Intravascular ultrasound-guided drug-coated balloon angioplasty for femoropopliteal artery disease: a clinical trial.

Background And Aims: Drug-coated balloons (DCBs) have demonstrated favourable outcomes following endovascular therapy for femoropopliteal artery (FPA) disease. However, uncertainty remains whether the use of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) can improve the outcomes of DCBs.

Methods: This prospective, multicentre, randomized trial, conducted at seven centres in South Korea, compared the outcomes of IVUS-guided vs.

Predictors for early cardiac death after discharge from successfully treated acute myocardial infarction.

Background: The use of a cardioverter defibrillator for the primary prevention of sudden cardiac death is not recommended within 40 days after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We investigated the predictors for early cardiac death among patients who were admitted for AMI and successfully discharged.

Methods: Consecutive patients with AMI were enrolled in a multicenter prospective registry.

Association of Glycosylated Hemoglobin with Long-Term Adverse Cardiac Events after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Non Diabetes and Controlled Diabetes Patients: An Observational Study from the Korean COACT Registry.

Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is an established marker associated with cardiovascular risk, even if it is below the diagnostic threshold for diabetes mellitus (DM). However, whether or not prediabetic and controlled diabetic levels of HbA1c are associated with increased major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains unclear. This observational study included a total of 9128 patients who underwent PCI in the COACT registry from eight centers in Korea.

Case Report: Novel Likely Pathogenic Variant Causing Heterogeneous Phenotype in a Korean Family With Left Ventricular Non-compaction.

Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) is a very rare primary cardiomyopathy with a genetic etiology, resulting from the failure of myocardial development during embryogenesis, and it carries a high risk of left ventricular dysfunction, thromboembolic phenomenon, and malignant arrhythmias. Here, we report the first case of familial LVNC in Korea, caused by a novel missense variant. We performed duo exome sequencing (ES) to examine the genome of the proband and his father.

Correlation between internal pudendal artery stenosis and erectile dysfunction in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

Background: Stenoses of internal pudendal arteries (IPAs) appear to be related to erectile dysfunction (ED). Nevertheless, the correlation between the severity of ED and stenosis of the IPAs is not well established.

Objectives: To evaluate angiographic findings of IPAs in patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) and to assess the correlation between the severity of ED and IPA stenosis.

Comparative effectiveness analysis of percutaneous coronary intervention versus coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with chronic kidney disease and unprotected left main coronary artery disease.

Aims: Outcomes according to the status of renal insufficiency have not been fully evaluated in left main coronary artery disease (LMCAD). In the present study therefore, we sought to evaluate clinical outcomes in patients with significant LMCAD stratified by the degree of renal insufficiency and the relative clinical outcomes after PCI and CABG stratified by the differential levels of renal function using data from the large multinational "all-comers" Interventional Research Incorporation Society-Left MAIN Revascularization (IRIS-MAIN) registry.

Methods And Results: Among 4,894 patients with LMCAD, renal insufficiency was graded according to the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

Association between body mass index and 1-year outcome after acute myocardial infarction.

Objectives: Beneficial effects of overweight and obesity on mortality after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have been described as "Body Mass Index (BMI) paradox". However, the effects of BMI is still on debate. We analyzed the association between BMI and 1-year clinical outcomes after AMI.

Incremental age-related one-year MACCE after acute myocardial infarction in the drug-eluting stent era (from KAMIR-NIH registry).

Objectives: To evaluate the age-related one-year major adverse cardiocerebrovascular events (MACCE) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We analyzed the association between age and one-year MACCE after AMI.

Methods: A total of 13,104 AMI patients from Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institue of Health (KAMIR-NIH) between November 2011 and December 2015 were classified into four groups according to age (Group I, < 60 years, = 4199; Group II, 60-70 years, = 2577; Group III; 70-80 years, = 2774; Group IV, ≥ 80 years, = 1018).

Renin-angiotensin system blockade reduces cardiovascular events in nonheart failure, stable patients with prior coronary intervention.

Background: The effects of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade on the clinical outcome in patients with stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) are conflicting. We evaluated the long-term effects of RAS blockers (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker) on the clinical outcomes in patients with SCAD without heart failure (HF) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stent using a large-scale, multicenter, prospective cohort registry.

Methods: A total of 5722 patients with SCAD were enrolled and divided into two groups according to the use of RAS blockers after PCI: RAS blocker group included 4070 patients and no RAS blocker group included 1652 patients.

Clinical implications of combined glucose intolerance in treatment-naïve hypertensive patients.

Background: This study is the first study to evaluate clinical significance of combined glucose intolerance (CGI) in treatment-naïve hypertensive patients.

Methods: We compared the results of demographic, anthropometric, clinical, laboratory examinations, echocardiography, arterial stiffness, central blood pressure (BP) and ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) between the groups according to fasting blood sugar (FBS), postprandial 2 hour blood glucose (PP2) and gender in treatment-naïve hypertensive patients. A total of 376 concecutively-eligible patients were categorized as follows: (1) normal glucose tolerance (NGT); FBS<100 mg/dL and PP2 < 140 (2) isolated glucose intolerance (IGI); 100≤FBS<126 or 140≤PP2 < 200, but not both 100≤FBS<126 and 140≤PP2 < 200 (3) CGI; both 100≤FBS<126 and 140≤PP2 < 200.

Computed Tomography Angiography Images of Coronary Artery Stenosis Provide a Better Prediction of Risk Than Traditional Risk Factors in Asymptomatic Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes: A Long-term Study of Clinical Outcomes.

Objective: We investigated the efficacy of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in predicting the long-term risks in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes and compared it with traditional risk factors.

Research Design And Methods: We analyzed 933 patients with asymptomatic type 2 diabetes who underwent CCTA. Stenosis was considered obstructive (≥50%) in each coronary artery segment using CCTA.

Prognostic importance of mitral regurgitation complicated by acute myocardial infarction during a 5-year follow-up period in the drug-eluting stent era.

Background: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is a frequent complication of left-ventricular dysfunction, with an incidence ranging from 13 to 59% after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), which is associated with poor clinical outcome. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical and angiographic characteristics associated with MR, the incidence and predictors of MR, and the outcomes of MR after AMI in those who were successfully treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using a drug-eluting stent.

Methods: We analyzed a multicenter all-comer AMI registry and identified 4748 patients between January 2004 and December 2009.

A case of anorexia nervosa complicated with strongly suspected stress-induced cardiomyopathy and mural thrombus.

Stress-induced cardiomyopathy is a unique reversible cardiovascular disease precipitated by acute emotional or physical stress. It is associated with a high prevalence of chronic anxiety disorder that precedes the onset of cardiomyopathy, as well as comorbid cardiovascular risk factors that are similar to the ST segment elevation of myocardial infarction. A thirty-five-year-old woman suffering from anorexia nervosa visited our hospital complaining of severe general weakness.