Biomedical subjects

Frits W Bär

Publications and source records attributed to Frits W Bär.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Results of the first clinical study of adjunctive CAldaret (MCC-135) in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: the randomized multicentre CASTEMI study.

AIMS: To examine the safety and efficacy of intravenous caldaret in patients with large acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS AND RESULTS: STEMI patients (n=387) with > or =10 mm summed ST-deviation on electrocardiogram were randomized to receive a 48 h infusion of caldaret 57.5 mg [lower dose (LD)], caldaret 172.5 mg [higher dose (HD)], or placebo, starting before PCI. Both HD and LD were well tolerated. In 247 patients with pre-PCI TIMI 0/1, there was no effect of HD or LD on single photon emission computed tomography infarct size or ejection fraction assessed at Day 7 and Day 30. Subgroup analyses suggest that future work in patients with anterior MI might be warranted. CONCLUSION: This first human experience with caldaret prior to direct PCI for large STEMI shows a good safety profile. No evidence of efficacy was discerned. Subgroup analyses in anterior MI patients showed some effects in endpoints studied, however, these findings require confirmation in a further study if a drug effect is to be established.

Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary↗

PubMed2005

Inflammatory markers predict late cardiac events in patients who are exhausted after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Chronic inflammation is one of the main underlying mechanisms in the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). We investigated the prognostic value of inflammatory markers for cardiac events occurring more than 6 months after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), i.e. late cardiac events, furthermore we investigated the temporal stability of these markers. Exhausted patients (234) recently treated by successful PCI were studied. Serum samples collected about 6 weeks after PCI (baseline), 6 and 18 months after baseline were analyzed for CRP, IL-6, tumour necrosis factor (TNF-alpha), IL-10, IL-1ra, IL-8 and neopterin. In the mean cardiac follow-up of 24 months, 25 late cardiac events occurred. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to determine the prognostic value. Elevated concentrations of IL-6 at baseline and 6 months later increased the risk of late cardiac events (RR 3.9, CI 1.7-9.0, p 0.00 and RR 3.6, CI 1.6-8.5, p 0.00). Elevated concentrations of CRP and IL-10 at baseline also increased the risk of late cardiac events (RR 2.5, CI 1.1-5.7, p 0.04 and RR 2.5, CI 1.1-5.6, p 0.03) as did IL-1 receptor antagonist at 6 months (RR 2.6, CI 1.1-6.1, p 0.04). Temporal stability was high for most markers, but highest for IL-6. These results support the assumption that chronic inflammation is a pathophysiological mechanism in the development of CAD.

Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary↗

PubMed2003

Cholesterol changes in coronary patients after a short behavior modification program.

Serum cholesterol changes after an 8-week behavior modification program for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) were studied in a randomized controlled clinical trial. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients were randomly assigned to the intervention (N = 94) or to usual care (N = 90). After 9 months' follow-up the intervention was effective in reducing total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels, particularly in patients with high baseline lipid levels. After correcting for changes in dose of statins during follow-up, effects were weakened, but for patients with high baseline cholesterol levels favorable effects remained. In these patients, the intervention group showed a decline of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels of 20% and 29%, respectively, compared to a 12% and 19% reduction in the control group (p <.01). These effects could not be explained by changes in dietary fat consumption. An unexpected finding was a lower increase in HDL cholesterol in the intervention group than in the control group.

Aged↗