Significant narrowing of the circumflex artery leads to worse outcomes than right coronary artery narrowing in patients with anterior myocardial infarction treated invasively

Submitral Aneurysm in a Patient with a Normal Electrocardiogram

A ventricular aneurysm entails well-known risks for the patient such as heart failure, potentially lethal arrhythmias, and systemic embolic phenomena. The submitral or posterolateral ventricular aneurysm is a very rare variety, usually of congenital etiology, which may also have other causes, including ischemic heart disease. The present case is about a 76-year-old male with the antecedent of an acute myocardial infarction 3 years ago. He presented with intermittent, brief, and self-limiting episodes of severe dyspnea, intense desperation, and accelerated palpitations, with a nonspecific electrocardiogram. An echocardiography revealed a large submitral aneurysm, with a good clinical response to the specific treatment of heart failure, antiarrhythmics, and oral anticoagulation therapy. We analyze the implications of an aneurysm in the context of an ischemic etiology, with special attention to the limitations of the electrocardiogram in the diagnosis of occlusions of the circumflex artery that irrigates the posterolateral region of the heart. We suspect that a greater number of patients with a culprit circumflex artery could receive appropriate coronary interventionism or thrombolysis if decision-making in the emergency room would not depend mainly on the electrocardiogram. Better stratification tools are needed to prevent late complications of infarction, such as those observed in this patient.

Comparison on the efficacy of everolimus-eluting stent and zotarolimus-eluting stents in coronary heart disease between diabetic and non-diabetic patients

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to examine and compare the efficacy of everolimus-eluting stents (EES) and zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZES) in coronary heart disease in diabetic or non-diabetic patients.

METHODS

A total of 666 patients needed for percutaneous coronary intervention were randomly selected from June 2008 to June 2013 in our hospital and were divided into two groups: (i) coronary heart disease with diabetes group and (ii) non-diabetes group. Patients in each group were further assigned to receive treatment of either EES or ZES. Then we observed the major adverse cardiac events, including mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction and non-fatal cerebrovascular events over the period of 15 months after initial stent implantation.

RESULTS

Compared to the non-diabetic group, more patients in diabetic group had received anti-hypotensive treatment (72% vs. 49%, P < 0.0001) and hypolipemic treatment (80% vs. 67%, P < 0.0001) before the percutaneous coronary intervention. In both diabetic group and non-diabetic group, patients received ZES treatment had a much greater incidence rate of major adverse cardiac events compared to the patients received EES treatment (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, target lesion revascularization rate in the ZES group was also significantly higher than that in the EES group. The data showed big differences between ZES and EES groups with important statistical significance (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Patients with coronary heart disease and diabetes have a higher risk of major adverse cardiac events after stent implantation. EES treatment is safer with higher efficacy in our study, being a more effective stent for the patients merged with diabetes.