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(Circulation. 2002;106:e9049.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cardiovascular News

Ruth SoRelle, MPH

Circulation Newswriter

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

The Target: Non-HDL-C?

Non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) levels appear to be an indicator of risk for nonfatal myocardial infarction and angina pectoris, making it a good target for lipid-lowering therapies, according to researchers in a report in this week’s issue of Circulation (Circulation. 2002;106:2537–2542).

Researchers in the Bypass-Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI), led by Vera Bittner, MD, MSPH, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, monitored 1514 patients with multivessel coronary artery disease enrolled in BARI for 5 years. The study’s end points were death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and death or myocardial infarction as well as angina pectoris. They found that non-HDL-C was a strong and independent predictor of nonfatal myocardial infarction and angina pectoris. However, they found that it did not predict mortality or events during follow-up. The researchers concluded: "Our data suggest that non-HDL-C is an appropriate treatment target among patients with coronary heart disease."

Repeating Reperfusion in Brachytherapy
Iridium-192 intracoronary brachytherapy for in-stent restenosis delayed the time to target lesion re-narrowing in patients for whom the radiation treatment was not totally successful, according to researchers in a report in the October 29, 2002 issue of Circulation (Circulation. 2002;106:2340–2345). In this multicenter study, led by Ross Prpic, MBBS, from Harvard Clinical Research Institute in Boston, Mass, researchers also concluded that repeat percutaneous interventions in patients who had received brachytherapy was safe and effective in the short-term with "acceptable" long-term results.

The authors noted that as many as 24% of patients who underwent percutaneous intervention with brachytherapy require target vessel revascularization. In this . . . [Full Text of this Article]