Coronary Artery Disease with Single Coronary Artery

The authors have reviewed the literature in search of the coexistence of single coronary artery with significant coronary artery disease. Two cases of single right coronary artery are described. In both, the anomalies were unsuspected and diagnosed roentgenographically in life. Both patients had angina pectoris, positive graded-exercise stress tests, and hemodynamically significant obstruction or occlusion to the coronary arteries. In neither case was the stenosis proximal or amenable to bypass surgery.     

Renal Artery Stenosis Predicts Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with Hypertension

In hypertensive patients with indication of renal arteriography to investigate renal artery stenosis (RAS) there are no recommendations regarding when to investigate coronary artery disease (CAD). Moreover, the predictors of CAD in patients with RAS are not clear. We aimed to evaluate the frequency and the determinants of CAD in hypertensive patients referred to renal angiography. Eighty-two consecutive patients with high clinical risk suggesting the presence of RAS systematically underwent renal angiography and coronary angiography during the same procedure. Significant arterial stenosis was defined by an obstruction≥70% to both renal and coronary territories. Significant CAD was present in 32/82 (39%) and significant RAS in 32/82 (39%) patients. Both CAD and RAS were present in 25.6% from the 82 patients. Patients with severe CAD were older (63±12 vs. 56±13 years; p = 0.03) and had more angina (41 vs. 16%; p = 0.013) compared to patients without severe CAD. Significant RAS was associated with an increased frequency of severe CAD compared to patients without significant RAS (66% vs. 22%, respectively; p<0.001). Myocardial scintigraphy showed ischemia in 21.8% of the patients with CAD. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that RAS≥70% was independently associated with CAD≥70% (OR: 11.48; 95% CI 3.2–40.2; p<0.001), even in patients without angina (OR: 13.48; 95%CI 2.6–12.1; p<0.001). Even considering a small number of patients with significant RAS, we conclude that in hypertensive patients referred to renal angiography, RAS≥70% may be a strong predictor of severe CAD, independently of angina, and dual investigation should be considered.     

Coronary Collateral Circulation in Patients of Coronary Ectasia with Significant Coronary Artery Disease

Objectives

Patients with coronary ectasia (CE) usually have coexisting coronary stenosis resulting in myoischemia. Coronary collateral plays an important role in protecting myocardium from ischemia and reducing cardiovascular events. However, limited studies investigate the role of CE in coronary collaterals development.

Methods

We evaluated 1020 consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography and 552 patients with significant coronary artery disease (SCAD), defined as diameter stenosis more than 70%, were finally analyzed. CE is defined as the ectatic diameter 1.5 times larger than adjacent reference segment. Rentrop collateral score was used to classify patients into poor (grades 0 and 1) or good (grades 2 and 3) collateral group.

Results

73 patients (13.2%) had CE lesions which were most located in the right coronary artery (53.4%). Patients with CE had a lower incidence of diabetes (43.8% vs 30.1%, p = 0.03), higher body mass index (25.4±3.5 vs 26.7±4.6, p = 0.027) and poorer coronary collateral (58.2% vs 71.2%, p = 0.040). Patients with poor collateral (n = 331) had a higher incidence of CE (15.7% vs 9.5%, p = 0.040) and fewer diseased vessels numbers (1.96±0.84 vs 2.48±0.69, p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed diabetes (odd ratio (OR) 0.630, p = 0.026), CE (OR = 0.544, p = 0.048), and number of diseased vessels (OR = 2.488, p<0.001) were significant predictors of coronary collaterals development.

Conclusion

The presence of CE was associated with poorer coronary collateral development in patients with SCAD.     

Small-Size Circulating Endothelial Microparticles in Coronary Artery Disease

Objectives

Several recent lines of evidence indicate that endothelial microparticles are a new biomarker that can be used to monitor endothelial dysfunction in coronary artery disease (CAD). However, data concerning the detection of small microparticles (diameter <0.5 µm) are lacking. The aim of this study was to detect small-size endothelial microparticles (SEMPs) in CAD patients to monitor endothelial dysfunction.

Methods

In total, 19 CAD patients and 14 healthy subjects were recruited. The absolute numbers and percentages of CD31⁺/CD42b⁻ SEMPs and CD62E⁺ SEMPs were determined by flow cytometry. Clinical parameters were also recorded.

Results

The mean percentage of CD62E⁺ SEMPs was higher in the CAD patient group than in the healthy subject group. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the percentage of CD62E⁺ SEMPs was 0.795, and the cut-off value was 1.35. There was no correlation between the percentage of CD62E⁺ SEMPs and various clinical parameters.

Conclusion

The percentage of CD62E⁺ SEMPs is a potential biomarker for monitoring endothelial function in CAD.     

冠心病相关循环miRNA

冠心病诊断中最主要的挑战就是从常规的血液样本中鉴定出可靠的临床生物标志物.循环miRNA是一种可以稳定存在于体液中的小分子RNA,具有较高的组织、疾病特异性及敏感性,具有作为新的冠心病非侵入性生物标志物的潜力.通过综述血液样本（全血、血浆、血清、外周血单核细胞（PBMC）、内皮祖细胞（EPC）及血小板）中冠心病相关循环miRNA,及探讨循环miRNA研究中存在的一些问题,为未来筛选出真正具有临床应用价值的循环miRNA生物标志物奠定基础.     

