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James L Januzzi

Publications and source records attributed to James L Januzzi.

63 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Benefits and safety of tirofiban among acute coronary syndrome patients with mild to moderate renal insufficiency: results from the Platelet Receptor Inhibition in Ischemic Syndrome Management in Patients Limited by Unstable Signs and Symptoms (PRISM-PLUS) trial.

BACKGROUND: The role of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor antagonists for the treatment of patients with acute coronary syndrome and renal insufficiency remains undefined. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients from the Platelet Receptor Inhibition in Ischemic Syndrome Management in Patients Limited by Unstable Signs and Symptoms (PRISM-PLUS) trial were stratified by creatinine clearance (CrCl) and assessed with respect to treatment assignment to tirofiban/heparin versus heparin alone for the risk of adverse outcomes and bleeding. Patients with severe renal insufficiency (defined as a serum creatinine > or = 2.5 mg/dL) were excluded from PRISM-PLUS as a whole. Patients with the lowest CrCl (< 30 mL/min) were more likely to present with high-risk clinical features. Decreasing renal function was strongly associated with adverse outcome, increasing the risk for ischemic complications at all time points examined (all P < 0.002). Irrespective of CrCl, therapy with tirofiban reduced the odds of the composite end point of death, myocardial infarction, or refractory ischemia at 48 hours (odds ratio [OR], 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.46 to 1.0; P=0.05), 7 days (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.52 to 0.88; P= 0.003), 30 days (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.63 to 0.98; P=0.03), and 6 months (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.68 to 0.98; P=0.03). The risk of myocardial infarction/death was also significantly decreased to a similar magnitude at all time points examined. There was no evidence of treatment-by-CrCl interaction. The presence of declining renal function independently increased the risk for bleeding (OR, 1.57; P < 0.001 for trend across categories), as did therapy with tirofiban, but no unexpected incremental risk of bleeding due to tirofiban was observed among lowest CrCl categories. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with mild-to-moderate renal insufficiency in PRISM-PLUS, tirofiban was well tolerated and effective in reducing ischemic acute coronary syndrome complications.

Acute Disease↗

A comparison of cardiac troponin T and creatine kinase-MB for patient evaluation after cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the role of serum markers of myocardial necrosis after cardiac surgery. BACKGROUND: The role of serum troponin T (TnT) and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) for the risk stratification of patients after cardiac surgery remains undefined. METHODS: Serum levels of TnT and CK-MB were measured from 224 patients every 8 h after cardiac surgery. The results of serum cardiac marker testing were correlated with adverse events, including new myocardial infarction (MI), cardiogenic shock or death. Univariable analysis identified factors predictive of complications, while stepwise logistic regression identified independent predictors of postoperative complications. RESULTS: Cardiac marker elevation was universal after cardiac surgery. At all time points measured, compared with those patients without complications, the TnT levels from patients with complications were more significantly elevated (all: p < 0.0005). In contrast, among identically timed specimens, the levels of CK-MB from complicated patients were less reliably discriminatory. Multivariable analysis suggested that a TnT level in the highest quintile (> or = 1.58 ng/ml) was the strongest predictor of complications, including death (post-op, odds ratio [OR] = 31.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.67 to 263.1, p = 0.002) or shock (post-op: OR = 18.9, 95% CI = 2.29 to 156.1, p = 0.006; 18 h to 24 h: OR = 30.7, 95% CI = 3.75 to 250.7, p = 0.001), as well as the composite end points of death/MI (18 h to 24 h: OR = 60.1, 95% CI = 7.34 to 492.1, p < 0.0005), shock/MI (post-op: OR = 23.3, 95% CI = 2.82 to 191.4, p = 0.003; 18 h to 24 h: OR = 37.8, 95% CI = 4.66 to 307.3, p = 0.001) or death/shock/MI (post-op: OR = 20.0, 95% CI = 2.81 to 142.0, p = 0.003; 18 h to 24 h: OR = 67.4, 95% CI = 6.96 to 652.3, p < 0.0005). In contrast, in the presence of TnT, the results of CK-MB measurement added no independent prognostic information. CONCLUSIONS: Troponin T is superior to CK-MB for the prediction of impending complications after cardiac surgical procedures.

