A coronary angiogram (CATH) is the diagnostic tool used to visualize the coronary arteries of a persons heart. These arteries can be accessed through the radial artery. Various methods of applying compression to the radial puncture site have been used, but no research has been done to show what best practice is. The purpose of this pilot study was to compare two devices and three methods for achieving hemostasis after a transradial angiogram while assessing vascular complications and time endpoints. A mechanical device (Terumo TR wristband) and a hydrophilic wound dressing (Clo-Sur P.A.D.) were used. The Terumo band was studied twice, using the current method and a fast-release method. Taking into account the small sample size of this pilot study, statistically significant differences are seen in time to discharge in the fast-release Terumo and Clo-Sur P.A.D. groups, as compared with the control Terumo group, without increasing vascular complications.

No description available.

Introdução: Freqüentemente a progressão da doença coronariana aterosclerótica é observada por angiogramas seqüenciais e atribuída ao aumento da incidência de eventos coronarianos.O significado prognóstico desta progressão em pacientes randomizados e submetidos a diferentes formas terapêuticas ainda é pouco conhecido. Este estudo compara a progressão da aterosclerose nas artérias coronárias nativas de pacientes submetidos a tratamento clinico, cirúrgico ou através da angioplastia. Métodos: 611 pacientes portadores de DAC multiarterial estável com função ventricular preservada, foram estudados e submetidos de maneira randomizada, a três formas terapêuticas habituais. Após cinco anos de evolução, 392 pacientes (64%) foram submetidos à cinecoronariografia. A progressão da doença foi definida como surgimento de estenose de, pelo menos, 20% de obstrução em um segmento arterial, admitido previamente como normal. A progressão foi avaliada nas artérias nativas que correspondem a DA, CX, CD dos três grupos terapêuticos. Resultados: 392 pacientes estudados, 136 eram do grupo Cirúrgico, 146 do grupo Angioplastia e 110 do grupo Clínico. Os grupos eram homogêneos em relação às características basais. A análise de progressão entre os grupos terapêuticos mostrou maior progressão da doença na artéria DA do grupo angioplastia. Entre os fatores relacionados à progressão da doença a presença de HAS influenciou significativamente (p= 0,048). Em relação à oclusão total, houve maior incidência no sexo masculino (p= 0,0078) e novo IAM (p= 0,0006). Não se observou relação estatística entre eventos coronarianos e progressão da doença na amostra estudada. Conclusão: Nessa amostra observou-se a progressão da aterosclerose independente da opção terapêutica. Todavia, encontrou-se menor progressão da doença nos pacientes do grupo cirúrgico. Exceto pela presença de hipertensão, nenhum outro fator de risco parece ter influenciado nesta condição. / Introduction: The progression of atherosclerotic in the coronary artery disease (CAD) is observed through consecutive angiograms. The prognosis of this progression randomized patients is not clear. This study compared the progression of native coronary arteries and bypass graft in patients undergoing to surgery (CABG), angioplasty (PCI), or medical strategy (MT). Methods: Six hundred eleven patients with stable multivessel CAD and preserved ventricular function were randomly assigned to the 3 therapeutic options: MT, PCI, or CABG. After a 5-year of follow-up, 392 patients (64%) underwent routine coronary angiogram. Progression was defined as stenosis of at least 20% in an artery segment previously considered normal. Progression was assessed in the native arteries irrigating the three territories, left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex (LCX) and right coronary artery (RCA). Uni and multivariate analysis were performed in all therapeutic groups. Results: Of the 392 patients, 136 were to CABG, 146 PCI, and 110 MT. Baseline characteristics of three treatment were homogeneous. Analysis of progression within the three groups showed a more significant progression of atherosclerosis in the LAD territories of the PCI group. Among the factors related to the progression, there was a significant influence by hypertension (p = 0.048). Males presented a higher incidence of occlusion (p= 0.0078) and new Myocardial Infarction. (p= 0.0006). There was no statistical difference between coronary events and the development of progression in the sample studied. Conclusion: In this study, we have observed the occurrence of atherosclerosis progression, regardless the treatment option. However, we?ve found less progression of disease in patients from the surgery group. Except for hypertension, any other risk factor seems to have no influence on the increase of this condition.