Systemic Correlates of Angiographic Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary angiography allows a direct evaluation of coronary anatomy. The aim of the present investigation was to search for correlations between the magnitude of coronary artery disease, as assessed by angiography, and a number of systemic parameters. A group of 116 patients (80 male, 36 female) with coronary heart disease diagnosed by angiography, aged 62.0±10.5 years, was the subject of an observational study. Correlation and linear regression analysis using coronary artery disease burden (CADB - sum of the percentage of the luminal stenosis encountered in all the lesions of the coronary arterial trees) as dependent variable, and age, sex, plasma calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, glucose, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, estimated glomerular filtration rate and body mass index as independent variables, were carried out. Significant correlation values versus CADB were seen with age (r 0.19, p 0.04), uric acid (r 0.18, p 0.048) and fasting plasma glucose (r 0.33, p<0.001). Linear regression analysis, yielding a global significance level of 0.002, showed a significant value for glucose (p 0.018) and for sex (0.008). In conclusion, among several systemic parameters studied, plasma glucose was found to be correlated to coronary artery atherosclerosis lesions.     

The Enhancing Secondary Prevention in Coronary Artery Disease trial

Background

Proven efficacious therapies are sometimes underused in patients with chronic cardiac conditions, resulting in suboptimal outcomes. We evaluated whether evidence summaries, which were either unsigned or signed by local opinion leaders, improved the quality of secondary prevention care delivered by primary care physicians of patients with coronary artery disease.

Methods

We performed a randomized trial, clustered at the level of the primary care physician, with 3 study arms: control, unsigned statements or opinion leader statements. The statements were faxed to primary care physicians of adults with coronary artery disease at the time of elective cardiac catheterization. The primary outcome was improvement in statin management (initiation or dose increase) 6 months after catheterization.

Results

We enrolled 480 adults from 252 practices. Although statin use was high at baseline (n = 316 [66%]), most patients were taking a low dose (mean 32% of the guideline-recommended dose), and their low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels were elevated (mean 3.09 mmol/L). Six months after catheterization, statin management had improved in 79 of 157 patients (50%) in the control arm, 85 of 158 (54%) patients in the unsigned statement group (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.18, 95% CI 0.71–1.94, p = 0.52) and 99 of 165 (60%) patients in the opinion leader statement group (adjusted OR 1.51, 95% CI 0.94–2.42, p = 0.09). The mean fasting LDL cholesterol levels after 6 months were similar in all 3 study arms: 2.35 (standard deviation [SD] 0.86) mmol/L in the control arm compared with 2.24 (SD 0.73) among those in the opinion leader group (p = 0.48) and 2.19 (SD 0.68) in the unsigned statement group (p = 0.32).

Interpretation

Faxed evidence reminders for primary care physicians, even when endorsed by local opinion leaders, were insufficient to optimize the quality of care for adults with coronary artery disease. ClinicalTrials.gov trial register no. {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT00175240","term_id":"NCT00175240"}}NCT00175240.Despite the abundant evidence base for the secondary prevention of coronary artery disease,¹ many of these therapies are underused in clinical practice.^1–4 These gaps between evidence and clinical reality are linked to poor outcomes for patients.⁵ Improved uptake of secondary-prevention therapies would reduce cardiac morbidity and mortality.⁶ However, most quality-improvement initiatives in coronary artery disease have focused on patients in hospital. Few studies have evaluated means of translating evidence into clinical practice for outpatients cared for by primary care physicians.⁷Previously,⁸ we developed and tested the Local Opinion Leader Statement (Appendix 1, available at www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/cmaj.090917/DC1), a quality-improvement tool consisting of a 1-page summary of evidence with explicit treatment advice about secondary prevention of coronary artery disease. This summary was endorsed by local opinion leaders and was faxed to the primary care physicians of patients with coronary artery disease. Although this fax did not lead to a significant improvement in statin prescribing, our pilot trial was small (117 patients) and enrolled patients with chronic coronary artery disease at the time they presented to their community pharmacy for medication refills. We hypothesized that this was not a “teachable moment” and that if the intervention was given at a time when the diagnosis was made, it would be more influential on the primary care physician.Thus, we designed this trial to test the impact of the opinion leader statement if it was sent to the primary physician at the time when patients were diagnosed with coronary artery disease. In addition, because local opinion leaders are not always self-evident and conducting surveys to identify them for each condition and in each locale would be time-consuming and expensive, we also evaluated the impact of an unsigned statement.     

经桡动脉心导管术诊断和治疗冠状动脉疾病的临床研究

目的:观察经桡动脉介入诊治冠心病的安全性和有效性。方法:对1503例患者进行了经桡动脉途径介入诊治,其中包括心绞痛患者1218例,心梗患者268例,二尖瓣和/或动脉瓣手术前对冠状动脉进行解剖学评估17例,观察患者手术安全性、成功率以及与经桡动脉手术相关的并发症发病率。结果:介入治疗成功率为93.1%(1400/1503),手术失败的主要原因为桡动脉穿刺失败(39例),严重桡动脉痉挛(42例),右锁骨下动脉不同程度的弯曲(18例),近端严重狭窄(14例)。术后有14例患者出现严重并发症(瞬时缺血性病变),60例出现有症状的窦性心动过缓,43例出现静脉血栓,77例出现血肿,88例出现桡动脉梗阻。结论:经桡动脉途径是一种安全、有效、患者更容易接受的冠心病介入诊治方法。