Category Archives: Myocardial Infarction

Introduction Cardiogenic shock (CS) is characterized by hypotension (systolic blood pressure [SBP] 90 mmHg) despite adequate filling pressures, accompanied by clinical and biochemical signs of systemic hypoperfusion.1 Early recognition and treatment of CS is critical to prevent irreversible organ damage and death.2 The most common underlying etiology of CS is acute myocardial infarction (MI) with left ventricular dysfunction, which accounts for up to 80% of cases,1,3 and in France in 2015 an estimated 3% of acute MIs were complicated by CS.4 There is a high unmet need for effective interventions for patients with CS; it remains the most common cause of in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalized for MI,1 with reported rates of in-hospital mortality in CS patients ranging from 4050% at 1 month but up to 70% for patients with refractory CS.5 Pharmacologic intervention with inotropes or vasopressors is generally advocated as a first-line treatment option;6 however, 1520% of patients with CS are refractory to pharmacologic treatment.7 Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices represent a critical and increasingly widely used component in the management of patients with refractory CS. Temporary MCS devices serve as a bridge to recovery, the placement of a durable MCS or heart transplantation. Continue reading →

1. In individuals aged 70-100 years, there was a significantly increased risk of myocardial infarction and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease for every 1.0 mmol/L increase in LDL cholesterol Continue reading →

Objective Our aim was to develop and independently validate nomograms to predict short-term mortality in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. Results There were 1229 AMI patients enrolled in this study. Continue reading →

Two new studies suggest that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) may be not the main driver of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). The findings instead implicate remnant cholesterol (remnant-C) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and myocardial infarction (MI). The PREDIMED study, conducted in Spain, examined the association of triglycerides and remnant-C with major cardiovascular events (MACE) in older individuals with high CVD risk Continue reading →

Caring for patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), which differs in important ways from obstructive coronary artery disease, involves a host of medical issues that may linger long after the MI and require vigilant surveillance to avoid recurrence and ensure optimal quality of life, a new review emphasizes. Esther Kim, MD (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN), who authored the review on SCAD published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, said awareness has increased sharply in recent years. There are now groups around the world working on the genetics of SCAD and its related disorders, and more and more cardiologists are aware of this disorder because it's being discussed at national conferences, and weve seen publications from several registries, she said Continue reading →

In recent years, an increasing rate of mortality due to myocardial infarction (MI) has led to the development of nanobased platforms, especially gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), as promising nanomaterials for diagnosis and treatment of MI. These promising NPs have been used to develop different nanobiosensors, mainly optical sensors for early detection of biomarkers as well as biomimetic/bioinspired platforms for cardiac tissue engineering (CTE) Continue reading →

1. COVID-19 and Cardiology Before 2020, heart disease and cancer dominated medical news. The COVID-19 pandemic reset all that Continue reading →

Patients with isolated severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) often receive prophylactic tranexamic acid before hospitalization to mitigate bleeding risk, but new results suggest the agent is linked to an increased mortality risk in these patients. Dr Patrick Schober "Our study is the first to show that prehospital use of tranexamic acid is associated with increased mortality in patients with isolated severe TBI, suggesting that tranexamic acid should be used judiciously when no evidence for extracranial hemorrhage is present," study investigator Patrick Schober, MD, PhD, an anesthesiologist at Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, told Medscape Medical News Continue reading →

High-dose trivalent influenza vaccine did not significantly reduce all-cause mortality or cardiac- or pulmonary-related hospitalizations in patients with high-risk cardiovascular disease compared to the standard-dose quadrivalent vaccine, according to a paper published in JAMA. However, influenza vaccination remains strongly recommended for this population. Investigators from the United States and Canada conducted a randomized clinical trial of more than 5,000 patients throughout 3 influenza seasons in order to determine if either of the vaccines would reduce all-cause mortality or cardiopulmonary hospitalizations in these patients. Continue reading →

This transcript has been edited for clarity. Robert A. Harrington, MD: Hi this is Bob Harrington from Stanford University on theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology Continue reading →