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Sufferings of rich in modern medicare !

June 14, 2009 by dr s venkatesan

Poverty is the number one killer in this world . Malnutrition, infectious diseases  , poor maternal child and health are the leading killers. The life expectancy is short in many underdeveloped countries.

While the scenario  is dismal for most of the poor people in this world.

Can affulence be a risk factor for poor health ?

Yes. This seemingly awkward  answer is  many times true. The disease  acquired by affluence is labeled attractively as life style diseases . They are : Obesity, Diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, some forms of cancer etc .

coronary angiogram cardiology

How else can affluence affect the health of an individual ?

Apart from affluence being a risk factor ,  it  is a powerful  risk factor for getting  inappropriate  medicines,  procedures  &   surgeries  ,  hence  the resultant  adverse effects.

It is a  non-established fact , in  both  developed  and developing world , the single important  predictor of a given form of treatment  say  revascualrisation or  surgery  for CAD  is affordability to the treatment (Either  by insurance or  self payment) .Financial well being , interferes with applying  valid scientific principles on them . Applying  the  results of  the  land mark trials CAD trials ,   COURAGE  &  BARI 2D  are very difficult  for them , which argues for   simple , less costly , less glamorous medical therapy for CAD.

Example 1

A wealthy adult  male  who  lands  up for master health check up  in a big state of the art  hospital found to have a  borderline stress test , CAG reveals a single vessel distal RCA disease .He was given an  option of PCI , undergoes  it ,  and ends up in a complication and damages his entire  inferior myocardial  territory.

Had he been a poor uninsured  guy , he would have promptly be  labeled as stable CAD and would have been on  good medical therapy*  and his  myocardium could have been saved .

* PCI can never be an option  for him ,  courtesy : His wealth status !

Mind you , this is not an isolated  example, such  affordability  guided treatment modalities  are rampant in the society and has a potential to make  our rich and  affluent a major health risk target !

Final message

Being wealthy and affluent can also be a health risk factor. While the poor suffer from lack of health care the  rich many times suffer because of  too much health care ! (or  Is it care less ,  health care ?)

Coming Soon

How reccession  time  is a  boon  for human health  !

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Is there a low risk STEMI where primary PCI is contraindicated ?

June 14, 2009 by dr s venkatesan

Primary PCI  has proven to be the   best  option for management of STEMI . But it need to be  done very early by a an experienced team in a good facility . (Note ,  it is not the individual expertise that matters !  Ronalodo alone can never guarantee a   match win  !  )

Any treatment ,  which has a great therapeutic potential also  carries a hazard .

So , these treatment must be used with caution.  Not every STEMI patient , has a high risk of death.  In fact the mortality  in some of the subsets of STEMI ,  can be less than 1%. If , a  STEMI patient with a likely 1% mortality   is going to get a procedure with  3-4% ,  risk it is bound to raise a  validity  question ?

primary PCI PTCA STEMI CORONARY ANGIOGRAMS

What are the situations in  STEMI , where primary  PCI could be dangerous*?

* The  term dangerous here  means ,  Risk > Benefit .

Side vessel STEMI : STEMI in  branch coronary arteries. Main vessel STEMI(LAD,RCA,LCX ) has higher risk than side vessel STEMI( Diagonals, OMs, Septal) .

Side vessel  STEMI is not easy to diagnose in ECG ,  but an MI with ST elvation restricted to  only  2 leads  could be a side vessel STEMI.

The following could be some examples.

  • 1 /AVL , High lateral
  • V2 V3 ,   Septal
  • 3 AVF ,  PDA/RV/ Acute  marginal
  • V5 V6     OMs/Ramus

A spontaneously evolving  STEMI , with  ST segment   returning   towards  baseline  and T wave  getting inverted .This indicates IRA is either partially patent and  the coronary blood flow is in the salvage mode. Here , thrombolysis is going to be very effective .

Final message

In the management of  STEMI  , primary PCI could be  consciously avoided in some of the patients   to improve the overall outcome .

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Another myth about CAD management shattered by BARI 2D !

June 11, 2009 by dr s venkatesan

CAD management has been riddled with controversy for over decades. Should we  revascularise  all  obstructive CAD  we encounter ? Logic and scientific presumptions argued a strong case for it , and hence most of these patient population got some form  of revascularisation .(PCI or CABG ) .

