Faculty Bibliography

Introduction: In patients presenting to non-PCI capable hospital with STEMI, the management options include transfer for primary PCI (PPCI) or administration of thrombolytics and transfer for PCI (lytics + PCI), a decision largely driven by the estimated door to device time. The 2013 AHA/ACC STEMI guidelines increased the door to device time for STEMI transfer patients from < 90 minutes to < 120 minutes. Whether this change has impacted management is not known.
Method(s): Patients in the New York (NY) State PCI Registry who underwent PCI (PPCI or lytics + PCI) for STEMI after being transferred from a non-PCI capable hospital in 2012 and 2014 were included in this study. Primary outcome was a change in the proportion of patients who underwent PPCI in relation to lytics + PCI in 2014 as compared with year 2012. Secondary outcomes were changes in transfer time (non-PCI capable transfer hospital door to PCI hospital door time), PCI hospital door to device time, transfer hospital door to device time in PPCI patients, and in-hospital mortality for all STEMI transfer patients who underwent PCI.
Result(s): There were 2019 and 1799 patients who underwent PCI (PCI or lytics +PCI) for a STEMI after presenting to a non-PCI capable hospital in NY State in 2012 and 2014 respectively. There was an increase in the proportion of patients receiving PPCI (vs lytics+ PCI) from 2012 to 2014 (74.15% to 78.32%, p = 0.0025). Moreover, in patients receiving PPCI, there was also a decrease in transfer time [median: 102 min (Q1:73, Q3162) to 97 min (Q1: 70, Q3:147),p = 0.005], PCI hospital door to device time [35 min (25,53) to 34 min (24, 51), p = 0.07), and transfer hospital door to device time [143 min (105, 220) to 134 min (102, 200), p = 0.005]. However, there was no change in mortality from 2012 to 2014 in all STEMI transfer patients who underwent PCI (2.13% vs 2.95%, p = 0.11).
Conclusion(s): Data from NY State indicates a significant increase in referral for PPCI in patients presenting with a STEMI to a non-PCI capable hospital with the change in guidelines increasing the door to device times for transfer patients. Whether such a strategy improves outcomes should be tested in further studies

A 78 year-old man with remote type-A dissection presented with acute-onset dyspnea. Twenty-two years prior, treatment for his aortic disease required replacement of ascending and arch aneurysms with a Dacron graft using graft inclusion technique. He presented currently in cardiogenic shock. Echocardiography demonstrated new severe hypokinesis of all apical segments. Left-heart catheterization revealed a 120mmHg intra-graft gradient. CT arteriography was unrevealing, but intra-aortic ultrasound demonstrated critical intra-graft stenosis. A Palmaz stent was deployed in the stenotic region with gradient resolution. He later underwent aortic root replacement and ascending aneurysm repair (Bio-Bentall technique) and is doing well at 24 months.

BACKGROUND: Emergent myocardial reperfusion via primary percutaneous coronary intervention is optimal care for patients presenting with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Delays in such interventions are associated with increases in mortality. With the shift in focus to contact-to-device (C2D) time as a new perfusion metric, this study was designed to examine how sex affects C2D time and mortality in STEMI patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: Clinical data on male and female STEMI patients were extracted and analyzed from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry from July 1, 2008 to December 31, 2014. A total of 102 515 patients were included in the final analytic cohort. The median C2D time in female patients with STEMI was delayed when compared to male patients (80 [65-97] versus 75 [61-90] minutes; P<0.001). The unadjusted mortality was higher in female patients when compared to male patients with STEMI (4.1% versus 2.0%; P<0.001). For every 5-minute increase in C2D time, the adjusted odds ratio for mortality was 1.04 (95% CI, 1.03-1.06) for female patients with STEMI and 1.07 (95% CI, 1.06-1.09) for male patients (P for sex by C2D interaction=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: To date, this is the largest analysis of STEMI patients that measures the impact of the new recommended C2D reperfusion metric on in-hospital mortality. Female STEMI patients have longer C2D times and increased mortality. The disparity can be improved and survival can increase in this high-risk patient cohort by decreasing systems issues that cause increased reperfusion times in female STEMI patients.

PURPOSE: Perfusion analysis from first-pass contrast enhancement kinetics requires modeling tissue contrast exchange. This study presents a new approach for numerical implementation of the tissue homogeneity model, incorporating flexible distance steps along the capillary (NTHf). METHODS: The proposed NTHf model considers contrast exchange in fluid packets flowing along the capillary, incorporating flexible distance steps, thus allowing more efficient and stable calculations of the transit of tracer through the tissue. We prospectively studied 8 patients (62 +/- 13 years old) with suspected CAD, who underwent first-pass perfusion CMR imaging at rest and stress prior to angiography. Myocardial blood flow (MBF) and myocardial perfusion reserve index (MPRI) were estimated using both the NTHf and the conventional adiabatic approximation of the TH models. Coronary artery lesions detected at angiography were clinically assigned to one of three categories of stenosis severity ('insignificant', 'mild to moderate' and 'severe') and related to corresponding myocardial territories. RESULTS: The mean MBF (ml/g/min) at rest/stress and MPRI were 0.80 +/- 0.33/1.25 +/- 0.45 and 1.68 +/- 0.54 in the insignificant regions, 0.74 +/- 0.21/1.09 +/- 0.28 and 1.54 +/- 0.46 in the mild to moderate regions, and 0.79 +/- 0.28/0.63 +/- 0.34 and 0.85 +/- 0.48 in the severe regions, respectively. The correlation coefficients of MBFs at rest/stress and MPRI between the NTHf and AATH models were r = 0.97/0.93 and r = 0.91, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed NTHf model allows efficient quantitative analysis of the transit of tracer through tissue, particularly at higher flow. Results of initial application to MRI of myocardial perfusion in CAD are encouraging.

The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), cine imaging, and resting first-pass perfusion (FPP) in the evaluation for ischemic (IC) versus nonischemic (NIC) cardiomyopathy in new-onset heart failure with reduced (