Harmonizing the Paradigm With the Data in Stable Coronary Artery Disease: A Review and Viewpoint

Cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease with and without myocardial ischemia: Long-term follow-up

BACKGROUND

After the results of the ISCHEMIA Trial, the role of myocardial ischemia in the prognosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) was under debate. We sought to comparatively evaluate the long-term prognosis of patients with multivessel CAD with or without documented myocardial ischemia.

METHODS

This is a single-center, retrospective, observational cohort study that included patients with CAD obtained from the research protocols database of "The Medicine, Angioplasty or Surgery Study," the MASS Study Group. Patients were stratified according to the presence or absence of myocardial ischemia. Cardiovascular events (overall mortality and myocardial infarction) were tracked from the registry entry up to a median follow-up of 8.7 years. Myocardial ischemia was assessed at baseline by a functional test with or without imaging.

RESULTS

From 1995 to 2018, 2015 patients with multivessel CAD were included. Of these, 1001 presented with conclusive tests at registry entry, 790 (79%) presenting with ischemia and 211 (21%) without ischemia. The median follow-up was 8.7 years (IQR 4.04 to 10.07). The primary outcome occurred in 228 (28.9%) patients with ischemia and in 64 (30.3%) patients without ischemia (p_log-rank=0.60). No significant interaction was observed with the presence of myocardial ischemia and treatment strategies in the occurrence of the combined primary outcome (p_interation=0.14).

CONCLUSIONS

In this sample, myocardial ischemia was not associated with a worse prognosis compared with no ischemia in patients with multivessel CAD. These results refer to debates about the role of myocardial ischemia in the occurrence of cardiovascular events.

Target and non-target vessel related events at 10 years post percutaneous coronary intervention

Aims

To define the incidence of events related to the stented vessel (target vessel related events: TVRE) and events related to non-stented vessels (non-target vessel related events: NTVRE) through to 10-year follow-up in patients post-PCI with newer generation drug eluting stents (DES).

Methods and results

The current study is a post-hoc analysis of patient level data from two randomised controlled trials in Germany. Patients older than 18 years with ischemic symptoms or evidence of myocardial ischemia in the presence of ≥ 50% de novo stenosis located in the native coronary vessels were considered eligible. The endpoints of interest were TVRE (a composite of first target vessel myocardial infarction or target vessel revascularization) and NTVRE (a composite of first non-target vessel MI or non-target vessel revascularization) through to 10 years post PCI.

We included 4953 patients in this analysis. Through to 10-years post-PCI, TVRE occurred in 1238 of 4953 patients (cumulative incidence: 25.8%) and NTVRE occurred in 1442 of 4953 patients (cumulative incidence: 30.3%). The majority of TVRE and NTVRE were revascularization events. From 0 to 1 years, the cumulative incidence of TVRE was 15.9% and of NTVRE was 12.3%. From 1 to 10 years, the cumulative incidences of TVRE and NTVRE were 11.2% and 22.4%, respectively.

Conclusion

At 10-year post-PCI with new generation drug eluting stents, events related to remote vessel disease progression account for a higher proportion of events than events related to the stented vessel.

Trial registration

ISAR TEST 4 ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00598676. ISAR TEST 5 ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00598533.

Graphical abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00392-022-01986-4.

Optimal Medical Therapy as First-Line Therapy for Chronic Coronary Syndromes: Lessons from COURAGE, BARI 2D, FAME 2, and ISCHEMIA

The chronic coronary syndromes (CCS) include patients with a classic history of angina pectoris in the presence of either risk factors for or known atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. Randomized, controlled trials conducted in the optimal medical therapy (OMT) era have convincingly demonstrated that adherence to the outdated paradigm focused on treatment of obstructive coronary disease with initial revascularization fails to reduce death or myocardial infarction and inconsistently reduces angina symptoms. Rather, OMT reduces events and improves symptoms and should be considered first-line treatment for patients with CCS.