This continued for years  till COURAGE study threw a shocker !  ie  medical management is as good as any from revascularisation in stable angina patients. While , the cardiology community was divided over the COURAGE conclusion ,  here comes another shocker  from the New England journal of medicine  ( June 2009 ) ,  against  revascularisation  The BARI 2D  trial . It shattered  the ultimate  myth,    in  diabetic  CAD patients  , neither PCI nor CABG  has  survival advantage among   diabetic population .

bari 2d pci coronary

The art of  unlearning  cardiology:

The beauty of  evidence based medicine (EBM )  is  ,  genuine science  will ultimately   prevail  over  pseudo science. But  the danger with  EBM  is  , it   conquers the  truth  in it’s own time frame .In the process ,  EBM has to overcome so many hurdles , both natural , man made,  advertent or  inadvertent but ultimately truth must triumph  , at least we hope it triumphs . In the intervening time ,  it   has become   absolutely essential ,   for the   humans  to  suffer . The only way ,  mankind ,  can be protected  from  this deadly game of EBM  is that ,  our physicians  should have  the  inherent  fore- sight to identify &  ignore the “Would be doomed evidence” !

There are many such physicians  in this world . . . who  ignore  some of the  standard  scientific  guidelines  for the betterment of their patients

Reference

1.NEJM article June 11 20o9

2.Journal watch cardiology

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The enigma of TIMI 3 flow !

June 3, 2009 by dr s venkatesan

Coronary arterial obstruction  is  considered,  dangerous because it obstructs the coronary blood flow . Is it possible ,  for an  obstruction  to have  little  impact  on the blood flow  ? Fortunately ,”yes” , the physics of   fluid dynamics  is patient  friendly .It is  well known , coronary blood flow goes on smoothly, uninterrupted until very late stages of obstruction .*This  has created the concept of flow limiting lesions and non flow limiting lesion .

The most popular form of reporting coronary blood flow across a stenosis is TIMI grading. Originally used   following thrombolysis , now universally used for all angiogram (Is it appropriate ?)

TIMI Grading

Grade 0 (No perfusion): There is no antegrade flow beyond the point of occlusion.

Grade 1 (Penetration without perfusion): The contrast material passes beyond the area of obstruction but “hangs up” and fails to opacify the entire coronary bed distal to the obstruction.

Grade 2 (Partial perfusion): The contrast material passes across the obstruction and opacifies the coronary bed distal to the obstruction. However, the rate of entry of contrast material into the vessel distal to the obstruction or its rate of clearance from the distal bed (or both) is perceptibly slow.

Grade 3 (Complete perfusion): Antegrade flow and clearance  of the dye   distal to the obstruction occurs as promptly as antegrade flow .

When does a coronary blood  flow gets impeded  following obstruction ?

Contrary to the  popular belief , the distal blood flow in a coronary artery  is  less dependent on the degree obstruction than the status of the  distal microvasculature.Classical teaching tells us if a coronary artery narrows >70% diameter stenosis (90%area) the blood flow gets impeded on exertion . For resting blood flow to get blocked it needs still further narrowing .

These rules are written in the era  before we knew the concept of coronary vascular  reserve . We , have since understood  ( or confused !)  more about coronary microcirculation.The major misconception could be what we interpret as epicardial blood flow is actually reflect the status of coronary micro vascular integrity.

How else you explain a patient with a same degree of coronary obstruction has vastly different distal blood flow profile ! There are innumerable examples of patients with 50% obstruction having  TIMI one flow and a 99% obstruction with TIMI 3 flow  !

Have a look at this angiogram ,  / Click  here  to view the video

LCX TIMI 3 FLOW CORONARY ANGIOGRAM

What are the factors  other than the  degree obstruction that determine  the  distal  flow?

  • Acuteness of obstruction.
  • Status of   coronary microvascular bed
  • Interstitial  (Myocardial)  edema
  • Coronary microvascular  reactivity
  • Recruitment of collaterals
  • Coronary perfusion pressure (Aortic diastolic pressure – RVEDP/Coronary sinus pressure)

Final  message

The most important determinant of  blood flow distal to obstruction is the vascular reactivity , tone  and the integrity microvascular reserve .This rule  applies  both in  in acute  and chronic coronary syndrome  . In  CTOs  it may  not apply as distal flow is near zero.  Here  also  the  inherent  intraluminal resistance   of collapsed distal vessel  will determine the  distal flow.

