AIM: The aim of the study was to determine the predictive possibility of the GDF-15 marker in the stratification of the ACS complications risk within 5 years after the event.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: 70 patients with ACS were involved. The mean age was (61.8 +/- 1.3) years, the following diagnosis was established in the patients: 76 patients had acute myocardial infarction with Q (AMI with Q), 28 - acute myocardial infarction without Q (AMI without Q) and 36 patients were diagnosed unstable angina (UA). During the follow-up period the endpoint was reached by 28 patients.
RESULTS: A statistical relationship between the elevated level of GDF - 15 and the 5-year survival of these patients (χ2 = 4.75, p = 0.03) has been found. It was established that the level of the GDF-15 biomarker > 2350 pg/ml independently predicted the onset of adverse events with the sensitivity of 80% and the specificity of 60% (p = 0.006). To investigate the influence of the GDF-15 levels on mortality in the remote period, the Cox regression analysis was performed. It was revealed that the level of GDF-15 significantly predicted the onset of the primary endpoint within 5 years after ACS (p = 0.004).
CONCLUSIONS: The increased level of GDF-15, determined in the first 24 hours after development of ACS, is highly associated with the adverse outcome within 5 years after the event.
METHODS AND RESULTS: In this multicentre, open-label study, we randomly assigned 203 participants to undergo one additional 24-h Holter monitoring (control group, n = 98) vs. 30-day smartphone ECG monitoring (intervention group, n = 105) using KardiaMobile (AliveCor®, Mountain View, CA, USA). Major inclusion criteria included age ≥55 years old, without known AF, and ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) within the preceding 12 months. Baseline characteristics were similar between the two groups. The index event was ischaemic stroke in 88.5% in the intervention group and 88.8% in the control group (P = 0.852). AF lasting ≥30 s was detected in 10 of 105 patients in the intervention group and 2 of 98 patients in the control group (9.5% vs. 2.0%; absolute difference 7.5%; P = 0.024). The number needed to screen to detect one AF was 13. After the 30-day smartphone monitoring, there was a significantly higher proportion of patients on oral anticoagulation therapy at 3 months compared with baseline in the intervention group (9.5% vs. 0%, P = 0.002).
CONCLUSIONS: Among patients ≥55 years of age with a recent cryptogenic stroke or TIA, 30-day smartphone ECG recording significantly improved the detection of AF when compared with the standard repeat 24-h Holter monitoring.