Myocardial necrosis, as measured by released TnT, and inflammation state evident due to circulating levels of CRP are factors that may play a major role in the development of LVR following STEMI treated with primary PCI.

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Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has been described as a prognostic marker for several diseases. Its prognostic value for short-term outcome in stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis remains unexplored. cfDNA was measured on admission in 54 tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)-treated patients and 15 healthy controls using a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay. Neurological outcome was assessed at 48 h. Predictors of neurological improvement were evaluated by logistic regression analysis, and the additional predictive value of cfDNA over clinical variables was determined by integrated discrimination improvement (IDI). Stroke patients presented higher baseline cfDNA than healthy controls (408.5 (179–700.5) vs. 153.5 (66.9–700.5) kilogenome-equivalents/L, p = 0.123). A trend towards lower cfDNA levels was found in patients who neurologically improved at 48 h (269.5 (143.3–680) vs. 504 (345.9–792.3) kilogenome-equivalents/L, p = 0.130). In logistic regression analysis, recanalization at 1 h and cfDNA < 302.75 kilogenome-equivalents/L was independently associated with neurological improvement after adjustment by age, gender and baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score. The addition of cfDNA to the clinical predictive model improved its discrimination (IDI = 21.2% (9.2–33.3%), p = 0.009). These data suggest that cfDNA could be a surrogate marker for monitoring tPA efficacy by the prediction of short-term neurological outcome.

Background and Purpose-Restenosis after carotid angioplasty (with or without stent) is associated with increased rate of stroke and death. Our aim was to determine risk and predictive factors related to carotid restenosis post carotid angioplasty and its association to recurrent cerebrovascular events. Methods-All consecutive patients with carotid stenosis treated with angioplasty (n=1060) in a single University Hospital were included (from 2002 to 2013). Follow-up was done prospectively evaluating restenosis, ipsilateral stroke, or death.Restenosis was defined as a narrowing of ≥70% of a previously treated vessel evaluated by ultrasonography. Results-Of the 1060 patients treated, 9.2% (97) of patients experienced restenosis during follow up (median 12 months). Occurrence of restenosis was associated with ipsilateral stroke during follow-up (P=0.049). After Cox regression analysis, hypertension (hazard ratio, 6.2 [1.9-19.9]; P=0.002), impaired vasoreactivity (hazard ratio, 1.7 [1.09-2.8]; P=0.019), and angioplasty without stent (hazard ratio, 2.9 [1.2-6.8]; P=0.012) were independent risk predictors of >70% restenosis. Conclusions-Carotid restenosis after carotid angioplasty is associated with ipsilateral stroke occurrence. In our sample, hypertension, angioplasty without stent, and impaired vasoreactivity identify patients at high risk of restenosis and could help to select patients for follow-up ultrasonography imaging.