Rethinking Stable Ischemic Heart Disease

Myocardial energy balance and metabolism as causes of myocardial ischemia

The current approach to myocardial ischemia has been influenced by the misconception of a close link between ischemia and coronary atherosclerotic obstructions. Recent guidelines have, however, acknowledged the multifactorial nature of this condition, with an identifiable cause present in less than half of angina patients, and a large fraction with angina of unknown origin. Because of this background, focusing on cardiac energy metabolim offers new opportunities to manage myocardial ischemia even when its cause is unknown.

Single-pill combination in the management of chronic coronary syndromes: A strategy to improve treatment adherence and patient outcomes?

Chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) represents a major challenge for physicians, particularly in the context of an increasing aging population. Additionally, CCS is often underestimated and under-recognised, particularly in female patients. As patients are frequently affected by several chronic comorbidities requiring polypharmacy, this can have a negative impact on patients' adherence to treatment. To overcome this barrier, single-pill combination (SPC), or fixed-dose combination, therapies are already widely used in the management of conditions such as hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and diabetes mellitus. The use of SPC anti-anginal therapy deserves careful consideration, as it has the potential to substantially improve treatment adherence and clinical outcomes, along with reducing the failure of pharmacological treatment before considering other interventions in patients with CCS.

ANOCA/INOCA/MINOCA: Open artery ischemia

Ischemic heart disease continues to represent a major health threat for death, disability, and poor quality of life as it also consumes enormous health-related resources. For over a century, the major clinical phenotype was taken to be obstructive atherosclerosis involving the larger coronary arteries (e.g., coronary artery disease [CAD]). However, evolving evidence now indicates that nonobstructive CAD is the predominant phenotype. Patients within this phenotype have been termed to have angina with no obstructive CAD (ANOCA), ischemia with no obstructive CAD (INOCA), or myocardial infarction with no obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA). But as methods to assess cardiomyocyte injury evolve, these phenotypic distinctions have begun to merge, raising concern about their usefulness. Also, considerable evidence has suggested several endotypes that link to potential mechanisms. These include coronary microvascular dysfunction, augmented vasoreactivity (failure to relax appropriately, exaggerated constriction ["spasm"], etc.), nonobstructive atherosclerosis, pre-heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, hypercoagulable states, and several others, alone or in combination. This review summarizes these syndromes and their associated clinical outcomes with an emphasis on potential mechanistic signals. These involve the endothelium, the microvasculature, and cardiomyocyte function. Biomarkers of injury/dysfunction involving these structures are discussed along with a hypothetical construct for management being tested in an ongoing trial.

Clinical outcomes of newly diagnosed, stable angina patients managed according to current guidelines. The ARCA (Arca Registry for Chronic Angina) Registry: A prospective, observational, nationwide study

BACKGROUND

Clinical outcomes of stable angina patients treated according to guidelines recommendations (medical therapy first, selective revascularization in high risk or unresponsive patients) are not fully known.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Eight hundred thirty-three patients with newly diagnosed, stable angina were enrolled in a prospective, observational, nationwide registry and followed for 1 year. Symptoms and quality of life were evaluated with the CCS angina grading, with a self-assessment scale and with the SAQ-7. A composite end-point of MACEs (all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke or hospitalization for unstable angina) at 1 year was considered. Upon enrollment, all patients were prescribed guidelines directed medical therapy. After one month of therapy, angina relieved or improved in 47% of the overall population. Patients in CCS class I significantly increased from 28.4% at enrollment to 67.1% at 12 months, and the SAQ-7 score from 58.4 ± 20 to 85.9 ± 14. The rate of MACEs was low (2.9%) in the overall population. After one month of medical therapy, 40.6% of patients were referred for coronary angiography and revascularization for resistant symptoms (invasive strategy). Among these, 38.2% had normal coronary arteries and 47% actually underwent revascularization. No difference between invasive and medical groups was found at 12 months in symptoms, quality of life and MACEs, except for a greater improvement in self-assessed symptoms in the invasive group. Combined medical and invasive strategies left 28.5% of patients still symptomatic at the end of the study.