Introdução: Freqüentemente a progressão da doença coronariana aterosclerótica é observada por angiogramas seqüenciais e atribuída ao aumento da incidência de eventos coronarianos.O significado prognóstico desta progressão em pacientes randomizados e submetidos a diferentes formas terapêuticas ainda é pouco conhecido. Este estudo compara a progressão da aterosclerose nas artérias coronárias nativas de pacientes submetidos a tratamento clinico, cirúrgico ou através da angioplastia. Métodos: 611 pacientes portadores de DAC multiarterial estável com função ventricular preservada, foram estudados e submetidos de maneira randomizada, a três formas terapêuticas habituais. Após cinco anos de evolução, 392 pacientes (64%) foram submetidos à cinecoronariografia. A progressão da doença foi definida como surgimento de estenose de, pelo menos, 20% de obstrução em um segmento arterial, admitido previamente como normal. A progressão foi avaliada nas artérias nativas que correspondem a DA, CX, CD dos três grupos terapêuticos. Resultados: 392 pacientes estudados, 136 eram do grupo Cirúrgico, 146 do grupo Angioplastia e 110 do grupo Clínico. Os grupos eram homogêneos em relação às características basais. A análise de progressão entre os grupos terapêuticos mostrou maior progressão da doença na artéria DA do grupo angioplastia. Entre os fatores relacionados à progressão da doença a presença de HAS influenciou significativamente (p= 0,048). Em relação à oclusão total, houve maior incidência no sexo masculino (p= 0,0078) e novo IAM (p= 0,0006). Não se observou relação estatística entre eventos coronarianos e progressão da doença na amostra estudada. Conclusão: Nessa amostra observou-se a progressão da aterosclerose independente da opção terapêutica. Todavia, encontrou-se menor progressão da doença nos pacientes do grupo cirúrgico. Exceto pela presença de hipertensão, nenhum outro fator de risco parece ter influenciado nesta condição. / Introduction: The progression of atherosclerotic in the coronary artery disease (CAD) is observed through consecutive angiograms. The prognosis of this progression randomized patients is not clear. This study compared the progression of native coronary arteries and bypass graft in patients undergoing to surgery (CABG), angioplasty (PCI), or medical strategy (MT). Methods: Six hundred eleven patients with stable multivessel CAD and preserved ventricular function were randomly assigned to the 3 therapeutic options: MT, PCI, or CABG. After a 5-year of follow-up, 392 patients (64%) underwent routine coronary angiogram. Progression was defined as stenosis of at least 20% in an artery segment previously considered normal. Progression was assessed in the native arteries irrigating the three territories, left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex (LCX) and right coronary artery (RCA). Uni and multivariate analysis were performed in all therapeutic groups. Results: Of the 392 patients, 136 were to CABG, 146 PCI, and 110 MT. Baseline characteristics of three treatment were homogeneous. Analysis of progression within the three groups showed a more significant progression of atherosclerosis in the LAD territories of the PCI group. Among the factors related to the progression, there was a significant influence by hypertension (p = 0.048). Males presented a higher incidence of occlusion (p= 0.0078) and new Myocardial Infarction. (p= 0.0006). There was no statistical difference between coronary events and the development of progression in the sample studied. Conclusion: In this study, we have observed the occurrence of atherosclerosis progression, regardless the treatment option. However, we?ve found less progression of disease in patients from the surgery group. Except for hypertension, any other risk factor seems to have no influence on the increase of this condition.

Atherosclerosis begins in the teenage years and progresses over time in susceptible individuals. It is unknown, however, whether coronary angiography in middle-aged adults showing no evidence of atherosclerosis identifies individuals at low risk for subsequent development of coronary artery disease (CAD). We identified 4068 patients ≥40 years of age who had at least two coronary angiograms between January 1, 1990 and March 31, 2011. Of these, 227 patients (5.8%) had no CAD and 251 patients (6.4%) had mild atherosclerotic disease (stenosis <30%) on the initial angiogram. Patients in the normal-angiogram group were younger, more often female, and less likely to use tobacco than patients in the mild-atherosclerosis group, while rates of diabetes and hypertension were the same. Angiographic evidence of any CAD and obstructive CAD was apparent in 26% and 4.8%, respectively of the normal-angiogram group on subsequent angiography performed 75 ± 46 months later. Myocardial infarction and revascularization occurred in 4.8% and 3.5%, respectively. Progression of CAD (odds ratio ≤ 10.2), development of obstructive CAD (odds ratio ≤ 8.9), myocardial infarction (odds ratio ≤ 2.7), and revascularization (odds ratio ≤ 8.4) were more frequent in the mild-atherosclerosis group. In summary, 26% of middle-aged adults with a normal coronary angiogram who had subsequent angiography for clinical reasons developed CAD, although the annual rates of myocardial infarction or revascularization were very low. Even mild atherosclerosis on the initial angiogram increased the rate of progression of CAD by 10-fold and the rate of revascularization by 8-fold.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of patients have coronary angiograms performed in the United States. The Impella is a percutaneous ventricular support device that provides hemodynamic support for patients if hemodynamic instability occurs during the procedure. The critical care nurse is responsible for the recovery and management of the patient with the Impella device in place. The purpose of this scholarly project is to provide registered nurses (RN) who have not previously managed the Impella device with the appropriate education in order to demonstrate competency. The program demonstrated improved RN knowledge about the Impella and increased confidence when managing the Impella device and controller. King's goal attainment theory was used as a framework to develop nurse-patient collaboration. Kirkpatrick's 4-level training evaluation model provided the framework for evaluation of the RN educational program. The sources of evidence included literature and an expert panel that was recruited to evaluate the material prior to implementation of the educational program. The data were analyzed by comparing the results of the preeducational and posteducational questionnaires. The paired t test demonstrated statistical significance based on the scores from the pre- and post-tests taken by the RNs before and after the Impella educational program as p < .001. Increased RN confidence was demonstrated by p < .001, while a change in RN attitude towards the Impella established improvement by p < .001. Providing professional development opportunities has been shown to benefit RNs to allow the delivery of safe care while allowing for positive social change by impacting patient lifestyle and outcomes.

