In patients after reperfusion therapy, the myocardial blush grade as seen on the coronary angiogram can be used to describe the effectiveness of myocardial reperfusion and is an independent predictor of long-term mortality.

Immediate angioplasty after acute myocardial infarction was associated with a higher rate of patency of the infarct-related artery, a less severe residual stenotic lesion, better left ventricular function, and less recurrent myocardial ischemia and infarction than was intravenous streptokinase.

This study shows that, in patients with STEMI treated by primary angioplasty, symptom-onset-to-balloon time, but not door-to-balloon time, is related to mortality, particularly in non-low-risk patients and in the absence of preprocedural anterograde flow. Furthermore, a symptom-onset-to-balloon time >4 h was identified as independent predictor of one-year mortality.

In selected patients with acute myocardial infarction, primary stenting can be applied safely and effectively, resulting in a lower incidence of recurrent infarction and a significant reduction in the need for subsequent target-vessel revascularization compared with balloon angioplasty.

We found a high prevalence of hypertension in young women at 10 years post early preeclampsia. More research on the timing of cardiovascular screening in these high-risk women is needed.