Guidelines summarize and evaluate all available evidence at the time of the writing process, on a particular issue with the aim of assisting health professionals in selecting the best management strategies for an individual patient, with a given condition, taking into account the impact on outcome, as well as the risk-benefit-ratio of particular diagnostic or therapeutic means. Guidelines and recommendations should help the health professionals to make decisions in their daily practice. However, the final decisions concerning an individual patient must be made by the responsible health professional(s) in consultation with the patient and caregiver as appropriate.

The role of fibrinolytic therapy in patients with intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism is controversial. In a randomized, double-blind trial, we compared tenecteplase plus heparin with placebo plus heparin in normotensive patients with intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism. Eligible patients had right ventricular dysfunction on echocardiography or computed tomography, as well as myocardial injury as indicated by a positive test for cardiac troponin I or troponin T. The primary outcome was death or hemodynamic decompensation (or collapse) within 7 days after randomization. The main safety outcomes were major extracranial bleeding and ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke within 7 days after randomization. Of 1006 patients who underwent randomization, 1005 were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. Death or hemodynamic decompensation occurred in 13 of 506 patients (2.6%) in the tenecteplase group as compared with 28 of 499 (5.6%) in the placebo group (odds ratio, 0.44; 95% confidence interval, 0.23 to 0.87; P=0.02). Between randomization and day 7, a total of 6 patients (1.2%) in the tenecteplase group and 9 (1.8%) in the placebo group died (P=0.42). Extracranial bleeding occurred in 32 patients (6.3%) in the tenecteplase group and 6 patients (1.2%) in the placebo group (P<0.001). Stroke occurred in 12 patients (2.4%) in the tenecteplase group and was hemorrhagic in 10 patients; 1 patient (0.2%) in the placebo group had a stroke, which was hemorrhagic (P=0.003). By day 30, a total of 12 patients (2.4%) in the tenecteplase group and 16 patients (3.2%) in the placebo group had died (P=0.42). In patients with intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism, fibrinolytic therapy prevented hemodynamic decompensation but increased the risk of major hemorrhage and stroke. (Funded by the Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique in France and others; PEITHO EudraCT number, 2006-005328-18; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00639743.)

Myocardial infarction (MI) is the leading cause of death and morbidity worldwide, with an incidence relatively high in developed countries and rapidly growing in developing countries. The most common cause of MI is the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque with subsequent thrombotic occlusion in the coronary circulation. This causes cardiomyocyte death and myocardial necrosis, with subsequent inflammation and fibrosis. Current therapies aim to restore coronary flow by thrombus dissolution with pharmaceutical treatment and/or intravascular stent implantation and to counteract neurohormonal activation. Despite these therapies, the injury caused by myocardial ischemia leads to left ventricular remodeling; this process involves changes in cardiac geometry, dimension and function and eventually progression to heart failure (HF). This review describes the pathophysiological mechanism that leads to cardiac remodeling and the therapeutic strategies with a role in slowing the progression of remodeling and improving cardiac structure and function.

Our aim was the assessment of the prognostic significance of right heart thrombi (RiHT) and their characteristics in pulmonary embolism in relation to established prognostic factors.138 patients (69 females) aged (mean±sd) 62±19 years with RiHT were included into a multicenter registry. A control group of 276 patients without RiHT was created by propensity scoring from a cohort of 963 contemporary patients. The primary end-point was 30-day pulmonary embolism-related mortality; the secondary end-point included 30-day all-cause mortality. In RiHT patients, pulmonary embolism mortality was higher in 31 patients with systolic blood pressure <90 mmHg than in 107 normotensives (42%versus12%, p=0.0002) and was higher in the 83 normotensives with right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) than in the 24 normotensives without RVD (16%versus0%, p=0.038). In multivariable analysis the simplified Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index predicted mortality (hazard ratio 2.43, 95% CI 1.58–3.73; p<0.0001), while RiHT characteristics did not. Patients with RiHT had higher pulmonary embolism mortality than controls (19%versus8%, p=0.003), especially normotensive patients with RVD (16%versus7%, p=0.02).30-day mortality in patients with RiHT is related to haemodynamic consequences of pulmonary embolism and not to RiHT characteristics. However, patients with RiHT and pulmonary embolism resulting in RVD seem to have worse prognosis than propensity score-matched controls.

In cancer survivors, cardiac dysfunction is the main cause of mortality. Cardiotoxicity represents a decline in cardiac function associated with cancer therapy, and the risk factors include smoking, dyslipidemia, an age of over 60 years, obesity, and a history of coronary artery disease, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, or heart failure. Troponin is a biomarker that is widely used in the detection of acute coronary syndromes. It has a high specificity, although it is not exclusively associated with myocardial ischemia. The aim of this paper is to summarize published studies and to establish the role of troponin assays in the diagnosis of cardiotoxicity associated with various chemotherapeutic agents. Troponin has been shown to be a significant biomarker in the diagnosis of the cardiac dysfunction associated with several types of chemotherapeutic drugs: anthracyclines, anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 treatment, and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy. Based on the data available at this moment, troponin is useful for baseline risk assessment, the diagnosis of cardiotoxicity, and as a guide for the initiation of cardioprotective treatment. There are currently clear regulations regarding the timing of troponin surveillance depending on the patient’s risk of cardiotoxicity and the type of medication administered, but data on the cut-off values of this biomarker are still under investigation.

The present study aims to describe the epidemiology, baseline clinical characteristics, in-hospital management, and outcome of patients hospitalized for heart failure admitted directly or transferred to the ICU. The Romanian Acute Heart Failure Syndromes (RO-AHFS) registry prospectively enrolled 3224 consecutive patients between January 2008 and May 2009 admitted with a primary diagnosis of heart failure. Participants were classified by ICU admission status (i.e. ICU+/ICU-). Independent clinical predictors of ICU admission and in-hospital mortality were identified using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Overall, 10.7% of patients required ICU level care, 32% as a direct ICU admission, with 68% as an ICU transfer during hospitalization. Patients admitted to the ICU had a mean age of 68.1 ± 11.3 years, 61% were men, 67% had an ischemic cause, and 44% presented with de-novo heart failure. ICU+ patients more frequently presented with low SBP and pulse pressure and abnormal renal function. Mechanical ventilation was required in 32.7% and intravenous inotropes were administered to 56.7% of ICU+ patients. ICU+ patients had higher in-hospital mortality compared to ICU- patients (17.3 vs. 6.5%). Patients admitted directly to the ICU had a 15.3% mortality rate compared to 18.4% in those transferred after admission. Age, serum sodium, SBP below 110 mmHg, and left-ventricular ejection fraction less than 45% were predictive of ICU admission, whereas for ICU+ patients, age, vasopressor, and mechanical ventilation utilization were predictive of mortality. Patients admitted directly or transferred to the ICU are at a high risk of in-hospital mortality. Clinical variables commonly measured at the time of admission may facilitate disposition decision-making including early triage to the ICU.