Indwelling urethral catheters (IUC) are routinely inserted for the purpose of monitoring urine output in patients with acute heart failure (AHF). The benefit of IUC in patients capable of complying with urine collection protocols is unclear, and IUC carry multiple risks. This study describes the impact of IUC on AHF treatment.Methods and Results:A total of 540 records were retrospectively analyzed. After exclusion criteria were applied, 316 patients were propensity matched to establish groups of 100 AHF patients who either did (IUC(+)) or did not receive an IUC (IUC(-)) upon admission. Hospital length of stay (9 vs. 7 days), in-hospital urinary complications (24 vs. 5%), and 1-year urinary tract infection rate (17 vs. 6%; HR, 3.145; 95% CI: 1.240-7.978) were significantly higher in the IUC(+) group (P<0.05 for all). There were no differences in 30-day rehospitalization (6 vs. 6%; HR, 0.981; 95% CI: 0.318-3.058; P=0.986) or major adverse cardiac/cerebrovascular events at 1 year (37 vs. 32%, HR, 1.070; 95% CI: 0.636-1.799; P=0.798).Based on this retrospective analysis, the routine use of IUC may increase length of stay and UTI complications in AHF patients without reducing the risk for major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events or 30-day rehospitalization rate.
Background and Objectives: Polymer-free ultrathin strut sirolimus- and probucol-eluting stents (PF-SES) are recognized as safe and effective in diverse patient populations, although the implications of post-dilation during stent implantation remain underexamined. Materials and Methods: In this study, patients implanted with PF-SES at Gachon University Gil Medical Center between December 2014 and February 2018 were evaluated. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), encompassing nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), nonfatal stroke, and cardiovascular death were identified as primary outcomes, with secondary outcomes including target vessel revascularization (TVR), target lesion revascularization (TLR), and in-stent restenosis (ISR). Results: Of the 384 initial patients, 299 were considered eligible for analysis. The groups, delineated by those undergoing post-dilation (143 patients) and those not (156 patients), exhibited comparable rates of primary outcomes [hazard ratio (HR), 2.17; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.40 to 11.87; p = 0.37]. The outcomes remained consistent irrespective of the post-dilation status and were similarly unaffected in multivariate analyses (HR, 2.90; 95% CI, 0.52 to 16.34; p = 0.227). Conclusions: These results suggest that the clinical outcomes of patients with post-dilation were similar to that of those without post-dilation in those with the polymer-free sirolimus- and probucol-eluting stents.
We compared the relationship between inflammatory markers and neointimal hyperplasia (NIH) after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation.We implanted a single DES in 42 consecutive patients with stable angina. The plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) levels were measured before, and 24 and 72 h after the procedure. Angiography and intravascular ultrasound were performed.No relationship was noted between the baseline hs-CRP level and NIH. A significant positive correlation was noted between NIH and the hs-CRP level obtained at 24 h (r=0.435, P=0.004), and 72 h (r=0.334, P=0.031) after the procedure. Interestingly, there was a positive correlation between the change (Δ) in the hs-CRP level and NIH at 24 h (r=0.414, P=0.006). The fourth quartile of the hs-CRP at 24 h after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) had significantly larger volume of NIH than the first quartile (20.1±25.1 vs. 2.7±6.4 mm, P<0.05). Moreover, NIH in the fourth quartile (20.9±26.4 mm) was higher than the first quartile (3.3±8.6 mm) of the Δ hs-CRP level at 24 h (P<0.05) after the procedure. Although the IL-6 level at the baseline and 72 h after the procedure were positively correlated with NIH (r=0.337, P=0.029 and r=0.435, P=0.004, respectively), the Δ IL-6 level at any stage was not correlated with NIH. Neither the MMP-9 level nor the Δ MMP-9 level at any stage was correlated with NIH.This prospective intravascular ultrasound study showed the inflammatory response after PCI, as measured by hs-CRP levels, but not the baseline hs-CRP level, predict NIH after DES implantation. Neither a change in the IL-6 nor MMP-9 levels at any stage after PCI reflected NIH.
Differences in the impact of the 1- or 2-stent strategy in similar coronary bifurcation lesion conditions are not well understood. This study investigated the clinical outcomes and its predictors between 1 or 2 stents in propensity score-matched (PSM) complex bifurcation lesions.Methods and Results: We analyzed the data of patients with bifurcation lesions, obtained from a multicenter registry of 2,648 patients (median follow up, 53 months). The patients were treated by second generation drug-eluting stents (DESs). The primary outcome was target lesion failure (TLF), composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction (TVMI), and ischemia-driven target lesion revascularization (TLR). PSM was performed to balance baseline clinical and angiographic discrepancies between 1 and 2 stents. After PSM (N=333 from each group), the 2-stent group had more TLRs (hazard ratio [HR] 3.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.42-6.97, P=0.005) and fewer hard endpoints (composite of cardiac death and TVMI; HR 0.44, 95% CI 0.19-1.01, P=0.054), which resulted in a similar TLF rate (HR 1.40, 95% CI 0.83-2.37, P=0.209) compared to the 1-stent group. Compared with 1-stent, the 2-stent technique was more frequently associated with less TLF in the presence of main vessel (pinteraction=0.008) and side branch calcification (pinteraction=0.010).The 2-stent strategy should be considered to reduce hard clinical endpoints in complex bifurcation lesions, particularly those with calcifications.