Note :TIMI 3  flow  ,does not represent  a homogeneous class of coronary blood flow .They can have variable myocarial blush and frame counts.It may need further analysis.

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The wrong concepts in coronary spasm !

June 1, 2009 by dr s venkatesan

Coronary arterial spasm is a commonly discussed entity  in clinical cardiology. Originally described by prinzmetal decades ago .It was reported to occur only in coronary care units as variant angina .There is nothing called stable spasm every episode of spasm is considered as unstable angina.

How common is coronary artery spasm ?

This condition thought to be very  common during ACS , but  notoriously difficult to confirm.In fact many of episodes are clinically suspected and never confirmed. There has been lot of provocative tests for confirming coronary spasm like ergonavine etc.None of these tests were  neither useful nor practical.

What are the clinical situations where coronary spasm occur ?

Old concepts die hard.Most of us believe , the most common cause for coronary spasm is prinzmetal’s  angina ie , angina   in normal coronary arteries or  with minimal lesions .Clinical experience ,  has taught us coronary spasm can occur in all spectrum of acute coronary syndrome or even chronic coronary syndromes.

Some believe every episode of STEMI will have a component of coronary spasm.

In NSTEMI/Unstable angina spontaneous coronary spasm is an important pathogenetic mechanism

Now,  we witness transient coronary artery spasm in the cath lab due to catheter and other hard ware.The spasm  here  , is secondary to mechanical stress and this in no way related to the coronary spasm described by prinzmetal in the pre cath era.

What is the link between coronary spasm and electrocardiogram ?

The most common  fallacy among  coronary care physician is , if it is spasm  there must be ST elevation

The classical cardiology teaching all over the world , has been so powerful  this myth continues to prevail over . The fact  of the matter is ,  the  coronary arterial spasm  , can never have any direct impact on the ECG. (Unless , coronary smooth muscle generate ST currents !)  . So , whatever  be  the effect of spasm it  is through it’s effect on the myocardial  blood flow.

Hence ,  it is not the coronary artery spasm that will dictate  the movement of ST segment . It is the impact of myocardial blood flow  to the layers of the myocadium  namely , endocardium, epicardium  , epicardium (  or a combination of  the above )  that will dictate ST segment dynamics.

What are the  the ECG features of coronary artery spasm ?

It can be

  1. ST depression
  2. ST elevation
  3. Only with T wave changes (Tall or Deep T invrsions)
  4. Flattish ST segment  or  rarely , entirely normal ECG indicating balanced ST forces

Among this , the most common manifestation of coronary spasm is thought to be ,  subendocardial ischemia and resultant ST depression .This classically occur in many cases of NSTEMI/UA .

This makes  ST depression  the dominant manifestation of spasm  ,

How coronary spasm can elevate the ST segment ?

If it  can   induce a transmural ischemia  it  can elevate a ST segment . Does  all episodes coronary spasm result in transmural ischemia ? No,not at all .in fact it happens very rare  as we have already seen .

To result in transmural ischemia , the spasm should be total &  sustained ,   at least for few minutes   to   completely   occlude  the blood flow .

Milder forms of spasm can elicit only  a  sub endocardial ischemia  that  depress the ST segment.

*There is a rare variety of spasm where subepicardium is more affected than endocardium and hence ST elevation may occur.

What is the effect of Nitroglycerine on coronary spasm ?

This is a very powerful coronary spasmolytic agent.We can witness it’s action more vividly in cath lab .

It brings back the ST segment to neutral position , from either a elevated or depressed state  .Many believe , ( may it’s a fact ) much of the early  benefit of angina relief in UA/NSTEMI is  amelioration of coronary spasm

Is coronary spasm a neural event or a biochemical event ?

The exact  answer is not known .It should be chemicals as  neural  signals are also mediated by chemicals.

What are the biochemical mediators of coronary spasm ?

