[Do arrhythmias after infarction deter patients from smoking?]

Although the short-term outcome of patients treated by thrombolysis during the acute phase of myocardial infarction is now well known, data concerning the repercussions of the coronary accident on smoking are less clearly established. This aspect is particularly important, as cessation of smoking is one of the most effective measures in the context of secondary prevention, with an excellent cost-benefit ratio. Between 1985 and 1991, 218 consecutive patients underwent thrombolysis for myocardial infarction. With a follow-up of 35 +/- 20 months, 11.5% of patients have died, including 6% while in hospital. A questionnaire was sent to 193 surviving patients with a response rate of 97.4%, 27.3% of patients continued to smoke after the myocardial infarction. Smoking patients were younger (p = 0.001) and had generally returned to work (p = 0.05). Continuation of smoking was not influenced by either the patency of the artery or the type of revascularization, and was not correlated with residual symptoms. The frequency of arrhythmias during the acute phase was not related to previous smoking. On the other hand, smoking patients who survived after an infarction appear to quit smoking twice as frequently when they had experienced a cardiac arrhythmia during the acute phase of the infarction (p = 0.005), as confirmed by multivariate analysis. Can the "stress" induced by the arrhythmia, possibly combined with the doctor's reactive anxiety explain cessation of smoking in these patients? If so, it would open new horizons in terms of secondary prevention of myocardial infarction.

[Exercise training and rehabilitation techniques in patients with coronary disease]

Exercise rehabilitation is widely prescribed for patients with coronary artery disease and requires the same rigorous approach as physical training in athletes. Training techniques have been carefully described, but the precise physiological justification remains to be elucidated. In order to target the physiological mechanisms which rehabilitation training is designed to improve, it is necessary to have a coherent strategy and apply the techniques with a clear idea of the objective to be attained. We describe the programme we propose to our patients. First, patients are advised to fraction their exercise into short relatively intense periods of exertion separated by rest periods as long as the exertion period. This method is designed to develop the "power" of the aerobic energy system. Later, we progressively introduce longer periods of training at moderate intensity. This part of the rehabilitation is designed to develop the "capacity" of the aerobic system. The decision to develop work capacity is based on the patient's response to the first part of the rehabilitation programme.

[Practical value of the detection of silent myocardial ischemia in patients with coronary disease using Holters]

The prognosis of painless myocardial ischemia is similar to that of symptomatic ischemia. The Holter technique (and solid memory Holter in particular) is a simple method of detection which, taken together with exercise testing, enables the identification among coronary disease patients of a high risk group in whom effort ischemia is accompanied by episodes of ischemia under everyday conditions and in whom additional investigations (exercise thallium scan then coronary arteriography) and appropriate treatment, including transluminal angioplasty and aorto-coronary bypass if necessary, may be required. The role of drug treatment in silent ischemia has not yet been clearly defined. While electrical ischemia regresses significantly with the majority of standard drug regimens, and beta-blockers in particular, none has yet been confirmed as having a preventive effect against serious events following on from silent myocardial ischemia.

[Diffuse cholesterol embolism after fibrinolysis for myocardial infarction]

The authors report the case of a 57 year old man admitted to hospital 3 hours after the onset of an infero-latero-basal infarct who underwent thrombolytic therapy with intravenous streptokinase, in whom the immediate outcome was complicated by multiple cholesterol embolisation which cause renal failure, mesenteric ischemia, medullary ischemia and livedo reticulosis of the lower half of the body complicated by gangrene of the toes, despite the fact that cardiac catheterisation had not been performed. This case (fifth reported case) of multiple cholesterol embolisation from the abdominal aorta caused by thrombolysis is the earliest presentation of this complication in the literature.

[Efficacy of intravenous milrinone in the treatment of acute congestive cardiac failure. Results of a French multicenter study]

The hemodynamic effects and safety of milrinone, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, were studied in 57 patients in the acute phase of cardiac failure. The drug was given intravenously as an initial push dose of 50 micrograms/kg in 10 min followed by a 24 hour infusion at the dose of 0.5 micrograms/kg/min. Maximal response was obtained after 15 min and persisted throughout the infusion. Cardiac index rose by 40%, while pulmonary capillary pressure fell from 25 mmHg to 17 mmHg (-30%) by the fifth minute of treatment. Mean pulmonary artery pressure fell by 20% by the 15th minute. Systemic resistance decreased by 26% and pulmonary vascular resistance by 22%. All these variations were significant. Heart rate and systemic blood pressure remained stable. Study of three sub-groups: digoxin vs non-digoxin, sinus rhythm vs atrial fibrillation, and coronary patients vs non-coronary patients, revealed no significant difference. Safety of the drug was good, no extra-cardiac actions having required interruption of the infusion. Stoppage was made necessary by two instances of ventricular tachycardia. Improved hemodynamic effects and the good safety/acceptability of the drug indicate that milrinone is a treatment of choice in cardiac failure.

