During the acute phase of acute coronary syndromes, the severity of nonculprit coronary artery stenoses can reliably be assessed by FFR. This allows a decision about the need for additional revascularization and might contribute to a better risk stratification.

Background Several parameters of cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology exhibit circadian rhythms.Recently, a relation between infarct size and the time of day at which it occurs has been suggested in experimental models of myocardial infarction. The aim of this study is to investigate whether circadian rhythms could cause differences in ischemic burden in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).Methods In 353 consecutive patients with STEMI treated by PPCI, time of symptom onset, peak creatine kinase (CK), and follow-up at 30 days were obtained. We divided 24 hours into 4 time groups based on time of symptom onset (00:00-05:59, 06:00-11:59, 12:00-17:59, and 18:00-23:59).Results There was no difference between the groups regarding baseline patients and management's characteristics. At multivariable analysis, there was a statistically significant difference between peak CK levels among patients with symptom onset between 00:00 and 05:59 when compared with peak CK levels of patients with symptom onset in any other time group (mean increase 38.4%, P b .05). Thirty-day mortality for STEMI patients with symptom onset occurring between 00:00 and 05:59 was significantly higher than any other time group (P b .05). ConclusionThis study demonstrates an independent correlation between the infarct size of STEMI patients treated by PPCI and the time of the day at which symptoms occurred. These results suggest that time of the day should be a critical issue to look at when assessing prognosis of patients with myocardial infarction.

Background-In previous studies on the effect of renal stenting on arterial hypertension, patients were selected mainly on the basis of angiographic parameters of the renal artery stenosis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether translesional pressure gradients could identify the patients with renal artery stenosis who might benefit from stenting. Methods and Results-A total of 53 consecutive hypertensive patients with unilateral RAS scheduled for renal artery intervention were recruited. Transstenotic pressure gradients were measured at baseline and during maximal hyperemia, before renal artery stenting. Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurements were performed in all patients before and 3 months after the intervention. Average reductions in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure at follow-up were Ϫ20Ϯ30 mm Hg and Ϫ2Ϯ12 mm Hg, respectively. At multivariate analysis, dopamine-induced mean gradient was the only independent predictor of the variations of both systolic blood pressure (regression coefficientϭϪ4.03, standard errorϭ1.11; PϽ0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (regression coefficientϭϪ3.11, standard errorϭ1.20; Pϭ0.009). Patients who showed a decline in systolic blood pressure from the baseline value Ͼ20 mm Hg were considered as "responders." The optimal cutoff for identification of "responders" was a dopamine-induced mean gradient Ն20 mm Hg (area under the curve, 0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.64 to 0.90; Pϭ0.001). Conclusions-A dopamine-induced mean pressure gradient of Ն20 mm Hg is highly predictive of arterial hypertension improvement after renal stenting, and therefore this measurement is useful for appropriate selection of patients with arterial hypertension. (Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2010;3:537-542.)

Medical treatment of patients with a hemodynamically nonsignificant stenosis (FFR ≥ 0.80) in the proximal LAD is associated with an excellent long-term clinical outcome with survival at 5 years similar to an age- and sex-matched control population.

In real-world all-comer STEMI patients with occluded infarct-related artery, thrombus aspiration prior to PCI improves coronary flow, myocardial perfusion, and long-term clinical outcome as compared with PCI in the absence of thrombus aspiration.