Brugts, Jasper Jan

Abstract Aims Trends in upright seated pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) with synchronous measurement of weight, blood pressure (BP), and heart rate (HR) have not been compared prior to heart failure events (HFE) and other causes of hospitalization during remote monitoring. Methods We analysed 24-month data from patients in the PROACTIVE-HF trial. Participants (N = 456) used the CordellaTM HF daily to measure seated PAP, weight, BP, and HR, all taken and transmitted within minutes. Events that were analysed included HFE, those potentially related to HF treatment (HF-TRE), and others (non-HFE). Parameters were trended from 60-days before (D-60) to 30-days after (D + 30) the day of the event (D = 0), and their concurrent changes were compared between D-60 and D = 0, and D = 0 and D + 30 using a mixed effects model. Results There were 196 HFE, 276 non-HFE, and 66 HF-TRE. Prior to HFE, average mean PAP (mPAP) increased from 27.8 ± 10.9 mmHg at D-60 to 32.6 ± 11.2 mmHg at D = 0 (P < .001), and decreased to 30.0 ± 12.4 mmHg at D + 30 (P = .001). Kinetics of mPAP before HFE differed by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF); mPAP rose by 3.4 ± 6.8 mmHg in 2 weeks before HFE in those with LVEF >40%, whereas a similar magnitude (3.1 ± 9.1 mmHg) of mPAP rise occurred over 6-weeks before HFE in those with LVEF ≤40%. No consistent changes in weight, SBP, or HR prior to HFE were observed (P > .05). Changes in vital signs but not mPAP were noted prior to HF-TRE and non-HFE. Conclusion Seated mPAP increased weeks in advance of HFE and vital signs did not change consistently before HFE. Differential kinetics of mPAP prior to HFE by the LVEF suggest that an uptrend in seated mPAP may need to be addressed more rapidly in those with LVEF>40%. Changes in vital signs with non-HFE and HF-TRE need further validation.

Periprocedural bleeding is one of the most frequent complications of percutaneours coronary interventions. We assessed the relation between blood transfusion and all-cause mortality or incident cardiovascular events (death, MI, stroke) among 6103 patients of the Evaluation of Oral Xemilofiban in Controlling Thrombotic Events (EXCITE)-trial. Subjects were followed for 7 months after enrollment for the occurrence of events. Multivariate Cox-regression analysis evaluated the independent association of blood transfusion with each outcome adjusted for age, gender, race, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, history of MI, PCI, CABG, heart failure, LVEF<30%, use of beta-blockers, statins, ACE-inhibitors, platelet inhibitors and allocation to treatment with xemolifiban. In addition, propensity score analyses were performed (ROC 0.80). Mean age was 59.2 years, 21.7% were female, and 18.9% had diabetes mellitus. Of the169 patients who received blood transfusion, 14 (8.3%) died and 42 (24.9%) experienced a CVD event. Of the 5934 patients without transfusion, 65 (1.1%) died (p-value: <0.001) and 555 (9,4%) experienced a CVD event (p-value: <0.001) In multivariate analysis, blood transfusion was associated with a 5.3 fold increased risk of mortality (HR 5.3; 95% CI 2.8 –10.2), and a 2.5 fold increased risk of incident CVD (HR 2.5; 95% CI 1.7–3.4.) Noteworthy, patients who were US citizens had a higher transfusion rate then non-US citizens (OR 1.45, 95%CI 1.02–2.06) The need of blood transfusion is a strong and independent predictor of all-cause mortality and incident CVD events among patients undergoing PCI.