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OBJECTIVES In patients with arterial hypertension (AH), hypertension-mediated organ damage may be manifested by cardiac chamber enlargement and/or remodeling. Cardiac computed tomography imaging has emerged as an important method for morphological assessment of cardiac chambers. We tested the hypothesis that prevalence of cardiac chamber abnormalities is specifically related to clinical categories of AH in the general population. METHODS We studied 4747 individuals, mean age was 60 years (range: 40-93), 46% were men, undergoing 320-detector computed tomography in the Copenhagen General Population Study. Clinical categories of AH were: normotensive (n = 2484), untreated hypertensive (n = 1301), treated controlled hypertensive (n = 412) and treated uncontrolled hypertensive (n = 550). Chamber abnormalities in the form of left ventricular (LV) concentric remodeling, LV eccentric hypertrophy, LV concentric hypertrophy or left atrial enlargement were assessed, in addition to LV or right ventricular enlargement. RESULTS Chamber abnormalities were present in 23% of all individuals. Combined LV and left atrial abnormalities were rare (

Using four-dimensional (4D) cardiac computed tomography (CCT) scans at rest and immediately after exercise, we examined the right heart chamber sizes and systolic function and its association with exercise capacity in left ventricular assist device (LVAD) recipients. Fifteen patients with HeartMate (HM) II or 3 underwent echocardiography and maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test. Subsequently, contrast-enhanced CCT scans were performed at rest and immediately after two minutes of supine 25 Watt ergometer bike exercise. Patients were (60 ± 12 years of age) 377 ± 347 days postimplant. Peak oxygen uptake (pVO2) was 15 ± 5 ml/kg/min. LV ejection fraction measured by echocardiography was 15 ± 9%. Pump speed was 9500 ± 258 in HM II and 5518 ± 388 rpm in HM 3 recipients. Resting right atrial ejection fraction (RAEF) was 18 ± 9%, and right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) was 36 ± 8%. During stress, RAEF was 19 ± 10%, and RVEF was 37 ± 8%. RAEF and RVEF did not correlate significantly with pVO2 at rest or during stress. Resting-RAEF and stress RAEF correlated significantly: r = 0.87, p < 0.01 as did resting RVEF and stress RVEF: r = 0.76, p < 0.01. In conclusion, resting-EF predicted stress-EF for both RA and RV in patients with an LVAD. Neither RVEF nor RAEF correlated with pVO2.

Background: The optimal timing of invasive coronary angiography (ICA) and revascularization in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome is not well defined. We tested the hypothesis that a strategy of very early ICA and possible revascularization within 12 hours of diagnosis is superior to an invasive strategy performed within 48 to 72 hours in terms of clinical outcomes. Methods: Patients admitted with clinical suspicion of non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome in the Capital Region of Copenhagen, Denmark, were screened for inclusion in the VERDICT trial (Very Early Versus Deferred Invasive Evaluation Using Computerized Tomography) ( ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02061891). Patients with ECG changes indicating new ischemia or elevated troponin, in whom ICA was clinically indicated and deemed logistically feasible within 12 hours, were randomized 1:1 to ICA within 12 hours or standard invasive care within 48 to 72 hours. The primary end point was a combination of all-cause death, nonfatal recurrent myocardial infarction, hospital admission for refractory myocardial ischemia, or hospital admission for heart failure. Results: A total of 2147 patients were randomized; 1075 patients allocated to very early invasive evaluation had ICA performed at a median of 4.7 hours after randomization, whereas 1072 patients assigned to standard invasive care had ICA performed 61.6 hours after randomization. Among patients with significant coronary artery disease identified by ICA, coronary revascularization was performed in 88.4% (very early ICA) and 83.1% (standard invasive care). Within a median follow-up time of 4.3 (interquartile range, 4.1–4.4) years, the primary end point occurred in 296 (27.5%) of participants in the very early ICA group and 316 (29.5%) in the standard care group (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.78–1.08). Among patients with a GRACE risk score (Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events) >140, a very early invasive treatment strategy improved the primary outcome compared with the standard invasive treatment (hazard ratio, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.67–1.01; P value for interaction=0.023). Conclusions: A strategy of very early invasive coronary evaluation does not improve overall long-term clinical outcome compared with an invasive strategy conducted within 2 to 3 days in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome. However, in patients with the highest risk, very early invasive therapy improves long-term outcomes. Clinical Trial Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT02061891.

