News From the European Society of Cardiology Congress XXIII

Abstract

The XXIII Congress of the European Society of Cardiology opened to cool blue skies in Stockholm, Sweden, on September 1, 2001, as >20 000 cardiologists, scientists, and other healthcare providers gathered for the largest heart-related meeting on the continent. With “Hotline” sessions spotlighting the latest research spanning 3 days, the Congress drew large morning crowds to hear their colleagues explain the newest studies. Those spotlighted included: ### ESCAMI On September 1, 2001, the day before scientific presentations began, Martin Simoons, MD, president of the European Society of Cardiology, predicted the results reported at the first Hotline for the newest information would change the way he and his staff treat acute myocardial infarction. After the session on September 2, 2001, he said he would add the use of low-molecular-weight heparin to his armamentarium. Uwe Zeymer, MD, of the Staedtische Kliniken in Kassel, Germany, reported that the sodium hydrogen exchange inhibitor eniporide did not add to the positive effects of thrombolysis in patients with acute myocardial infarctions. His trial, the Evaluation of the Safety and Cardioprotective Effects of Eniporide in Acute Myocardial Infarction (ESCAMI), involved 2 stages. The first was designed to prove efficacy and safety and to select 2 doses for the second stage of the trial. The stage 2 part of the trial was designed to select the dose for a large-scale mortality trial. In that trial, ≈320 patients in each group received placebo, 100 mg of eniporide, or 150 mg of eniporide (the 2 doses chosen from phase 1). In the study, patients with acute myocardial infarction were scheduled for the reperfusion therapy of their physicians’ choice: thrombolysis or primary percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTCA). Eniporide was given later with the goal of reducing the size of the infarct and saving heart muscle. Dr Zeymer noted that, “The overall result of the …