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Background: Ectatic infarct-related artery (IRA) has been shown to be associated with higher thrombus burden, no-reflow, stent thrombosis (ST) and major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The effect of ectatic non-IRA on ST without ectatic IRA is not known. We aimed to assess the effect of ectatic non-IRA presence on ST within 1 month after primary percutaneous intervention (pPCI) in patients with STEMI.Methods: A total of 1541 patients with a diagnosis of STEMI and underwent pPCI between 2015 and 2020 were retrospectively included in the study. Patients with and without 1 month ST were compared. Penalised logistic regression method was used to assess the association between ST and candidate predictors due to the risk of overfitting.Results: Median age of the study group was 56.5 (48.7 to 67.2) years. The Synergy between PCI with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) score, ectatic non-IRA presence and use of tirofiban were significantly higher in the ST group (18.2±9.9 vs 15.1±9.9, p=0.03; 25% vs 7.2%, p<0.001; 54.2% vs 30.5%, p<0.001; respectively). Significantly higher thrombus aspiration (14.3% vs 6.7%, p=0.03) and lower stent implantation (67.7% vs 84%, p<0.001) rates were observed in ectatic IRA group compared with ectatic non-IRA group. In multivariable analysis, ectatic non-IRA presence was independently associated with 1-month ST (OR 4.01, 95% CI 1.86 to 8.63, p=0.01).Conclusion: Ectatic non-IRA presence without ectatic IRA in patients with STEMI increases the risk of ST within the first month of pPCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies comparing the clinical outcomes of second-generation biodegradable polymer drug-eluting stents (BP-DES) and second-generation durable polymer drug-eluting stents (DP-DES) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with follow-up duration of more than 1 year are still limited.Objective: This study aimed to compare the 2-year clinical outcome of BP-DES with second-generation DP-DES in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study in patients with STEMI, the primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac events (MACE) defined as recurrent myocardial infarction, total repeat revascularisation and cardiac death. The secondary endpoint was stent thrombosis (ST) defined as definite, probable or possible.Results: A total of 400 patients were analysed (197 BP-DES groups and 203 DP-DES groups). BP-DES were independently associated with lower incidence of MACE (adjusted HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.91, p=0.005) and ST (adjusted HR 0.62, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.73, p<0.016) within 2 years of follow-up. Subgroup analysis of MACE individual components showed that BP-DES were associated with lower cardiac deaths (HR 0.35; 95% CI 0.18 to 0.94; p<0.001) compared to DP-DES, but not recurrent myocardial infarction and total repeat revascularisation.Conclusions: BP-DES were associated with better clinical outcomes compared to second-generation DP-DES in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnostic error is increasingly recognised as a source of significant morbidity and mortality in medicine. In this article, we will attempt to address several questions relating to clinical decision making; How do we decide on a diagnosis? Why do we so often get it wrong? Can we improve our critical faculties?We begin by describing a clinical vignette in which a medical error occurred and resulted in an adverse outcome for a patient. This case leads us to the concepts of heuristic thinking and cognitive bias. We then discuss how this is relevant to our current clinical paradigm, examples of heuristic thinking and potential mechanisms to mitigate bias.The aim of this article is to increase awareness of the role that cognitive bias and heuristic thinking play in medical decision making. We hope to motivate clinicians to reflect on their own patterns of thinking with an overall aim of improving patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about the impact of the provision of handheld point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) devices on physical examination skills of medical students.Methods: We describe an educational initiative that comprised a POCUS workshop followed by allocation of a POCUS device to medical students for use over the subsequent 8 weeks. They were encouraged to scan patients and correlate their physical examination findings. A mobile instant messaging group discussion platform was set to provide feedback from instructors. Physical examination skills were assessed by means of clinical examination.Results: 210 final-year medical students from the University of Hong Kong participated in the programme. 46.3% completed the end of programme electronic survey: 74.6% enjoyed using the POCUS device, 50.0% found POCUS useful to validate physical examination findings and 47.7% agreed that POCUS increased their confidence with physical examination. 93.9% agreed that the programme should be incorporated into the medical curriculum and 81.9% would prefer keeping the device for longer time from 16 weeks (45.6%) to over 49 weeks (35.3%). Medical students who participated in the POCUS programme had a higher mean score for abdominal examination compared with those from the previous academic year with no POCUS programme (3.65±0.52 vs 3.21±0.80, p=0.014), but there was no statistically significant difference in their mean score for cardiovascular examination (3.62±0.64 vs 3.36±0.93, p=0.203).Conclusion: The POCUS programme that included provision of a personal handheld POCUS device improved students' attitude, confidence and ability to perform a physical examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about the impact of the provision of handheld point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) devices on physical examination skills of medical students., Methods: We describe an educational initiative that comprised a POCUS workshop followed by allocation of a POCUS device to medical students for use over the subsequent 8 weeks. They were encouraged to scan patients and correlate their physical examination findings. A mobile instant messaging group discussion platform was set to provide feedback from instructors. Physical examination skills were assessed by means of clinical examination., Results: 210 final-year medical students from the University of Hong Kong participated in the programme. 46.3% completed the end of programme electronic survey: 74.6% enjoyed using the POCUS device, 50.0% found POCUS useful to validate physical examination findings and 47.7% agreed that POCUS increased their confidence with physical examination. 93.9% agreed that the programme should be incorporated into the medical curriculum and 81.9% would prefer keeping the device for longer time from 16 weeks (45.6%) to over 49 weeks (35.3%). Medical students who participated in the POCUS programme had a higher mean score for abdominal examination compared with those from the previous academic year with no POCUS programme (3.65±0.52 vs 3.21±0.80, p=0.014), but there was no statistically significant difference in their mean score for cardiovascular examination (3.62±0.64 vs 3.36±0.93, p=0.203)., Conclusion: The POCUS programme that included provision of a personal handheld POCUS device improved students' attitude, confidence and ability to perform a physical examination., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: After primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is recommended to continue for 1 year. Occasionally, DAPT interruption may be required due to bleeding issues or unplanned surgical procedures., Objective: To systematically evaluate the incidence of DAPT interruption within 1 year after PPCI., Methods and Results: This was a single-centre, retrospective registry study. Consecutive patients with STEMI who underwent PPCI from 2013 to 2017 (N=538) were recruited into the analysis. The primary outcome was the incidence of interruption of DAPT within 1 year from the index PPCI. Secondary outcomes included incidence of bleeding in 1 year and prevalence of high bleeding risk (HBR) criteria at index presentation. Within 1 year, 17.1% (84/490) of post-PPCI survivors needed DAPT interruption and 7.1% (35/490) had major bleeding (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium type 3 or 5). At index presentation, HBR criteria were present in 36.1% (194/538) of patients. On univariate analysis, age, female gender, anaemia, anticoagulation, diabetes, hypertension and being a non-smoker were associated with DAPT interruption. On multivariate analysis, age was the only independent factor to predict DAPT interruption., Conclusion: DAPT interruption was not uncommon after PPCI in patients with STEMI particularly in the elderly. This has implication on stent selection during PPCI, and further studies are required to investigate which type of stent may best suit our real-life patients with STEMI., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)