Background: Noninvasive risk stratification in patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) is critical for implementing appropriate strategies to prevent major adverse events (MACE). We aim to compare the survival and accuracy of combined CT angiography (CTA) and CT myocardial stress perfusion imaging (CTP) with combined invasive coronary angiography (ICA) and stress SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging for predicting MACE in patients with suspected CAD. Methods: The CORE320 prospective multicenter study enrolled 381 patients, between 45-85 years of age, who were clinically referred for ICA. Overall, 379 participants had all imaging including coronary CTA, adenosine stress CTP, SPECT and ICA plus complete 2 year follow-up data. An independent panel adjudicated all adverse events. MACE was defined as late revascularization (beyond 30 days of index ICA), myocardial infarction, cardiac death, hospitalization for chest pain or congestive heart failure, and arrhythmia. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed and area under the receiving operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to determine test accuracy. Results: MACE (45 late revascularizations, 5 myocardial infarctions, 1 cardiac death, 8 hospitalizations for chest pain or congestive heart failure, and 1 arrhythmia) occurred in 51 of 379 patients. The 2 year MACE event free rate for combined CTA/CTP findings was 95% (-) vs. 82% (+) (Figure, p Conclusion: Combined CTA and CTP yields similar prediction of 2 year MACE (especially revascularization) and diagnostic accuracy compared to standard ICA and SPECT.

Introduction: Among abundant information on coronary artery disease (CAD) features by CT angiography (CTA), total atheroma volume and segment stenosis score (SSS) have recently shown promise for clinical utility. Methods: We followed 379 patients with suspected or known CAD enrolled in the CORE320 study for 2 years after 320-detector row CT coronary angiography. CT images were analyzed for semi-automatically derived total % atheroma volume (total atherosclerotic burden/vessel volume analyzed) and SSS in addition to traditional stenosis assessment (≥50%). Outcome variables were 1) 30-day revascularization and 2) major adverse cardiac events (MACE) after 2 years follow up. Events included cardiac death, myocardial infarction, hospitalization for acute chest pain or heart failure, arrhythmia, and revascularization. Area under the curve (AUC) and Kaplan-Meyer analysis were used to compare risk prediction and survival analysis according to CT CAD characteristics. Results: Thirty-day revascularization was most accurately predicted by CT stenosis assessment (AUC 75, confidence interval [CI] 71-80) vs. % atheroma volume (70 [65-74] and CTA SSS (67 [62-72]) (p=0.007). Prediction of MACE (45 late revascularizations, 5 myocardial infarctions, 1 cardiac death, 8 hospitalizations for chest pain or congestive heart failure, and 1 arrhythmia) was similar for % atheroma volume (64 [71 for patients without history of CAD]) and CTA stenosis assessment (65 [70]) but risk discrimination using common criteria trended favorably for % atheroma volume (FIGURE). Accuracy was low for CTA SSS (58 [62]). Conclusions: Semi-automated assessment of % total atheroma volume by CTA performs similarly to standard stenosis assessment for predicting short and long term event rates, especially revascularization, in patients with suspected CAD and holds promise for more nuanced risk discrimination. In contrast, CTA segment stenosis score performed only modestly in our analysis.

Objective Embolization of material from an infarct-related lesion during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may result in an increased infarct size. We evaluated the effect of distal protection during PCI for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) on clinical outcome and myocardial function. Methods and results Patients with STEMI were randomly referred within 12 hours for PCI with (n = 312) or without distal protection (n = 314). Left ventricular (LV) contractile function was assessed with echocardiography 8 month after PCI. Global LV myocardial wall motion index (WMI) was calculated as the average wall motion score of all myocardial segments. Major adverse cardiac and cerebral events (MACCE) 8 months after PCI was 7.1 % after distal protection and 5.7 % after conventional treatment (p = 0.17). WMI improved by 4.1% at 8 months in patients treated with distal protection compared to patients receiving conventional PCI (p Conclusion Routine use of distal protection during primary PCI is associated with a significant improvement in LV contractile function, with no detectable impact on intermediate term clinical outcome.