[Hemodynamic study of intravenous milrinone in 26 patients with NYHA class III or IV cardiac failure]

The hemodynamic effects of milrinone (WIN 47203) were studied in 26 NYHA Class III or IV patients. The compound was administered intravenously using a protocol including an initial push dose of 50 micrograms/kg in 10 min, followed by a 24 hour infusion at the dose of 0.5 microgram/kg/min. Maximal response was obtained after 15 min and persisted during the infusion: cardiac index increased from 2.08 +/- 0.36 l/min/m2 to 3.09 +/- 0.68 l/min/m2, while capillary pressure fell from 25 mmHg to 16-17 mmHg. These variations were significant (p = 0.01). Heart rate was stable. Mean peripheral blood pressure fell modestly (6%). Systemic vascular resistance fell by 30% and pulmonary vascular resistance by 20%. All these results confirmed the beneficial effect of this inotropic agent administered intravenously. The increase in ventricular premature contractions noted by many justifies the careful surveillance of these patients by monitoring.

[Primary isolated dissection of the left anterior descending coronary artery]

The authors report the case of a 30 year old Senegalese man admitted with an acute antero-septo-apical myocardial infarction which was fibrinolysed at the 5th hour. Coronary angiography showed dissection of the left anterior descending artery. This young patient with no previous medical history or cardiovascular risk factors had an abnormal skin biopsy showing proliferation of the elastic tissues. Eight months after the infarct the patient is asymptomatic and the appearances of dissection have disappeared. This case is original because the dissection occurred in a man, affecting the left anterior descending artery, with a good outcome after fibrinolysis (4th case), the angiographic regression of the arterial lesion and the possible pathogenetic mechanism of disease of elastic tissues.

[Silent myocardial ischemia during hemodialysis in patients with chronic renal insufficiency]

A prospective search for episodes of silent myocardial ischaemia (SMI) was carried out during sessions of haemodialysis in 62 patients with chronic renal failure and was positive in 37.1% of the cases. The occurrence of SMI is correlated with the number of cardiovascular risk factors (p = 0.008) and particularly with diabetes (p = 0.012), smoking (p = 0.007) and age (p = 0.02), as well as with the type of nephropathy that had caused the renal failure (p = 0.02). During a 6-month follow-up two patients died; both had silent myocardial ischaemia on Holter recordings. In these anaemic patients, haemodialysis might sensitize the detection of ischaemia by the concomitant occurrence of hypotensive, hypovolaemic or hypoxic episodes, thus playing a aggravating role. The existence of such episodes characterizes a subgroup of patients at high cardiovascular risk for whom the prognosis and the best therapeutic approach remain to be determined.

[Frequency of painless myocardial ischemia during hemodialysis in 50 patients with chronic kidney failure]

The authors carried out a prospective study to determine the frequency of silent ischemia (SI) in 50 consecutive patients with end stage renal failure during dialysis by Holter monitoring. Twenty patients had SI (40%). This event was related to the number of cardiovascular risk factors (p = 0.0025), principally diabetes, smoking and the underlying renal disease (p = 0.018), and to a history of coronary artery disease (p = 0.0015). Two patients died during the nine months follow-up period and both had SI on Holter monitoring. Dialysis therapy in anaemic patients may predispose to and facilitate the detection of myocardial ischemia by the simultaneous interplay of hypotension, hypovolemia, hypoxia and tachycardia. The detection of these ischemic events may allow identification of a subgroup of dialysis patients with a high cardiovascular risk. The prognosis of these patients and best therapeutic approach require further study.

Prehospital use of APSAC: results of a placebo-controlled study

Thrombolytic treatment efficacy is greater when the delay between onset of pain and treatment is short. To give treatment before admission to a coronary care unit, responsibility needs to be transferred from cardiologists to other physicians working in mobile care units. We conducted a 2-part feasibility study to investigate this strategy. Part 1 evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of mobile care unit physicians. Results from this study indicate that with regard to the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction, the risk of a wrong diagnosis is low. Part 2 was a placebo-controlled trial involving 100 patients in which 57 received anisoylated plasminogen streptokinase activator complex (APSAC) (30 U) at home and 43 received placebo at home. Patients receiving placebo at home were reevaluated on arrival in a coronary care unit and received APSAC (30 U) if indicated. The main results were that (1) diagnostic accuracy was good--all patients had an acute coronary syndrome and 97 of 100 patients had myocardial infarction; (2) time gain was approximately 60 minutes; (3) coronary patency rate was 72%; (4) ejection fraction was higher in the prehospital group (56.7%) than in the control group (53.4%), but the difference was not significant; (5) there was no rhythmic or bleeding complication related to the prehospital treatment; (6) 5 patients died from cardiogenic shock--2 between home and hospital and 3 in the hospital (3 received thrombolytic treatment at home and 2 received placebo at home and APSAC in the hospital); and (7) prehospital administration of APSAC did not induce a delay in arrival to the coronary care unit.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Socioeconomic implications of the practice of thrombolysis in the acute stage of myocardial infarction]