  • Smooth muscle calcium : Calcium flux is the immediate cause for spasm
  • Mediators .Neural :Catecholamine ,
  • Thrombus  secretes  Thromoxane A2  which is a powerful vasoconstrictor

Smooth muscle calcium

Is  coronary vasoconstriction  and  coronary spasm  are synonymous ?

Both terms are synonymous . Vasoconstriction is often used to refer  constriction of  microvasculature

while  spasm  often describes  the event in large  epicardial vessel. Some times the term coronary vasomotion is used to describe  fluctuating coronary arterial tone.

What are the determinants of coronary artery spasm ?

  • Location (RCA>LCA)
  • Lesion characteristics -Eccentric overhanging lesion can trigger a spasm by  the plaque ‘s weight.
  • Thrombus content
  • Acuteness of the event
  • Adrenergic tone and nerve activity
  • Concomitant betablockade  .  Theoretical risk ?

What are the types  of coronary spasm ?

  • Discrete ring or band like  spasm
  • Segmental
  • Diffuse long segment  spasm
  • Multilevel spasm in same coronary artery
  • Pan coronary spasm entire vessel (rare)
  • Remote spasm away from catheter tip

Unanswered questions in coronary spasm

Can a totally normal  coronary artery go for spasm all of a sudden ?

It is thought to be rare. Even in prinxmetal series some amount of atherosclerosis was documented in most patients.

What is the relationship between spasm and adjacent lesion ?

Spasm following PCI :Can spasm crush a stent ?

Can a  coronary collaterals go for spasm ?

Logically  Spasm  can  occur  coronary collaterals .But it is difficult to document .coronary collaterals eventhough  has three layes as that of artery (Intima, media, adventia) th medial smooth muscles are less sparse. Advential lack vasa nervorum and hence neural input is less.So spasm is a rare event in coronary collaterals

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What is dfference between successful thrombolysis and successful reperfusion in STEMI ?

May 27, 2009 by dr s venkatesan

Thrombolytic therapy ,  has been  the specific treatment  for STEMI for  many decades. Primary PCI*  is  shown to be  superior  than  thrombolysis  if   performed   early  by an experienced  team in a dedicated facility. (*Conditions apply). It is estimated ,   currently only a  a fraction  STEMI  population get primary PCI (<5%) in ideal conditions . Another fraction , get  primary PCI by inexperienced cardiologists  in low volume centres.

So , thrombolysis   remains, and  would continue to remain ,   the    primary  mode of therapy for STEMI  in the  present and near  future !

How do you assess the successful  thrombolysis ?

It should be recognised ,  there is a fundametal flaw in this  question !

The aim of thrombolytic therapy is  not  to   lyse  the thrombus  , but also  to restore the coronary blood flow to the  myocardium – also called reperfusion . One may wonder , why the term ,  thrombolysis  should ‘t be  used interchangeably with reperfusion. 

A successful thrombolysis  never guarantees  a good reperfusion , for the simple reason ,  distal blood flow in an  obstructed coronary artery  is dependent on ,  many factors  other than relief of obstruction.

Apart from the potency of drug,     other   important factors  that determine  successful  lysis &  reperfusion are  . . .

  • Timing of opening of artery , if the thrombolysis is delayed  ,  the distal myocardium is dead , and   it won’t allow blood flow to enter the mycardium.
  • Microvascular integrity is as vital as epicardial vessels.
  • Distal microvascualture  plugging by the thrombotic debri . This is called”no reflow “

So , we should  primarily assess myocardial reperfusion rather than epicardial thrombolyis ! following thrombolysis .

What are the parameters available to assess successful reperfusion /thrombolyis?

  1. Clinical : Relief from chest  pain. Angina relief  , though subjective is an indication for adequate reperfusion of ischemic myocardium.
  2. ECG-ST segment regression > 50%
  3. Cardiac enzymes: Early flushing of  intra myocytic CPK into systemic circulation and hence early peaking of CPK MB (<1ohours instead of 24h)
  4. Reperfusion arrhythmias(AIVR-Less specific) .Primary VF is now thought to be reperfusion related.
  5. Infract related artery(IRA) patency by coronary angiogram
  6. Distal TIMI flow/ myocardial blush score/ TIMI frame count

ECG ST regression ,  is a direct indicator  myocardial reperfusion   as the ST segment shifts  towards baseline ,  implies  of infarct current of injury . ST regression almost always correlate with good  recovery of LV function  in STEMI .

