
Healthy Heart Habits
Acute Coronary SyndromeDepressionApproximately 350,000 Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) patients experience significant depression symptoms each year in the US. Post-ACS depressed mood interferes with patients making necessary changes to behavioral risk factors (e.g., smoking cessation) and predicts poor medical outcomes. The proposed study will develop an integrated depression and behavioral risk factor reduction intervention for secondary prevention post-ACS through an open trial of 20 patients.

Addiction and Acute Coronary Syndrome
Acute Coronary SyndromeAddictionthe study aims to identify the effect of addiction on TIMI flow in patients presented with acute coronary syndrome. identify the effect of addiction on outcomes of medical treatment of patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome. identify the relation between addiction and LV function. detect the effect of duration of addiction on myocardial infarction lesion and outcomes of pci.

Testing P2Y12 Platelet Inhibitors Generics Beyond Bioequivalence
Cardiovascular DiseasesAcute Coronary SyndromeThis is a pilot study that was conducted to prove the efficacy and safety of ticagrelor generically named Ticaloguard® compared to its brand Brilique® in healthy volunteers. we advocate comparing the clinical efficacy rather than simple bioequivalence comparison.

Effects and Plasma Concentration of Ticagrelor, After Crushed and Non-crushed Intake, After Acute...
Acute Coronary SyndromeThe first aim of the study is to prove that after starting the therapy with crushed tablets, the platelet inhibition will be as expected after starting therapy with intact tablets. Gurbel et al. showed that 100% of the patients on ticagrelor treatment have a decrease from baseline platelet aggregation of >10% 4 hours after last maintenance dose. So the investigators expect that after 3 days of treatment, all of our patients will have a closing time of more than 106seconds. The investigators will observe two different clinical conditions of Acute Coronary Syndrome. First after semi-urgent coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, secondly in patients after cardiac arrest. Both are clinical situations in which crushed tablets are needed to give. The second objective is to determine plasma concentrations of Ticagrelor and AR-C124910XX (active metabolite of ticagrelor) in these two patient populations after receiving 180mg or 90mg start-dose. Determination of plasma concentrations is done after protein precipitation, by using liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry detection. Measurements will be determined before intake (0h) and at 0,5; 1; 2; 4; 8; 24h and at day 4 +4h.7 The first 24h this will be a crushed tablet and 4 hours after the first intake at day 4 of therapy, this will be a non crushed tablet.

Early Effects of Intensive Lipid Lowering Treatment With Ezetimibe/ Simvastatin (Vytorin®) Assessed...
Acute Coronary SyndromeObjective: To evaluate the early effects of intensive lipid lowering treatments with ezetimibe/simvastatin (Vytorin®) for each component of coronary plaques. Study Design Prospective, randomized, single-center study of each 80 subjects enrolled Subjects with acute coronary syndrome who meet all inclusion and exclusion criteria will be enrolled. Eligible subjects will be randomized 1:1 to A) Ezetimibe/Simvastatin (n=80) vs. B) Pravastatin (n=80), and each group of patients will be randomized further in a ratio of 1:1 to a) ZES (n=40) vs. b) EES (n=40), according to the type of stent used. All subjects will undergo VH-IVUS at initial procedure. Follow-up VH-IVUS will be performed at 3 months after index procedure. OCT at initial procedure and 3-months will be performed in available cases.

Safety and Efficacy of Ticagrelor Versus Clopidogrel in Asian/KOREAn Patients With Acute Coronary...
Acute Coronary SyndromeMyocardial Ischemia3 moreThe purpose of this study is to assess safety and efficacy of Ticagrelor versus Clopidogrel in Asian/KOREAn patients with acute coronary syndromes intended for invasive management.

Paradigm Shift in the Treatment of Patients With ACS
Acute Coronary SyndromeThis protocol describes a pilot study intended to test the hypothesis that patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) caused by plaque erosion can be stabilized by effective antithrombotic treatment without stent implantation, thereby avoiding both early and late complications related to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Transition From Ticagrelor to Clopidogrel Following Acute Coronary Syndrome: To Bolus or Not?
Acute Coronary SyndromeAfter a heart attack patients are routinely started on drugs to inhibit platelets. Ticagrelor is a powerful anti-platelet drug with clinical benefits. However it must be discontinued in some, because of increased risk of bleeding or intolerance. These patients need to be transitioned to another agent, such as Clopidogrel. At present, there is no clinical consensus on the optimal strategy for this switch. Some clinicians elect to give a bolus dose of clopidogrel with 600mg, while others start directly with a 75mg daily dose, with no evidence regarding the benefits or potential complications associated with each strategy. The present proposal will evaluate the pharmacodynamics of 2 strategies with specialized platelet function testing. We hypothesize that a bolus dose of clopidogrel during the switch will confer better ischemic protection without increasing bleeding risk for patients undergoing a switch in therapy.

OPTImal CArdiac REhabilitation (OPTICARE) Following Acute Coronary Syndromes
Risk Reduction BehaviorLife StyleThe objective is to investigate whether in acute coronary syndrome patients the cardiac risk profile will improve with 2 new extended cardiac rehabilitation interventions and if these patients maintain healthier life style habits and a more active life style compared to patients randomized to standard cardiac rehabilitation.

Angio-Seal® vs. Exo-Seal® for Closure of Arterial Puncture Sites
Acute Coronary SyndromesStable Angina PectorisBackground: Vascular closure devices (VCD) were developed to reduce access site bleedings, to improve patients´ comfort, and to accelerate ambulation after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). Despite higher complications rates in earlier studies, current data suggest similar complication rates or better outcomes after the use of VCD as compared to manual compression. ExoSeal (Cordis, Warren, NJ, USA) is a new, extravascular polyglycol acid (PGA) plug which occludes the puncture channel. Whether the use of this extravascular closure device is as effective as the more widely used plug/anchor mediated devices, has not been evaluated so far. We performed a randomized, multicentre, single-blinded trial to compare the efficacy of the extravascular closure device ExoSeal in comparison to the collagen-based plug/anchor mediated AngioSeal system. Methods: 304 patients receiving diagnostic angiography and/or PCI will be included in three centers. Exclusion criteria are contraindications for any VCD including 1. severe calcification of the access vessel, 2. severe peripheral artery disease, 3. puncture in the origin of the profound femoral artery, 3. non-femoral sheath insertion, 4. marked tortuosity of the femoral or iliac artery, 5. marked obesity or cachexia (BMI >40 or <20) and 6. patients on continuous medication with oral anticoagulants. After the procedure, angiography of the accessed femoral artery is performed to rule out major risk factors for retroperitoneal hemorrhage, relevant peripheral stenoses of the common or the superficial femoral artery, or a location of the puncture site in the bifurcation of the profundal femoral artery. We hypothesise, that the use of an extravascular closure device is not inferior to an anchor/plug mediated device regarding the occurrence of the following complications: bleeding, need for vascular surgery and device failure (primary endpoints). Secondary endpoints are the occurrence of false aneurysms, severe pain (Borg ≥ 5), and hematoma ≥ 5 cm within 24 hours after insertion of the device. Power was 80%, alpha 0.05. Bleeding will be defined according to the TIMI criteria. The study is actively enrolling patients, last inclusion will take place in September 2012. Results and Conclusions: Outcome data including the primary endpoint (bleeding, need for vascular surgery and device failure) will be presented for the first time.