CONCLUSIONS

The study confirms the efficacy and safety of a tailored approach to stable angina, as recommended by guidelines, with medical therapy first followed by selective revascularization when needed.

Effectiveness and Tolerability of Trimetazidine 80 Mg Once Daily in Patients with Stable Angina Uncontrolled with Bisoprolol-Based Therapy: The Modus Vivendi Observational Study

Introduction

Modus Vivendi was conducted in routine clinical practice to evaluate the effect of adding trimetazidine 80 mg once daily (TMZ 80 OD) to treat patients with persistent symptoms despite treatment with background antianginal therapies including maximally tolerated bisoprolol.

Methods

This multicenter, prospective, observational, open-label, uncontrolled study recruited adult outpatients with a confirmed diagnosis of stable angina to whom physicians had decided to prescribe TMZ 80 OD. All patients were symptomatic despite treatment, including maximally tolerated doses of bisoprolol. Data on number of angina attacks, use of short-acting nitrates, and quality of life (QoL) were collected at baseline (V1) and at 1-month (V2) and 3-month (V2) follow-up visits. Two sub-analyses assessed efficacy in patients who remained on a stable bisoprolol dose throughout the study, and in patients in whom background antianginal therapy was known.

Results

A total of 1939 patients were recruited (57.2% women). The mean age was 65.6 ± 8.8 years; 73.8% had class II and 26.2% class III angina. At V1, the mean number of angina attacks per week was 6.2 ± 6.5 despite antianginal therapy including maximally tolerated bisoprolol dosage. Following the addition of TMZ 80 OD, this decreased to 3.4 ± 4.2 attacks per week at V2, and 1.6 ± 2.6 at V3 (P < 0.05 at V2 and V3), with concomitant reductions in short-acting nitrate use (P < 0.05). Significant improvements in QoL were observed throughout the study. Subgroup analyses showed that the addition of TMZ 80 OD to guideline-recommended antianginal therapy was associated with significant reductions in the mean number of weekly angina attacks and consumption of short-acting nitrates and improvements in QoL whether patients were treated with maximally tolerated bisoprolol and TMZ 80 OD alone, or maximally tolerated bisoprolol and TMZ 80 OD on top of other antianginal therapies. Treatment was well tolerated.

Conclusion

The study findings support the addition of TMZ 80 OD to bisoprolol with or without other antianginal therapies for patients with persistent angina.

Trial Registration

This study was retrospectively registered under the number ISRCTN29992579.

Italian Cardiological Guidelines (COCIS) for Competitive Sport Eligibility in athletes with heart disease: update 2020

Since 1989, SIC Sport and a FMSI, in partnership with leading Italian Cardiological Scientific Associations (ANCE, ANMCO and SIC) have produced Cardiological Guidelines for Completive Sports Eligibility for athletes with heart disease (COCIS -- 1989, 1995, 2003, 2009 and 2017). The English version of the Italian Cardiological Guidelines for Competitive Sports Eligibility for athletes with heart disease was published in 2013 in this Journal. This publication is an update with respect to the document previously published in English in 2013. It includes the principal innovations that have emerged over recent years, and is divided into five main chapters: arrhythmias, ion channel disorders, congenital heart diseases, acquired valve diseases, cardiomyopathies, myocarditis and pericarditis and ischemic heart disease. Wherever no new data have been introduced with respect to the 2013 publication, please refer to the previous version. This document is intended to complement recent European and American guidelines but an important difference should be noted. The European and American guidelines indicate good practice for people engaging in physical activity at various levels, not only at the competitive level. In contrast, the COCIS guidelines refer specifically to competitive athletes in various sports including those with high cardiovascular stress. This explains why Italian guidelines are more restrictive than European and USA ones. COCIS guidelines address 'sports doctors' who, in Italy, must certify fitness to participate in competitive sports. In Italy, this certificate is essential for participating in any competition.

What Is the Role of Assessing Ischemia to Optimize Therapy and Outcomes for Patients with Stable Angina and Non-obstructed Coronary Arteries?