IRA patency , is an epicardial index , it  does not give information about myocardial blood flow . But ,  a good  distal TIMI flow generally indicates good reperfusion.This  again ,  is  not a fool proof  index,  as even many of the TIMI 3 flow patients  have severely damaged myocardium by echocardiography .

Final message

For the above reasons, one should always  make a distinction between successful lysis and successful reperfusion . Surprisingly ,  ECG  is  the gold standard for assessing successful reperfusion of myocardium ,  while CAG tell us  about epicardial patency and possibly reperfusion also.

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What is ischemic left ventricular failure ?

May 26, 2009 by dr s venkatesan

Apart from  acute  coronary syndrome,    cardiac  failure is   the most common clinical  presentation of  CAD. Cardiac failure ,  classically present with dyspnea on rest or on exertion , while angina is the dominant presentation in ACS.  

What if  ,  both these  occur together in an acute fashion ?

Yes ,  if it occurs  together it is called ischemic cardiac failure . Fortunately , this is quiet uncommon . It has   an adverse outcome,  especially if it occurs  as a companion of NSTEMI . Let us see how . . .(  Most of the episodes of cardiac failure  in CAD  means only  LV failure )

For cardiac failure to occur , there need to be a mechanical contractile dysfunction or defect . In CAD population , this can  occur in  one of the following way.

  • Loss of LV muscle (Acute  Myocardial infarction as in STEMI)
  • Mechanical defects (Mitral regurgitation/VSR etc)
  • An arrhythmia (Commonly VT or AF / CHB )  can precipitate  cardiac failure

Apart from these three , there is  an important mechanism of acute LVF, namely ischemic stunning of major part of LV resulting in severe mechanical dysfucntion.This is a dangerous form of cardiac failure (Pathologivcclaly it is thought to represent  contraction  band necrosis !) this occurs in global ischemic situations manifested as gross global ST depression.

So,  there are two types of  ischemic LVF  .  STEMI   occuring due to infarct( ± ischemia ) Other  one (NSTEMI)entirely due to ischemia.

Logically ,  one  may n’t   refer  STEMI related LVF as  ischemic LVF at all  , as infarct has already occured. While , NSTEMI related LV could be the ” True ischemic LVF “


What are the differences between cardiac failure that occur in  STEMI and NSTEMI ?


lvf in nstemi stemi

Is post infarct failure  ( The commonly used terminology  , now out of vogue ! )  a type of ischemic LVF ?

In the strict sense , it is not . Here the dead myocardium , is responsible  for the   failure .To label a  LVF , as  ischemic , ongoing ischemia must  be  documented and further it  should  be shown to  contribute   for the  mechanical dysfunction .

This is of vital importance ,   if you wrongly attribute ischemia  as a cause for  the LVF , the patient may be taken up for emergency  revascularisation .It is not going to help much (Infact , it may  worsen !) as  this cardiac failure is not going to be corrected  .What we require ,  here is an  aggressive medical management  protocol .


Posted in Cardiology - Clinical, Cardiology -Interventional -PCI, cardiology -Therapeutics, Cardiology -unresolved questions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Is there a time window for rescue PCI ? Why we are not insisting on it ?

May 25, 2009 by dr s venkatesan

Failed thrombolysis is an important clinical  issue  in STEMI   as  successful thrombolysis  occurs  only in  about 50-60%  of pateints . The typical criteria to define failed thrombolysis is  the  regression  of less than 50% of sum total( or maximum)  ST elevation in infarct leads.

So what do you do for these patients with failed thrombolysis ?

It depends upon the patient’s symptom, hemodynamic stability, LV dysfunction .

They  should  get one of the following .

  1. Conservative medical management  with /without CAG
  2. Repeat thrombolysis
  3. Rescue PCI
  4. CABG

Medical management is  thought to be  too inferior a  management,  many of the interventional cardiologists  do  not want to talk about . But  , there is  an important  group of patients (Not often addressed in cardiology literature)  who  technically fulfill the criteria  of failed thrombolysis  , but   still  very  comfortable , asymtomatic  and in  class 1. These patients ,  have  a strong option for continuing the conservative management .

