Subclinical atherosclerosis and risk of atrial fibrillation: the rotterdam study.

Background: Myocardial infarction is an important risk factor for atrial fibrillation, but the role of subclinical atherosclerosis is unknown. This longitudinal study evaluates whether atherosclerosis affects the risk of atrial fibrillation in persons without overt coronary disease.

Methods: This investigation was part of the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort study among persons 55 years or older.

Aortic stiffness is associated with atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries in older adults: the Rotterdam Study.

Objective: Aortic stiffness can lead to low diastolic blood pressure, thereby possibly limiting coronary perfusion. Therefore, the simultaneous occurrence of both aortic stiffness and coronary atherosclerosis can lead to an increased risk of subendocardial ischaemia. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between aortic stiffness and coronary atherosclerosis.

Impaired fasting glucose is associated with increased arterial stiffness in elderly people without diabetes mellitus: the Rotterdam Study.

Objectives: To study the association between impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and arterial stiffness in older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional population-based study.

Setting: The Rotterdam Study, a Dutch population-based cohort study.

Prevalence, incidence and lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation: the Rotterdam study.

Aims: We aimed to investigate the prevalence and incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in a large European population-based study.

Methods And Results: The study is part of the Rotterdam study, a population-based prospective cohort study among subjects aged 55 years and above. The prevalence at baseline was assessed in 6808 participants.

Incidence of recognized and unrecognized myocardial infarction in men and women aged 55 and older: the Rotterdam Study.

Aims: Contemporary data on the incidence of unrecognized myocardial infarction (MI) among subjects aged 55 and older are limited.

Methods And Results: We studied the incidence of recognized and unrecognized MI in the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort of men and women aged 55 and older. The baseline examination was performed during 1990-93, with follow-up examinations during 1994-95, and 1997-2000.

Blood pressure components and cardiovascular events in older adults: the Rotterdam study.

Objectives: To compare the strength of the relative risks of systolic (SBP) diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and pulse pressure (PP) as predictors of myocardial infarction and stroke in older adults.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: The Rotterdam Study, a Dutch population-based study.

Predictive value of noninvasive measures of atherosclerosis for incident myocardial infarction: the Rotterdam Study.

Background: Several noninvasive methods are available to investigate the severity of extracoronary atherosclerotic disease. No population-based study has yet examined whether differences exist between these measures with regard to their predictive value for myocardial infarction (MI) or whether a given measure of atherosclerosis has predictive value independently of the other measures.

Methods And Results: At the baseline (1990-1993) examination of the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort study among subjects age > or =55 years, carotid plaques and intima-media thickness (IMT) were measured by ultrasound, abdominal aortic atherosclerosis by x-ray, and lower-extremity atherosclerosis by computation of the ankle-arm index.

Genetic variability of von Willebrand factor and risk of coronary heart disease: the Rotterdam Study.

The von Willebrand factor (VWF) may be causally associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) or merely be a marker of endothelial damage. The G allele of the -1793 C/G promoter polymorphism in the VWF gene has been associated with higher plasma levels of VWF. To investigate whether VWF has a causal role in CHD, we designed a case-cohort study, including 352 subjects with CHD and a random cohort (n = 736), and prospectively examined the association of the -1793 C/G polymorphism with CHD in subjects with and without advanced atherosclerosis.

Spatial QRS-T angle predicts cardiac death in a general population.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic importance of the spatial QRS-T angle for fatal and non-fatal cardiac events.

Methods And Results: Electrocardiograms (ECGs) were recorded in 6134 men and women aged 55 years and over from the prospective population-based Rotterdam Study. Spatial QRS-T angles were categorized as normal, borderline or abnormal.

The value of C-reactive protein in cardiovascular risk prediction: the Rotterdam Study.

Background: Epidemiologic studies have shown that C-reactive protein (CRP) is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Whether routine measurement of CRP has a role in the prediction of future coronary disease in everyday clinical practice has not yet been investigated.

Methods: Within the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort study of 7983 men and women 55 years and older, we conducted a nested case-control study to investigate the value of CRP in coronary disease prediction.

Repeated nitrate prescriptions as a potential marker for angina pectoris. A comparison with medical information from the Rotterdam Study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether pharmacy records of nitrate prescriptions could be used as a marker of angina pectoris.

Method: This study was conducted within the Rotterdam Study, a prospective follow-up study which started in 1991 and included 7983 elderly subjects. During follow-up, 1601 subjects filled a first prescription for a nitrate and later filled at least one other prescription for nitrates according to pharmacy records.

Atrial fibrillation and the prothrombotic state in the elderly: the Rotterdam Study.

Background And Purpose: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major cause of stroke among the elderly. Evidence for a prothrombotic state in AF is controversial, and there is a lack of studies among the elderly. We studied the relationships between AF and 3 prothrombotic plasma markers-von Willebrand factor (vWf; a marker of endothelial damage/dysfunction), soluble P-selectin (sP-sel; a marker of platelet activation), and fibrinogen-in a matched case-control study nested within a large community-based study of an elderly population.

C-reactive protein predicts progression of atherosclerosis measured at various sites in the arterial tree: the Rotterdam Study.

Unlabelled: Background and Purpose- C-reactive protein (CRP) predicts myocardial infarction and stroke. Its role as a predictor of the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis is not yet known. We investigated whether CRP predicts progression of atherosclerosis measured at various sites in the arterial tree.

Inverse association of tea and flavonoid intakes with incident myocardial infarction: the Rotterdam Study.

Background: Dietary flavonoids may protect against cardiovascular disease, but evidence is still conflicting. Tea is the major source of flavonoids in Western populations.

Objective: The association of tea and flavonoid intake with incident myocardial infarction was examined in the general Dutch population.

Stroke is associated with coronary calcification as detected by electron-beam CT: the Rotterdam Coronary Calcification Study.

Background And Purpose: Coronary calcification as detected by electron-beam CT measures the atherosclerotic plaque burden and has been reported to predict coronary events. Because atherosclerosis is a generalized process, coronary calcification may also be associated with manifest atherosclerotic disease at other sites of the vascular tree. We examined whether coronary calcification as detected by electron-beam CT is related to the presence of stroke.