Background: Marijuana is a widely used recreational substance. Few cases have been reported of acute myocardial infarction following marijuana use. To our knowledge, this is the first ever study analyzing the lifetime odds of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with marijuana use and the outcomes in AMI patients with versus without marijuana use.
Methods: We queried the 2010-2014 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database for 11-70-year-old AMI patients. Pearson Chi-square test for categorical variables and Student T-test for continuous variables were used to compare the baseline demographic and hospital characteristics between two groups (without vs. with marijuana) of AMI patients. The univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess and compare the clinical outcomes between two groups. We used Cochran-Armitage test to measure the trends. All statistical analyses were executed by IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). We used weighted data to produce national estimates in our study.
Results: Out of 2,451,933 weighted hospitalized AMI patients, 35,771 patients with a history of marijuana and 2,416,162 patients without a history of marijuana use were identified. The AMI-marijuana group consisted more of younger, male, African American patients. The length of stay and mortality rate were lower in the AMI-marijuana group with more patients being discharged against medical advice. Multivariable analysis showed that marijuana use was a significant risk factor for AMI development when adjusted for age, sex, race (adjusted OR 1.079, 95% CI 1.065-1.093, p<0.001); adjusted for age, female, race, smoking, cocaine abuse (adjusted OR 1.041, 95% CI 1.027-1.054, p<0.001); and also when adjusted for age, female, race, payer status, smoking, cocaine abuse, amphetamine abuse and alcohol abuse (adjusted OR: 1.031, 95% CI: 1.018-1.045, p<0.001). Complications such as respiratory failure (OR 18.9, CI 15.6-23.0, p<0.001), cerebrovascular disease (OR 9.0, CI 7.0-11.7, p<0.001), cardiogenic shock (OR 6.0, CI 4.9-7.4, p<0.001), septicemia (OR 1.8, CI 1.5-2.2, p<0.001), and dysrhythmia (OR 1.8, CI 1.5-2.1, p<0.001) were independent predictors of mortality in AMI-marijuana group.
Conclusion: The lifetime AMI odds were increased in recreational marijuana users. Overall odds of mortality were not increased significantly in AMI-marijuana group. However, marijuana users showed higher trends of AMI prevalence and related mortality from 2010-2014. It is crucial to assess cardiovascular effects related to marijuana overuse and educate patients for the same.
There remains a high risk of thrombosis in patients affected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and recent reports have shown pulmonary embolism (PE) as a cause of sudden death in these patients. However, the pooled rate of this deadly and frequently underdiagnosed condition among COVID-19 patients remains largely unknown. Given the frequency with which pulmonary embolism has been reported as a fatal complication of severe coronavirus disease, we sought to ascertain the actual prevalence of this event in COVID-19 patients. Using PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, and SCOPUS, a thorough literature search was performed to identify the studies reporting rate of PE among COVID-19. Random effects models were obtained to perform a meta-analysis, and I 2 statistics were used to measure inter-study heterogeneity. Among 3066 COVID-19 patients included from 9 studies, the pooled prevalence of PE was 15.8% (95% CI (6.0-28.8%), I 2 = 98%). The pooled rate in younger cohort (age < 65 years) showed a higher prevalence of 20.5% (95% CI (17.6-24.8%)) as compared to studies including relatively older cohort (age > 65 years) showing 14.3% (95% CI (2.9-30.1%)) (p < 0.05). Single-center studies showed a prevalence of 12.9% (95% CI 1.0-30.2%), while that of multicenter studies was 19.5% (95% CI 14.9-25.2%) (p < 0.05). Pulmonary embolism is a common complication of severe coronavirus disease and a high degree of clinical suspicion for its diagnosis should be maintained in critically ill patients.
Background: Emergent informed consent for clinical trials in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke is challenging. The role and value of consent are controversial, and insufficient data exist regarding patients’ and surrogates’ experiences.
Methods and Results: We conducted structured interviews with patients (or surrogates) enrolled in AMI or acute stroke trials at 6 sites between 2011 and 2016. Primary domains included trial recall, consent experiences, and preferences regarding involvement. Descriptive and test statistics were used to characterize responses and explore relationships between key domains and characteristics. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine associations between key covariates and consent preferences. There were 176 (84 stroke, 92 AMI) completed interviews. Most stroke respondents (82%) were surrogates; all AMI respondents were patients. Average time from trial enrollment to interview was 1.9years (stroke) and 2.8years (AMI); 89% of stroke and 62% of AMI respondents remembered being in the trial, and among these respondents, 80% (stroke) and 44% (AMI) remembered reading some of the consent form. Over 90% reported not feeling pressure to enroll, being treated in a caring way, and being treated with dignity. A minority (16% stroke and 26% AMI) reported they would have preferred not to be asked for consent. Just over half (61% stroke and 53% AMI) recalled a postenrollment conversation about the study. Conclusions: Most respondents felt they were treated respectfully and were glad they had been asked for consent. Trial recall was relatively low, and many respondents recalled little postenrollment discussion. Further development of context-sensitive approaches to consent is important.
Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is caused by catecholamine surge, which is also observed in COVID-19 disease due to the cytokine storm. We performed a systematic literature search using PubMed/Medline, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases to identify COVID-19-associated TTS case reports and evaluated patient-level demographics, clinical attributes, and outcomes. There are 12 cases reported of TTS associated with COVID-19 infection with mean age of 70.8 ± 15.2 years (range 43-87 years) with elderly (66.6% > 60 years) female (66.6%) majority. The time interval from the first symptom to TTS was 8.3 ± 3.6 days (range 3-14 days). Out of 12 cases, 7 reported apical ballooning, 4 reported basal segment hypo/akinesia, and 1 reported median TTS. Out of 12 cases, during hospitalization, data on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was reported in only 9 of the cases. The mean LVEF was 40.6 ± 9.9% (male, 46.7 ± 5.7%, and female, 37.7 ± 10.6%). Troponin was measured in all 12 cases and was elevated in 11 (91.6%) without stenosis on coronary angiography except one. Out of 11 cases, 6 developed cardiac complications with 1 case each of cardiac tamponade, heart failure, myocarditis, hypertensive crisis, and cardiogenic shock in 2. Five patients required intubation, 1 patient required continuous positive airway pressure, and 1 patient required venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. The outcome was reported in terms of recovery in 11 (91.6%) out of 12 cases, and a successful recovery was noted in 10 (90.9%) cases. COVID-19-related TTS has a higher prevalence in older women. Despite a lower prevalence of cardiac comorbidities in COVID-19 patients, direct myocardial injury, inflammation, and stress may contribute to TTS with a high complication rate.
BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. Although treatment options for AF exist, many patients cannot be maintained in normal sinus rhythm. Amiodarone is an effective medication for AF but has limited clinical utility because of off-target tissue toxicity.
METHODS: Here, we use a pig model of AF to test the efficacy of an amiodarone-containing polyethylene glycol-based hydrogel. The gel is placed directly on the atrial epicardium through the pericardial space in a minimally invasive procedure using a specially designed catheter.
RESULTS: Implantation of amiodarone-containing gel significantly reduced the duration of sustained AF at 21 and 28 days; inducibility of AF was reduced 14 and 21 days post-delivery. Off-target organ drug levels in the liver, lungs, thyroid, and fat were significantly reduced in animals treated with epicardial amiodarone gel compared with systemic controls in small-animal distribution studies.
CONCLUSIONS: The pericardium is an underutilized therapeutic site and may be a new treatment strategy for AF and other cardiovascular diseases.
The shocking scale of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections is worrisome, with more than 1 million confirmed cases and greater than 50,000 reported deaths across the globe by the end of March 2020. The unprecedented challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic have overwhelmed the health care system, strained health care workers, and raised a dire need to collect, analyze, and interpret real-time data to expedite understanding the etiopathogenesis, risk factors, and prognosis of COVID-19 and ways to curtail overall mortality rate.
Biomaterials are a new treatment strategy for cardiovascular diseases but are difficult to deliver to the heart in a safe, precise, and translatable way. We developed a method to deliver hydrogels to the epicardium through the pericardial space. Our device creates a temporary compartment for hydrogel delivery and gelation using anatomic structures. The method minimizes risk to patients from embolization, thrombotic occlusion, and arrhythmia. In pigs there were no clinically relevant acute or subacute adverse effects from pericardial hydrogel delivery, making this a translatable strategy to deliver biomaterials to the heart.
Overt and subclinical hypothyroid states have been depicted as risk factors for a more prominent level of coronary calcification. The utilization of coronary atherectomy with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is on the ascent over the past few years as lesions that are more complex are now attempted with a percutaneous approach. However, the real-world data on hypothyroid status influencing PCI with coronary atherectomy outcomes is very limited. Therefore, we proposed to investigate the outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention with coronary atherectomy in hypothyroid patients using the largest inpatient database in the United States (US), the National Inpatient Sample (NIS). To minimize the selection bias, we surveyed and compared the outcomes in both the unmatched and propensity-score matched euthyroid and hypothyroid cohorts. Concisely, this propensity-matched analysis, using the largest population-based sample in the US, has established higher cardiovascular comorbidities and worse clinical outcomes of PCI with coronary atherectomy owing to clinical hypothyroidism.
Despite the widespread use of coronary stents and effective anticoagulation regimens, the treatment of ostial lesions is limited by high restenosis rates. Ostial stenosis is a technically difficult condition to treat but this novel technique shows the ability to enable the optimal coverage of the ostium with excellent stent flaring using a Flash ostial balloon (Cardinal Health Inc., Dublin, OH).
Background: Orbital atherectomy (OA) is a known alternative to other atherectomy devices. However, some complex patient demographics (eg, left ventricular ejection fraction <25%) were excluded from the first-in-human trial (ORBIT I) and the pivotal FDA device approval trial (ORBIT II) which evaluated the safety and efficacy of OA in severely calcified de novo coronary lesions. This single-operator cohort study aimed to examine the impact of OA on a real-world complex Veterans Affairs patient subset. Methods: Retrospective analysis was completed on 40 consecutive patients with severely calcified coronary lesions who underwent OA prior to drug-eluting stent placement at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center from January 2015 to June 2017. Results: Orbital atherectomy plus drug-eluting stent placement was successful in all 40 cases. Chocolate focal force balloon angioplasty was the most commonly used post-atherectomy balloon (N = 34, 85%). Few complications were observed, including one case (2.5%) of perforation and one case (2.5%) of no-reflow. Neither acute stent thrombosis nor emergent coronary artery bypass grafting was observed. The intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-determined median [IQR] pre-procedure minimum lumen area and post-procedure minimum stent area (MSA) were 2.8 [2.2, 3.0] mm2 and 8.7 [7.7, 10.0] mm2, respectively (P < 0.0001, Mann-Whitney test). Major adverse cardiovascular events, including all-cause mortality, at 30 days and at a median [IQR] follow-up of 197.5 [35.5, 461.3] days, was 5% and 10%, respectively. During that period, one target vessel revascularization (2.5%) was observed. Conclusions: This study indicates that OA is a useful tool in performing high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention effectively in VA patients with severely calcified coronary lesions. OA plaque modification in combination with a high utilization rate of IVUS and Chocolate focal force angioplasty facilitates stent delivery and optimal stent expansion, resulting in a large MSA.