Repeat thrombolysis does not have a consistent effect but can  be  tried in some  stable patients. CABG  can be a genuine option in few

Rescue PCI

This terminology  has become  the  glamorous one since the  catchy word  rescue is tagged in the title  itself. For most of the cardiac physicians ,  this has become the default treatment modality.This is an unfortunate perception . What  one should realise   here is  , we are  tying to rescue  the myocardium and  the patient ,   not the patient’s coronary artery !

Opening up a coronary obstruction is not synonymous with rescue .

For rescue PCI ,  to be effective it should be done within the same time window as that for thrombolysis (ie within 6 or at the most  12 hours) .This timing  is  of vital importance  for the simple reason , there will be nothing to rescue after 12 hours as most of the muscle  would be  dead. Reperfusing a dead myocardium has been shown to be hazardous in some ,  as it converts a simple  infarct into a hemorrhagic  infarct.This softens the core of the infarct and  carry a risk of rupture. Further,   doing a complex emergency  PCI  ,  in  a thrombotic milieu with   presumed  long term  benefit ,  is  a  perfect recipe for a potential  disaster.

While the above statement may be seen as pessimistic view , the optimistic cardiologist would vouch for the“Curious  open artery hypothesis” .This theory simply states , whatever be the status  of the distal myocardium ( dead or alive !)   opening an obstruction in the concerened coronary artery  will benefit the patient !

It is  huge surprise , this concept   continues to  be alive even after  repeatedly shot dead by number of very good clinical trials (TOAT, CTO limb of COURAGE etc ).

The REACT study (2004) concluded undisputed benefit of rescue PCI for failed thrombolysis  , only if the rescue was done  within  5-10 hours after the onset of symptoms.The mean time for  pain-to-rescue PCI was 414 minutes (6.5hours)

Final  message

It is fashionable to talk about time window for thrombolyis but not for PCI  .The time window for rescue PCI is an redundant issue  for many  cardiologists ! . But ,  the fact of the matter is ,  it is not . . .

The concept of time window in rescue PCI  , is as important as ,   that of  thrombolysis. Please , think twice or thrice !  if some body suggest you to do a rescue PCI in a stable patient  ,  12hours after the index event .

Important note : This rule   does not (  or need  not  ) apply for patients in cardiogenic shock  or patient ‘s with ongoing iscemia and angina.

Posted in cardiology -ECG, Cardiology -Interventional -PCI, cardiology -Therapeutics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Fallacies in emergency room :Why we are not risk stratifying STEMI on arrival , but do it promptly in NSTEMI ?

May 21, 2009 by dr s venkatesan

NSTEMI constitutes a very heterogeneous population .The cardiac risk can vary between very low to very high . In contrast , STEMI patients carry a high risk for electro mechanical complication including sudden death .They all need immediate treatment either with thrombolysis or PCI to open up the blood vessel and salvage the myocardium.

The above concept , may be true in many situations , but what we fail to recognize is that , STEMI also is a heterogeneous clinico pathological with varying risks and outcome !
Let us see briefly , why this is very important in the management of STEMI

Management of STEMI has undergone great change over the past 50 years and it is the standing example of evidence based coronary care in the modern era ! The mortality , in the early era was around 30-40% . The advent of coronary care units, defibrillators, reduced the mortality to around 10-15% in 1960 /70s . Early use of heparin , aspirin further improved the outcome .The inhospital mortality was greatly reduced to a level of 7-8% in the thrombolytic era. And , then came the interventional approach, namely primary PCI , which is now considered the best form of reperfusion when done early by an experienced team.

Inspite of this wealth of evidence for the superiority of PCI , it is only a fraction of STEMI patients get primary PCI even in some of the well equipped centers ( Could be as low as 15 %)

Why ? this paradox

Primary PCI has struggled to establish itself as a global therapeutic concept for STEMI , even after 20 years of it’s introduction (PAMI trial) . If we attribute , lack of infrastructure , expertise are responsible for this low utility of primary PCI , we are mistaken ! There are so many institutions , at least in developing world , reluctant to do primary PCI for varied reasons.( Affordability , support system , odd hours ,and finally perceived fear of untoward complication !)

Primary PCI may be a great treatment modality , but it comes with a inherent risk related to the procedure.

