Successful PCI was achieved in a high percentage of CTOs with a low incidence of complications. At one-year follow-up, patients with successful PCI of a CTO had a significantly better clinical outcome than those whose PCI was unsuccessful.

Post-procedural elevations of CK-MB, but not cTnI, influence 2-year mortality.

In this in vitro model, FTI and LSI predicted RF lesion dimensions, whereas power and CF did not. The LSI predictive value was higher than that of FTI. Steam pops occurred only using high ablation power levels, regardless of the targeted LSI.

Aims Despite advances in the management of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), cardiogenic shock (CS) remains the leading cause of death in these patients. We describe the evolution of clinical characteristics, in‐hospital management, and outcome of patients with CS complicating ACS. Methods and results We analysed data from five Italian nationwide prospective registries, conducted between 2001 and 2014, including consecutive patients with ACS. Out of 28 217 ACS patients enrolled, 1209 (4.3%) had CS: 526 (44%) at the time of admission and 683 (56%) later on during hospitalization. Over the years, a reduction in the incidence of CS was observed, even though this was not statistically significant (P for trend = 0.17). The proportions of CS patients with a history of heart failure declined, whereas the proportion of those with hypertension, renal dysfunction, previous PCI, and AF significantly increased. The use of PCI considerably increased from 2001 to 2014 [19% to 60%; percentage change 41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 29–51]. In‐hospital mortality of CS patients decreased from 68% (95% CI 59–76) in 2001 to 38% (95% CI 29–47) in 2014 (percentage change −30, 95% CI −41 to −18). Compared with 2001, the risk of death was significantly lower in all of the registries, with reductions in adjusted mortality between 45% and 66%. Conclusions Over the last 14 years, substantial changes occurred in the clinical characteristics and management of patients with CS complicating ACS, with a greater use of PCI and a significant reduction in adjusted mortality rate.

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The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701).

Heart failure (HF) is a growing epidemic with the annual number of hospitalizations constantly increasing over the last decades for HF as a primary or secondary diagnosis. Despite the emergence of novel therapeutic approached that can prolong life and shorten hospital stay, HF patients will be needing rehospitalization and will often have a poor prognosis. Telemonitoring is a novel diagnostic modality that has been suggested to be beneficial for HF patients. Telemonitoring is viewed as a means of recording physiological data, such as body weight, heart rate, arterial blood pressure, and electrocardiogram recordings, by portable devices and transmitting these data remotely (via a telephone line, a mobile phone or a computer) to a server where they can be stored, reviewed and analyzed by the research team. In this systematic review of all randomized clinical trials evaluating telemonitoring in chronic HF, we aim to assess whether telemonitoring provides any substantial benefit in this patient population.

BackgroundAge‐ and sex‐specific differences exist in the treatment and outcome of ST‐elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We sought to describe age‐ and sex‐matched contemporary trends of in‐hospital management and outcome of patients with STEMI.Methods and ResultsWe analyzed data from 5 Italian nationwide prospective registries, conducted between 2001 and 2014, including consecutive patients with STEMI. All the analyses were age‐ and sex‐matched, considering 4 age classes: <55, 55 to 64, 65 to 74, and ≥75 years. A total of 13 235 patients were classified as having STEMI (72.1% men and 27.9% women). A progressive shift from thrombolysis to primary percutaneous coronary intervention occurred over time, with a concomitant increase in overall reperfusion rates (P for trend <0.0001), which was consistent across sex and age classes. The crude rates of in‐hospital death were 3.2% in men and 8.4% in women (P<0.0001), with a significant increase over age classes for both sexes and a significant decrease over time for both sexes (all P for trend <0.01). On multivariable analysis, age (odds ratio 1.09, 95% CI 1.07–1.10, P<0.0001) and female sex (odds ratio 1.44, 95% CI 1.07–1.93, P=0.009) were found to be significantly associated with in‐hospital mortality after adjustment for other risk factors, but no significant interaction between these 2 variables was observed (P for interaction=0.61).ConclusionsDespite a nationwide shift from thrombolytic therapy to primary percutaneous coronary intervention for STEMI affecting both sexes and all ages, women continue to experience higher in‐hospital mortality than men, irrespective of age.