Further information: Drug-Eluting Coronary Stents (see p1031) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The SPIRIT III trial evaluated the everolimus-eluting stent as compared to the paclitaxel-eluting stent in patients with coronary artery disease [1]. SPIRIT III was a prospective, multicenter, randomized, single-blind, controlled clinical trial that included 65 academic and community-based US institutions and extended from June 22, 2005 to March 15, 2006.

The investigators randomized 1002 men and women with de novo coronary stenosis 28 mm or less in length and with reference vessel diameter between 2.5 and …

Further information: Surgical Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease (see p1051) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The “Revitalization for Unprotected Left Main Coronary Artery Stenosis: Comparison of Percutaneous Coronary Angioplasty versus Surgical Revascularization (MAIN-COMPARE)” registry contains data on patients who had underwent either percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PCA) or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) in Korea between January 2000 and January 2006 for unprotected left main coronary artery disease (CAD), the coronary disease that inflicts the greatest danger to the left ventricle. Investigators of the current study [1] evaluated …

Further information: Coronary Disease in Women (see p713) from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

Investigators in this study [1] used 44,636 women from the Nurses’ Health Study, a cohort that was established in 1976 when a questionnaire on medical history and lifestyle was completed by 121,700 female nurses in the US to study the relationship between abdominal adiposity and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Follow-up of the cohort is repeated every 2 years via a questionnaire that updates information related to risk factors and newly diagnosed diseases, such as …

Clopidogrel Loading Doses According to Vasodilator-Stimulated Phosphoprotein Phosphorylation Index Decrease Rate of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients with Clopidogrel Resistance

Further information: Treatment of Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

Investigators of the current study [1] conducted a prospective, randomized, multicenter study that included 4 centers in Marseille, France to evaluate the clinical impact of adjusting the dose of clopidogrel that is administered after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) according to vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) index. All patients undergoing PCI for refractory angina pectoris under optimal …

Death and Acute Myocardial Infarction Associated with Stopping Clopidogrel after Acute Coronary Syndrome

Further information: Treatment of Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The efficacy of clopidogrel therapy after hospitalization for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been established by clinical trials. Early in 2007, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology recommended 12 months of dual antiplatelet therapy for patients who received drug-eluting stents and from one month to one year for patients treated medically or with a bare-metal stent, and the groups warned against the cessation of the use of clopidogrel. Investigators in this study …

Primary PCI in ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Further information: Treatment of Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

In an effort to shorten door to balloon times in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), researchers in Ottawa, Canada developed a strategy in which all such patients in the metropolitan area would be referred to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) [1]. In this strategy, whenever possible, paramedics who had been trained to perform and interpret 12-lead ECGs …

Sudden Cardiac Arrest Associated with Early Repolarization

Further information: Electrocardiography from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The authors of this study [1] examined the possibility that the electrocardiographical pattern called “early repolarization” is a marker of malignant cardiac arrhythmias. Although early repolarization is commonly considered benign, experimental studies have suggested that it has a potential relationship to sudden cardiac arrest.

In order to find substantiating clinical data to support this, data from 22 centers of 206 subjects who had been resuscitated after cardiac arrest due to idiopathic ventricular fibrillation were …

Shared Genetic Causes of Cardiac Hypertrophy in Children and Adults

Further information: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

Although genetically similar to cardiomyopathies of adulthood, the role of childhood-onset idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC) occurring with no family history is not known. Diagnosis is made because of abnormal physical findings that occur in the absence of either symptoms or sudden death. Rate of death and transplantation among these children is 40%, even when the affected child is well-managed medically. In adults, the onset of HC is a genetic condition caused either by inherited or by new mutations in genes that encode sarcomere proteins. To determine whether childhood …

Cardiac Troponin and Outcome in Acute Heart Failure

Further information: The Medical Management of Heart Failure from Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edn*

The authors of this study [1] used data from the Acute Decompensated Heart Failure National Registry (ADHERE) to conduct a study for the evaluation of short-term outcomes associated with elevated troponin levels in patients with acute decompensated heart failure upon their admission to the hospital. Although cardiac troponin levels are measured to evaluate patients admitted to the hospital with acute coronary syndromes, the measurement is not routinely used in the risk-stratification process for evaluation …