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Marital status appears to influence CVD and prognosis after CVD. These findings may suggest that marital status should be considered in the risk assessment for CVD and outcomes of CVD based on marital status merits further investigation.

BackgroundPrior studies have reported inconsistencies in the baseline risk profile, comorbidity burden and their association with clinical outcomes in women compared to men. More importantly, there is limited data around the sex differences and how these have changed over time in contemporary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) practice.Methods and resultsWe used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample to identify all PCI procedures based on ICD-9 procedure codes in the United States between 2004–2014 in adult patients. Descriptive statistics were used to describe sex-based differences in baseline characteristics and comorbidity burden of patients. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to investigate the association between these differences and in-hospital mortality, complications, length of stay and total hospital charges. Among 6,601,526 patients, 66% were men and 33% were women. Women were more likely to be admitted with diagnosis of NSTEMI (non-ST elevation acute myocardial infarction), were on average 5 years older (median age 68 compared to 63) and had higher burden of comorbidity defined by Charlson score ≥3. Women also had higher in-hospital crude mortality (2.0% vs 1.4%) and any complications compared to men (11.1% vs 7.0%). These trends persisted in our adjusted analyses where women had a significant increase in the odds of in-hospital mortality men (OR 1.20 (95% CI 1.16,1.23) and major bleeding (OR 1.81 (95% CI 1.77,1.86).ConclusionIn this national unselected contemporary PCI cohort, there are significant sex-based differences in presentation, baseline characteristics and comorbidity burden. These differences do not fully account for the higher in-hospital mortality and procedural complications observed in women.

Purpose of ReviewPeripheral arterial disease (PAD) is the third most common manifestation of cardiovascular disease (CVD), following coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke. PAD remains underdiagnosed and under-treated in women.Recent FindingsWomen with PAD experience more atypical symptoms and poorer overall health status. The prevalence of PAD in women increases with age, such that more women than men have PAD after the age of 40 years. There is under-representation of PAD patients in clinical trials in general and women in particular. In this article, we address the lack of women participants in PAD trials. We then present a comprehensive overview of the epidemiology/risk factor profile, clinical features, treatment, and outcomes.SummaryPAD is prevalent in women and its global burden is on the rise despite a decline in global age-standardized death rate from CVD. The importance of this issue has been underlined by the American Heart Association’s (AHA) “Call to Action” scientific statement on PAD in women. Large-scale campaigns are needed to increase awareness among physicians and the general public. Furthermore, effective treatment strategies must be implemented.

Real time 3DTEE improved the anatomical and functional assessment of PV with better understanding of the underlying causes of PV dysfunction; hence, it could improve the management planning for such patients.

Background: The optimal duration of antiplatelet therapy (APT) in patients at high bleeding risk with or without oral anticoagulation (OAC) after coronary stenting remains unclear. Methods: In the investigator-initiated, randomized, open-label MASTER DAPT trial, 4579 patients at high bleeding risk were randomized after 1-month dual APT (DAPT) to abbreviated or nonabbreviated APT strategies. Randomization was stratified by concomitant OAC indication. In this subgroup analysis we report outcomes of populations with or without an OAC indication. In the population with an indication, patients changed immediately to single APT (SAPT) for 5 months (abbreviated regimen) or continued ≥ 2 months DAPT and SAPT thereafter (nonabbreviated regimen). Patients without an OAC indication changed to SAPT for 11 months (abbreviated regimen) or continued ≥5 months of DAPT and SAPT thereafter (nonabbreviated regimen). Coprimary outcomes at 335 days after randomization were: net adverse clinical outcomes (NACE; composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and Bleeding Academic Research Consortium [BARC] 3 or 5 bleeding events); major adverse cardiac and cerebral events (MACCE; all-cause death, myocardial infarction, and stroke); and type 2, 3, or 5 BARC bleeding. Results: NACE or MACE did not differ with abbreviated versus nonabbreviated APT regimens in patients with OAC indication (n=1666; HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.60 to 1.15, HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.60 to 1.30; respectively) or without OAC indication (n=2913; HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.77 to 1.33; HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.79 to 1.44; P interaction =0.35 and 0.45, respectively). BARC 2, 3 or 5 bleeding did not significantly differ in patients with OAC indication (HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.62 to 1.12) but was lower with abbreviated APT in patients without OAC indication (HR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.41 to 0.74; P interaction =0.057). The difference in bleeding in patients without OAC indication was driven mainly by a reduction in BARC 2 bleedings (HR, 0.48; 95% CI 0.33 to 0.69; P interaction =0.021). Conclusions: Rates of NACE and MACCE did not differ with abbreviated APT in high bleeding risk patients with or without an OAC indication and resulted in lower bleeding rates in patients without an OAC indication. Clinical Trial Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov Unique identifier:NCT03023020

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Discharge AMA occurs in 1.5% of the population with AMI and these patients are at higher risk of early readmissions for re-infarction. Interventions should be developed to reduce discharge AMA in high-risk groups and initiate interventions to avoid adverse outcomes and readmission.