Position du problème. L’arrêt cardiaque extra-hospitalier (ACEH), dont la forme clinique la plus caricaturale correspond à la « mort subite », représenterait la première cause de mortalité à travers le monde. Malgré les améliorations apportées à leur prise en charge, le pronostic de ces patients demeure très péjoratif, y compris chez ceux qui ont bénéficié d’une réanimation initiale avec succès. En effet, la longue période d’ischémie suivie du phénomène de reperfusion secondaire au retour d’une activité circulatoire (RACS) est à l’origine d’une cascade de phénomènes physiopathologiques qui caractérisent le syndrome post-arrêt cardiaque. Plusieurs éléments thérapeutiques, telles que la reperfusion coronaire précoce et l’hypothermie thérapeutique, se sont développés ces dernières années afin de diminuer la morbi-mortalité importante observée dans cette situation. L’intérêt de ces interventions précoces sur le pronostic ultérieur demeure cependant débattu, car il a souvent été établi sur des sous-groupes de patients très sélectionnés. Objectif. L’objectif de ce travail était d’évaluer l’influence de ces interventions thérapeutiques précoces sur le devenir des patients victimes d’ACEH et admis vivants en service de réanimation. Méthode. Depuis 2000, une cohorte de patients survivants d’ACR et admis vivants en réanimation a été constituée dans un centre spécialisé. L’ensemble des caractéristiques démographiques, pré-hospitalières et hospitalières ont été analysées. L’analyse multivariée des facteurs pronostiques dans cette cohorte a utilisé principalement les méthodes de régression logistique. Résultats principaux. Entre 2003 et 2008, 435 patients ont été admis, ne présentaient pas d’étiologie extra-cardiaque évidente et ont bénéficié d’une coronarographie immédiate et systématique. Une lésion coronaire récente a été observée chez près de la moitié d’entre eux. Les moyens de détection d’une étiologie cardiaque sont extrêmement limités que ce soit par des modèles prédictifs simples utilisant des paramètres démographiques ou circonstancielles ou par des paramètres para-cliniques tels que l’électrocardiogramme ou les enzymes cardiaques. En effet, ces derniers possèdent des valeurs prédictives médiocres et ne peuvent être considérés comme outil de triage de ces patients. En revanche, la coronarographie immédiate et systématique (suivie d’une reperfusion coronaire si nécessaire) était associée de manière significative et indépendante à la survie hospitalière (OR ajusté= 2.06 (1.16-3.66)) et ceci quelque soit l’aspect électrocardiographique. Entre 2000 et 2009, 1145 patients ont été admis et 2/3 d’entre eux ont été traités par hypothermie thérapeutique. Parmi eux, 708/1145 (62%) avait initialement un rythme cardiaque choquable et 437/1145 (38%) présentait un rythme non choquable. Après ajustement sur les autres facteurs pronostiques, l’hypothermie thérapeutique avait un rôle protecteur sur le pronostic neurologique des patients à la sortie de réanimation dans le groupe présentant initialement un rythme choquable (OR ajusté= 1.90 (1.18-3.06)). En revanche, l’association entre le pronostic et l’intervention dans le groupe « non-choquable » n’était pas significative (OR ajusté=0.71 (0.37-1.36)). Parmi les facteurs susceptibles d’altérer le bénéfice lié à ce traitement, les complications infectieuses chez les patients traités par hypothermie thérapeutique s’avèrent courantes La plus fréquente est la pneumopathie précoce, dont l’apparition est associée de manière significative au traitement par hypothermie (OR ajusté= 1.90 (1.28-2.80)), mais son rôle sur le pronostic n’est pas démontré. / Background: Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA), usually clinically described as “sudden death”, is the leading worldwide cause of death. Despite recent improvements in management of OHCA, the prognosis of these patients remains very poor, even in those who benefitted from a successful initial resuscitation. During the period of ischemia following the Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC), several pathophysiological phenomenons occur, characterizing the post cardiac arrest syndrome. Furthermore, different treatments, such as immediate coronary reperfusion or therapeutic hypothermia, are now implemented for the management of this syndrome in order to decrease the morbidities and the mortality involved during this period. However, the influence of these hospital interventions on prognosis is still debatable, since they have been assessed in very selected subgroups of patients.Objectives: The aim of our work was to assess the influence of these early interventions on the outcome of OHCA patients admitted alive in intensive care unit (ICU).Method: We set up an investigation cohort (starting in 2000) of OHCA patients, in whom a successful ROSC had been obtained and who were admitted alive in ICU. We gathered all demographic data, cardiac arrest circumstances, pre-hospital and hospital characteristics. We analyzed the different predictive