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FFR(CT) provides high diagnostic accuracy and discrimination for the diagnosis of hemodynamically significant CAD with invasive FFR as the reference standard. When compared with anatomic testing by using coronary CTA, FFR(CT) led to a marked increase in specificity. (HeartFlowNXT-HeartFlow Analysis of Coronary Blood Flow Using Coronary CT Angiography [HFNXT]; NCT01757678).

In remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) brief, reversible episodes of ischemia with reperfusion in one vascular bed, tissue or organ confer a global protective phenotype and render remote tissues and organs resistant to ischemia/reperfusion injury. The peripheral stimulus can be chemical, mechanical or electrical and involves activation of peripheral sensory nerves. The signal transfer to the heart or other organs is through neuronal and humoral communications. Protection can be transferred, even across species, with plasma-derived dialysate and involves nitric oxide, stromal derived factor-1α, microRNA-144, but also other, not yet identified factors. Intracardiac signal transduction involves: adenosine, bradykinin, cytokines, and chemokines, which activate specific receptors; intracellular kinases; and mitochondrial function. RIC by repeated brief inflation/deflation of a blood pressure cuff protects against endothelial dysfunction and myocardial injury in percutaneous coronary interventions, coronary artery bypass grafting and reperfused acute myocardial infarction. RIC is safe and effective, noninvasive, easily feasible and inexpensive.

ObjectiveThe majority of cardiovascular diagnoses in the Danish National Patient Registry (DNPR) remain to be validated despite extensive use in epidemiological research. We therefore examined the positive predictive value (PPV) of cardiovascular diagnoses in the DNPR.DesignPopulation-based validation study.Setting1 university hospital and 2 regional hospitals in the Central Denmark Region, 2010–2012.ParticipantsFor each cardiovascular diagnosis, up to 100 patients from participating hospitals were randomly sampled during the study period using the DNPR.Main outcome measureUsing medical record review as the reference standard, we examined the PPV for cardiovascular diagnoses in the DNPR, coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision.ResultsA total of 2153 medical records (97% of the total sample) were available for review. The PPVs ranged from 64% to 100%, with a mean PPV of 88%. The PPVs were ≥90% for first-time myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, stable angina pectoris, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, takotsubo cardiomyopathy, arterial hypertension, atrial fibrillation or flutter, cardiac arrest, mitral valve regurgitation or stenosis, aortic valve regurgitation or stenosis, pericarditis, hypercholesterolaemia, aortic dissection, aortic aneurysm/dilation and arterial claudication. The PPVs were between 80% and 90% for recurrent myocardial infarction, first-time unstable angina pectoris, pulmonary hypertension, bradycardia, ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation, endocarditis, cardiac tumours, first-time venous thromboembolism and between 70% and 80% for first-time and recurrent admission due to heart failure, first-time dilated cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy and recurrent venous thromboembolism. The PPV for first-time myocarditis was 64%. The PPVs were consistent within age, sex, calendar year and hospital categories.ConclusionsThe validity of cardiovascular diagnoses in the DNPR is overall high and sufficient for use in research since 2010.