Background: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia that occurs after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). 3% and 19.3% of CABG and OPCAB patients, respectively (p = 0.3). The peak incidence of arrhythmia was observed between the second and third postoperative day in both CABG and OPCAB patients (36% and 41%, respectively). Patient's age and history of hypertension were significant predictors of postoperative AF (OR 1.38, p = 0.0002; and OR 1.38, p = 0.008, respectively). Patients who developed AF vs. without AF had significantly higher rates of complications such as death (3.1% vs. 1.2%, p = 0.01), reoperation (5.2% vs. 2.8%, p = 0.02), and the need to utilize intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) (6.8% vs. 3.4%, p = 0.002). Use of IABP and reoperation were significant perioperative predictors of the arrhythmia (OR 2.1, p = 0.003; and OR 1.9, p = 0.02, respectively). AF was also associated with a prolonged stay in an intensive care unit (72.5 ± 78.8 for patients with AF vs. 34.6 ± 25.2 for patients with sinus rhythm, p = 0.000001). Conclusions:In patients undergoing CABG, postoperative AF is a common arrhythmia independent of the type of surgical procedure. (Cardiol J 2016; 23, 5: 518-523)

The early atherosclerotic lesions develop by the accumulation of arterial foam cells derived mainly from cholesterol-loaded macrophages. Therefore, cholesterol and cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) have been considered as causative in atherosclerosis. Moreover, recent studies indicate the role of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) in development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The current study aimed to investigate the association between TMAO and CETP polymorphisms (rs12720922 and rs247616), previously identified as a genetic determinant of circulating CETP, in a population of coronary artery disease (CAD) patients (n = 394) and control subjects (n = 153). We also considered age, sex, trimethylamine (TMA) levels and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) as other factors that can potentially play a role in this complex picture. We found no association of TMAO with genetically determined CETP in a population of CAD patients and control subjects. Moreover, we noticed no differences between CAD patients and control subjects in plasma TMAO levels. On the contrary, lower levels of TMA in CAD patients respect to controls were observed. Our results indicated a significant correlation between GFR and TMAO, but not TMA. The debate whether TMAO can be a harmful, diagnostic or protective marker in CVD needs to be continued.

Background: Whereas the efficacy and safety of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) have been confirmed in de novo calcified coronary lesions, little is known about its utility in treating stent underexpansion. This study aimed to investigate the impact of IVL in treating stent underexpansion. Methods and Results: Consecutive patients with stent underexpansion treated with IVL entered the multicenter IVL-Dragon Registry. The procedural success (primary efficacy endpoint) was defined as a relative stent expansion >80%. Thirty days device-oriented composite endpoint (DOCE) (defined as a composite of cardiac death, target lesion revascularization, or target vessel myocardial infarction) was the secondary endpoint. A total of 62 patients were enrolled. The primary efficacy endpoint was achieved in 72.6% of patients. Both stent underexpansion 58.5% (47.5–69.7) vs. 11.4% (5.8–20.7), p < 0.001, and the stenotic area 82.6% (72.4–90.8) vs. 21.5% (11.1–37.2), p < 0.001, measured by quantitative coronary angiography improved significantly after IVL. Intravascular imaging confirmed increased stent expansion following IVL from 37.5% (16.0–66.0) to 86.0% (69.2–90.7), p < 0.001, by optical coherence tomography and from 57.0% (31.5–77.2) to 89.0% (85.0–92.0), p = 0.002, by intravascular ultrasound. Secondary endpoint occurred in one (1.6%) patient caused by cardiac death. There was no target lesion revascularization or target vessel myocardial infarction during the 30-day follow-up. Conclusions: In this real-life, largest-to-date analysis of IVL use to manage underexpanded stent, IVL proved to be an effective and safe method for facilitating stent expansion and increasing luminal gain.

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Among cardiovascular disease (CVD) biomarkers, the mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) is a promising candidate. A growing attention has been also dedicated to trimethylamine‐N‐oxide (TMAO), an oxidative derivative of the gut metabolite trimethylamine (TMA). With the aim to identify biomarkers predictive of CVD, we investigated TMA, TMAO, and mtDNAcn in a population of 389 coronary artery disease (CAD) patients and 151 healthy controls, in association with established risk factors for CVD (sex, age, hypertension, smoking, diabetes, glomerular filtration rate [GFR]) and troponin, an established marker of CAD. MtDNAcn was significantly lower in CAD patients; it correlates with GFR and TMA, but not with TMAO. A biomarker including mtDNAcn, sex, and hypertension (but neither TMA nor TMAO) emerged as a good predictor of CAD. Our findings support the mtDNAcn as a promising plastic biomarker, useful to monitor the exposure to risk factors and the efficacy of preventive interventions for a personalized CAD risk reduction.