factors of outcome using multivariate analysis, especially logistical regression.Results: Between 2003 and 2008, 435 patients without obvious extra-cardiac cause were included and benefited from an immediate and systematical coronary angiogram. We observed a recent lesion in nearly half of them. Detecting a cardiac etiology is very challenging even using simple predictive models including patient’s baseline characteristics and circumstances of the cardiac arrest. Moreover, other parameters, such as EKG patterns or cardiac biomarkers, did not seem helpful either. Indeed, these parameters had poor predictive values and consequently could not be considered as triage tools for these patients. Nevertheless, the immediate and systematical coronary angiogram, with percutaneous intervention if appropriate, was independently associated with an improvement of hospital survival (adjusted OR= 2.06 (1.16-3.66)), regardless of the EKG pattern.Between 2000 and 2009, 1145 patients were admitted and two third of them were treated with therapeutic hypothermia. Among them, 708/1145 (62%) had an initial shockable rhythm and 437/1145 (38%) presented a non shockable rhythm. On the one hand, after adjustment with other predictive factors, the therapeutic hypothermia significantly improved the good neurological outcome at ICU discharge (adjusted OR= 1.90 (1.18-3.06)). On the other hand, the influence of this intervention was not associated with prognosis on the “non-shockable” sub-group (adjusted OR=0.71 (0.37-1.36)). Among the undercurrent factors, which could minimize the benefit of this intervention, infectious complications in treated patients were common. The most frequent complication was early onset pneumonia, whose occurrence was significantly associated with hypothermia (adjusted OR= 1.90 (1.28-2.80)), even if its role on prognosis was not determined.Conclusions: Our findings support the international guidelines regarding the management of post-cardiac arrest, identifying the subgroups of patients who may benefit the most. These results encourage further prospective studies and randomized trials and bring helpful information in that way. Finally, ancillary analysis on an investigation cohort of hospital survivors suggests that protective

Adherence to guideline-recommended secondary cardiovascular prevention therapy (statins and cardiac rehabilitation) has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality (Statins RRR 0.25, 95% CI 0.19-0.30; Cardiac Rehabilitation RRR 0.26, 95% CI 0.14-0.36) and secondary events.1,2 Yet, ≥50% of patients discontinue statin use within 12-month after an initial prescription and completion of cardiac rehabilitation is ≤20% in Ontario.3,4 Low statin adherence and cardiac rehab completion limits patients from realizing the full benefits of therapy. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of adherence to statins for secondary prevention reported that nonadherence to statins was greater in non-white ethnicities compared to white ethnicities (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.04-1.59) with geographical variation in outcomes.5 In respect to cardiac rehabilitation, the literature suggests that non-white ethnicities are less likely to complete cardiac rehabilitation compared to white participants.6,7 However, a gap remains in our knowledge of cardiac rehabilitation completion among immigrants due to lack of outcome reporting across clinical trials. The literature suggests that immigrants have improved health profiles relative to Canadian-born patients. Specifically, immigrants with ≤10 years of Canadian residency have greater medication adherence than immigrants with >10 of Canadian residency when compared to Canadian-born participants.6-9 This thesis was a planned sub-study of the Interventions Supporting Long-Term Adherence and Decreasing Cardiovascular Events (ISLAND) randomized control trial. The ISLAND study was a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial investigating the effect of educational reminders on adherence to guideline-recommended therapy post-myocardial infarction. Study participants were allocated in a 1:1:1 ratio to one of three groups: i) usual care, ii) educational reminders sent via post, or iii) combination post and interactive voice response educational reminders. Investigators were blinded to the allocation sequence, participant allocation, and outcome assessment. Medication adherence and completion of cardiac rehabilitation were assessed 12-months from baseline. This sub-study of ISLAND focused on participants who completed a 12-month outcome assessment with a recorded response to the following question, “Were you born a Canadian citizen?”