Mortality and morbidity in relation to changes in albuminuria,glucose status and systolic blood pressure: an analysis of the ONTARGET and TRANSCEND studies

Aims/hypothesis

Urinary albumin excretion is a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease. It is uncertain whether improvement from microalbuminuria or deterioration from normoalbuminuria over time in patients with differing changes in glucose and BP change their cardiovascular risk.

Methods

Data on mortality, cardiovascular and renal outcomes were analysed in 22,984 patients from two large parallel randomised clinical trials followed for 56 months. A central laboratory analysed first morning spot urine samples at baseline and after 24 months, and events were recorded over the subsequent 32 months. Patients were stratified by changes in albuminuria, glucose status and mean systolic BP over 2 years.

Results

There was a strong association between albuminuria status and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and combined cardiovascular and renal endpoints (all p?p?=?0.0004).

Conclusions/interpretation

Patients who showed improvement to normoalbuminuria over 2 years were at lower risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and of cardiovascular and renal events than those who deteriorated to microalbuminuria over time. Albuminuria over time was significantly better than glucose status and BP control in predicting mortality and both cardiovascular and renal outcomes in patients at a high cardiovascular risk.     

Prognostic significance of mitral regurgitation in long-term all-cause mortality in patients aged ≥ 80 years with acute coronary syndrome

Background

Mitral regurgitation (MR) has been shown to be associated with a poor prognosis in the patients with acute myocardial infarction, whether or not percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is employed. However, the long-term prognostic significance of MR in octogenarian patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains unknown. We sought to determine the impact of MR on long-term all-cause mortality and to further reveal whether PCI could influence the prognosis in octogenarian MR patients with ACS.

Methods

In this study, we included a total of 353 consecutive hospitalized patients, aged ≥ 80 years, with ACS during the period of 5-year follow-up. Association between MR and long-term all-cause mortality was analyzed both in a overall cohort and in a matched cohort developed from a propensity score analysis.

Results

MR was independently associated with long-term all-cause mortality in the overall and matched cohorts (hazard ratio (HR) 1.58, 95% CI 1.01–2.47, P = 0.043; HR 1.90, 95% CI 1.15–3.13, P = 0.013). In the subgroup treated with PCI, MR also exhibited higher long-term all-cause mortality, PCI remained an independent determinant of improving long-term survival rate by reducing the mortality by 15.1% in ACS patients with MR aged ≥ 80 years.

Conclusions

Our study demonstrates that MR is independently associated with long-term all-cause mortality, and PCI is an independent determinant for improving the long-term survival rate in the octogenarian ACS patients with MR.     

Hypersensitivity reactions to latex in patients having topical treatment applied by health professionals wearing latex gloves

Pomegranate is the fruit of the pomegranate tree ( Punica granatum ), native to Africa, introduced into the Mediterranean area, and now widely cultivated. The tree be-longs to the Myrtaceae family and is currently used therapeutically for gingivitis and gastric-duodenal trait. The fruit pulp is made up of a cluster of red-violet seeds.     

Total right ventricular dependent coronary circulation in pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum

This report describes the case of a full-term gestational female with a prenatal diagnosis of pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum. Cardiac ultrasound at birth confirmed the diagnosis with no evidence of coronary artery fistulas. The patient died 6 hours after a central aortic to pulmonary artery shunt had been created with bypass support. Postmortem examination showed a coronary artery fistula rising from the right ventricle and a complete absence of both coronary ostia. This rare finding has been reported sporadically in the English literature.     

Risk factors of osteoporosis in healthy Moroccan men

Background  

Although not as common as in women, osteoporosis remains a significant health care problem in men. Data concerning risk factors of osteoporosis are lacking for the male Moroccan population. The objective of the study was to identify some determinants associated to low bone mineral density in Moroccan men.     

Predicting myocardial infarction and other serious cardiac outcomes using high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T in a high-risk stable population

ObjectivesPrevious work on high-sensitivity troponin I (hs-cTnI) has demonstrated that it may identify patients with stable cardiovascular disease (CVD) at risk for future myocardial infarction (MI). In this study, we assessed if hs-cTnT concentrations could also identify those stable CVD patients at high risk for future MI and other ischemic cardiac outcomes.Methodshs-cTnT (lot:153-401) was measured in specimens obtained at randomisation in the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) study (n = 2941 stable CVD patients, 4.5 years follow-up). The primary outcome for the HOPE study (MI, stroke, or cardiovascular death) was used to identify cutoffs by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and was used in conjunction with the 95th and 99th percentile upper limits to construct different concentration ranges, which were assessed using log-rank tests and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models. These different concentration ranges were then assessed for the components of the primary outcome and for heart failure (HF).ResultsThe ROC derived hs-cTnT cutoff was 8 ng/L for the primary outcome. Subjects with hs-cTnT either below (8 to < 14 ng/L) or slightly above the published 99th from a healthy population (14 to 21 ng/L) had similar probability for the primary outcome. Those with hs-cTnT concentrations > 31 ng/L had the highest probability and greatest risk for future MI, HF, and cardiovascular death as compared to those with hs-cTnT concentrations < 8 ng/L.ConclusionIn patients with stable CVD disease hs-cTnT measurement identifies those at risk for MI as well as HF and cardiovascular death.