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a leading global cause of ill-health and premature death. Clinical research into IHD is providing new insights into the pathophysiology, epidemiology and treatment of this condition. The major endotypes of IHD include coronary heart disease (CHD) and vasomotor disorders, including microvascular angina and vasospastic angina. Considering unselected patients presenting with stable chest pain, the pre-test probability of CHD is higher in men whereas the pre-test probability of a vasomotor disorder is higher in women. The diagnostic accuracy of diagnostic tests designed to assess coronary anatomy and disease and/or coronary vascular function (functional tests) differ for coronary endotypes. Clinical management should therefore be personalized and take account of sex-related factors. In this review, we consider the definitions of angina and myocardial ischemia. We then appraise the mechanistic links between myocardial ischemia and anginal symptoms and the relative merits of non-invasive and invasive diagnostic tests and related clinical management. Finally, we describe the rationale and importance of stratified medicine of IHD.

Stable ischemic heart disease: re-appraisal of coronary revascularization criteria in the light of contemporary evidence

The term "stable ischemic heart disease" includes a variety of clinical and pathophysiological situations resulting in different presentation modalities, often with complex referral patterns, and with multiple potential therapeutical options. Multifactorial pathogenesis and multiform expressivity are poorly captured by the traditional vision of ischemic heart disease (IHD) as the clogged pipes disease. The availability of different technologies for studying patients with symptoms suggestive of IHD, has shed a new light on the pathophysiology of the disease, but has also allowed appropriate follow-up of patients allocated to different therapeutical options. Though coronary revascularization has been one primary treatment option for obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), the evidence for its efficacy in patients without acute presentation is far from optimal. A number of studies and meta-analyses strongly support the need for a personalized and optimized medical approach (including functional assessment and therapy) before the tailored option of revascularization in selected patients, in order to optimize its effects on symptoms and outcome. Most recent data have expanded the need for a more personalised approach to this complex situation, which should be patient-centered and not focused on technologies. In this review, we discuss the major pathophysiological factors and the most recent clinical data and guidelines suggestions, needed for a critical re-appraisal of the clinical decision-making to perform revascularization in patients with stable IHD. Moreover we aimed at suggesting the potential role for future studies to fill the existing knowledge gaps but also to counteract a reductive, hydraulic view of chronic IHD, which seems to be still alive and kicking, both in clinical and research communities, despite multiple evidences and recommendations.

Trimetazidine and Other Metabolic Modifiers

Treatment goals for people with chronic angina should focus on the relief of symptoms and improving mortality rates so the patient can feel better and live longer. The traditional haemodynamic approach to ischaemic heart disease was based on the assumption that increasing oxygen supply and decreasing oxygen demand would improve symptoms. However, data from clinical trials, show that about one third of people continue to have angina despite a successful percutaneous coronary intervention and medical therapy. Moreover, several trials on chronic stable angina therapy and revascularisation have failed to show benefits in terms of primary outcome (survival, cardiovascular death, all-cause mortality), symptom relief or echocardiographic parameters. Failure to significantly improve quality of life and prognosis may be attributed in part to a limited understanding of ischaemic heart disease, by neglecting the fact that ischaemia is a metabolic disorder. Shifting cardiac metabolism from free fatty acids towards glucose is a promising approach for the treatment of patients with stable angina, independent of the underlying disease (macrovascular and/or microvascular disease). Cardiac metabolic modulators open the way to a greater understanding of ischaemic heart disease and its common clinical manifestations as an energetic disorder rather than an imbalance between the demand and supply of oxygen and metabolites.

