This issue of the journal offers a variety of original contributions, case reports and clinical caveats, in the form of letters to the editor, that span the spectrum of acute cardiac care.
In the section of Ischemic Heart Disease, Dr. Tousek and colleagues present the PRAGUE-7 trial which is a randomised multicentre study of routine upfront abciximab versus standard peri-procedural therapy in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with cardiogenic shock. Although numerous prior studies have addressed the use of IIbIIIa receptor antagonists in patients undergoing PCI very few studies specifically focused on patients with cardiogenic shock. Dr. Maag and colleagues share their unique experience in performing percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute myocardial infarction due to congenital coronary anomalies. Although this subset of patients represents a small fraction of the total number of patients with acute myocardial infarction few data are available with respect to the unique technical challenges of coronary revascularization in these patients as well as their long-term prognosis. Finally, Dr. Samwel presents a comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge with regard to the susceptibility genes for coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction.
In the section of Pulmonary Hypertension, Dr. Stergiopoulos and colleagues report their experience in using right ventricular strain to predict clinical outcomes in patients with acute pulmonary embolism. While the use of echocardiography for diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with acute pulmonary embolism is standard and validated practice the additional value of using right ventricular strain for this purpose remains a topic of controversy. This study provides new insights into this particular application. In the section of cardiac biomarkers, two studies add unique insights into the potential use of plasma B-type natriuretic peptide to determine prognosis of patients with severe cardiotoxic drug poisoning and to identify patients with acute coronary syndromes who are at high risk for complications from intravenous beta-blocker infusion.