Cardiovascular Manifestations From Therapeutic Radiation: A Multidisciplinary Expert Consensus Statement From the International Cardio-Oncology Society

Radiation therapy is a cornerstone of cancer therapy, with >50% of patients undergoing therapeutic radiation. As a result of widespread use and improved survival, there is increasing focus on the potential long-term effects of ionizing radiation, especially cardiovascular toxicity. Radiation therapy can lead to atherosclerosis of the vasculature as well as valvular, myocardial, and pericardial dysfunction. We present a consensus statement from the International Cardio-Oncology Society based on general principles of radiotherapy delivery and cardiovascular risk assessment and risk mitigation in this population. Anatomical-based recommendations for cardiovascular management and follow-up are provided, and a priority is given to the early detection of atherosclerotic vascular disease on imaging to help guide preventive therapy. Unique management considerations in radiation-induced cardiovascular disease are also discussed. Recommendations are based on the most current literature and represent a unanimous consensus by the multidisciplinary expert panel.

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Radiation therapy leads to short- and long-term cardiovascular adverse effects of the vasculature and the heart, including valvular, myocardial, and pericardial disease.

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Computed tomography scans conducted for radiation planning or cancer staging provide an available opportunity to detect asymptomatic atherosclerosis and direct preventive therapies.

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Additional practical screening recommendations for cardiovascular disease based on anatomical exposure are provided.

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There are unique considerations in the management of radiation-induced cardiovascular disease; contemporary percutaneous treatment is often preferred over surgical options.

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.

Ethics of information-gathering interventions in innovative practice

Innovative practice involves medical interventions that deviate from standard practice in significant ways. For many patients, innovative practice offers the best chance of successful treatment. Because little is known about most innovative treatments, clinicians who engage in innovative practice might consider including extra procedures, such as scans or blood draws, to gather information about the innovation. Such information-gathering interventions can yield valuable information for modifying the innovation to benefit future patients and for designing scientific studies of the innovation. However, existing guidelines do not say when or whether it is appropriate to add potentially risky information-gathering interventions for these purposes. As a result, clinicians may assume that information-gathering interventions are ethically inappropriate and should not be used in innovative practice. This assumption can lead to seriously negative consequences, such as increasing the likelihood that harmful or ineffective innovations will be adopted and creating new barriers to the development of genuinely beneficial treatments. We argue that health care institutions need to promote the responsible use of information-gathering interventions as an adjunct to innovative practice, and that these interventions are not clinical research and should not be subject to research oversight.

Coronary microvascular dysfunction in stable ischaemic heart disease (non-obstructive coronary artery disease and obstructive coronary artery disease)

Diffuse and focal epicardial coronary disease and coronary microvascular abnormalities may exist side-by-side. Identifying the contributions of each of these three players in the coronary circulation is a difficult task. Yet identifying coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) as an additional player in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) may provide explanations of why symptoms may persist frequently following and why global coronary flow reserve may be more prognostically important than fractional flow reserve measured in a single vessel before percutaneous coronary intervention. This review focuses on the challenges of identifying the presence of CMD in the context of diffuse non-obstructive CAD and obstructive CAD. Furthermore, it is going to discuss the pathophysiology in this complex situation, examine the clinical context in which the interaction of the three components of disease takes place and finally look at non-invasive diagnostic methods relevant for addressing this question.

Innovative Practice, Clinical Research, and the Ethical Advancement of Medicine

Innovative practice occurs when a clinician provides something new, untested, or nonstandard to a patient in the course of clinical care, rather than as part of a research study. Commentators have noted that patients engaged in innovative practice are at significant risk of suffering harm, exploitation, or autonomy violations. By creating a pathway for harmful or nonbeneficial interventions to spread within medical practice without being subjected to rigorous scientific evaluation, innovative practice poses similar risks to the wider community of patients and society as a whole. Given these concerns, how should we control and oversee innovative practice, and in particular, how should we coordinate innovative practice and clinical research? In this article, I argue that an ethical approach overseeing innovative practice must encourage the early transition to rigorous clinical research without delaying or deferring the development of beneficial innovations or violating the autonomy rights of clinicians and their patients.