. Immigrants experienced greater odds of statin adherence at 7-days (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.00-1.85) and 30 days (OR 1.36, 95% CI 0.96-1.94) at one-year post-myocardial infarction, after adjusting for age, diabetes, sex, and smoking status. We found no evidence that immigration status was associated with cardiac rehabilitation completion (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.72-1.14) after adjusting for age, diabetes, sex, smoking status, average neighborhood income quintile, education, and marital status. The odds of statin adherence at 7-days (OR 1.33, 95% CI 0.89-2.18) and 30-days (OR 1.39, 95% CI 0.89-2.18) was greater in visual minorities than white patients, however the difference was not statistically significant. We found no evidence of an association between ethnicity and cardiac rehabilitation completion (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.75-1.29). Our analysis could not fully evaluate the healthy immigrant effect due to an insufficient sample size of immigrants with <10 years of Canadian residency exposure (n=29). In conclusion, we report a statistically significant 36% increase in the odds of 7-day and 30-day statin adherence in immigrants compared to Canadian-born patients. We also report that the odds of cardiac rehabilitation decreased by 9% in immigrants compared to Canadian-born patients at 12-months post-myocardial infarction but this was not statistically significant. Our findings offer support for the “healthy immigrant effect” continuing in immigrants with >10 years of Canadian residency exposure. We were unable to evaluate outcomes in immigrants with <10 years Canadian residency exposure due to a lack of sample size (n=29). / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / The primary purpose of this research project was to assess whether immigrants, individuals who reside in Canada but were born outside of the country, who have experienced a previous heart attack were adhere to heart health therapies better than Canadian-born patients. The heart health therapies of interest to our investigation are two guideline-recommended heart attack prevention therapies, statins and cardiac rehabilitation. The study design of our research project was a cohort sub-study of the ISLAND randomized control trial which investigated adherence to heart health therapies in patients residing in Ontario, Canada. Our major finding was that immigrants who lived in Canada for >10 years were more adherent to statin therapy for a previous heart attack compared to Canadian-born participants. Our findings support the hypothesis that immigrants tend to demonstrate behaviours associated with improved outcomes compared to their Canadian-born counterparts.

The retina is a highly metabolically active tissue with large demands on the supply of nutrients. Disorders affecting the retina often include some vasculopathy with an impact on retinal circulation. Studies of retinal haemodynamics could thus help to detect, differentiate and diagnose diseases, to monitor changes in disease as well as progression and efficiency of the therapy. The present studies were an attempt to validate and determine the clinical usefulness of a newly developed technique for studying the retinal circulation in human eyes. We used different techniques to evaluate different parameters of retinal circulation. We examined how leukocyte velocity determined with Blue Field Simulation and transit times, mean transite time (MTT) and arterio-venous passage (AVP), and vessel diameter, determined from fluorescein angiograms, together reflects the retinal circulation. MTT was determined with a method based on an Impulse-Response technique, MTTIR. In a study on monkeys we compared our method, together with two conventional methods, with an absolute measurement of retinal blood flow (RBF) determined with labelled microspheres. There was a weak, but not statistically significant, correlation between retinal blood flow and MTTIR (r2 = -0.60, p = 0.06), but no useful correlation between retinal blood flow and either of the other two measures of transit times. In a study on healthy eyes we determined the effect of a physiological provocation, changes in arterial blood gases, on retinal circulation. Breathing pure oxygen or increased level of carbon dioxide in inspired air had no effect on MTT, but oxygen reduced leukocyte velocity and vessel diameter and carbon dioxide increased leukocyte velocity significantly. We concluded that unchanged transit time trough the retinal tissue was not due to a lack of effect of the gas provocation but a result due to concomitant changes in volume and flow. In a study on eyes of patients with diabetic retinopathy we investigated the relation between the extent of retinal circulation changes and the severity of the diabetes retinopathy (DRP). Transit times were relatively unaffected until proliferative DRP (PDRP) developed. In eyes with PDRP both MTTIR and AVP were increased. After panretinal photocoagulation treatment MTTIR returned to normal levels and vessel diameters tended to decrease while leukocyte velocity and AVP remained unchanged. We concluded that the increase in MTTIR in eyes with PDRP is at least partly explained by vessel dilation, causing an increased volume of the retinal vascular bed.