patients with coronary artery thrombosis are at risk of sudden death due to myocardial infarction.

Acute Disease ; Anticoagulants ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Aspirin ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Child, Preschool ; Coronary Aneurysm ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Coronary Thrombosis ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Fibrinolytic Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome ; complications ; drug therapy ; Myocardial Infarction ; diagnosis ; etiology ; mortality ; Retrospective Studies

We sought to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in patients with acute myocardial infarction and its effect on clinical outcomes. Employing data from the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry, a total of 1,990 patients suffered from acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) between November 2005 and December 2006 were categorized according to the National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III criteria of MS. Primary study outcomes included major adverse cardiac events (MACE) during one-year follow-up. Patients were grouped based on existence of MS: group I: MS (n=1,182, 777 men, 62.8+/-12.3 yr); group II: Non-MS (n=808, 675 men, 64.2+/-13.1 yr). Group I showed lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (P=0.005). There were no differences between two groups in the coronary angiographic findings except for multivessel involvement (P=0.01). The incidence of in-hospital death was higher in group I than in group II (P=0.047), but the rates of composite MACE during one-year clinical follow-up showed no significant differences. Multivariate analysis showed that low LVEF, old age, MS, low high density lipoprotein cholesterol and multivessel involvement were associated with high in-hospital death rate. In conclusion, MS is an important predictor for in-hospital death in patients with STEMI.
Acute Disease ; Age Factors ; Aged ; C-Reactive Protein/analysis ; Cholesterol, LDL/blood ; Coronary Angiography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome X/*complications/epidemiology ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Myocardial Infarction/*complications/mortality/therapy ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prognosis ; Treatment Outcome ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left/complications/physiopathology