In fact the early hazard could exceed the potential benefit in many of the low risk STEMI patients !

All STEMI’s are not same , so all does not require same treatment !

Common sense and logic would tell us any medical condition should be risk stratified before applying the management protocol. This will enable us to avoid applying “high risk – high benefit” treatments in low risk patients . It is a great surprise, the cardiology community has extensively researched to risk stratify NSTEMI/UA , it has rarely considered risk stratification of STEMI before starting the treatment.

In this context , it should be emphasized most of the clinical trails on primary PCI do not address the clinical relevance and the differential outcomes in various subsets of STEMI .

Consider the following two cases.

Two young men with STEMI , both present within 3 hours after onset of symptoms

  1. ST elevation in V1 -V6 , 1 , AVL , Low blood pressure , with severe chest pain.
  2. ST elevation in 2 ,3, AVF , hemodynamically stable , with minimal or no discomfort .

In the above example, a small inferior MI by a distal RCA occlusion , and a proximal LAD lesion jeopardising entire anterior wall , both are categorized as STEMI !
Do you want to advocate same treatment for both ? or Will you risk stratify the STEMI and treat individually ? (As we do in NSTEMI !)

Current guidelines , would suggest PCI for both situations. But , logistic , and real world experience would clearly favor thrombolysis for the second patient .
Does that mean, the second patient is getting an inferior modality of treatment ?

Not at all . In fact there is a strong case for PCI being inferior in these patients as the risk of the procedure may far outweigh the benefit especially if it is done on a random basis by not so well experienced cath lab team.
(Note : Streptokinase or TPA does not vary it’s action , whether given by an ambulance drive or a staff nurse or even a cardiologist ! .In contrast , the infrastructure and expertise have the greatest impact on the success and failure of PCI )
Final message

So , it is argued the world cardiology societies(ACC/ESC etc) need to risk stratify STEMI (Like we do in NSTEMI ) into low risk, intermediate risk and high risk categories and advice primary PCI only for high risk patients.

Reference

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/226907

Posted in Cardiology -Interventional -PCI, cardiology -Therapeutics, Cardiology -unresolved questions, Cardiology-Coronary artery disese | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Management of Atrial septal defect : Device closure lagging behind surgical closure !

May 11, 2009 by dr s venkatesan

Atrial septal defect is one among the commonest congenital heart disease .After years of controversy, there is consensus  now , all significant ASDs  need to be closed ,  at whatever age it is detected.

This rule does not apply to small ASDs without chamber  right atrial and right ventricular dilatation. These defects and PFOs need not be closed .

Over the years , the  controversy  has shifted  from   Should we close ?  to  How to close ?

There are two options available : Device closure , Surgical closure

asd closure device www.drsvenkatesan.com

asd closure www.drsvenkatesan.com

The following table compares the both treatment  modalities

( Personal perspective )

asd device closure 4

Final message

Device closure is a complex, costly, often  difficult  and  error prone   cardiac procedure .It needs long term follow up and may  carry a life long risk of major cardiac complication.It is useful only in selected subset of ASD patients. Surgical closure prevails over device closure in most situations.

Is this article  has biased view against this  emerging pediatric  interventional procedure of ASD closure ?

It may appear so . But that is the reality as on 2009 !.May we hope technology evolves further and take our surgeons head on .

2012 update on ASD device closure .

The   hard-ware  as well as the  expertise has   improved a lot and it is on right track to become a real challenge to surgery.

The only issue again is the availability of  rims to mount the device . Another  realistic and sensitive issue  which  have I come across is  , many interventionist cardiologist do feel awkward  when they experience  unexpected rim shortage on table.  They should realise it is not their  fault.

Always be ready to abandon the procedure and refer to the surgeon , according to your  true conscience 

After all , improperly delivered device is  a life long pain for the patient .He has come to you with a  great belief  isn’t !

2014 update

Device closure for most ASDs in both children and adult is  now possible with high degree of success. We have crossed about 50 patient experience. And  I am truly amazed  , how within a short period the device closure is about to conquer the crown from the surgeons ! (Exciting new data are coming from   my colleague Dr Gnanavelu from  the new Super specialty hospital of Government of Tamil Nadu Chennai. )

 

Reference

Aortic erosion following ASD closure

http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/full/45/8/1213

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