Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and coronary artery disease frequently undergo preemptive revascularization before kidney transplant listing. OBJECTIVES/OBJECTIVE:In this post-hoc analysis from ISCHEMIA-CKD, we compared outcomes of patients not listed versus those listed according to management strategy. METHODS:In ISCHEMIA-CKD (n=777), 194 patients (25%) with chronic coronary syndromes and at least moderate ischemia were listed for transplant. The primary (all-cause mortality or nonfatal myocardial infarction [MI]) and secondary (death, nonfatal MI, hospitalization for unstable angina, heart failure, resuscitated cardiac arrest, or stroke) outcomes were analyzed using Cox multivariable modeling. Heterogeneity of randomized treatment effect between listed versus not listed groups was assessed. RESULTS:Compared with those not listed, listed patients were younger (60 versus 65 years), less likely of Asian race (15% versus 29%), more likely on dialysis (83% versus 44%), had fewer anginal symptoms, and more likely to have coronary angiography and coronary revascularization irrespective of treatment assignment. Among patients assigned to an invasive strategy versus conservative strategy, the adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) (95% confidence interval [CI]) for the primary outcome were 0.91 (0.54-1.54) and 1.03 (0.78-1.37) for those listed and not listed, respectively (pinteraction=0.68). Adjusted HR for secondary outcomes were 0.89 (0.55-1.46) in listed and 1.17 (0.89-1.53) in those not listed (pinteraction=0.35). CONCLUSIONS:In ISCHEMIA-CKD, an invasive strategy in kidney transplant candidates did not improve outcomes compared with conservative management. These data do not support routine coronary angiography or revascularization in patients with advanced CKD and chronic coronary syndromes listed for transplant.

Background Although current guidelines recommend dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for 3 to 6 months following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), there are no studies directly comparing outcomes of different durations of DAPT following TAVR. Methods and Results PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Database were searched through November 2020 to identify clinical studies that investigated single antiplatelet therapy versus DAPT use following TAVR. Studies using oral anticoagulants and antiplatelet therapy concomitantly were excluded. The DAPT group was subdivided by the duration of DAPT. We extracted the risk ratios (RRs) of major or life-threatening bleeding, stroke, and all-cause mortality. Four randomized controlled trials, 2 propensity-score matched studies, and 1 observational study were identified, yielding a total of 2498 patients who underwent TAVR assigned to the single antiplatelet therapy group (n=1249), 3-month DAPT group (n=485), or 6-month DAPT group (n=764). Pooled analyses demonstrated that when compared with the single antiplatelet therapy group, the rates of major or life-threatening bleeding were significantly higher in the 3- and 6-month DAPT groups (RR [95% CI]=2.13 [1.33-3.40], P=0.016; RR [95% CI]=2.54 [1.49-4.33], P=0.007, respectively) with no difference between the 3-month DAPT versus 6-month DAPT groups. The rates of stroke and all-cause mortality were similar among the 3 groups. Conclusions In this network meta-analysis of antiplatelet therapy following TAVR, single antiplatelet therapy with aspirin had lower bleeding without increasing stroke or death when compared with either 3- or 6-month DAPT.

Guideline-based medical therapy is the foundation of treatment for individuals with coronary artery disease. However, revascularization with either percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting may be beneficial in patients with acute coronary syndromes, refractory symptoms, or in other specific scenarios (eg, left main disease and heart failure). While the goal of percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass grafting is to achieve complete revascularization, anatomical and ischemic definitions of complete revascularization and their methodology for assessment remain highly variable. Such lack of consensus invariably contributes to the absence of standardized approaches for invasive treatment of coronary artery disease. Herein, we propose a novel, comprehensive, yet pragmatic algorithm with both anatomical and ischemic parameters that aims to provide a systematic method to assess complete revascularization after percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting in both clinical practice and clinical trials.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:Alport syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that affects as many as 60,000 persons in the USA and a total of 103,000 persons (<5 per 10,000) in the European Union [1, 2]. It is the second most common inherited cause of kidney failure and is characterized by progressive loss of kidney function that often leads to end-stage kidney disease. Currently, there are no approved disease-specific agents for therapeutic use. We designed a phase 3 study (CARDINAL; NCT03019185) to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of bardoxolone methyl in patients with Alport syndrome. METHODS:The CARDINAL phase 3 study is an international, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized registrational trial. Eligible patients were of ages 12-70 years with confirmed genetic or histologic diagnosis of Alport syndrome, eGFR 30-90 mL/min/1.73 m2, and urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR) ≤3,500 mg/g. Patients with B-type natriuretic peptide values >200 pg/mL at baseline or with significant cardiovascular histories were excluded. Patients were randomized 1:1 to bardoxolone methyl or placebo, with stratification by baseline UACR. RESULTS:A total of 371 patients were screened, and 157 patients were randomly assigned to receive bardoxolone methyl (n = 77) or placebo (n = 80). The average age at screening was 39.2 years, and 23 (15%) were <18 years of age. Of the randomized population, 146 (93%) had confirmed genetic diagnosis of Alport syndrome, and 62% of patients had X-linked mode of inheritance. Mean baseline eGFR was 62.7 mL/min/1.73 m2, and the geometric mean UACR was 141.0 mg/g. The average annual rate of eGFR decline prior to enrollment in the study was -4.9 mL/min/1.73 m2 despite 78% of the patient population receiving ACE inhibitor (ACEi) or ARB therapy. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:CARDINAL is one of the largest interventional, randomized controlled trials in Alport syndrome conducted to date. Despite the use of ACEi or ARB, patients were experiencing significant loss of kidney function prior to study entry.