No abstract

Considering the independent prognostic and incremental value of suspected OSA, this condition may represent an aggravating factor for patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome.

Background: The accuracy of the GRACE and TIMI scores in predicting coronary disease extension in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (ACS) has not been established.

BackgroundAn adequate door-to-balloon time (<120 minutes) is the necessary condition for the efficacy of primary angioplasty in infarction to translate into effectiveness. ObjectiveTo describe the effectiveness of a quality of care protocol in reducing the door-to-balloon time. MethodsBetween May 2010 and August 2012, all individuals undergoing primary angioplasty in our hospital were analyzed. The door time was electronically recorded at the moment the patient took a number to be evaluated in the emergency room, which occurred prior to filling the check-in forms and to the triage. The balloon time was defined as the beginning of artery opening (introduction of the first device). The first 5 months of monitoring corresponded to the period of pre-implementation of the protocol. The protocol comprised the definition of a flowchart of actions from patient arrival at the hospital, the team's awareness raising in relation to the prioritization of time, and provision of a periodic feedback on the results and possible inadequacies. ResultsA total of 50 individuals were assessed. They were divided into five groups of 10 sequential patients (one group pre-and four groups post-protocol). The door-to-balloon time regarding the 10 cases recorded before protocol implementation was 200 ± 77 minutes. After protocol implementation, there was a progressive reduction of the door-to-balloon time to 142 ± 78 minutes in the first 10 patients, then to 150 ± 50 minutes, 131 ± 37 minutes and, finally, 116 ± 29 minutes in the three sequential groups of 10 patients, respectively. Linear regression between sequential patients and the door-to-balloon time (r = - 0.41) showed a regression coefficient of - 1.74 minutes. ConclusionThe protocol implementation proved effective in the reduction of the door-to-balloon time.

Objective: We aimed to test the hypothesis that hemoglobin values add prognostic information to the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score at admission in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Methods: A total of 225 consecutive patients with non-ST elevation ACS were studied. Hemoglobin was measured at admission, and its prognostic value was evaluated in relation to cardiovascular events during hospitalization, defined as the composite of death or myocardial infarction. Results: The incidence of major in-hospital events was 7% (10 deaths and 5 nonfatal myocardial infarctions). Hemoglobin significantly predicted events, with a C statistic of 0.67 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53–0.81; p = 0.03], with 12.1 g/dl as the cutoff point of best performance. After adjustment for the GRACE score, low hemoglobin (≤12.1 g/dl) remained an independent predictor of events (odds ratio 3.9, 95% CI 1.2–13; p = 0.028). The C statistic of the GRACE score for prediction of events improved from 0.80 to 0.84 after hemoglobin was taken into account. Finally, the addition of hemoglobin to the GRACE score promoted a net reclassification improvement of 16% in identifying high-risk patients (p = 0.025). Conclusions: The present study provides preliminary evidence that hemoglobin level independently predicts recurrent events during hospitalization and improves the prognostic performance of the GRACE score in patients with non-ST elevation ACS.