Background-The prognostic importance of renal insufficiency (RI) in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has not been well characterized. Methods and Results-PCI was performed in 2082 AMI patients without shock presenting within 12 hours of symptom onset in a prospective, multicenter randomized trial. RI was defined as a calculated (Cockroft-Gault) creatinine clearance (CrCl) Յ60 mL/min. RI at baseline was present in 18% of patients. Compared with patients without RI, patients with RI were older and were more likely to be female; to have hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, or cerebrovascular disease; and to present in heart failure. Mortality was markedly increased in patients with versus without baseline RI both at 30 days (7.5% versus 0.8%, PϽ0.0001) and at 1 year (12.7% versus 2.4%, PϽ0.0001). Mortality rates increased incrementally for every 10-mL/min decrease in baseline CrCl. By multivariate analysis, reduced baseline CrCl was a powerful independent predictor of 30-day mortality (hazard ratio, 5.77; PϽ0.0001) and remained associated with reduced survival at 1 year (hazard ratio, 1.98; Pϭ0.08). Hemorrhagic complications and transfusion requirements were also increased more than 2-fold in patients with RI, as were severe restenosis (diameter stenosis Ն70%; 20.6% versus 11.8%, Pϭ0.024) and infarct artery reocclusion (14.7% versus 7.3%, Pϭ0.02). Conclusions-Baseline RI in patients with AMI undergoing primary PCI is associated with a markedly increased risk of mortality, as well as bleeding and restenosis. Novel approaches are needed to improve the otherwise poor prognosis of patients with RI and AMI.

Rationale: Asthma prevalence and morbidity are especially elevated in adolescents, yet few interventions target this population. Objectives: To test the efficacy of Asthma Self-Management for Adolescents (ASMA), a school-based intervention for adolescents and medical providers. Methods: Three hundred forty-five primarily Latino/a (46%) and African American (31%) high school students (mean age 5 15.1 yr; 70% female) reporting an asthma diagnosis, symptoms of moderate to severe persistent asthma, and asthma medication use in the last 12 months were randomized to ASMA, an 8-week school-based intervention, or a wait-list control group. They were followed for 12 months. Measurements and Main Results: Students completed bimonthly assessments. Baseline, 6-month, and 12-month assessments were comprehensive; the others assessed interim health outcomes and urgent health care use. Primary outcomes were asthma selfmanagement, symptom frequency, and quality of life (QOL); secondary outcomes were asthma medical management, school absences, days with activity limitations, and urgent health care use. Relative to control subjects, ASMA students reported significantly: more confidence to manage their asthma; taking more steps to prevent symptoms; greater use of controller medication and written treatment plans; fewer night awakenings, days with activity limitation, and school absences due to asthma; improved QOL; and fewer acute care visits, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations. In contrast, steps to manage asthma episodes, daytime symptom frequency, and school-reported absences did not differentiate the two groups. Most results were sustained over the 12 months. Conclusions: ASMA is efficacious in improving asthma selfmanagement and reducing asthma morbidity and urgent health care use in low-income urban minority adolescents.

Cerebrovascular accidents after PCI, although rare, are associated with high rates of in-hospital death and acute renal failure, often requiring dialysis.

Our study of 30 selected stroke patients with surgical suture of PFO showed a stroke recurrence rate of 0% and no significant complication. Residual right-to-left shunting may be avoided by double continuous suture of the PFO. In the absence of controlled studies to guide individual therapeutic decisions, our findings show that PFO closure can be done safely and may be considered to avoid recurrence in selected patients with long life expectancy and presumed paradoxic embolism.

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Pertussis remains one of the etiologies of prolonged cough, even in communities with high immunization in children. The specificity of the WHO criteria is low in diagnosing pertussis compared with PCR.