Limitations of Chest Pain Categorization Models to Predict Coronary Artery Disease

We aimed to evaluate how chest pain categorization, currently used to assess the pretest probability of coronary artery disease (CAD), predicts the actual presence of CAD in a population of patients with stable symptoms. We studied 475 consecutive patients enrolled in the Evaluation of Integrated Cardiac Imaging for the Detection and Characterization of Ischemic Heart Disease study based on possible symptoms of CAD. Chest pain or discomfort was categorized as typical angina, atypical angina, or as nonanginal according to the guidelines. Exertional dyspnea and fatigue suspected to be angina equivalents were classified as atypical angina. Patients with a probability of CAD <20 or >90% based on age, gender, and symptoms were excluded. The end points of this substudy were significant CAD (defined by invasive coronary angiography as >50% reduction in lumen diameter in the left main stem or >70% stenosis in a major coronary vessel or 30% to 70% stenosis with fractional flow reserve ≤0.8), inducible myocardial ischemia at noninvasive stress imaging, and their association. Patients' symptoms had limited ability to predict the presence of significant CAD, global chi-square being 5.0. The inclusion of age increased global chi-square to 18.7 and gender increased it further to 51.1. Using inducible myocardial ischemia or the association of CAD with inducible ischemia as end points, the ability to predict these end points was again better for patient demographics than for patient symptoms. Thus, the ability of current models based on symptoms, age, and gender to predict the presence of CAD is mainly based on patient demographics as opposed to symptoms.

FREEDOM, SYNTAX, FAME and FUNCTIONALITY: the future of surgical revascularization in stable ischemic heart disease

ABSTRACT: At the age of nearly 50 years, the procedure of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) now has the most solid evidence supporting its role in revascularization for stable ischemic heart disease in its history. In what is a relatively infrequent occurrence in medicine, the results from large-scale observational database analyses are now aligned with and supported by data from recent randomized trials, providing important contemporary evidence in support of CABG. However, even with strong evidence, the changing landscape of revascularization for stable ischemic heart disease threatens to make this evidence irrelevant in deciding which patients should be referred for CABG in the future. How the procedure of CABG could be modified and optimized for incorporation into this new landscape is discussed in this article.

Comparison of sulfur hexafluoride microbubble (SonoVue)-enhanced myocardial contrast echocardiography with gated single-photon emission computed tomography for detection of significant coronary artery disease: a large European multicenter study

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to compare sulfur hexafluoride microbubble (SonoVue)-enhanced myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) relative to coronary angiography (CA) for assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD).

BACKGROUND

Small-scale studies have shown that myocardial perfusion assessed by SonoVue-enhanced MCE is a viable alternative to SPECT for CAD assessment. However, large multicenter studies are lacking.

METHODS

Patients referred for myocardial ischemia testing at 34 centers underwent rest/vasodilator SonoVue-enhanced flash-replenishment MCE, standard (99m)Tc-labeled electrocardiography-gated SPECT, and quantitative CA within 1 month. Myocardial ischemia assessments by 3 independent, blinded readers for MCE and 3 readers for SPECT were collapsed into 1 diagnosis per patient per technique and were compared to CA (reference standard) read by 1 independent blinded reader.

RESULTS

Of 628 enrolled patients who received SonoVue (71% males; mean age: 64 years; >1 cardiovascular [CV] risk factor in 99% of patients) 516 patients underwent all 3 examinations, of whom 161 (31.2%) had ≥70% stenosis (131 had single-vessel disease [SVD]; 30 had multivessel disease), and 310 (60.1%) had ≥50% stenosis. Higher sensitivity was obtained with MCE than with SPECT (75.2% vs. 49.1%, respectively; p < 0.0001), although specificity was lower (52.4% vs. 80.6%, respectively; p < 0.0001) for ≥70% stenosis. Similar findings were obtained for patients with ≥50% stenosis. Sensitivity levels for detection of SVD and proximal disease for ≥70% stenosis were higher for MCE (72.5% vs. 42.7%, respectively; p < 0.0001; 80% vs. 58%, respectively; p = 0.005, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

SonoVue-enhanced MCE demonstrated superior sensitivity but lower specificity for detection of CAD compared to SPECT in a population with a high incidence of CV risk factors and intermediate-high prevalence of CAD. (A phase III study to compare SonoVue® enhanced myocardial echocardiography [MCE] to single photon emission computerized tomography [ECG-GATED SPECT], at rest and at peak of low-dose Dipyridamole stress test, in the assessment of significant coronary artery disease [CAD] in patients with suspect or known CAD using Coronary Angiography as Gold Standard-SonoVue MCE vs SPECT; EUCTR2007-003492-39-GR).