The use of variegated and costly thrombolytic agents for the treatment of myocardial infarction in its acute phase may have medico-social advantages. In the present study, these advantages were evaluated after one year from two age and sex matched populations: 40 patients who underwent thrombolysis and 38 patients who did not. Compared with the first hospitalizations, the difference was + 4,000 francs, rising to + 11.000 francs with the drug Eminase. A questionnaire including medical, social and economic data was sent to the 78 patients and was filled by 63 of them, remaining unanswered by one patient who had thrombolysis and 10 patients who did not. Readmission to hospital showed a 44.000 francs difference to the benefit of patients who underwent thrombolysis. Ancillary care and return to work were similar in both groups. Cost expectancy was 119.500 francs for patients who had thrombolysis and 122.000 francs for those who did not. Thrombolysis therefore is a cost reduction factor, but its influence on costs is less pronounced when it is performed soon after the onset of myocardial infarction. Thrombolysis is more expensive when carried out at home than in hospital. In this study, the excess cost (+ 5.000 francs) was due to the relatively small number of patients and to the loss of professional activity which may be an uncertain factor. Mortality at one year was nil when thrombolysis was performed within the first two hours (12 patients) and rose to 16.6 percent between 2 and 3 hours (18 patients) and 30 percent after 3 hours (10 patients). Conducted on a necessarily limited number of patients, this multiple criteria study was also aimed at establishing a method to evaluate the health expenditures imposed by the introduction of new and costly treatment in the management of myocardial infarction.

[Home thrombolysis for myocardial infarction. A multicenter study of the feasibility and evaluation of short-term prognosis]

It has been proven since 1986 that in myocardial infarction the sooner thrombolysis is performed the better. Forty-four patients were selected to enter a double-blind randomized trial in which they received either an acylated plasminogen streptokinase activator complex or a placebo. The injections were given intravenously at home within the first 3 hours (within the first 2 hours in 26 of them), by doctors from Mobile care units. This home treatment in the acute phase made it possible to gain 75 minutes on average, and up to 90 minutes when it was performed by an anaesthetist trained in emergency management. No serious complication, such as haemorrhagic or allergic reaction, occurred, and arrhythmia was no more frequent in the treated group than in the placebo group. Home thrombolysis did not delay admission to a cardiology Intensive Care unit (66 min. versus 64 min). Mean coronary patency was 75 per cent, and up to 82 per cent, in patients treated within 2 hours of the first symptoms. There was no significant difference between areas of reperfused or not reperfused patients in relation to time (P less than 0.08). Diagnosis sensitivity was 100 per cent. Thus, home thrombolysis is feasible and safe when performed by trained emergency medical teams and when criteria for inclusion and exclusion are fulfilled.

Prehospital administration of anisoylated plasminogen streptokinase activator complex in acute myocardial infarction

25 patients have been included in a randomised trial aimed to compare prehospital and hospital administration of anisoylated plasminogen streptokinase activator complex (AP-SAC). Patients were first seen, at home, by a noncardiologist doctor working in a mobile-care unit and were then evaluated for entry into the study. If they had evidence of myocardial infarction lasting for less than 3 hours and if there was no contraindication to thrombolytic therapy they were randomly allocated to APSAC 30U or placebo. They were next referred to an intensive coronary unit (ICU). On arrival in the ICU patients were reevaluated and received APSAC if they had previously received placebo. For 24 patients, diagnosis of myocardial infarction was confirmed. One patient died at home after having received placebo. There was 1 hospital death. At-home injection was made within a median of 124 minutes after the beginning of pain, whereas hospital administration was made after a median of 180 minutes. On a clinical basis reperfusion occurred in 16 out of 21 evaluable patients. Four patients had coronary artery bypass graft surgery and 9 had angioplasty. We conclude that prehospital administration of APSAC is feasible, well-tolerated and is a good way to shorten the delay of thrombolytic treatment in myocardial infarction.