Adolescent↗

Positive predictive value of a point-of-care testing strategy on first-draw specimens for the emergency department-based detection of acute coronary syndromes.

CONTEXT: The rapid and accurate diagnosis of the etiology of chest pain is of central importance in the triage of patients presenting to emergency departments. The "first-draw" sensitivity of serum cardiac markers is known to be low on initial presentation; however, less is understood regarding the predictive value of a positive test in this situation. OBJECTIVE: To determine the ability of a critical pathway combining medical history and physical examination, electrocardiographic findings, point-of-care testing, and central laboratory data to accurately predict the presence of acute coronary ischemia. METHODS: We investigated the positive predictive value of a testing algorithm for first-draw specimens in clinical practice, combining a qualitative, point-of-care, triple-screen testing panel for cardiac markers, including myoglobin, creatine kinase-MB, and cardiac troponin I, with confirmation of the rapid assay in the central hospital laboratory by quantitative assays for creatine kinase-MB and cardiac troponin T. RESULTS: While a positive result on any of the individual cardiac markers of the point-of-care test had a positive predictive value for the acute coronary syndrome of only 36% (creatine kinase-MB, 41%; myoglobin, 36%; and troponin I, 65%), the positive predictive value for the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome increased to 76% if all 3 point-of-care markers were simultaneously positive. The positive predictive value for acute coronary syndrome for a positive confirmatory result in the hospital laboratory for either creatine kinase-MB or cardiac troponin T was 61%. Among those patients with a positive marker on both the point-of-care test and the laboratory test, a careful retrospective review of the clinical history (with exclusion of patients with nonischemic cardiac pathologies and renal insufficiency) increased the positive predictive value of this algorithm to 98%. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that qualitative, point-of-care, triple-screen cardiac marker testing of patients with chest pain at initial presentation may exhibit relatively low positive predictive values. Positive predictive value can be significantly improved by rapid confirmation in the hospital laboratory and careful review of clinical findings.

Chest Pain↗

Triggers of acute coronary syndromes.

Despite recent progress in prevention of coronary heart disease, approximately 50% of the deaths from coronary artery disease continue to occur out of hospital, and many major cardiac events occur in individuals not previously known to be at risk. These facts create the need to identify the acute causes of myocardial infarction (MI) and sudden death, which has led to a rapid growth in interest over the last 15 years in the field of triggering research. Since initial observations that the incidence of MI onset was time and activity dependent with circadian, circaseptan, and circannual variation, triggering of MI by heavy exertion, sexual activity, anger, mental stress, cocaine and marijuana use, and exposure to air pollution has been demonstrated. Study of the pathophysiological changes produced by these triggers may provide novel therapeutic and preventive targets by a more thorough understanding of vulnerable plaque disruption and coronary thrombosis.

Angina, Unstable↗

The high prevalence of multiple psychiatric disorders in stable outpatients with coronary heart disease.

OBJECTIVE: There is accumulating evidence of high prevalence of comorbid psychiatric disorders in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). However, most of these studies focused on one psychiatric disorder or one set of psychological symptoms and detected psychiatric disorders in acutely ill CHD patients. To date, no systematic comprehensive psychiatric diagnostic evaluation has been performed in a consecutive sample of stable CHD outpatients. METHODS: One hundred stable CHD outpatients of the Cardiology Division outpatient clinic at the Massachusetts General Hospital were included in the study. Psychiatric diagnoses were established by using the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (axes I-V). RESULTS: Frequent comorbid psychiatric diagnoses were detected, including single past major depressive episode (29%), current dysthymic disorder (15%), recurrent major depressive disorder with current major depressive episode (31%), current alcohol abuse (19%), posttraumatic stress disorder (29%), current generalized anxiety disorder (24%), current binge-eating disorder (10%), and current primary insomnia (13%). The mean number of comorbid clinical psychiatric disorders per subject was 1.7. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest high prevalence rates of comorbid psychiatric disorders as well as a broad spectrum of psychiatric disorders in stable CHD outpatients. However, larger epidemiological studies are needed in order to determine the true prevalence of these disorders in CHD patients.

Adult↗