Background: Despite successful restoration of epicardial vessel patency with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI), coronary microvascular injury (MVI) occurs in a large proportion of STEMI patients, adversely affecting clinical and functional outcome. Ticagrelor has been reported to increase plasma adenosine levels, which might have a protective effect on the microcirculation. We investigated if ticagrelor maintenance therapy after revascularized STEMI is associated with less MVI compared to prasugrel maintenance therapy. Methods: A total of 110 STEMI patients received a loading dose of ticagrelor and were randomized to maintenance therapy of ticagrelor (n=56) or prasugrel (n=54) after pPCI. The primary outcome was MVI at 1 month, as determined with the index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR) in the infarct-related artery. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging was performed during the acute phase and at one month. Results: The primary outcome of IMR was not superior in ticagrelor or prasugrel treated patients (ticagrelor 21 [15-39] U, prasugrel 18 [11-29] U, p=0.08). Recovery of microcirculatory resistance over time was not better in patients with ticagrelor versus prasugrel (ticagrelor-13.9 U vs. prasugrel-13.5 U, p=0.54). Intramyocardial hemorrhage was observed less frequently in patients with ticagrelor (23% vs. 43%, p=0.04). At one month no difference in infarct size was observed (ticagrelor 7.6 [IQR 3.7-14.4] g, prasugrel 9.9 [IQR 5.7-16.6] g, p=0.17). The occurrence of microvascular obstruction was not different in patients on ticagrelor (28%) or prasugrel (41%, p=0.35). Plasma adenosine concentrations were not different during the index procedure and during maintenance therapy with ticagrelor or prasugrel. Conclusions: In patients with STEMI, ticagrelor maintenance therapy was not superior to prasugrel in preventing MVI in the infarct-related territory as assessed by IMR and this resulted in a comparable infarct size at one month.

Both acute RVA and RVOT pacing negatively affect WMS, longitudinal LV strain, and mechanical activation times, without clear differences between both pacing sites. Thus echocardiographic techniques do not facilitate the selection between RVOT and RVA pacing to exclude adverse effects on LVF during PM implantation in patients with a normal LVF.

AimsThe consequences of high radiation dose for patient and staff demand constant improvements in X-ray dose reduction technology. This study assessed non-inferiority of image quality and quantified patient dose reduction in interventional cardiology for an anatomy-specific optimised cine acquisition chain combined with advanced real-time image noise reduction algorithms referred to as ‘study cine’, compared with conventional angiography.MethodsFifty patients underwent two coronary angiographic acquisitions: one with advanced image processing and optimised exposure system settings to enable dose reduction (study cine) and one with standard image processing and exposure settings (reference cine). The image sets of 39 patients (18 females, 21 males) were rated by six experienced independent reviewers, blinded to the patient and image characteristics. The image pairs were randomly presented. Overall 85 % of the study cine images were rated as better or equal quality compared with the reference cine (95 % CI 0.81–0.90). The median dose area product per frame decreased from 55 to 26 mGy.cm2/frame (53 % reduction, p < 0.001).ConclusionThis study demonstrates that the novel X-ray imaging technology provides non-inferior image quality compared with conventional angiographic systems for interventional cardiology with a 53 % patient dose reduction.

Background Off‐target properties of ticagrelor might reduce microvascular injury and improve clinical outcome in patients with ST‐segment–elevation myocardial infarction. The REDUCE ‐ MVI (Evaluation of Microvascular Injury in Revascularized Patients with ST‐Segment–Elevation Myocardial Infarction Treated With Ticagrelor Versus Prasugrel) trial reported no benefit of ticagrelor regarding microvascular function at 1 month. We now present the follow‐up data up to 1.5 years. Methods and Results We randomized 110 patients with ST‐segment–elevation myocardial infarction to either ticagrelor 90 mg twice daily or prasugrel 10 mg once a day. Platelet inhibition and peripheral endothelial function measurements including calculation of the reactive hyperemia index and clinical follow‐up were obtained up to 1.5 years. Major adverse clinical events and bleedings were scored. An intention to treat and a per‐protocol analysis were performed. There were no between‐group differences in platelet inhibition and endothelial function. At 1 year the reactive hyperemia index in the ticagrelor group was 0.66±0.26 versus 0.61±0.28 in the prasugrel group ( P =0.31). Platelet inhibition was lower at 1 month versus 1 year in the total study population (61% [42%–81%] versus 83% [61%–95%]; P <0.001), and per‐protocol platelet inhibition was higher in patients randomized to ticagrelor versus prasugrel at 1 year (91% [83%–97%] versus 82% [65%–92%]; P =0.002). There was an improvement in intention to treat endothelial function in patients randomized to ticagrelor ( P =0.03) but not in patients randomized to prasugrel ( P =0.88). Major adverse clinical events (10% versus 14%; P =0.54) and bleedings (47% versus 63%; P =0.10) were similar in the intention‐to‐treat analysis in both groups. Conclusions Platelet inhibition at 1 year was higher in the ticagrelor group, without an accompanying increase in bleedings. Endothelial function improved over time in ticagrelor patients, while it did not change in the prasugrel group. Clinical Trial Registration URL : https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ . Unique Identifier: NCT 02422888.

Group 2 had a significantly worse cardiac prognosis compared to Group 1. The annual cardiac death rate of <1% in Group 1 warrants a watchful waiting strategy, whereas the cardiac death rate in Group 2 warrants aggressive invasive coronary strategies.