Protective Effect of Chinese Herbs for Supplementing Qi,Nourishing Yin and Activating Blood Circulation on Heart Function of Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Objective： To investigate the effects of Chinese herbs for supplementing qi, nourishing yin and activating blood circulation on heart function of patients with acute coronary syndrome （ACS） after successful percutaneous coronary intervention （PCI）. Methods： One hundred patients with ACS after successful PCI were randomly assigned to a Western medicine （WM） treatment group （WMG） and a combined treatment group （CMG） treated by Chinese herbs for supplementing qi, nourishing yin and activating blood circulation, besides Western medicine treatment, with 50 cases in each group. Both treatment courses were 6 months. The follow- up was scheduled at baseline, 6 months and 1 year after PCI, and New York Heart Association （NYHA） functional class, Chinese medicine （CM） symptom scores, blood stasis syndrome scores, and major adverse cardiovascular events （MACE） were observed, serum levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide （NT-proBNP） and hyper-sensitivity C-reactive protein （Hs-CRP） were measured, an echocardiogram was conducted to examine left ventricular ejection fraction （LVEF）, left ventricular end-diastolic volume （LVEDV）, left ventricular end-systolic volume （LVESV）, inter-ventricular septal thickness （IVST）, left ventricular posterior wall thickness （LVPWT）, and ventricular wall motion index （VWMI）. Results： Compared with the baseline, LVEF significantly increased （P〈0.01）, and CM symptom scores, blood stasis syndrome scores, VWMI, LVEDV, LVESV, NT-proBNP, and Hs-CRP all decreased （P〈0.01） in both groups at 6 months and at 1 year after PCI. There were no significant differences in all the above parameters at 1 year vs those at 6 months after PCI （P〉0.05）. VWMI, LVEDV, LVESV, NT-proBNP, Hs-CRP, LVEF, and CM symptom and blood stasis syndrome scores were all improved obviously in CMG than those in WMG （P〈0.05 or P〈0.01） at 6 months and at 1 year after PCI. There were no significant differences in NYHA functional class between CMG and WMG at different follow-up timepoints; it was notable that P value was 0.054 when comparing the cases of NYHA functional class between the two groups at 1-year follow-up. During the 1-year follow-up, 3 MACE and 11 MACE occurred in CMG and WMG, respectively; the MACE rate in CMG was lower than that in WMG （6% vs 22%, P〈0.05）. Conclusion： Chinese herbs for supplementing qi, nourishing yin and activating blood circulation could improve heart function, reduce the CM symptom scores and blood stasis syndrome scores, and decrease the incidence of MACE in patients with ACS after successful PCI.

Association of klotho protein with contrast-induced nephropathy in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

Background Serum Klotho protein level is a novel marker for various types of renal injury. However, the association of Klotho protein with contrast-induced nephropathy（CIN） in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction（STEMI） with percutaneous coronary intervention（PCI） is unclear. Methods According to predefined criteria, 143 STEMI patients undergoing PCI were included in this analysis. Clinical data were compared and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to detect the risk factors of CIN. Results24 patients were diagnosed with CIN（16.8%）. Serum Klotho protein level was significant lower in the CIN group（0.35 ± 0.16 vs. 0.47 ± 0.18, P = 0.004）. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that serum Klotho protein was independently associated with decreased risk of CIN（OR = 0.03, 95% CI： 0.00-0.57, P = 0.019）.Conclusions Serum Klotho protein may be a useful marker for diagnosis of CIN in patients with STEMI undergoing PCI.

Early reperfusion strategy for acute myocardial infarction:a need for clinical implementation

Reperfusion is the key strategy in acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) care,and it is time-dependent.Shortening the time from symptom to reperfusion and choosing the optimal reperfusion strategy for STEMI patients are great challenges in practice.We need to improve upon the problems of low reperfusion rate,non-standardized treatment,and economic burden in STEMI care.This article briefly reviews the current status of reperfusion strategy in STEMI care,and also introduces what we will do to bridge the gap between the guidelines and implementation in the clinical setting through the upcoming China STEMI early reperfusion program.